Book Review: The Widows of Malabar Hill

I’m going to be honest, I judged this book by the cover. But it was in favour of the book. Something about the purplish hues and a embossed, veiled woman with a briefcase on the cover drew me to the book. It had the elements but was still not the cover of a typical South…

Book Review: The familiar sorrows of Karachi in Kartography

South Asian fiction has been one of my favourite genres ever since I started reading. Even when I lived in Pakistan, it would be a welcome change from the dominant Western literature we would be exposed to in our schools. So reading a familiar name or street in an English-language novel would be a big…

Book Review: Sophia of Silicon Valley

There is no other genre of books I crave than a buzzing young professional's story. Sophia of Silicon Valley satisfied this craving to the fullest being the powerful, roller-coaster ride of a story about a young businesswoman. Anna Yen has carefully crafted the Young family, who is an immigrant family in California, living the American…

Book Review: Moveable Feasts by Sarah Murray

Rightly promised by the blurb, it is a journey behind the scenes of treats in our grocery stores that we gobble up so easily without thinking where or how it came about there.

Book Review: The Well of Ascension (Mistborn, #2) by Brandon Sanderson

Why spend hundreds on tickets to watch the Hamilton musical when you can just read the first half of Brandon Sanderson’s The Well of Ascension? Partway through the book, I could almost hear Washington’s voice telling Hamilton “Winning was easy, young man. Governing’s harder.” The evil Lord Ruler has kept the bureaucratic cogs in the…

Book Review: The Final Empire (Mistborn, #1) by Brandon Sanderson

The age-old struggle between good and evil rarely favours the villain—except for when it does. The sun is red, ash falls from the sky, and plants, as far as people know, have always been brown. Brandon Sanderson’s The Final Empire, first of the Mistborn trilogy, centres itself in a world where one thousand years ago,…

Book Review: Upstairs Wife by Rafia Zakaria

There's no way to avoid saying this. Representation of Pakistan is minimal in books that are actually readable and not reference books. When there are stories from and about Pakistan they are limited to subjects like post-terrorism stories and portraying how difficult life is. While these stories are all genuine, there is also a need…

Book Review: Danielle Steel’s “Fall from Grace”

This was my first time reading a Danielle Steel novel. After seeing it in bookstores, airport stores and news stands countless times, this one held my attention at Indigo Bookstore in the 2 for $15 paperback shelf.  I was looking for something with strong female characters, a chic setting and yet a gripping storyline and Falling…

Book review: Who thought this was a good idea?

I recommend this book to every young woman and man, even if they are not interested in public service, as a guide on how to get things done and stick it out at the workplace.

Book Review: Crazy Rich Asians

Crazy Rich Asians and other books by Kevin Kwan had been on my radar for the past couple years. The bright, recognizable covers would catch my eye at every airport and bookshop. But I didnt really get to pick it up until after the movie released this summer. (Amazon Associate link for the book: order…