Love, Hate & Other Filters by Samira Ahmed

Maya is in her final year of high school in a small American town.  She is quiet and often hides behind her video camera which she employees to make documentaries.  She'd love to attend NYU for film studies though her parents expect her to follow their wishes of meeting a nice Indian boy while she attends a near by law school.  Maya is torn between pleasing her parents and following her heart  All these plans are thrown in turmoil when a response to a serious incident elsewhere in the country unleashes islamaphobic attacks upon the family.

Maya is your typical girl next door that you'd want your child to be friends with.  She is kind and sensitive to others, smart and studies hard.  She also happens to be Indian and Muslim.  These shouldn't and don't matter to most people, but there are some who hold these differences against her.  Just because a person is different than you, it doesn't automatically diminish that person nor does it make them bad.

At an age where so many teens are struggling with what they want to do with their future, Maya has a very clear view.  She wants to study film so she can make and direct documentary films.  She also wants to be able to tell her parents that she wants a love match and not an arranged marriage.  She wants to be given the freedom to make her own choices.

I love this book.  It spoke to me on so many levels.  As a parent, Maya is a daughter that I would be pleased to call my own. She was brought up in a warm and loving family by attentive parents.  She is intelligent and well prepared to face the adult world.  When the world crashes into her life and her family, her response is realistic.  She is concerned for the well being of those who were directly impacted by the incident before she questions how this might reflect back on the Muslim communities across the United States.

Author Samira Ahmed has shone a light on an ugly incident of the type that happens far too often in our so called 'civilized communities'.  She helps to call attention to racial and religious bigotry.  Such hatred has no place in this world.  All it does is create damage.  Education is the best weapon against such ignorant actions.  This book needs to be widely read.  It would be a good starting place for class room discussions about combating racism.  This is a strong debut novel by Ms. Ahmed and I eagerly await her next novel.

I received an advanced reader copy of this book from Indigo Books & Music Inc., in exchange for an honest review.

Cover image courtesy Penguin Random House Canada.

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When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon

In no way is this your typical romance.

Dimple is looking forward to her summer away from home before starting university in the fall. She knows that successfully completing the distinguished web design summer program will open all sorts of doors for her in the future.

Rishi has other reasons for attending; he is going to meet his future wife, the one his parents have selected for him.

Both Dimple and Rishi were anticipating huge changes to their lives as a result of this summer camp, but they got far more than they expected.

I loved this book form the opening pages.  Dimple is a strong young woman, she knows what she wants out of life and has a plan how to achieve it.  She intends to beak out of the mould her parents have planned for her.

Rishi likewise knows what he wants and a has a pragmatic approach for his success.  He is very traditional, loves his heritage and embraces the idea of the life his parents have planned for him

All is going well for the teens and their plans, until they meet.  From that moment, I couldn't wait to read more, to find out how they both could succeed in their goals without totally crushing the other.  How could I not love both Dimple and Rishi.  They were both so sincere and passionate in their belief that they had chosen the correct life path.

As I read, I also pondered the idea of arranged marriages.  It is still widely accepted in many parts of the world but disdained in others.  To fully appreciate it's value, I feel I would have had to have grown up within it's practise.  To have had parent, grandparents and aunts and uncles watching over me and perusing perspective bride grooms.  It appears a years long, if not life long process of much thought and consideration.

I can imagine the lively discussions this book will initiate among teen  readers.  Tradition vs modern thought.  The value of involving your parents in your life and finally being true to yourself and your passions vs purely financial goals.

This is a wonderful debut novel from author Sandhya Menon.  Her next book is due out in 2018.

I received an advanced reader copy of this book from Indigo Books and Music Inc., in exchange for an honest review. 

Cover image courtesy Simon & Schuster Canada.

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The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga audiobook

Animals aren't intended to live in zoos, so why is that some people seem to be content to live in their self imposed or society imposed cages.

This is one of the questions that Aravind Adiga poses in his debut novel White Tiger. I listened to the audio book over the past two weeks, and found that I never wanted to press the 'stop' button.  If it had been a paper book, I would have carried it around with me non-stop, peeking pages whenever I had a free moment.  Even now, I am planning to purchase at least one copy. 

Balram Halwai was born in a small rural village into a family of the caste of 'sweet makers'.  His father was a rickshaw puller and his brother worked in a teashop.  Balram started out following his brother, though while his brother strictly did his job, he chose to listen to the talk of the patrons and learn more about the world.  He longed for more than cleaning up the slops of others.  Balram decided to become a driver and work his way up in the world.

Balram is telling the story of his life and his rise in status as an entrepreneur in a series of late night letters to the Premier of China, who is schedualed to visit India in the near future.  In his letters he admits to being a wanted murderer and proceeds to explain to the Premier why his earlier actions were warranted.

Mr. Halwai likens his early life to that of a caged animal at the zoo.  His position is that even if you open the door to the cage, the animals will remain inside the bars, that is what they know of life and they expect no more.  It was interesting to see how Balram forced open the doors of his cage and ran out, free. 

I'm not sure why, but I was hooked on this book from the first pages.  It is set in a country that I know little about (India), in a series of jobs that I haven't experienced.  I do think that mostly it was the lilting voice of the reader.  Each time I turned on my player, I didn't want to stop, I wanted to keep hearing that voice. 

At times Balram Halwai reminded me of Jay Porter the main character from Attica Locke's book Black Water Rising.  Both are men who appear to be free, but both are still living within the shackles of their mind.  Locke's book has  been shortlisted for the Orange Prize for Fiction.

Audio book from Tantor Media, read by John Lee.

Winner of the 2008 Man Booker Prize for Fiction

Honda City image from Pakauto Car

Red bag image from Gucci Italy

Also reviewed by:

Amy at Amy Reads

This is my 10th book for the Read, Remember, Recommend Fiction challenge hosted by Rachelle at Bibliobabe.com.  There are a number of great prizes to be won, as well as monthly book prizes available to all visitors to her blog.