Two amazing reads by Indian Authors

 

I read A Drop of Venom because I was sucked in by the cover (it IS very entrancing!) but was even more excited to read it once I read the blurb about the content.  Patel's story combines Indian fables & folk tale elements along with her own exploration of the story of Medusa.  The combination of Naga (snake people) and Medusa (snake hair) ideas seems so....obvious that it seemed like someone should have written this; and I'm so glad Sajni Patel did.

I must warn you, this is a dark and intense story, even if there is a love story attached to it.  Manisha and Pratyush have not had good lives, and even if their story is sweet; it quickly takes a terrible turn.  This story was so well done and is so full of adventure that I loved it, but I did cry at the tragic parts.  This is a new book, just out this year and you should definitely try it; but you probably should be in high school due to the content.




This isn't a new book, but I re-read it for a book club and decided to include it and hopefully encourage more teens to try it.  Veda is a passionate and talented dancer, concentrating on the bharatanatyam style.  When she loses a leg in a terrible accident, Veda is devastated at the thought of losing her passion.  She decides to take a beginner dance class to try and relearn, and the teacher, Govinda, helps her realize that the beauty of the dance is not in perfection but in the feelings and that Veda can always dance, even if it isn't perfect.
This book is a fast read, as it's in poetry format but is such an emotional and beautiful book that I wish everyone would read it.  It really shows how you can pivot and keep the things you love; even if it's not the way you pictured it.  I also love that the author didn't make Veda an object of pity or anything but a strong young lady both before and after her accident; and that she can have an amazing life regardless of how many limbs she has.

Both of these titles are available at the South Brunswick Public Library.

Feel free to leave any comments or suggestions for future reads
Saleena Longmuir


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

August book picks from Saleena

Image
  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
Read more

Short Stories are awesome!

Image
 Want to find new authors or explore genres?  Try short story collections, especially if they are based on a theme!  Here are three story collections I finished this month that would be fun to explore. Magic Has No Borders features South Asian folklore and magical stories told by South Asian authors.  I found some really interesting stories in this collection.  I adore finding new mythologies as well as new ways of looking at tales told a million times....and this collection filled both needs.  Some authors are well known, some don't have as much name recognition but the stories were a wide array of awesomeness. Mystery is a genre I struggle with, as my lack of logic (I think I missed that line and stood in the one for Imagination twice...haha) means that I usually miss all the clues and feel dumb.  This collection was interesting though, as some were obvious "looking for an answer" mysteries, some were "this terrible thing happened, how do I fix it" and some we
Read more

March reads by Saleena

Image
  This cool, creepy cover DEMANDED to be read, and I'm so glad I grabbed it.  Jackson writes a creepy thriller about a young man who is given asylum from false charges (which no one believes are false) and offered a fresh start at an exclusive boarding school.  The catch?  Well, things are weird...like Douglas keeps hearing the forest talking to him, and things like that....but the tipping point is when someone dies, he sees them die...and suddenly no one remembers that the dead person ever existed.  Douglas teams up with the groundskeeper's son, Everett in an effort to figure out and stop whatever is happening....but the odds are stacked against them. I love the way Jackson plays out the plot, seasoning it with little creepy bits of history, tiny acknowledgements of racism, classism, and homophobia to make things seem even more insurmountable, then showing how Douglas handles it and rises.  This is a really good horror/thriller story with terrible, warped creatures coming out
Read more