Category: Book Reviews

Book Review: The Story That Made Us Stronger

The Story That Made Us Stronger by Iris March – Book Cover

Book: The Story That Made Us Stronger

Author: Iris March

Genre: Fiction, Mystery

Review copy: Reedsy Discovery

Available at: Amazon

Recommended: Must Read

A book that reverberates with hope and the power of goals to keep us going even in the face of challenges.

The Story That Made Us Stronger by Iris March is a novel that glistens with hope and sparkles with the endurance of the human mind and body. It’s a bittersweet story told from the viewpoints of a nurse and his patient, who is undergoing treatment for cancer. A mysterious building with an unknown past draws them together into a bond as they both seek to achieve their goals.

As Connor Jackson goes around investigating the building that attracted his attention during his daily runs, Katie Brandt finds a diversion in his reports to learn more about the abandoned structure. Connor is her window to a world that is becoming increasingly distant as she struggles with the impact of cancer treatment. Connor has a loving extended family but he has inner battles and preparing for a marathon is his way to find purpose in his life beyond work and family. 

This story is about compassion and a journey of healing. The tenderness of Connor as a nurse and Katie as a young mother fighting to get well for her family is the central theme of this book. However, the more exciting bit is the mystery of a rundown building with a strange pole. This part keeps the story moving along and connects the reader with Connor and Katie’s journey. In the storyline about the building, I see a metaphor for the unknown that we always seek to unveil, to understand, and the mission that keeps us going on each day. We all need a mystery to pursue because sometimes what we go through in our mundane existence is too hard on us.

A book about illness, particularly about cancer can be melancholy but the writer brings to us Katie’s struggle in the least overwhelming way possible. There is a distinct warmth flowing through the pages of the book – a subtle energy that pulls at your heartstrings, and the promise of a mystery that you want to solve. The narration is smooth and balanced. It includes cancer information and its treatment. Connor and Katie’s experiences are entwined in the pages of a book where there is a thrill, a budding romance, and most importantly hope. This book brims with humanness and is an endearing read. I highly recommend it for a gentle summer evening or a bus ride home. 

Book Review: The Age of Single

The Age of Single by Eitan Lee – Book Cover

Book: The Age of Single

Author: Eitan Lee

Genre: Psychology

Review copy: Reedsy Discovery

Available at: Amazon

Recommended: Must Read

A fascinating read for those A research-based discourse on why youngsters prefer to be single and the impact it has on our social and economic fabric.

The Age of Single is a fascinating social commentary backed by historical and literary facts. The text is supported by graphs and tables and embellished with relevant images. Author Eitan Lee has encapsulated a vast array of research. Single, as a term, in this book refers to individuals unattached by the legalities of matrimony. A single person may be in a relationship or cohabiting but not married. 

The contemporary phenomenon of singledom is not as modern as we may think; Lee traces its origins to the “free love” movement of the 1960s. In the background of the Vietnam war and the rise of capitalism, the Hippie movement was breaking all forms of social impositions. The current times are no less different with a multitude of issues defining our social, economic, and ethical priorities. 

The Age of Single aims to understand why youngsters are choosing to be single and what it implies on a psychological and economic level. Is “being single” the epitome of happiness, with its promise of independence and free will? Or, “singlism” and emotional complexities make “singledom” not a fairy tale that we assume it to be? The intricate nuances of the relationship status – Single – are brought out in detail in this book through quotes from social media, books, and research papers. 

Lee talks about the role of feminist writers like Virginia Woolfe, Helen Gurley Brown, Judith Butler, and classic novels in stoking the independence streak in women and the definition of gender in our times. This book draws up nuggets of social revolution history to trace how we reached where we are today. It talks about the new gender identities and “new gender politics” in the “relationship terrain.”

And, does this trend of unattached relationships have any long-term consequences? Well, yes, it does as Lee continues to inform. From lowered birth rates and child-rearing to declining physical intimacy, “the age of single” is creating several consequences for the coming generation. “Waiting is the new secret norm.” Time slips away as we wait and the wait may be momentarily fulfilling but not necessarily brimming with happiness.

Lee’s book is a must-read for a range of audiences. From teachers and preachers to the young and their parents. Unless we understand the currents that are shaping the life of our youngsters, we can not have relevant conversations about “undoing gender” and “gender-fluidity”, along with the future of marriage as an institution. “In this new reality, we are facing a new range of relationship problems hardly known to previous generations.” I loved the book for its crisp narrative and meticulous writing. It is a breezy yet meaningful reference book.

Book Review: Little Baghdad

Little Baghdad – a memoir by -Weam Namou- Book Cover

Book: Little Baghdad: A Memoir About an Endangered People in an American City

Author: Weam Namou

Genre: Biographies, memoirs

Review copy: Reedsy Discovery

Available at: Amazon.in

Recommended: Must Read

A fascinating read for those who want to know the history of the struggles in our world and about the life of refugees from Iraq.

Writing a memoir is a manifestation of bravery, for one must dig into the deepest crevices and corners of memory to tell an astounding story. Little Baghdad by Weam Namou is one such brilliant effort as it fills the pages with a kaleidoscopic memory scape that is endearing and poignant.

Weam delves into the lesser-known documented history and experiences of the Chaldean Christians from Iraq, who settled in the state of Michigan in the United States. The pages carry the longing and the travails of all who must leave their homeland to seek refuge in distant pastures. The amalgamation and assimilation into a new world is a long and adventurous journey peppered with stories – sweet and bitter.

Little Baghdad is not just a glimpse of the life of settlers from another part of the globe in Michigan, it is also a historical note on the city of Detroit. There is a glimpse of the culture of the Native Red Indians and how they slowly embrace modernity. In the reflections of loss and hope, a young wife, mother, sibling, and caretaker for an aging parent weaves in her professional quest.

Amidst political turmoil and a growing divide based on religion and community, our author, a feminist and flag-bearer of justice, is often disheartened, yet she gains strength in her artistic explorations. Part 2 of the book is a tender testimony of the love that only a child can feel for parents who devoted their lives to finding another haven for their children. It is, then, the sweet burden of the children to do their best to create something worthwhile for the next generation. It’s not an effortless task when time has changed the landscape and people have drifted apart. “Things don’t die, they become shells. Life then continues in different ways.”

From anecdotes related to writing a book or creating a home production to deciphering ancient scriptures and culture, or talking about a quiet evening with the family and its pet, the narration is brimming with memories. The reader can only imagine the writer’s nostalgia as she brings out precious and delicate recollections on paper. The book is bound to touch and inspire the reader in more ways than one as it meanders down memory lane. It would be a treat to see a web series on the vibrant ethnic communities that are documented in this book. 

Book Review: Freddy’s Magic Garden

Freddy’s Magic Garden -Angelin Dayan- Book Cover

Book: Freddy’s Magic Garden

Author: Angelina Dayan

Genre: Biographies, memoirs, stories

Review copy: Reedsy Discovery

Available at: Amazon.in

Recommended: Must Read

Get yourself a little something this Valentine’s Day – A delightful, warm, and fuzzy book that tells of feline adventures and is brimming with utmost love and affection.

Freddy’s Magic Garden by Angelina Dayan is a warm and fuzzy novella, perfect for the winter months. It contains stories filled with much love and affection for our furry friends. It is about friendship, guardianship, and hope. The book has been written with much tenderness and the feelings ooze out of the pages, instantly warming the heart.

With human and feline narrators, the storytelling is lively and can make for a good bedtime read for children. The cat portraits give faces to the names of frolicky balls of fur. A more vibrant portfolio of the cats in different settings around the house and garden would have made this into an exotic coffee-table book. The book is a testimony of how caring for fur babies, tugs at your heartstrings and can keep you up at night and days, in anxiety for their well-being. The commitment to care for another living being is difficult and must only be taken up if one will go the extra mile.

The stories of the cats, as told in their voice, are engaging and humorous. You feel drawn into their world. From their experiences with the breeders to waiting for their human family, to antics and escapades, these cats have a full life of adventure. In Uddy’s escapades, the author seems to channel Orwell’s Animal Farm, including a visionary piglet. There is a reference to Elon Musk’s feline alter ego, and it’s hilarious – “What you need, Uddy is to go to Mars. But hurry up before that human gets ahead of you, that Mewlon Husk,” he advised. I would have loved more farm stories, but it was a small part of the larger feline saga.

This is a fabulous book to understand the world of cats, particularly Maine Coons. As it is with life, the cats face losses and challenges, but with love and care, they bounce back. With the largesse of the heart, even a small home can become a heaven for little bundles of joy. The cat family grows by leaps and bounds and there is much joy to be shared and observed. Freddy’s Magic Garden is a perfect book for animal lovers and if you can not get enough of these stories, then like me, you can top it up with a 2022 Netflix film – Inside the mind of a cat.

Book Review: Millennial Apocalyp$e 

Millennial Apocalyp$e -Zane Brown – Book Cover

Book: Millennial Apocalyp$e Why You and Other Millennials Are Tracking Toward Financial Disaster and How You Can Avoid It

Author: Zane Brown

Genre: Non-fiction, business, self-help

Review copy: Reedsy Discovery

Available at: Amazon.in

Recommended: Loved It

This a thought-provoking and insightful book for our times, with relevance for a wide audience interested in the psychology of the millennials.

The fear of recession and the current doldrums that our economy is braving is directly impacting millennials. The sudden dissemination of the Big Tech bubble and its ripple across several digitalized segments is causing a lot of concern with markets in a tizzy. In this well-timed and relevant book, financial strategist Zane Brown, and psychologist Dr. Donalee Brown address the conditions, fears, and proposed solutions around the financial well-being of millennials.

The book is primarily targeted towards an American audience with many references to laws, socio-economic situations, and even research centered on the American ecosystem. However, most insights are valid for an international audience and informative for all who want to understand the global economy and millennial psychology.

I recommend this book as a thought-provoking and insightful study of the world of millennials. It helps us understand how their sense of entitlement, risk aversion, internet addiction, self-aggrandizement, behavioral biases, distrust in banks and traditionally organized financial organizations in favor of cryptocurrencies, and even financial PTSD – all of this crumples up the modern social fabric. This book explains how late marriages, high student debts, delayed or no real estate investment, and zero retirement plans are keeping millennials on the precipice of a financial disaster.

The book offers advice and aims at pulling millennials out of the rut of choosing to remain uninformed and risk-averse while making unhealthy financial decisions. This is an important book for a wide audience – parents, educators, leaders, and of course, the young generation, who are not getting straightforward answers on what 2023 and beyond hold for the world. We are living in a stressful time – a book that acknowledges this and offers succor in practical ways while validating the concerns of our generation – is a must-read book.

The research, analysis, examples, and explanations make this an engaging read. However, the descriptive content is often repetitive, as if to meet a certain word count. A better way to handle this would have been to include graphics, tables, line drawings, or caricatures, which this book lacks. Yet, this is a necessary book for its advice related to deep analysis, personal connections with professional and financial advisors, delayed gratification, and patience for the millennials.

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