August book picks from Saleena

 

Nayeri weaves a story that is fiction mixed with his memories of being an immigrant, trying to fit in and trying to savor the few things he remembers from his home in Iran.  He weaves tales as he tries to understand his reality and also to escape some of the more brutal truths of his life in Minnesota.

This was a fascinating story as it constantly weaves back and forth with the storyteller always hiding truths, untruths and fantasies within the words.  It has moments of sadness, happiness and confusion....which really is true for anyone's life....but Nayeri makes it a story and a truth all at once.  

I love a good horror story and She is a Haunting is a very good one.  I did NOT see the ending coming nor did I appreciate all the nuances as I was reading...it was all coming so fast that some of my reactions took days to truly hit.  The basic story is of an estranged family and the oldest girl agrees to visit her father in Vietnam in return for his promises of paying for her first year of college.  Her younger sister tags along because she is really hoping for a reconciliation between her parents. Life in Vietnam is difficult for the main character as she grew up in the U.S. and definitely is feeling out of her element.  Weird things are happening with her father and the creepy house he is fixing up to sell (thus paying for her education).

 Tran builds the story in a truly engrossing and creepy style, leaving readers wondering along with the narrator how much is true and how much is hallucination.  I will warn you that you may not be able to put this book down....and also if you have any sort of phobia with bugs...DO NOT READ.    I devoured this, and it still lives in my head.....and gave me a nightmare.

Amazing!

I grabbed this book because it's a collection of stories and last month I was focused on reading a bunch of short stories....however, this collection is connected into one overarching story by the premise that each person's (short) story is connected to the murder of a teacher at a magical boarding school.  Each student is sure that they can figure out what happened and be "the chosen one" (in whatever way they define that).  Each of the stories leads closer to figuring out what truly happened and yet is completely self contained and works as a short story; which is also part of a longer joint narrative. 

This is SO well done, I can't even explain.  So many voices, so many points of view, such an amazing representation of so many kinds of people...and yet it is still a fantastical mystery at its heart.

I cannot recommend this book enough, you need to read it!