Oct. 2022 – Paradise Lost: Mahathir & the End of Hope – Dennis Ignatius
Paradise Lost: Mahathir & the End of Hope By Dennis Ignatius Book Group 1 – Friday, October 28, 2022 What is the greatest challenge facing Malaysia today? Dennis Ignatius lists several but in his view, the forces of political Islam pose the greatest threat to the constitutional democracy of this country. Some of us see […]
Oct, 2022 – If I had your Face – Frances Cha
BG 2 – OCTOBER 2022 Review If I had your Face by Frances Cha – Book Review South Korea is often referred to as the ‘plastic surgery capital of the world,’ where it’s not only typical but expected for young women to have double eyelid surgery before they hit 30. Jaw slimming, skin lasering, destructive […]
Sept, 2022 – The Beekeeper of Aleppo – Christine Lefteri
BG1 – September 30th 2022 – Review A small but lively group joined the September 30th discussion of The Beekeeper of Aleppo, a 2019 novel that deals with the plight of refugees from Aleppo in Syria to Europe during the 2011 Syrian Civil War. Nuri, a beekeeper and his wife, Afra, an artist, are living […]
Sept, 2022 – Bright – Duanwad Pimwana
BG2 – September 2022 – Review Book Group 2 had a meeting this September to discuss Duanwad Pimwana’s “Bright” a translation into English by Mui Poopoksakul. Kampol was a boy abandoned by both parents and left to be cared for by the occupants of Mrs. Tongjan’s cluster of tenement houses. One must have great faith […]
Aug, 2022 – The Baghdad Clock – Shahad Al Rawi
BG 1 – Book Review – August 26th 2022 The Baghdad Clock by Shahad Al Rawi The Baghdad Clock, a story between real and imaginary, is written by Iraqi author Shahad Al Rawi with magic realism as her writing style. The book has been originally written in Arabic, published in 2016 and has been translated […]
Aug, 2022 – City of Djinns – A Year in Delhi – William Dalrymple
BG 2 – Book Review – August 2022 City of Djinns – a Year in Delhi by William Dalrymple William Dalrymple peels back the layers of Delhi’s history, in a what can be called part travelogue part memoir. The book goes back in time, from the 1984 riots, to Indraprastha, the mythical city of the […]
June, 2022 – Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line – Deepa Anaparra
Book Group 1 had a zoom meeting to discuss the author’s debut and widely praised book on June 30th 2022. Deepa Anaparra has worked in Mumbai and Delhi as a journalist and has mainly covered the poor neighbourhoods where people live in constant fear of bulldozers destroying their tin roofed shacks and corrupt police officers […]
June, 2022 – Between Clay and Dust by Musharraf Ali Farooqi
Book Group 2 Shortlisted for the Man Asian Literary Prize, Between Clay and Dust is a moving and beautifully told story of a wrestling champion and a courtesan with a prestigious past struggling to hold onto the world they once knew amidst the eruptions of history in the aftermath of Partition between India and Pakistan. […]
May, 2022 – Map of Salt and Stars – Jennifer Zeyn Joukhandar
Every now and again there comes a book that fills you with Hope and makes you believe in humankind. Jennifer Zenyab Joukhandar’s Map of Salt and Stars is one such novel. A beautiful, lyrical debut novel that evokes much thought and discussion on the very serious issue of the Syrian Refugees and their displacement from […]
April, 2022 – How to Pronounce Knife – Souvankham Thammavongsa
Book Group 1 How to Pronounce Knife: Stories by Souvankham Thammavongsa is an award-winning book of short stories, written by the daughter of Lao refugees to Canada. This story collection centers on characters and their children struggling to make their way in unfamiliar territory, shuttling between different languages, cultures, and values. The more you read […]