The Alchemist

Author: Paulo Coelho

Genre: Fiction

Rating: 5 out of 5

Date Started: 1 July 2021

Date Finished: 11 July 2021

This book was referred by many of my friends, apart from Goodreads and many other blogs and Instagram handles I follow. I do regret not reading this book soon enough. The reviews were either 'I loved it' or 'I hated it', but there was no in-between. I had also heard many people saying that the book was lost in translation. All these points made me pick up the book. This was my first book by, Paulo Coelho.

The book is about a boy, Santiago who lives in Andalusia, Spain. He is a shepherd and dreams that he needs to look for a treasure near the pyramids in Egypt. The book talks about the journey of Santiago from Spain to Egypt. He never would have left Spain but dares to take a trip into an unknown land and meet various people. The book explains the knowledge he gains during his journey, hardships, friendships, trust, and believing in himself the most. The book also talks about wanting something really bad and that one is ready to do anything to get that while trying to make sense of the hardships.

The book was not just a story of a boy, but I felt that it was philosophical in a way. We all have our goals to achieve and meet a variety of people and situations on the way. Treasure in this case is the things we chase in life that we feel make our lives better. There are heartbreaks that can either be a boon or a curse, but we all have to face them. The book is also about self-realization, which I feel is part of life and the goal we all try to achieve.

My favorite character in this book was Santiago. He represented me and the struggles of my life. Santiago is persistent about getting the treasures and tries to trust everyone he meets. He looks for a silver lining in every situation and never gives up easily.

This book was an eye-opener about life. The struggles, unexpected situations, and the chase towards a common goal were very relatable. I felt like this book resembled 'Life of Pi' in some ways. This book was also about resilience, struggle, and going back to one's roots. In the end, it leaves many questions - Was the journey worth the effort? Was that the treasure I was looking for? Did I find my treasure? Were my struggles worth the experience?

Favorite lines from the book:

• I weep for Narcissus, but I never noticed that Narcissus was beautiful. I weep because each time he knelt beside my banks, I could see, in the depths of his eyes, my own beauty reflected.
• Well, usually I learn more from my sheep than from books.
• The day was dawning, and the shepherd urged his sheep in the direction of the sun. They never have to make any decisions, he thought. Maybe that's why they always stay close to me.
• I couldn't have found God in the seminary, he thought, as he looked at the sunrise.
• It's this: at a certain point in our lives, we lose control of what's happening to us, and our lives become controlled by fate. That's the world's greatest lie.
• And, when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you achieve it.
• If you start out by promising what you don't even have yet, you'll lose your desire to work toward getting it.
• For her, every day was the same, and when each day is the same as the next, it's because people fail to recognize the good things that happen in their lives every day the sun rises.
• Because it's the thought of Mecca that keeps me alive. I'm afraid that if my dream is realized, I'll have no reason to go on living.
• You must always know what is that you want.
• Every blessing ignored becomes a curse.
• The closer one gets to realizing his Personal Legend, the more that Personal Legend becomes his true reason for being.
• Learning something new is an unnecessary burden.
• We are afraid of losing what we have, whether it's our life or our possessions, and property. But this fear evaporates when we understand that our life stories and history of the world were written by the same hand.
• Once you get into the desert, there is no going back. And, when you can't go back, you have to worry only about the best way of moving forward. The rest is up to Allah, including the danger.
• Walking along in silence, he had no regrets. If he died tomorrow, it would be because God was not willing to change the future. He had lived every one of his days intensely since he had left home so long ago If he died tomorrow, he would already have seen more than other shepherds, and he was proud of that.
• Every search begins with beginner's luck. And every search ends with the victor's being severely tested.
• When you possess great treasures within you and try to tell others of them, seldom are you believed.
• "But this payment goes beyond my generosity," the monk responded. "Don't say that again. Life might be listening, and give you less next time."
• Everything that happens once can never happen again. But everything that happens twice will surely happen a third time.
• People are capable, at any time in their lives, of doing what they dream of.

The Storyteller's Secret

Author: Sejal Badani

Genre: Fiction

Rating: 2 out of 5

Date Started: 14 June 2021

Date Finished: 1 July 2021

This was recommended by Goodreads, and the storyline sounded interesting. Goodreads also had more than 4 stars for this book, and I trusted the reviews. I also tend to read books by South Asian authors since I can relate to them easily.

Jaya, who is a journalist in New York, has had three miscarriages and has separated from her husband Patrick. Jaya was born and brought up in the USA by her Indian parents. Her father is a doctor, and Jaya does not so a good relationship with her mother and considers her cold. One day Jaya finds a letter addressed to her mother about her mother Lena's father Deepak being serious in India.

Jaya tries to find reasons for her never visiting India as a child to see her grandparents and Lena has no answer for that. Faced with separation from Patrick due to her miscarriages, and needing a change of scenery, Jaya decided to go to India to visit her grandfather against the wishes of her mother. She lands in the ancestral village and learns that her grandfather Deepak passed away a few days before her visit. Her grandmother Amisha died when Lena was a child.

She meets the family's loyal servant Ravi, and he narrates the stories about the family. Ravi comes from a lower caste and is considered untouchable. Jaya's grandmother Amisha does not believe in the caste system and takes Ravi as one of the servants in the house along with others. Ravi tells Jaya about Amisha, who loved to write stories and taught story writing in the local Raj (British) school. Amisha is fond of learning and tries to learn English from Lieutenant Stephan.

The story walks through the family life, Amisha's love for English and learning in general, society, and the interactions with Stephan. Jaya gets to meet Ravi's family as well. Ravi, in honor of Amisha, names his great-granddaughter as Misha. Ravi talks about Amisha and the relationship she has with everyone in the family and in the village. During the trip, Jaya realizes the reasons for her mother's cold behavior, and why she never visited India.

My favorite character in the book was Ravi. He was the best friend and a great confidant Amisha could have. He not only supported Amisha in everything she wanted to do. He was the one Amisha could trust to keep her secrets. Ravi seemed like he was indebted to Amisha because she treated him an equal, and paid him way more than anyone else in the village, which helped him and his family build a better life. He keeps all her secrets as promised and lets Jaya know about Amisha.

Where do I start! I was glad the book ended! The books could have been not more than 150 pages, and the story dragged on. Amisha's story was way longer than it should have been, and I felt that story development was slower than it should have been. Both the story and the end were very predictable and had no surprise element. If I could I would not have read this book!

Favorite lines from the book:

• Sometimes loving something isn't enough.
• Sometimes, Jaya, it is best to leave things if they cause you harm.
• Living in New York, I am used to beggars. As guilty as others, I give my standard response, shaking my head and walking away. But never have I ever been faced with children. The sight of them begging, some barely old enough to walk, turns my stomach.
• Amisha, also married at fifteen, knew girls are married at all ages. A poor family could barter its newborn away for a bag of rice. Fifteen, in some villages, was thought too old.
• Hope was her life raft that tone day they would be valued. Hope is a four-letter word and one of the simplest in the English language; contrast that with floccinaucinihilipilification, one of the most complicated.
• Death was a gift given to them because, once dead, they longer had to fear life. Death was freedom. Never should the hand of death be fought; rather, it should be welcomed as a savior into the home.

American Betiya

Author: Anuradha D. Rajurkar

Genre: Fiction

Rating: 3 out of 5

Date Started: 8 May 2021

Date Finished: 15 May 2021

The synopsis sounded interesting and coming from India, I thought I could relate to the story and the characters. Also, Goodreads had more than 4 stars and I trusted the reviews and thought of getting it.

The story is about Rani Kelkar, who is an 18-year-old girl and a high school senior. Her parents migrated from India to the USA and have a traditional parental style, which forbids Rani from even talking to boys much less dating any! Rani is good with her photography skills and meets Oliver Jensen during one of her exhibitions. Oliver is As secure as Rani is with her family and the lifestyle, Oliver on the other hand comes from a troubled family, with divorced parents and a sister who is dating a married man and is pregnant with his child. Oliver with tattoos, his passion for art, and his background would be a perfect nightmare for Rani's mother Uma.

Rani and Oliver meet in school start dating and fall in love. Rani tries to hide Oliver from her family, but her best friend Kate is the one she confesses to everything going on between her and Oliver. Rani is teenager a torn between the South Asian culture she was brought up in and the American culture she is growing up in. Rani is so madly in love with Oliver that they end up sleeping together. Oliver tries hard and is desperate to fit into Rani's world, and she feels she is being disrespected.

The death of her beloved grandfather takes her to Pune, India from the world she has known in Illinois. She goes out with her cousin Shalini and realizes that her passion is photography and not medicine which her parents want her to pursue. She also understands the background her parents come from and why they behave the way do! Ultimately Rani comes back to the USA along with her parents and pursues her dreams.

In the entire book, my favorite character was Rani's friend Kate. Kate is a feminist and loves her mother for standing up for herself. She tries to live life the way she wants and does not believe in societal norms. She protects Rani from her parents when Rani and Oliver want to be together. Due to Oliver, both Rani and Kate end up fighting and bitterness looms in their friendship. Kate is mature enough to forgive Rani after she receives her letter and be supportive of her friend.

This book was a YA read and did not have the grip to hold my attention for the most part. I felt the books were repetitive as well. I am not sure if the book failed to hold my interest, or if I am too old for this kind of story! Although I have heard Indian parents being strict, and I know kids who hide from their parents, I felt that Rani's adventures went unnoticed for a long time by her parents. It was hard to believe that Rani's parents did not know anything about the relationship between Rani and Oliver. The story did not have much substance for a long time until the family visited Pune, and Rani understood the culture, relatives, support, and her passion.

Favorite lines from the book:

• 2. My strict-ass parents - whom I love like a dog but who obviously drive me crazy - don't allow me to date.
• Ma and Baba will disown me just for maintaining eye contact this long.
• Whatever you resist will persist. So the next time you feel yourself fighting against something, allow yourself to rest in the discomfort of the thing.
• The human tendency is to attempt to fix what is broken, solve every problem.
• I still have Kate. I have a great family and I have Kate. Everything's going to be okay.

A Woman Is No Man

Title: A Woman Is No ManAuthor: Etaf RumGenre: FictionRating: 4.5 out of 5Date Started: 24 April 2021Date Finished: 27 April 2021
This book was recommended by Goodreads and I like to read about women who win against all odds. I had been planning to read this book for a while and got the book a couple of times, and due to my busy schedule, I was unable to complete the book. 
The book is about Deya, 18 years old girl, who lives in Brooklyn with her grandparents and her three sisters. Her family comes from Palestine and according to the culture and the custom, her grandmother is looking for suitors for Deya to get married. The grandmother gives her no choice. But history repeats itself. Deya's mother Isra, who grew up in Palestine, was given no choice and was married to Adam and moved to America. Deya has been told that her parents died in a car accident.
The story alternates between Deya and Isra. Isra was brought up in a male-dominated society and saw her mother's abuse by her father. Isra believes that her mother did not have any choice and neither does she while she is being physically abused by Adam. Isra feels that being abused is normal, but wants her daughters to have choices when they grow up. She feels trapped and guilty of not bearing a son for Adam and his family. She develops a friendly relationship with Adam's sister Sarah, who is rebellious according to her parents Fareeda and Khaled, but fights for her rights.
Isra suffers from post-partum depression, and keeps having kids to the dismay of the family, all girls! Isra's husband Adam is the oldest of the four kids and works hard to help his father and his brothers. Sarah, the youngest wants to go to college and her parents want her to get married. Adam takes out his frustration on Isra by physically abusing her. Isra feels she is bound since she neither knows English nor the place. Isra is also fond of reading and reads to her kids, and Sarah gets books for Isra, which is not encouraged by Fareeda and Khaled.
Deya's day changes when she meets a stranger and gets information about her parents. Meeting that stranger changes the course of her life. She gets to know more about her family and how much her mother Isra loved her and her sisters, Nora, Amal, and Layla. Deya also gets to know the truth about the death of her parents.
My favorite character in the book was Isra. Even though Isra grew up and lived in a patriarchal culture and household, she tries to make sense of everything. She also feels guilty that she is not living up to the mark of her mother or a middle-eastern woman.
It was a roller coaster ride of emotions throughout the book. Growing up in a South Asian country, I was able to relate to every character, and even with Isra. It was sad to see how patriarchy puts a woman down to her knees and punishes her for no reason. I also felt sad that the families especially women still continue to do the same with the next generation rather than making them strong and letting them study.
Favorite lines from the book:

• Where I come from, voicelessness is the condition of my gender, as normal as the bosoms on a woman's chest, as necessary as the next generation growing inside her belly.
• Yet as much as she wanted to go out and venture into the world, there was also comfort and safety in the known. And Mama's voice in her ear, reminding her: A woman belongs at home. Even if Isra left, she wouldn't know where to go.
• A daughter was only a temporary guest, quietly awaiting another man to scoop her away, along with all her financial burden.
• "Love each other? What does love have to do with marriage? You think your father and I love each other?"
• She lived her entire life straddled between two cultures. She was neither Arab nor American. She belonged nowhere. She didn't know who she was.
• Palestine or America. A woman will always be alone.
• It was Fareeda's idea not be breastfeed Deya. Breastfeeding prevented pregnancy, and adam needed a son.
• It's the loneliest people who love the books most.
• She thought back when Mama used to compare her with other girls, saying she was nothing but stick and bones, and that no man would want to marry her. She'd tell Isra to eat more, and when she gained weight, she'd tell her to eat less, and when she went outside, she'd tell her to stay out of the sun so her skin wouldn't get dark.
• I don't know. But I want to read a book about what it really means to be a woman.
• They're saying she drowned her in the bathtub. Ramsy and his family tried to pass it off as an accident, said she's still a young bride, and didn't know how to bathe a girl properly. But I heard she did it on purpose. She didn't want a daughter.
• The cruelest thing on this earth is a man's heart.
• Isra thought about Khaled and Fareeda, how they had carried their children out of the refuge camp, leaving their country behind and coming to America. They had to run away to survive, and now their daughter had done the same. Maybe that's the only way she thought. The only way to survive.

Do They Hear You When You Cry

Author: Fauziya Kassindja & Layli Miller Bashir
Genre: Memoir
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date Started: 17 April 2021
Date Finished: 23 April 2021

I bumped into this book while reading an article about an Iranian woman filing for asylum. I also recently read a paper about FGM and I thought this book would be a perfect fit.
Fauziya's story starts in prison. Fauziya Kassindja grew up in Togo, one of the African countries, protected by her father and mother, who believed in educating girls and rejecting some of the cultural practices like FGM. She is one of the 7 children.
After Fauziya's father died, her aunt and uncle evict her mother from the house and promises her as a 4th wife to a 45 years old man, who wants Fauziya to go through FGM. Fauziya illegally flies to Germany while escaping with the help of her sister and then lands in the USA seeking asylum. While in Germany, she befriends a German woman Rudina who helps Fauziya for two months. She meets Charlie, who is also from Africa, and helps her escape to America with his sister's passport.
Fauziya is stuck in jail for asylum for more than a year. Her struggle to get through the system, hearing, and jail conditions are horrendous. Her cousin Rahuf tries to help her by getting the lawyers. Fauziya meets the lawyer Layli Miller Bashir, who practices Bahai faith and is aware of FGM, works hard to get Fauziya out of jail. In the book, Fauziya talks about every jail inmate she came across and everyone who helped her. She speaks highly about Layli, who was with her every step of the way.
The author also shows how bad the system is and how corrupted the entire system is. The medical facility, the quality food given to the inmates, and not to mention the solitary confinement without any explanation.
I liked the character of Layli, who tried everything she could to get Fauziya out of jail. Layli's efforts to get the experts to have a say in the case, relentless efforts to find people who can help Fauziya's case show her determination to her work and ethics.
The book was an eye-opener in many ways. Fauziya who practices Islam talks about her faith and some of the rituals of Islam, which were very interesting to know. The book also gave enough background on the culture and practices of African tribes. The book was long and the story was narrated well. There were a lot of repetitions and towards the end, I felt that the book could have been at least 50 pages less than it is.
Favorite lines from the book:

• Someone suggested 'Fauziya' - Supreme Success - which my father thought was perfect.
• My parents, however, were strong believers in educating all their children in both madrasah and secular schools. My father saw education as consistent with being a good Muslim because Islam emphasizes the importance of attaining knowledge.
• We (Muslims) believe that people who die while observing Ramadan, go straight to heaven because they die sinless.
• I believe God determines everything and has His reasons for everything, reasons we don't always understand.
• The Bahai's believe parents are obligated to educate all their children, but if parents must choose between educating a son and educating a daughter because there is a lack of money, they educate the girl first; they feel that since girls grow up to become mothers and mothers are the first educators of children, their education is particularly important to the well-being of both family and community.
• She saw the poverty, she saw the hunger. She saw how women were often abused and exploited in a typically patriarchal African culture.
• Suddenly I realized that when the policeman had hit me on the wrist with the baton, my watch must have taken much of the force of impact. It was Yaya, still protecting me.