A year after Janey’s suicide, her friends reunite at a remote Spanish villa, desperate to put the past behind them. However, an unwelcome guest arrives claiming to have evidence that Jane was murdered. When she is found floating in the pool, it becomes clear one of them is a killer. Only one thing is for certain, surviving this holiday is going to be murder…

A compelling and psychological thriller - with a dash of romance.

"Just do it, you coward. Show him what he made you do. They'll never forget you after this."

In the midst of myriad "murder-mystery-on-a-beach" YA novels, James Dawson's Cruel Summer stands out. Not because it has an extremely shocking ending, or a great number of plot twists, but because it's a unique (for YA novels, at least) blend of a grisly murder mystery and British humour, with an interesting focus on character relationships. It's no Dangerous Girls, but it's an intriguing summer read.

This was basically a movie/TV series within a book. The book was divided into "scenes" rather than chapters, and the internal monologue of Ryan (our main character, and narrator for most of the book), who imagined the scenes in the book as part of a script. The book was never dull. Even the flashbacks - which I usually detest reading - managed to keep me thoroughly entertained. The story was littered with red herrings, which I felt were a wonderful addition to the storyline and made it even more addictive.

The characters fit the stereotypes of characters in a typical teen "horror" movie, and the plot is also rather similar to one. However, Dawson adds his own flair to the story, and laces it with twists and turns that keep the reader hungry for more. The characters each have their own lives with their own fair share of drama, which ensures maximum entertainment. The story was, pleasantly, not too dark or eerie, and was a lighter read than most. Nonetheless, it was still worthy of being called a good thriller novel.

The climax wasn't too shocking, having figured out the killer early on, but the thrill of reading about the revelation of the killer's identity remained. The ending itself was reminiscent of Gretchen McNeil's Ten (spoiler alert: it was heartbreaking). Those looking for a gripping page-turner to amuse them during the summer, I'd highly recommend Cruel Summer.

On a side note, I could totally see this book being turned into a TV mini-series.

The Pearl that broke its shell by Nadia Hashimi 

Review:

The Pearl That Broke Its Shell by Nadia Hashimi is a lyrical work of literary fiction which tells the story of two woman from the same family, living a century apart, Rahima and Shekiba, who both followed an ancient custom in Afghanistan called bacha posh, which allows a girl to dress as man until marrying age, allowing the girl the freedom to attend school, shop unaccompanied, work, and to chaperone one’s sisters. Will Rahima follow the path Shekiba chose a century before her or will she follow a different path altogether. The Pearl That Broke Its Shell is a breathtaking beautiful and at the same time painful book to read, the characters easily come to life, for good or bad, and Hashimi’s writing transport the reader directly into the interwoven stories. I found myself more drawn to Shekiba’s life, however, each story is mesmerizing, heartbreaking, and full of hope where it seems little is offered. There is not enough I can do to praise The Pearl That broke Its Shell, for it must be read to truly bring out all the wonders of this remarkable novel which will stay with the reader long after the book ends. I highly recommend The Pearl That Broke Its Shell to all readers and especially to book discussion groups, for this book offers up a wealth of information to digest

About Author:

Nadia Hashimi is a pediatrician of Afghan descent. Both her parents left Afghanistan in the early 1970s and settled in the United States to chase the American dream. Her debut novel, The Pearl That Broke Its Shell (Harper Collins, 2014) is an international bestseller and was a 2014 Goodreads finalist in the categories of Debut Author and Fiction. Her second novel, When The Moon Is Low, is a story of terror, survival, perseverance and hope that chronicles one Afghan woman's odyssey to save her family and find asylum in the West. 

Connect with her on Facebook, Twitter or via her website 

AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT 

                                                      
                                                          Omar Shahid Hamid 

Author Bio:

Omar Shahid Hamid served with Pakistan's Karachi police for 12 years, during which time he was targeted by various terrorist groups and criminal outfits. He received his Masters in Criminal Justice Policy from the London School of Economics, and his Masters in Law from University College London.

Author Stalking Links:

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Books by Omar Shahid Hamid 

2) The Spinner's Tale 

                                                   

Author Omar Shahid Hamid is returning with another novel titled The Spinner's Tale. Slated for publication on June 19, will explore terrorism in Pakistan.

A novel about three school friends, The Spinner's Tale follows Ausi, Eddy and Sana, with Ausi transforming into Sheikh Ahmed Uzair Sufi, a top Jihadi militant in Pakistan.

While Eddy and Sana head to the US for further studies, Ausi's life takes a different turn. Nostalgia bind Ausi and Eddie together initially, but soon the friends have to confront their differing stances, placing their relationship in jeopardy. The novel is set in Karachi, Kashmir and Afghanistan.

1)    The Prisoner

                     

Synopsis:

On an unusually cold December evening in Karachi, American journalist Jon Friedland is kidnapped from one of the city's poshest neighbourhoods. His captors plan to post a video of his execution on Christmas Day. The kidnapping has come at a bad time, embarrassing the Pakistani government in front of their US allies. The clock is ticking. Will the police and Intelligence Agencies recover Friedman alive?

The story careens through the streets of Karachi, taking the reader into an all too real world of jihadis, corrupt police officers, and bloodthirsty political henchmen – all placed together in a city where no one is quite what they seem

                              

Clay Jensen returns home from school to find a strange package with his name on it lying on his porch. Inside he discovers several cassette tapes recorded by Hannah Baker—his classmate and crush—who committed suicide two weeks earlier. Hannah's voice tells him that there are thirteen reasons why she decided to end her life. Clay is one of them. If he listens, he'll find out why. 
                
Clay spends the night crisscrossing his town with Hannah as his guide. He becomes a firsthand witness to Hannah's pain, and as he follows Hannah’s recorded words throughout his town, what he discovers changes his life forever.

The moment I started reading this book I could not leave it. I read it for hours and hours slowly falling in love with the book .  This book for me was one of those few books I will read again and again and never get tired or bored of reading. It was truly a great book. 

Basically it tells of Clay Jensen, a high school student who receives a box of audiotapes narrated by a girl who he had a crush on, Hannah Baker, who has recently committed suicide. The book interweaves her words from the audiotapes with his comments and memories. It gives Hannah's reasons why she did what she did and names the people (who also are receiving audiotapes - each person is to mail them to the next person on the list) and why they contributed to what happened. It may have been something big, somewhat small, something seemingly innocent, something no so much. But it all leads up to Hannah not being able to cope by herself even when she reaches out for help. If anyone can read this and see themselves in it and make changes - or even better see someone else and reach out in compassion, this book will have a huge effect.

 It's sad, amazing, heartbreaking, and hopeful, all at the same time. I dare you to read it and not become so immersed in the story that you lose track of time and your surroundings. You'll cry, several times, while reading this story. You'll have no choice but to think about your actions, and wonder what type of effect they have on other people.

I am absolutely blown away by Jay’s writing. She wrote the book with such great emotion and her writing makes you feel like you are actually going through everything that is happening in the book.

This book was honestly THE BEST BOOK EVER! EVERYONE SHOULD READ THIS MIND BLOWING, FANTASTIC BOOK.

1. Malgudi Day by RK Narayan .

Often touted as India's answer to Chekov ,RK Narayan was one of the early wave of Indian writers who first introduced the world to the genre of Indian writing in English,this 1943 book is a collection of 32 short stories focusing on the pre-independence fictional South Indian town of Malgudi and it vividly captures the sights and sounds of everyday life in India .Known for his gripping cliff-hanger endings,Narayan crowds his pages with characters who range from affable and endearing to the downright despicable .

2.A Suitable boy 

With all the husband-hunting ,class divides and family intrigue ,Seth's masterpiece could be Jane Austen novel-if it weren't set in 1950's India ,that is. Lata Mehra's mother is on a quest to find her daughter the perfect match ,but Lata has ideas of her own regarding marriage and love, and so do her extended entourage of relative. Set against the socio-political upheaval of newly independent India -spanning from partition to the first general elections and touching on themes of communal strife and struggle for gender equality, Seth captures a sweeping visually rich ,satirical snapshot of the subcontinent and its inhabitants finding their feet .  

3. The Inheritance of loss 

Literature often glorifies multiculturalism - Desai 2006 second novel .however ,decidedly doesn't. It's the 1980's .Biju ,an Indian living illegally in the US ,spends his days working in grimy kitchens of nondescript New York restaurants, dodging the immigration and Naturalization Service and living in squalid accommodation.Meanwhile ,in a north-eastern India shadowed by political unrest ,Cambridge -educated retired judge Kemubhai Patel (whose cook is biju's father ) lives with his teenage granddaughter Sai and his nostalgic Anglophilia results in a deep aversion to his own culture.

4.The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri

the Indian american experience has turned out to be primary theme throughout all the Pulitzer-prize -winning Lahiri's work and nowhere does she capture it better than in her debut novel The Namesake .Capturing the immigrant experience in all its awkwardness and wonder , she poignantly portrays the sense of displacement ,awe and overwhelming nostalgia that affects all those trying to form a life outside of everything they are accustomed to. The narrative traces Indian couple Ashima and ashoke Ganguly's journey to the us in search of a better life as they adjust to a new culture and raise their first generation .American children.children. Thier son Gogol,is torn between his parents 's heritage and the lifestyle he was born into ,his unusual name aggravating hid identity crisis.  

5. The God of small thing by Arundhati Roy

my review on this book  The God of small things

6. The Shadow Linesby Amitab ghosh

Amoving saga about the bonds of family and the poewer of imagination ,memory and love ,its an timeless as any classic can be . Told from the point of view of the unnamed narrator ,the intertwined lives of three  generations of  of two families are explored ,as the narrative flits between time and place ,from India to Bangladesh to England bet 1939 to 1964.

7. Q&a by Swarup 

Swarup 2006 debut novel has all the ingredients for a perfect Bollywood (or in case Hollywood) potboiler drama ,action ,romance bengeance ,suspense and a winning amount of rs 1 million .Its no surprise then that Danny Boyle decided make Q&A into a film; the Oscar winning slumdog millionaire ,humorous ,insightful and emotional in eqaul quantities . Worth a read whether you've seen the movie or not .

8.The white tiger by ARavind Aidga 

Balram Halwai is :a man who sees tomorrow when others see today" and will do whatever it takes to rise above the social class he was born into- in his Machivellian world view, deception ,burglary and even murder can be justified . Through him Adiga's 2008 Booker prize win is a concise portrayal of modern India ,where new found capitalism meets age-old casteism ,where glitzy new cities are built in the ruins of rural India and where money talks and morals are futile,Balram narrative illustrated the price contemporary India pays to acquire economic prosperity.

9. Narcopolis by Jeet thayil 

Jeet 2012 book -shortlisted debut novel is a series of interconnected vignettes recounting what life in the sordid underbelly of Bombay was like ,before its reincarnation as Mumbai. Dom Ullis is the dysfunctional narrator,but the real protagonist is the metropolis itself -at one both tempting and grotesque in its array of addictions and deviance and the underworld that composes its lethal side , Part roman-a-clef ,part cathartic confession, the dis orienting ,hypnotic prose is interposed with observations about the hypocrisies and complexities of Indian society .  

10.Delhi is Not Far by Ruskin Bond

Summing up Ruskin Bond's contribution to Indian writing is no easy task,From short stories to novellas ,non fiction and children 's fiction-you name it , this Anglo-Indian author has left his indelible mark on every aspect of Indian writing . Delhi if not far his critically acclaimed 1994 novella ,deals with the small -towner's ultimate dream-making it to the big city .Arun an amateur writer of Urdu detective novels is ,bidding his time in the sleepy ,fictitious town of Pipalnagar until he pens his breakthrough novel ,which he believes will be his gateway to Delhi, a dream every Pipalnagar resident harbors .Imbued with the charm and subtle humor unique to Bond , this is a story about optimism ,dreams and human foibles.  

Ratings:

My thoughts :

I was captivated by this novel from beginning to end. As a Muslim and a woman I really related to the character Najwa. Her gradual transformation from a spoiled, somewhat shallow teen, to a pensive, observant Muslim is a pleasure to observe. This story is fictional, but the message is definitely real and it's something that could affect anyone. Najwa loses everything and hits rock bottom, but through faith in God, she's able to gain strength and not lose hope. This novel was wholly entertaining and superbly written. The characters were well developed, especially the despicable Anwar, one of Najwa's chief antagonists. I would recommend Minaret to anyone, especially Muslim women. I look forward to Aboulela's future novels.

This is a book about one woman -- Najwa -- dealing with loss: the loss of her family, her home, her status, her country, and her sense of self. The only time "Islam" comes into play here is that it is with her faith that Najwa finds some answers for herself. The book doesn't bash you over the head with Islam. Any Christian, Jew, Buddhist, etc. who has found their own sense of peace through their faith will relate to Najwa.

Minaret is a very insightful novel about the inner worldview and frame of mind that Muslims experience. I am sure many Muslim readers (especially converts, and those who weren't practicing in their past) can relate to Najwa's reversion to Islam. During Najwa's youth, while she was always intrigued with Islam, she nonetheless lived a normal modern life under the influence of her family and friends. But once she realized the significance of Allah, only then did she truly understand the meaning of life. The novel also brings up many common issues faced by Muslims today, regarding the supposed hypocritical double-standardness for men and women in the Muslim world, having "blind" faith in religion, gender relations in Islam, varying Muslim attitudes to Islam, and the importance of repentance and the grand mercy of Allah. Through Najwa, Ms. Aboulela is able to portray the psyche of a true Muslim in ways most people, especially with the common western-modern/scientistic world view would otherwise be unable to grasp. Excellent Read, as I completed reading the (almost 300 page) book in 3 sittings, as I couldnt put it down.

The icing on the cake, and truly the saddest part of the novel is the ending. It defies all clichés and really makes this novel genuine work of art. Who ever said happy endings make a book good

They all broke the rules. They all crossed into forbidden territory. They all tampered with the laws that lay down who should be loved, and how. And how much.’

This is the story of Rahel and Estha, twins growing up among the banana vats and peppercorns of their blind grandmother’s factory, and amid scenes of political turbulence in Kerala. Armed only with the innocence of youth, they fashion a childhood in the shade of the wreck that is their family: their lonely, lovely mother, their beloved Uncle Chacko (pickle baron, radical Marxist, bottom-pincher) and their sworn enemy, Baby Kochamma (ex-nun, incumbent grand-aunt).

Arundhati Roy’s Booker Prize-winning novel was the literary sensation of the 1990s: a story anchored to anguish but fuelled by wit and magic.

My thoughts:

Roy's 1997 Booker prize winning masterpiece is a heart wrenching accounts of twins Rahel and Esrha's childhood in 1960's communist Kerala and its decaying but relevant caste system . 

Tragic events ,beginning with the accidental death of their visiting British cousin Sophie Mol ,cruelly crush the protagonist's innocence and upturn their young lives.

Roy;s inventive and original writing style - broken narrative and tactile imagery redolent with symbolism and made up words- is divisive ;irritating to some, ingenious to others,but it constructs with almost painfully vivid clarity the thoughts ,hopes and fears that inhabit the minds of children .At its heart is an eloquent tribute to love- the one thing that endures despite anything .Evocative ,passionate and dripping with imagery ,if you make it to the final twist ,this is sort of book that will haunt you for weeks.