The Family Tree by Sairish Hussain

The Family Tree is Sairish Hussain‘s debut novel that follows the life of a British Pakistani family settled in Bradford, UK. The story begins when Amjad’s wife Neelam dies during childbirth leaving Amjad to care for his 10 year old son Saahil and his newborn Zahra. In his home, he is supported by his mother, Ammi, who is a caring and nurturing grandmother to the children. Amjad’s very close friends Harun and his wife Meana are just the support system Amjad needs and their son Ehsaan becomes like a brother to Saahil.


A few years later Saahil and his best friend Ehsaan are celebrating the end of university, filled with hopes and dreams, when an incident changes their lives forever. Meanwhile, Zahra has grown up to be someone who wants to voice her political opinions, and raise her concerns against injustice and pursue her dreams and aspirations.

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How To Raise A Reader


By far, the most asked question on my blog is ‘how do you get your children to read?’ How do they choose a book? ‘How do you inspire them to pick up a book instead of playing video games?’

Let me start by saying, there is no magic formula or some big trade secret. Countless articles lay the importance of reading to your child when they are a baby. So I will say that, yes, we started very early! In fact reading paves the way to college! Read more about that here. But if you didn’t start reading with your child early on, no worries. Today I will share with you some things I did with my kids and perhaps you will find these helpful with yours as well. 

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A Place For Us by Fatima Farheen Mirza


I first saw ‘A Place For Us‘ pop up on Bookstagram – which has become such a wealth of information on books! The author, the story and the imprint intrigued me instantly, and I pre-ordered this novel! I am so glad I did, because I wouldn’t have wanted to wait too long to read this one! Plus I always feel that if a book starts getting a buzz (which this one is getting), and I read it later, I am often left feeling underwhelmed. So this time I wanted to be one of the first to read it!
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Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult


*No Spoilers

I started reading ‘Small Great Things’  by Jodi Picoult over New Years’ eve! Yes, the introvert in me admits that I wasn’t out partying that night! I started this book outside on our patio that evening while we had a family BBQ going on, and I could not put this book down! #pageturner

Read the synopsis below and my thoughts, to see if this is a book that would pique your interest as well.
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Exit West by Mohsin Hamid

Exit West by Mohsin Hamid


Mohsin Hamid’
Exit West which was recently short listed for the Man Booker prize was one of my anticipated’s read this past month. I had read his earlier books, The Reluctant Fundamentalist and Moth Smoke and have enjoyed his modern writing style. An intelligent novelist, with a unique storytelling ability, Hamid’s latest book, Exit West, is a book that evokes much feeling and is pertinent in these times when we face a refugee crisis.
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Author Spotlight: Sandhya Menon for ‘When Dimple Met Rishi’

I recently read and reviewed When Dimple Met Rishi, by Sandhya Menon. As I came to the the end of the book- the flap where you often have the author’s bio, this is what it read.

Sandhya Menon was born and raised in India on a steady diet of Bollywood movies and street food. She balances this upbringing for her obsession with happily ever afters, bad dance moves, and pani puri. Now Sandhya lives in Colorado where she’s on a mission to (gently) coerce her husband and children to watch all 3,220 Bollywood movies she claims as her favorite. Visit her online at sandhyamenon.com

 

In my somewhat disillusioned state, I was tempted to reach out to her and see if she would be willing to share more about herself for my readers on the blog.
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Book Review : The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo


**No spoilers**

The seven husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid, is not a book I would customarily pick up, but I was intrigued by the compelling reviews it was receiving in the blogger community. I am glad I picked it up because it definitely exceeded my expectations!

This book is a quick read, yet has all the elements to make it an intriguing and riveting one. It does not go into depths of magnitude proportions, but is quite the page turner and had me up at all hours of the night in my desire to find out what happened next.
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