My Review:

Reviewed by Laura Fabiani

To read reviews, please visit Sejal Badani's page on iRead Book Tours.



​A former attorney, Sejal Badani left the law to pursue writing full time.

She is a USA Today, Washington Post & Amazon Charts bestselling author, Goodreads Fiction Award Finalist and ABC/DISNEY Writing Fellowship Finalist.

Connect with the author: Website ~ Twitter ~ Facebook ​~ Pinterest ~ Instagram

Book Details:

Book Title: From An-Other Land by Tanushree Ghosh
Category: Adult Fiction, 224 pages
Genre: Short Stories, Immigrant Stories, Literary
Publisher: Readomania Publishing
Release date: December 4, 2018
Tour dates: March 18 to April 5, 2019
Content Rating: PG + M (It has mature themes in the backdrop in some stories, but doesn't have explicit language or description)

Book Description:

Never has been the conversation on immigration more pertinent than now, post 2016 US elections. From cancellation of refugee protection and zero tolerance to undercurrent crackdown on H visas to the border wall - the resurgence of nationalism is hitting the globalized population head-on.

But what is immigration today? A question of life or death - fleeing of persecution? A compulsion? Or a mere pursuance of privilege? And what is the US today? A land of opportunities? Or a quagmire impossible to comprehend, inherently racist and selfish?

From An-Other Land dives deep into immigration today for the diaspora and its many facets with characters who seek to define themselves in an intercultural setting that is less and less sure of itself. A reality check and a guide for anyone who wants to understand the modern-day US.


I love immigrant stories, hence the reason I wanted to read this book. Tanushree Ghosh has written a variety of short stories under the theme of immigration from India to the United States. Each story drew me in immediately with compelling characters, unique situations and the challenges of bicultural identities. Well-written and insightful, From An-Other Land gives the reader an intimate look at the Indian culture and immigration through the lens of an author who herself immigrated but fourteen years ago.

I couldn't help think that although I loved reading these stories, they were inherently sad, some even heartbreaking. It's true that the journey of immigration is one fraught with challenges, sacrifices, and nostalgia of one's homeland, and these stories realistically portray all of these aspects, however, I did miss the hopeful tone I was expecting from them. Some of the stories are interconnected and by the end, we get a picture of how immigration affects each person in different ways as they each search for a dream that for many remains elusive.

These stories are literary fiction that would appeal to all who love immigrant Indian stories that are thought-provoking and perspicacious.

To read reviews, please follow Tanushree Ghosh's page on iRead Book Tours.

​

Meet the Author:

Tanushree Ghosh works in Tech and has a Doctorate in Chemistry from the Cornell University. She is also a social activist and writer. Her blog posts, op-eds, poems, and stories are an effort to provoke thoughts, especially towards issues concerning women and social justice.

She is a contributor (past and present) to several popular e-zines (incl. The Huffington Post US, The Logical Indian, Youth Ki Awaaz, Tribune India, Women’s Web, and Cafe Dissensus). Her literary resume includes poems and stories featured in national and international magazines (Words Pauses and Noises, UK; TUCK, Glimmer Train Honorable mention) as well as inclusion in seven anthologies such as Defiant Dreams (Oprah 2016 reading list placeholder) and The Best Asian Short Stories 2017 (published out of Singapore by Kitaab). Her first single-author book, From An-Other Land, is on immigration.

She has held different leadership roles in non-profits (ASHA and AID India) and is the founder and director of Her Rights (www.herrights.website), a 501(3) c non-profit committed to furthering the cause of gender equality. She is often an invited speaker or panelist for both corporate and non-profit endeavors.

Connect with the author: Website ~ Twitter ~ Facebook
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A Journey to Yonder is a young girl's coming-of-age story growing up in India. It is a beautiful narrative that reads like a memoir, scattered with poems. Read my review and enter to win a copy!

My Review:

Reviewed by Laura Fabiani

Buy the Book:

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Meet the Author:

Unforgettable, heartbreaking and hopeful...this one is a stunning debut from author Amita Trasi!

Purchase Links:

HarperCollins | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

About the Author:

Amita Trasi was born and raised in Mumbai, India. She has an MBA in human resource management, and currently lives in Houston, Texas, with her husband and two cats.

Find out more about Amita at her website, and connect with her on Facebook and Twitter.

Today I'm super excited to be kicking off the blog tour for Debra Schoenberger's third photography book! Each book she published is unique and I have enjoyed them all, but she really captured a side to India I have never seen with this latest release. Debra traveled with a guide from National Geographic Journeys and was able to go places a tourist normally would not go or have access to. Check out my review of INDIA and my interview with Debra. And be sure to enter the giveaway for a chance to win a book.

My Review:

Reviewed by Laura Fabiani

LCR: Hi Debra! Congratulations on publishing your third photographing book. Can you describe your book INDIA in 20 words or less?

DS: A street photographer’s pursuit to capture the heart and soul of India.

LCR: You've been to India several times. What made this trip different?

DS: I was able to really “dig deeper” into Indian culture and history. I travelled on practically every form of transportation there is in India!

LCR: You took this trip with National Geographic Journeys. Tell us what that was like.

DS: The advantage of travelling with a guide from National Geographic Journeys was being able to go places a tourist normally would not go or have access to. We were able to enjoy a cooking lesson with a royal family in Jaipur and visit the Taj Mahal before sunrise when there were no other people. We also went to a Bollywood movie in a theatre which was really quite an eye-opening experience! I never saw and heard so many fans cheer for their favourite hero!



LCR: What do you love the most about India?

DS: The colours / the constant movement around you / unpredictability of not knowing what comes next

LCR: What do you dislike about India?

DS: There is very little effort to protect the environment. Garbage is strewn everywhere and rivers are polluted and filled with it. The country is very polluted due to smoke from industry and burning garbage. When I was in Delhi the pollution had reached critical levels due, in part, to the Diwali celebrations and slash burning in the Punjab.

LCR: If you could travel to the past, where would you go and why?

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In 2011, I read and reviewed Secret Daughter, Shilpa Somaya Gowda's debut book. I loved it and wondered if The Golden Son would live up to her first novel. Let's just say that I flew through the pages of this one and was immediately drawn in from the first page. 

Title: The Golden Son by Shilpi Somaya Gowda
Publisher: William Morrow 

Published: November 29, 2016
Paperback: 432 pages
Content Rating: PG-13 (For scenes of domestic violence and abuse)

Book Description:

The New York Times and #1 internationally bestselling author of Secret Daughter returns with an unforgettable story of family, responsibility, love, honor, tradition, and identity, in which two childhood friends—a young doctor and a newly married bride—must balance the expectations of their culture and their families with the desires of their own hearts.

The first of his family to go to college, Anil Patel, the golden son, carries the weight of tradition and his family’s expectations when he leaves his tiny Indian village to begin a medical residency in Dallas, Texas, at one of the busiest and most competitive hospitals in America. When his father dies, Anil becomes the de facto head of the Patel household and inherits the mantle of arbiter for all of the village’s disputes. But he is uneasy with the custom, uncertain that he has the wisdom and courage demonstrated by his father and grandfather. His doubts are compounded by the difficulties he discovers in adjusting to a new culture and a new job, challenges that will shake his confidence in himself and his abilities.

Back home in India, Anil’s closest childhood friend, Leena, struggles to adapt to her demanding new husband and relatives. Arranged by her parents, the marriage shatters Leena’s romantic hopes, and eventually forces her to make a desperate choice that will hold drastic repercussions for herself and her family. Though Anil and Leena struggle to come to terms with their identities thousands of miles apart, their lives eventually intersect once more—changing them both and the people they love forever.

Tender and bittersweet, The Golden Son illuminates the ambivalence of people caught between past and present, tradition and modernity, duty and choice; the push and pull of living in two cultures, and the painful decisions we must make to find our true selves.

Reviewed by Laura Fabiani

In 2011, I read and reviewed Secret Daughter, Shilpa Somaya Gowda's debut book. I loved it and wondered if The Golden Son would live up to her first novel. Let's just say that I flew through the pages of this one and was immediately drawn in from the first page. This is a novel rich in characterization and culture, filled with gems of wisdom and depth.

The novel is the story of Anil Patel, the elder son of a respected family in a village of India, who decides to become a doctor and pursue his medical residency in Dallas, Texas at one of the best known hospitals in America. Anil experiences immigrant issues--new culture and attitudes, prejudice, modernized lifestyle and the wonder of modern medicine. He learns some tough lessons all while juggling the traditions of his own culture and family.

This is also the story of Leena, a close childhood friend of Anil who lives in Anil's village in India and who eventually gets married and experiences abuse at the hand of her husband's family. At some point Anil and Leena's life reconnect and their life lessons will combine to bring about positive change and healing for both their families.

I simply loved how the author was able to seamlessly intertwine the Indian and American cultures and the struggle to find one's identity when part of both cultures. The lush descriptions of the Indian village and farmlands, its people and their lives shone through as equally as did the adrenaline rush of the exhilarating but exhaustive medical residency in a big hospital of a modern metropolis.

It is evident that Gowda understood and researched both settings and cultures well. The unspoken but understood ways of doing things in the small Indian village, especially when it came to arranged marriages and dowries versus the medical jargon and competitive nature of the residency were clear evidence of her extensive research. It is these subtle but powerful bits of information that makes this novel so good, so satisfying to read, and such a pleasure for info junkies like me. I love learning new things as I read.

Well-written, evocative, emotional and exotic, The Golden Son is the second book from Gowda that will once again capture not only readers who loved her first book, but anyone who loves to read literary fiction rich in culture and characterization. This book has made it to my Best Reads of 2016 list.

To read more reviews, visit Shilpi Somaya Gowda's page on TLC Book Tours.

Disclosure: Thanks to the publisher and TLC Book Tours for sending me this book for review. I was not compensated in any other way, nor told how to rate or review this product.






Shilpi Somaya Gowda was born and raised in Toronto, Canada. She holds an MBA from Stanford University, and a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she was a Morehead-Cain scholar. She lives in California with her husband and children.

Find out more about Shilpi at her website, and connect with her on Facebook and Twitter.

Mair Ellis finds an exquisite shawl, the craftsmanship of which is unparalleled today, as she is clearing out her dead parents' house. Along with it she finds the lock of a child's curly hair. With her adventurous spirit, Mair sets out to find out all she can about the shawl which belonged to her grandmother. She traces it back to Kashmir, India, where her grandparents Nerys and Evan Watkins did missionary work. There she embarks on a quest that changes her life.

The story alternates with that of her newlywed grandmother Nerys in 1941 during WWII when she and her husband Evan live a simple life doing missionary work in a remote area of India. When Nerys suffers a miscarriage, Evan sends her with friends to rest in Kashmir, an exotic lakeside city, where the British dance, have affairs and gossip, while he travels on a missionary assignment elsewhere. There Nerys learns a lot about herself and what makes her happy. She becomes involved with three people who become key players in her life, Myrtle, Rainer and Caroline.

Although the book has a slow start and some slow parts throughout, Thomas is a great storyteller as she brings her story from the present to the past and weaves the two together. India is exotic and poor, and I learned so much about the fascinating art of shawl weaving. Both the present story and the historical one kept my interest. There is a scene in Mair's story that is heartbreaking. I also couldn't help but be reminded a little of The Great Gatsby as I read the historical one because of how the British socialized. The War affected the British society in India, and I can appreciate this was hard on wives whose husbands left to fight. It was touching to see how Nerys and Myrtle came to the aid of one of the women.

Nerys is a level-headed woman who is unsure about her faith except she loves her role in helping the children in the missionary post. She doesn't have a relationship with God, but she is kind and generous and self-sacrificing. But she does eventually engage in an affair with another man who falls in love with her. She feels absolutely no guilt about doing so and she gives no thought to what this relationship will mean to her lover, especially when her husband returns. This made me uncomfortable as it seemed that the book's message was that having an affair could actually spice up one's marriage and would not affect a woman's relationship with her husband. I could understand what drove one of the other women to have an affair but not Nerys. Her husband was not perfect but neither did he deserve to be cuckolded.

I can see that quite a lot of research went into the writing of this epic novel with storytelling that pulled me in and kept me turning the pages. I was invested in the story, but not always in the characters.

This is the second book I read from Victoria Holt, and once again I am amazed at how she could sweep me away to another world inhabited by flawed characters, filled with action, adventure, mystery and romance. Although I must say the romance is not the main element in this book even though it's classified in this genre.

Drusilla Delaney is the rector's daughter, educated, sensible and plain, according to Lady Harriet of Framling House who reigns supreme over their English village. Lady Harriet allows Drusilla to become a companion to her radiantly beautiful, sensual, but flight daughter Lavinia throughout their childhood, even making sure they attend the same schools so that Drusilla could keep an eye on her. Lavinia's brother Fabian, a brooding and dominating man, is attracted to Drusilla's intelligence, kindness and courage. Their lives intermingle from childhood to adulthood and become entangled in India in a way that will change all of their three lives forever.

I really enjoyed the way Holt deftly builds the characters of Drusilla and Lavinia in this gothic tale that spans the lives of two very different women from their childhood in a village in England, to the châteaus of France and finally the perils of exotic India. I cannot say that I liked Fabian much. He began as a spoiled and haughty child who turned into a man consumed with his work. He kept to himself, and I did not get a full sense of who he was. There is not much interaction between them that made me understand what attracted them to each other except circumstances. However, even though the romantic element wasn't great, I still really liked the story as a whole because it was unpredictable and kept me turning the pages to see what further adventures Drusilla would end up in.

I did wonder if it was intentional that the author gave the beautiful Lavinia a nice-sounding name and always described what she was wearing and how gorgeous her hair was styled but barely made mention of Drusilla's wardrobe or looks. I had a hard time picturing her, and with a name like Drusilla? (ugh!) Anyhow, the message was clear that Lavinia was beautiful only on the outside, but Drusilla on the inside.

Victoria Holt is quite the storyteller and if you enjoy historical fiction and have yet to read any of her books, I suggest you try this one. It will not disappoint.

I have mixed feelings about this book. I liked reading about the dilemma that two young Indian-Americans, Rasika and Abhay, faced when dealing with their culture's traditions and pressures, but I disliked Rasika's character and was frustrated throughout my reading of this novel. Rasika is a twenty-five year-old beautiful woman, living at home in a wealthy family. She comes across as vain, spoiled and aloof. Abhay is a smart young man who doesn't know what he wants to do with his life, much to the disappointment of his father. Although he has nothing in common with Rasika, who thinks he is not good enough for her, he falls in love with her and pursues her even as she agrees to an arranged marriage with a suitor chosen by her parents.

It quickly becomes clear that Rasika doesn't know how to deal with the pressure of an arranged marriage. The only reason she agrees to it is because she will have the ideal husband—handsome, well-educated, and doting. She thinks she has good values because she has grace, dresses well and is beautiful. However, she is promiscuous and has short-lived relationships with men to get away from the pressures of her parents. This is what she does with Abhay too. She sleeps with him and then wants nothing to do with him because she doesn't want her parents to find out about her double life, and besides, he is from a different caste and therefore would never be accepted by her parents as an acceptable husband.

Abhay, on the other hand, understands why Rasika acts the way she does, why she is so messed up, and even though he knows she only used him for sex, he still wants her. I kept wondering what would make these two get together in the end, if at all, since they were so different and it would take a big change in Rasika's way of thinking to even accept Abhay as an acceptable mate by her standards. The ending, although a happy one, was disappointing to me as a reader because the author took the easy way out where Rasika did not have to deal with her problem. Instead, a situation took care of that and the ending was too neatly tied up with a big red bow.

There was no resolution for me, just a quick-fix ending. The only reason that kept me reading this book was the psychological aspect of how children from two cultures deal with being from two different worlds. Okay,  Rasika's coping mechanism is destroying her, so how does she finally confront the cause of her dilemma? How does she change? How does she grow as a person? Would she resort to the same tactics when things would get difficult in the future? None of this is clear by the end of the book.

So although I enjoyed the setting and the Indian culture, I had mixed feelings when reading this book, especially at the end when things became convenient for everyone. And I'm still trying to figure out the book's title, if that expression is significant in the Indian culture.

Note: This book is rated S = sex scenes. There are sex scenes in this novel, however, not at all explicit.

You can read more reviews on the TLC Book Tour page.

I will count this book toward the following challenges: Reading the World Challenge

I want to say from the onset that this book is one of my favourite reads this year. The story touched me in ways I had not expected. I just finished turning the last page and wiping tears from my eyes. If I were to describe this novel in a nutshell, it would be to say it is a celebration of motherhood, with all its complexities, losses and enduring love. If you enjoy character-driven stories about families with an added exotic element, don't hesitate to delve into this one.

Somer and Krishnan, two American doctors, decide to adopt a child from India, after discovering they will never have one of their own. Asha is the baby Kavita gives away to an orphanage to save her from the cruel fate of death at the hands of her poor family who see only the birth of a son as advantageous since he will eventually sustain the family rather than a daughter who will burden them with a dowry.

Secret Daughter is two stories meshed in one and each is told with alternating chapters. The story flows smoothly, and I have to admit I loved the Indian one better but once the story took off, I loved them both. The author managed the amazing feat of simultaneously showing the beauty and the ugliness of India, its people and its culture. This, in part, was the strength of her writing. She laid things bare but never disclosed too much. And although there is much sadness in this novel, it is not morose but hopeful and compelling. I savoured every page.

As a mother, both the characters of Kavita and Somer moved me. Kavita for her enduring strength and loyalty to her family and Somer for her growth as a person. This is a beautiful story, well-told, inspiring, and truly moving!

On May 19, I will be attending a lecture by Shilpi Somaya Gowda as she relates her inspiration for this novel. I am really looking forward to this event!

I will count this book toward the following challenges: Reading the World Challenge

The backdrop of exotic India during two revolutions at different time periods made this book an exciting read for me. I was transported back in history and the author's depiction of India was so real, both in its foreign beauty and stark living conditions. I could smell the spices and the cow dung, taste the hot curry dishes and see the colorful silken saris billowing in the dusty air.

The book goes back and forth between the two stories until they merge at the end. I could relate to Evie's desperation in trying to save her marriage, and I felt for Martin's emotional pain that was destroying his family life, although it was clear he loved both his wife and his boy. Adela and Felicity's story was about their love for living an unconventional life. Felicity wanted to return to her beloved India, where she'd spent the first few years of her life, to live a life free of aristocratic constraints. Adela did not want to marry because she preferred women over men.

I have to admit that when I first read that she was physically attracted to Felicity I was very uncomfortable and debated whether I should keep reading. But Felicity does not reciprocate these feelings, loving Adela only as a sister. Adela then hooks up with her maid (what?) until she is discovered by her parents and is sent off to India to be with Felicity. I felt this was a ploy in the plot to get Adela to India as part of the Fishing Fleet, a group of eligible young women sent to meet eligible bachelors among the British in India. After this incident, the topic veers away from this subject. The book contains a few sexual scenes, religious profanities and I think two f-words.

Once Adela gets to India, both stories really pick up for me. Felicity meets a wealthy Indian man in the midst of Indian unrest and Adela's journals chronicle their life and the changes that take them unawares. It was tremendously sad, heart-wrenching and exciting at the same time. The times were dangerous, their love forbidden, and their cultures clashing just like a hundred years later when Evie is living in India during the Partition. India's history was so interesting to read about that I couldn't put the book down at this point and read the whole evening to finish it. I loved the ending.

The Sandalwood Tree is a well-written book that immerses the reader in an exotic world. It has given me the desire to read more books set in India.

Elle Newmark is an author whose books are inspired by her travels. Her work has been published into 16 languages and she lives in the hills north of San Diego with her husband, a retired physician. She has two grown children and five grandchildren.

To find out more about Elle or learn about her books visit http://ellenewmark.com

I will count this book toward the following challenges: Reading the World Challenge, Historical Fiction Challenge