THE SLEEPWALKER’S GUIDE TO DANCING by Mira Jacob

Tags

debut novel

I downloaded THE SLEEPWALKER’S GUIDE TO DANCING entirely on the basis of its title, sure that a title so delicious could only lead to disappointment. Instead, I wish I could read it again for the first time. I bought a paper copy just so I can mark all my favorite passages and reread them until I can recite them in my head with my eyes closed, and make everyone I know read it too. I’m not sure I can manage a coherent review of this one beyond “it’s amazing – read it” but I’ll ramble on for a bit anyway.

We have three time-places connected to the Eapen family: Seattle/Albuquerque in 1998, Salem, India in 1979, and Albuquerque in 1982. The story begins with Kamala, Amina’s mother, calling to summon Amina home to deal with her ailing father, Thomas. Amina, a photographer, is in crisis herself, reeling after she takes a disturbing photo that becomes iconic. She has taken a job as a wedding photographer, literally keeping her more artistic work shut away in a closet and deflecting her gallery-owner cousin Dimple’s attempts to bring her into the spotlight.

Kamala and Thomas have their own not-so-secret history. Kamala has always longed to return home to India, while Thomas ends up cutting short a visit to his family to retreat back to America, but the motherland (and his mother) will come back to haunt him. Part of their story is one of assimilation, but it’s more complicated than that.

When Amina returns home, she finds that her father has been speaking to the dead and her born-again mother is trying to find her a husband and job to keep her in Albuquerque (much as Ammachy, Thomas’s mother, once tried to keep him at home). The reader knows that Amina’s beloved brother is long-dead, but the details of that story play out in the 1980s, when Amina and Akhil are in high school and Akhil begins acting very oddly, falling asleep unexpectedly and for long stretches of time.

Jacobs examines the difference between living in the past and carrying it with you, finding your place in a family that has broken, and accepting . Amina struggles with grief, her relationship to her art, and (to a lesser extent) her Indian-American identity. Her examination of grief is one of the most true and poignant I’ve read:

“How to explain that she felt like, if she cried, if she actually started, she might never stop? That it felt too bottomless, like jumping into one of those cave pools that was the size of a pond but actually thousands of feet deep?”

While Jacobs made me cry, she also, in the midst of grief, made me laugh:

“And even if Amina didn’t yet know what it was to love like that, to burn until your spine has no choice but to try to wind itself around an empty shirt, she understood for sure that the people who said it was better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all were a bunch of dicks.”

I have to admit that the romance bit really didn’t do anything for me, but it at least didn’t detract from the story.

Gorgeous book. Go read it.

Source disclosure: I purchased this copy in multiple formats.

Reading List 2015

Potentially interesting reading challenge found right here.

meganskitchen210

I have spent months sitting at home not allowed to do much because of illness. Often times watching TV and if I were lucky I would have an outing to the grocery store over the weekend. Well, there is only so much TV you can handle, you start to watch reality television shows because it is like a car accident you just can’t look away. I finally had enough and had to stop watching as much television and decided I had to start exercising the brain before I went insane. I first started reading the “Twilight” series again, yes I am a Twilight fan. It is an easy read but I want to challenge my self . So while mindlessly clicking through pinterest pages one day I came across a reading challenge for 2015. It gives you all these questions to make you think out of comfort zone when it…

View original post 133 more words

Nor Any Drop To Read Returns! Now, from the opposite coast!

A move from Atlanta to southern California has interrupted regular blog happenings, but now that internet is flowing at the new house, it’s time to catch up. *cracks knuckles*

PANTHERS AND PRECINCTS Blog Tour! An interview with Dr. Zeara Faxfire

Meet Zeara—zoologist, crime solver, and crazy cat lady. Throw a literate panther and a sexy detective into the mix and watch the trouble ensue.

People didn’t just happen to “drop by for a visit” at midnight. Whoever was on the other side of that door either had a good reason, one that she probably didn’t want to hear, or would wish they had once she finished tearing them apart.

Dr. Zeara Faxfire and her side-kick cat, Magic, are on the case when a panther is discovered during a police investigation of a missing boy. The fact the panther can write is only slightly scarier than Zeara’s attraction to Detective Markovich. Add a little magic, some mayhem, and scientific proof of the paranormal, and she ends up knee-deep in trouble. Can she find the missing boy, solve the riddle of the panther, and face her own past before time runs out? Or will the only way to give everyone a happy ending come at the expense of the job she loves?

Did you want to work with animals from the time you were a child?

Animals have this unique way of working with you even when you don’t know it. From the time I was born, there was always a draw toward animals. I remember pretending they could talk as a child. No animal has ever had a place in my heart quite like Magic, though.

Your cat, Magic, is a bit of a troublemaker. Has he ever interrupted a romantic evening with his antics?
Romantic evenings? Hahaha. Oh wait, you’re serious. I’m not really sure I should talk about it, but he did attack Jake once. Of course it had to be the only time in years I’ve even come close to sex. We were kissing, then some stuff happened that created some tension. Magic was only trying to defend me. I think he believed Detective Markovich was attacking me.

On a totally superficial note, what’s the first thing that caught your attention about Detective Markovich? Eyes? Smile? Rear view?
His awkwardness. The moment we met, he was a screw up. Things didn’t get much better after that. Yet, I couldn’t stop laughing. Maybe he’ll think twice from now on before assuming a hefty cat isn’t sensitive about its size.

What’s the most awkward first date you’ve ever been on?
Well, I guess that revolves around Jake too. Dates that start with, “I’m sorry my cat turned your thigh into a bloody scratching post” don’t bode well. The fact it ended with a choice between a job offer or a threat from Karma only made it that much more…fun?

Okay, what’s with the fuzzy cow print jammies? Were they a gift, on sale, or a deliberate purchase? Have you retired them now that you have a boyfriend?
Oh, for goodness sakes. Wear your pajamas to work one time and even people who aren’t coworkers find out about it. It was casual Friday. Or it was supposed to be. They should really define “casual,” if you ask me. As for where I got them, they were a gift to myself. I like pajamas that cuddle back. And no, I have not retired them, or any of my other fuzzy jammies.

Thank you for stopping by, Dr. Faxfire!
———————-
Social links:

Website: dfkrieger.com
Official Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/D-F-Krieger/177107165643929
Faxfire Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FaxfireSeries

Buy Links:
Breathless Press: http://www.breathlesspress.com/index.php?main_page=product_free_shipping_info&cPath=13&products_id=531&zenid=0b5bb1524c39b159e630dcc39d90789b
ARe:
https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-panthersandprecinctsfaxfireseriesbook1-1405502-143.html
Amazon:

——————————–

PIRATE VISHNU by Gigi Pandian

Tags

amateur sleuth, archaeology, India, Mystery

I cracked open PIRATE VISHNU immediately upon finishing the last page of ARTIFACT. I simply could not get enough Jaya Jones. The follow-up novel does not disappoint. This time, the mystery reaches back to Jaya’s own ancestors, some of whom left India for America in 1906 (Anand dying a hero in San Francisco during the Great Earthquake). These men loom large in her family lore: “My great-grandfather Vishwan and his brother Anand were the only two members of my family my mother had ever talked about.” When a retired lawyer challenges all her assumptions with a treasure map he insists led to Anand’s less-than-heroic death, Jaya investigates. Her family had donated the letters from Anand to Vishwan to the University of Kerala, and since Steven Healy insists they are key to decoding the treasure map, Jaya seeks them out, determined to find the truth.

Lane, the sort-of-love-interest from ARTIFACT appears in this novel, acting very oddly. Obviously there’s something going on with him that Jaya will need to uncover. And best friend Sanjay is along for the ride, being more in tune with Indian culture than Jaya, “the worst Indian ever.” Sanjay’s perfectly obvious feelings for Jaya become evident even to oblivious Jaya, throwing another twist into the story. This time, librarian friend Tamarind is also there to help Jaya pull together the threads of history and shifty translator Naveen seems a bit too interested in the treasure map. All her research leads to the question: Was beloved Great-Uncle Anand the man known as Pirate Vishnu, who terrorized the West Coast and stole a priceless artifact called The Heart of India? And who can Jaya really trust?

The discussion of Indian emigration to the West Coast is fascinating, but not pedantic. I know very little about Indian history and culture, so I enjoyed the background. Pandian also draws San Francisco around the time of the Great Earthquake very well in flashbacks of Anand’s life. The past and present come together as Jaya races with unknown foes to uncover the secret of the treasure. The adventure is great fun.

Note: I review the first in the series, ARTIFACT, here: http://noranydroptoread.com/2014/01/10/artifact-by-gigi-pandian/

Source disclosure: I received an e-galley of this title courtesy of the publisher.

Reviews With Lilah: THE MESMER MENACE by Kersten Hamilton

Tags

1900s, animal narrator, boy protagonist, steampunk

If you’ve been desperate for middle-grade fiction with a steampunk theme, told from a dog’s point of view, look no further! Lilah and I enjoyed GADGETS AND GEARS, the first in the series THE MESMER MENACE narrated by a dachshund named Noodles and chronicling the 1902 adventures of Wally Kennewickett in his inventor parents’ Automated Inn. Lilah was particularly delighted that Wally’s dog serves as narrator. I was skeptical at first, but Hamilton pulls it off very well and uses Noodles’s perspective as a filter to explain complicated scientific processes to younger readers.

Wally Kennewickett’s parents, brilliant inventors, are called on by Teddy Roosevelt to rescue their country from a group of mesmers who are hypnotizing key figures to their own dastardly ends. They leave the Automated Inn in the hands of Wally and the automatons who run the place. Wally must contend with his annoying, bullying cousins, who are also staying at the inn, but the stakes are raised when the mesmer menace appears at his door.

Source disclosure: I received an e-galley of this title courtesy of the publisher.

Reviews With Lilah: CURSE AT ZALA MANOR by BBH McChiller

Tags

adventure, boy protagonist, Fantasy, high-interest, middle-grade fiction, reluctant reader

Lilah and I had a blast reading this funnier-than-scary homage to children’s horror/gross-out books. AJ Zantony is staying at his great-aunt Zsofia’s house, the Zantony ancestral home, Zala Manor, while his parents are away (“McChiller” seems to revel in the thinness of the excuse to get the parents out of the way). His stay coincides with Zsofia’s annual Halloween party, which raises funds to keep the crumbling old manor intact, and Halloween this year occurs at the blue moon. AJ is a typical twelve-year-old, plagued by the school bullies, and is not thrilled when a girl is assigned to be his science partner. Worse, Emily is the Scully to AJ’s Mulder, insisting that the odd occurrences plaguing Zala Manor must have logical explanations.

As midnight on the Halloween/blue moon convergence approaches, AJ and Emily must juggle party duties, dodge zombie, vampire, and skeleton pirates, and…oh, no! Did the bullies show up to the party?! Zala Manor is the sort of house I dreamed about as a child: hidden staircases, secret passages, tunnels, creepy crypts. And, of course, the talking rat (really a parrot trapped in a rat’s body) who helps AJ and Emily figure out how to stop the pirate spirits.

I recommend this funny, scary, high-interest chapter book for reluctant readers and boys in particular, but Lilah and I both enjoyed it. When we reached the end and saw the teaser for the next book in the series, SECRET OF HAUNTED BOG, she was ready to read that one, too.

Source disclosure: I received an e-galley of this title courtesy of the publisher.

Reviews With Lilah: OPERATION BUNNY by Sally Gardner

This is the first book in the WINGS & CO series about a fairy detective agency, and Lilah and I both enjoyed it. Poor Emily Vole is abandoned as an infant and adopted by self-absorbed parents who turn her into a servant when they discover they can (and do) have children of their own. Fortunately, she has elderly neighbor Mrs. String and her extraordinary cat to pull her out of her Cinderella story and into a spirited adventure, inheriting a set of magic keys and a disused shop, the defunct Fairy Detective Agency she must reopens to save fairies and humans threatened by the evil Harpella.

This reminded me most of Roald Dahl’s MATILDA and Eva Ibbotsen’s younger-geared books. It’s pure magic. The title comes from Harpella’s magic lamp, which she uses to turn people into pink rabbits as she hurries to kill all the living fairies. Fortunately, the fairies and bunny-people have Emily Vole on their side, along with a fairy policeman and talking cat. The book promises many adventures to come in this charming series.

Source disclosure: I received an e-galley of this title courtesy of the publisher.

Reviews With Lilah: FAIRYLICIOUS by Tiffany Nicole Smith

Tags

absent parents, fairies, misfits, sixth grade, tomboy

I read this aloud to my seven-year-old daughter, and we both wondered where the promised fairies were for the first half. There is a lot to like about Bex, an athlete self-conscious about her height (she hates being called “Big Bex,” which does not stop anyone in sixth grade), and this story has a lot of potential. Actually, that should be ‘stories,’ because there is a lot going on here, and it’s a bit of a mess. A good editor could have made this a unique book for all tween girls who don’t fit in.

Bex has a lot going on in her life. Her mother abandoned her, her father is in prison, and she and her younger sister, Reagan, live with their grandmother, who is on a fixed income. This means off-brand ice cream that never tastes quite the same and Bex only has a birthday party because she’s added last-minute to the party Aunt Jeanie (Aunt Meanie) is throwing for her spoiled triplets. Though she will turn twelve in the course of the book, Bex still believes in fairies, and her birthday wish is for fairies for herself and her three best friends. Why is she so sure that her birthday wish will be granted? Has she had previous birthday wishes granted? Is there something special about turning twelve that ensures wishes are granted? Is it simply that her life is difficult and she really needs it this year? We have no idea. Half the book unfolds without a fairy in sight, and no explanation for why Bex believes so fervently in fairies.

Eventually, the fairies show up, but they are misfits, too. One is allergic to pixie dust, one has a missing wing, one has lopsided wings, and one gets airsick when she flies. What a lovely match for Bex and her outcast friends! Except that this parallel is never used and so goes wasted. The fairies make a mess out of the girls’ wishes and Bex ends up with all four of them. It should be noted that Bex’s friends, not believers in fairies, have no difficulty adjusting to a world in which fairies are real and only express annoyance about them. The fairies are forgotten for chunks of the novel, turning up almost randomly to wreak havoc. They have their own unrealized plot: they have been cast out of the fairy realm and must make Bex happy in order to return.

The fairies are sidelined for quite a while as drama unfolds at the GATE, the school for gifted and talented students Bex attends. Bex’s talent is sports, and she is the only girl in the program. This is a rich source for story material on its own, as Bex is teased by the girly girls, but the focus instead is on a shake-up at the school. All programs but drama, music, and dance are eliminated, with all students forced to choose one of the remaining disciplines. A lengthy subplot ensues in which Bex is ringleader of a group of students determined to convince the powers that be to change their minds.

At some point late in the book, a love interest for Bex is thrown in, which undermines her appeal. All of a sudden she’s worried about whether or not boys will ever like her. This fear comes out of nowhere and seems tacked-on, to what purpose I have no idea. Also late in the book, Bex’s grandmother develops sudden and severe symptoms of dementia, and this storyline goes nowhere. A touching moment when Bex visits her father in prison is another reminder of how powerful this book could have been.

The plot holes and dangling subplots are more frustrating because Bex could be a great hero for tween misfits. And if the fairy storyline were woven into the main narrative more consistently, the fairies could be a lovely parallel for the misfit girls. As it is, there is too much going on in this book and the different components feel tacked together. Apparently this is the first in a series and presumably some of these plot threads are picked up in later books.

I liked Bex, and I wish she’d had a good editor to make her story shine.

Source disclosure: I received an e-galley courtesy of the author.

Reviews With Lilah: CURSE OF THE SCARAB by H. Y. Hanna

Tags

dognapping, dogs, Egyptian mythology, talking animals

Honey, a big slobbery Great Dane, is the main character in this mystery-adventure, which begins with a rash of missing puppies and veers into the supernatural via ancient Egyptian mythology. This one is a page-turner. At times, it was too frightening for my seven-year-old and I actually censored references to dogfighting as I read aloud. Different children will have different sensitivities, but violence to animals is very upsetting to Lilah and without skating past references to dogfighting, I would have had to explain that some people think it’s fun to watch dogs kill each other and use puppies as training tools, and we are simply not ready for that. I also made a judgement call and left out the fact that Max the Pit Bull dies. It’s a good, redemptive death–it really is–but it would have been extremely upsetting to Lilah. Maybe in a couple of years. Parents should make the call on whether these are issues their children are ready to deal with, so I wanted to offer the caveats I wish I had had when we began reading the book.

The canine characters are fantastic. The humans barely play a part and are mostly oblivious to the goings-on. Besides Honey, there are several other neighborhood dogs, including Bean, the dog sitter’s puppy who stays with Honey and disappears, Max, the scarred Pit Bull newcomer, Newbie, the weird new dog, and Honey’s collection of friends who take an instant dislike to Max, asserting that all Pit Bulls are killers and not to be trusted. As comic relief, the dogs use exclamations like “Oh, ticks!” and “Holy liver treats!” and check peemail at the local lampposts and hydrants. They get away from their humans with astounding ease, but dwelling excessively on how the dogs could plan escapes would have bogged down the action and gotten in the way of the story. Hanna has written the book in such a way that the humans are easily dismissed as not terribly competent and are entirely in the background.

The ancient Egyptian lore is integrated very well. Mysterious scarabs are found at the site of each missing puppy’s last location, leading the dogs to the cemetery and a very strange headstone. One of the dogs uses her Boy’s textbook to translate hieroglyphics. Children familiar with Egyptian mythology may guess the real culprit, but Hanna uses many surprises and twists as the mystery unfolds.

Hanna takes on Pit Bull prejudice in a very direct way. None of the other dogs likes Max, simply because of his breed, even Honey. Max (rescued by his Old Man from a dogfighting ring) transcends these stereotypes in the course of the story. Broader application to stereotypes could make for an excellent supplementary discussion.

Lilah and I recommend this exciting middle-grade mystery-adventure with some reservations.

Source disclosure: I received an e-galley of this title courtesy of the publisher.