Listening Lately: 8/4/2016

In the lead-up to the bar exam, I was cramming all day and breaking only to walk the dog. This made for some great audiobook listening time. I read through these three titles in the week before the bar & would recommend all three as good summer reads. Bonus points for all because they'd make great book club picks as well.

"The Girl from the Garden" by Parnaz Foroutan
I studied Persian in college & am always on the lookout for novels set in/around Iran. Here, Foroutan tells the story of a Jewish family living in Iran in the early 1900's, as remembered by its sole descendant who now lives in Los Angeles. The framing device was a bit clunky at times, but the story told in flashbacks was beautiful and heartbreaking. Rakhel and Khorsheed are two sisters-in-law trying to make their place in their husbands' family. Rakhel has been unable to conceive, and thus give her husband his long-desired heir. Khorsheed is able to get pregnant, and their close friendship while living in such close proximity makes Rakhel's burden that much harder to bear, pushing their family to drastic measures to find a way forward.


"A Bollywood Affair" and "The Bollywood Bride" by Sonali Dev
I had read such great things about this romance-literary fiction crossover that I was excited when I saw my library had its audiobook in stock just before the bar. Dev excels at telling the stories of Indian families straddling life in India - both traditional and modern elements, with life in the US. She brings out the points where the cultures clash and how Indian expats make their own community and bring their own traditions to the US. "A Bollywood Affair" is the story of a woman, married at 4 to a husband she doesn't remember, who is in the US to get an education and earn her husband's respect. Her brother-in-law travels to the US to find her and secure a divorce for his brother before his new wife, who he married at an appropriate age, gives birth to their child. "The Bollywood Bride" tells the story of a famous Bollywood actress who travels back to the US for the wedding of her dear childhood friend, even though it means confronting people she has not seen in decades due to family secrets she wants to keep hidden. Both novels have a romance at their center, but delve far more deeply than a traditional romance novel into the familial and cultural issues that drive the plots. These would be great bridge books if you're interested in trying out romance, if you want to have your book club dip a toe into the romance waters, or if you're looking for literary fiction with strong love stories at the core.

A Few Brief Mentions

I've been reading pretty casually lately since I've been so busy. I've finished a few books that didn't quite merit full reviews, but are still worth a brief mention.

"All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr

I was excited to read this book for both my NYC and DC book clubs. It got a ton of positive buzz and won the Pulitzer, after all. Basically, I thought it was just fine, but wasn't blown away. Maybe I'm being more critical of it after all the acclaim it has received, but I don't feel this is in the same league as "The Goldfinch" or "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao." It has its charming moments, clever turns of phrase, and nifty novelties, but I don't think it adds anything substantially new to World War II novels. I'd recommend to fans of that sub-genre within historical fiction and those who like a heartfelt tale, but not much more widely.

"Shine Shine Shine" by Lydia Netzer

This audiobook, on the other hand, was underrated. I remember the buzz when it was first released, but it never really rose to the top of my list. I downloaded it on impulse when I saw it was available on Overdrive. It's difficult to capture all of the great things this novel has going on in a brief overview, and that might be why it didn't get quite the amount of attention it really deserved. Sunny's robot-programmer husband is up in space, and she's bald and pregnant back on Earth raising their autistic son. Though she tries to preserve her facade of normalcy, we learn just how unique and strong she really is. I can't put a finger on all the themes at play, but I thoroughly enjoyed this novel.

"Lord of the Scoundrels" by Loretta Chase

I appreciate a solid historical romance every once in a while, especially when I have a lot going on. I read this during finals and it was the perfect amount of escapism and smut. There's a reason this book has over 16,000 ratings and over 1,100 reviews on Goodreads. It's a textbook example of a rake romance - a smart, sassy woman and a devilishly handsome scoundrel who can't help but fall in love. But this novel executes the typical story line perfectly, with witty dialogue and steamy romance. As a romance reader who got started on Harvard-educated, Shakespeare-scholar Eloisa James, I have a high bar for my romance novels. "Lord of the Scoundrels" leaped over it without breaking a sweat.

"The American Heiress" by Daisy Goodwin

I started listening to this pretty casually on audio, thinking it was just another simple romance novel (which I tend to enjoy!). Not so much. Daisy Goodwin tells a tale bigger in scope than most of these sorts of novels, going beyond the typically meet-lust-marry framework. It kept me guessing throughout.

Cora Cash is the titular American heiress, heading to Europe to find a husband with a title. Spurned by her American crush, she falls for a duke with his own troubled past and family drama. She marries her duke pretty early on, and the bulk of the novel explores Cora's adjusting to life in the British aristocracy as she decides which traditions are worth keeping and which should be left behind. Cora's maid Bertha travels with her to England, and her own tale of navigating a new racial landscape and her love life serves as a counterpoint to Cora's. Kudos to Goodwin for recognizing  the way perceptions of race differed in England and America during this time period (1890's), even if I would have enjoyed a deeper exploration. Plus, the differing expectations of and relationships with servants in the two countries was fascinating.

Where this novel really shines is in its lack of predictability, a unique feature in a romance novel. Both of Cora's love interests have serious flaws and neither is the clear winner from the outside. While I can't say I was rooting for either of them, as they both sucked for different reasons, they definitely kept me guessing until the end.

Verdict: Affirmed for fans of period drama & Downton Abbey who are interested in the American abroad's perspective.

"The American Heiress" by Daisy Goodwin, published on June 21, 2011 by St. Martin's Press. Audio narration by Katherine Kellgren, published on June 21, 2011 by Macmillan Audio.