I'll be honest and tell you I haven't been reading much ( although it feels like more when I see the last book I blogged about!) due to nicer weather, my xbox, working out, hanging out etc. I just feel like everything I need to be submersed in the book-loving online community can be found on YouTube and GoodReads. Yet here I am aching to tell you about the book I just finished, Everything Was Good-Bye buy Gurjinder Basran. So here I am, back again hopeing to hang on to a shred of the excitement I felt when posting about something I was passionate about!
Goodreads Synopsis:
This wonderful coming of age story is centered around Meena, a young Indian woman growing up in Vancouver who has a foot in two different worlds -India and Canada. The rich fabric of everyday Indian life is the backdrop to the struggle of young second-generation immigrants on the rocky road to assimilation. Ransacked by doubts, Meena is a self-hating woman who struggles with her heritage and cultural identity. She soon finds there's a price to be paid for following customs instead of her heart, resulting in a loveless marriage and the expectations and demands of her Indian family. She tries to leave the old world behind and establish her own identity by escaping her native culture and its obligations, even though she knows better. In this often painfully honest and original narrative, we witness Meena's painful process of self-discovery and independence.
Paperback, 352 pages
Published March 6th 2012 by Penguin (Group) Canada (first published 2008)
That's riiiight Vancouver~! I LOVE reading books about places I used to live in/live close to, because you just KNOW what kind of setting the author
is describing and that is just fantastic to me.
This book was SO good. Firstly, I would like to mention that, in compliance with FTC guidelines, I disclose that I received the book for free through Goodreads First Reads!
Now where to start? The reason I wanted to read this book so bad wasn't because it was listed as a giveaway. I am from Vancouver Island and born in Surrey BC. Meena, our MC lived in North Delta which is close. It's rare that I get to read a coming-of-age fiction novel from Canada, let alone pretty much right next door. The fact that I thought it was awesome just made this the best book I've read in 2012.
This book is definitely a love story. Not in the way I imagine most people would think of a fictional love story though. No, this book was definitely sad. It broke me heart in places and it was so vivid to me that I felt like I was really experiencing who Meena was. It was hard to remember that this book was fictitious even because it seemed so real to me. It had too many unexpected twists and turns to make it not seem like fiction, but the way Basran wrote Meena's story and told us how she felt made me ache it felt so real.
I really hope to see more of Basran in the future. It's been so long since I sat down and finished a book in two days. Had I more time, it would have only been one.
Well now I have plenty of reading to do in catching up on your blogs. That's truly why I came back I think :) See you around!
That's riiiight Vancouver~! I LOVE reading books about places I used to live in/live close to, because you just KNOW what kind of setting the author
is describing and that is just fantastic to me.
This book was SO good. Firstly, I would like to mention that, in compliance with FTC guidelines, I disclose that I received the book for free through Goodreads First Reads!
Now where to start? The reason I wanted to read this book so bad wasn't because it was listed as a giveaway. I am from Vancouver Island and born in Surrey BC. Meena, our MC lived in North Delta which is close. It's rare that I get to read a coming-of-age fiction novel from Canada, let alone pretty much right next door. The fact that I thought it was awesome just made this the best book I've read in 2012.
This book is definitely a love story. Not in the way I imagine most people would think of a fictional love story though. No, this book was definitely sad. It broke me heart in places and it was so vivid to me that I felt like I was really experiencing who Meena was. It was hard to remember that this book was fictitious even because it seemed so real to me. It had too many unexpected twists and turns to make it not seem like fiction, but the way Basran wrote Meena's story and told us how she felt made me ache it felt so real.
I really hope to see more of Basran in the future. It's been so long since I sat down and finished a book in two days. Had I more time, it would have only been one.
Well now I have plenty of reading to do in catching up on your blogs. That's truly why I came back I think :) See you around!
Lan | June 2, 2012 at 1:50 AM
Sounds like a great read. There's always something to be learned from the experience of other cultures trying to assimilate with each other.
Teena in Toronto | June 30, 2012 at 10:55 PM
I finished it tonight and enjoyed it.