Jul 15
“Delicious, Auntie! How do you make cucumber taste like this?" Paper-thin slices of cucumber, delicately spiced Greek yogurt spread, and pillowy whole-grain bread. This was the life.” ― Sonali Dev
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“Delicious, Auntie! How do you make cucumber taste like this?" Paper-thin slices of cucumber, delicately spiced Greek yogurt spread, and pillowy whole-grain bread. This was the life.” ― Sonali Dev
Just Finished: Recipe for Persuasion (The Rajes #2)
“When we first met, he was the only person I knew who wanted me to be me. By the time we found our way back to each other, I had become a person who could only be me, no matter what anyone else wanted.”
A couple of weeks ago, after 3 hours of minute work with my fingers stuck with glue, I've managed to put together again a china knickknack of my late mother, and so it struck me: may I ask for a prompt something on the lines of "loving things to the point of repair", please? I know you can do justice to these soft feelz
Louis Sachar, Holes
An example of kintsukuroi (via)
Tom Atkins’ commentary on his poem, The Fixing of Broken Things
Lauren Oliver, Pandemonium
Coldplay, Fix You
Amy Licence, Catherine of Aragon: An Intimate Life of Henry VIII’s True Wife
An example of kintsukuroi (via)
Sonali Dev, A Change of Heart
Finding your soul mate is a gift, but losing one is not an excuse to stop living. Like everything in life, soul mates serve their time, and once they do, it's time to move on. Our souls are not so limited that they can only have one mate.
— Sonali Dev, The Vibrant Years
Our July romance roundup is here, full of political intrigue, pulse-pounding peril ... and AIRSHIP PIRATES. Check it out here if you need a little something-something to shake off the late-July torpor!
-- Petra
Book Review: The Emma Project (The Rajes #4) by Sonali Dev
Austen retellings are my kryptonite. Some would say "it is a truth universally acknowledged." And this one sounded promising with its Indian American twist and its gender-swapped Emma and Knightley stand-in protagonists, Naina and Vansh. However, while I loved the contemporary soul of the story with its humanitarian project focus and its doting yet interfering family dynamics, I had a hard time connecting with the characters. They fell flat, failed to draw me in. Naina and Vansh's romance didn't entice overmuch either, unfortunately. Their friends with benefits arrangement felt stilted and strange, not because I dislike that trope, it's one of my favorites, but because I think it was hard for me to imagine Emma and Knightley as two no-feelings-but-horny-for-each-other all the time childhood friends. It didn't work for me. Their banter was fun, though. Believable for a pair of people who have known each other their whole lives. I chuckled a few times during their exchanges. This was a miss for me. I think a lot of Austen-loving contemporary romance fans will find much to love from this book, but it wasn't my cup of tea. Thanks to NetGalley and Avon Harper and Voyager for the ARC in exchange for my review.
2/5 stars
**Follow me on Goodreads
Own Voices Rom Coms
#OwnVoices novels often deal with serious social issues and these stories are no exception.
But they're really funny, too.
[ID: Six book covers, listed below, with the hashtag Own Voices between the top three and the bottom three /ID]
(Editor’s note: Own Voices books are books with minority/marginalized characters written by authors who share that aspect of their characters’ identity.)
You Had Me at Hola by Alexis Daria
Rendered the subject of tabloid gossip by a messy public breakup, soap star Jasmine takes a part in a new bilingual comedy at the side of a telenovela costar who would revitalize his career.
Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert
Emerging from a life-threatening illness, a fiercely organized but unfulfilled computer geek recruits a mysterious artist to help her establish meaning in her life, before finding herself engaged in reckless but thrilling activities.
Dial A for Aunties by Jesse Q. Sutanto
After accidentally causing the death of a blind date, Meddy is persuaded by her meddlesome Chinese-Indonesian mother and aunts to dispose of the body, which upends a billionaire’s wedding and Meddy’s reunion with a former flame.
Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors by Sonali Dev
A neurosurgeon from a politically ambitious immigrant family clashes with a talented dessert chef looking to prove he is more than his pedigree.
Written in the Stars by Alexandria Bellefleur
A lighthearted romance depicts the experiences of a free-spirited social media astrologer who agrees to a fake relationship with a no-nonsense actuary to appease their respective families.
Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall
When his rock-star father’s comeback leads to unwanted attention, Luc fabricates a respectable relationship with a man with whom he shares nothing in common. But his publicity-friendly dates become complicated by all-too-real feelings.
(All summaries provided by @novelistra!)
See more of Chris’s recs
~ books read in 2021 ~
#18: Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors by Sonali Dev
So much about the world baffled Dr. Trisha Raje, but she was never at a loss for how to do her job.