Review: The Dragonfly Sea by Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor

The Dragonfly Sea

The Dragonfly Sea by Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor, March 12, 2019, Knopf Publishing Group

Book beginning:

To cross the vast ocean to their south, water-chasing dragonflies with forbears in Northern India had hitched a ride on a sedate "inbetween seasons" morning wind, one of the season's introits, the matlai. One day in 1992, four generations later, under dark-purplish-blue clouds, these fleeting beings settled on the mangrove-fringed southwest cove of a little girl's island.... 

And so we are introduced to that little girl, Ayaana, whose life on the Kenyan island of Pate is described in the first sections of the novel. It's a life full of her love for the sea, her rescued little white kitten, and the man she adopts as her father who teaches her at home because of bullying and bias in her island school,

The next sections of the book sees an older Ayaana in China, which has claimed her as a Descendant, one with Chinese ancestry, and sent her to study in a college, a way to help cement her and Kenya's ties to China.

Aayana struggles with all the changes in her life, the new faces, languages, places, while searching to find out who she really is, who she truly loves, and where she truly belongs.

Written in a poetic style, with multiple plays on language and imagery and symbols, The Dragonfly Sea is a literary novel about a girl's universal search for meaning and belonging in a complex and diverse world. I gave it an enthusiastic five stars.

Location: 56 %

Ayaana walked as one condemned. She ached for a return to life aboard the ship.
Ni shi shei? the sea still called out to her. Who are you? She ignored it. 

Memes: The Friday 56. Grab a book, turn to page 56 or 56% of your eReader. Find any sentence that grabs you. Post it, and add your URL post in Linky at Freda's Voice. Also visit Book Beginning at Rose City Reader

Sunday Salon: The Memory Police/ Tahoe Deep/Gun Island

Currently reading:

The Memory Police

by Yoko Ogawa

August 13, 2019, Pantheon 

What would it be like to lose memory of things and not miss them? And what if you do remember the things you lost, but were not allowed to, what then?  

I'm in the middle of this fascinating dystopian-like novel where Memory Police make things disappear and make the memories of them also disappear. The people who resist and do and can remember are also made to disappear. 

A study in memory and what a suppressed memory or lost memories can mean for a group of people as well as for the individual.

In this novel, a young woman hides her book editor, one of those whose memory of things that have disappeared make him a target for the Memory Police, who make sure no one stays who remembers what have been taken from them.

See my goodreads review.

Finished reading:

Tahoe Deep

Tahoe Deep by Todd Borg, August 1, 2019, Thriller Press

Genre: mystery, thriller set around Lake Tahoe

Source: review copy from publisher/author

Review: I have been following Todd Borg's Owen McKenna Mystery series for quite a while and enjoy reading his thrillers set in this lovely mountain, lake, and ski resort area in California and Nevada.

When a 90-year-old man is found beaten in his home and a body washes up on the beaches of Lake Tahoe, PI Owen McKenna is called on to investigate. His sidekick Spot, a giant Great Dane, is always there to help, as is his girlfriend and entymologist Street. The mystery involves the scuttling years before of the SS Tahoe Steamer, which lies under the lake's deep and cold waters.

A boy saw people board the steamer before it was sunk, and this becomes dangerous for him, even though this boy is now a 90-year-old man.

McKenna takes us on an investigative ride with thrills, suspense, and danger, especially involving diving or free diving (diving without equipment) in Lake Tahoe. 

The author has made Lake Tahoe and its surroundings the setting for his series, and it is still a magnificent and unusual place, lending its aura and uniqueness to the mystery novel. Highly recommended.

Other reading:

I am in the middle of another fascinating book, a literary novel about a young traveler in a new place, who must find out who she really is and where she really belongs. 

The Dragonfly Sea by Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor, March 12, 2019, Knopf Publishing Group

I'm also reading Swedish crime writer Viveca Sten's Guiltless,  Sandhamn mystery #3,  and plan to finish the entire series of 9 books. A new one, the 10th,  comes out later this year. 

E-Books borrowed:

Gun Island  by Amitev Ghosh

September 10, 2019, Farrar, Straus and Giroux

The novel is described as a "globetrotting, folkloric adventure novel" involving family and heritage.  A young man leaves India and takes a trip of discovery from India to Los Angeles and then Venice. Seems like the book for me!

What are you reading this week?

Memes: 

The Sunday Post hosted by The Caffeinated Bookreviewer. Also,  It's Monday: What Are You Reading, and the Sunday Salon,  Mailbox Monday.

First Chapter: Hope Is Our Only Wing by Rutendo Tavengerwei

Hope Is Our Only Wing by Rutendo Tavengerwei

September 10, 2019, Soho Teen

Setting: Zimbabwe 2008

A fifteen-year-old girl and her new friend find courage in the face of terrible personal losses during a time of upheaval in Zimbabwe

First chapter, first paragraph:

Shamiso's heart broke into a shudder of beats. She could hear the jazzy trails of the mbira spiraling in the air. Her father would have loved that sound. She glanced at her mother, who stood next to her, fanning her sweaty neck. She seemed preoccupied. The music played on, painful and familiar.

Meme: Each Tuesday, Vicki, from I’d Rather Be At The Beach hosts First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros where  readers post the opening paragraph (sometime two) of a book they are reading or that they plan to read. 

Sunday Salon: Books Reviewed and Books Not Yet Read

Finished reading:

Closed Circles by Viveca Sten, borrowed from Amazon Unlimited.

Genre: mystery, police procedural

I really enjoy the books in this series, and will be reading the next, #3, Guiltless soon. The setting of the Swedish archipelago and the touristy island of Sandhamn adds much atmosphere to the story. 

This is part mystery, part police procedural, cleverly written to always keep you on your toes. 

The sailing regatta organized by the Royal Swedish Yacht Club is the starting point for this excellent murder mystery. 

The Blue Hour

The Blue Hour by Douglas Kennedy, February 16, 2019, Atria Books

Genre: travel adventure, family drama, contemporary fiction

Setting: Morocco

Source: library book

A couple take their troubles with each other all the way to Morocco, at the insistence of the husband, Paul. His wife Robin goes along but finds out soon that all is not what it seems and that Paul seems to be living a double life, having a past that he never revealed to her.

This dramatic thriller involves accountant Robin and her talented but enigmatic artist husband Paul, in Morocco. Their relationship begins to deteriorate  on this trip, their actions drive them further apart. 

The realism of the novel, while telling a lot about traveling in this North African country,  made me wish for a more artistic and less stark telling of the story, however.

New books:

Cookies and Clairvoyance, Magical Bakery Mystery by Bailey Cates, August 27, 2019, Berkley

Baker Kathie Lightfoot makes cookies with magical properties. She also acts as an amateur sleuth. 

Silent Night, Deadly Night by Vicki Delany, August 27, 2019, Berkley 
In this Year-Round Christmas series, Merry, the owner of a Christmas shop, must solve a murder to keep the spirit of the holiday going.

Memes: 

The Sunday Post hosted by The Caffeinated Bookreviewer. Also,  It's Monday: What Are You Reading, and the Sunday Salon,  Mailbox Monday.

Book Beginning: The Last Widow by Karin Slaughter

The Last Widow by Karin Slaughter, August 20, 2019, William Morrow

The Last Widow

Description: A mysterious kidnapping

On a hot summer night, a scientist from the Centers for Disease Control is grabbed by unknown assailants in a shopping center parking lot. Vanished into thin air, the authorities are desperate to save the doctor. 

A devastating explosion

A diabolical enemy

Book beginning:PROLOGUE 

Michelle Spivey jogged through the back of the store, frantically scanning each aisle for her daughter, panicked thoughts circling her brain: How did I lose sight of her I am a horrible mother my baby was didnapped by a pedophiole or a human trafficker should I flag store security or call the police or --
Ashley.
Michelle stopped so abruptly that her shoe snicked against the floor....

Page 56: 

Maggie said, "I'll briefly run down the SWAT Bible on transport from the APD perspective. We're all following the Active Shooter Doctrine. No negotiation. Just pop and drop....

Memes: The Friday 56. Grab a book, turn to page 56 or 56% of your eReader. Find any sentence that grabs you. Post it, and add your URL post in Linky at Freda's Voice. Also visit Book Beginning at Rose City Reader

Book Review: The Overdue Life of Amy Byler by Kelly Harms

The Overdue Life of Amy Byler

The Overdue Life of Amy Byler by Kelly Harms, May 1, 2019, Amazon Digital Services

Source: Amazon Unlimited

For moms, single or otherwise, who need a life of their own on top of being a super parent. An inspiring read for moms, and single parents, everywhere! Amy Byler's husband left her permanently for Hong Kong three years earlier, left her with two kids in grammar school whom she had to support financially and physically. After John comes home unexpectedly for one summer and decides to bond with the kids for a brief while, Amy gets a chance to spend a week on her own in New York City to attend a librarian's conference. How she finds herself in her new surroundings, among new friends and acquaintances, and even with the prospect of new loves and a boost in her career, is the theme of the story. A thumbs up novel for overworked moms. A novel meant to inspire parents , especially women and single mothers.

For moms, single or otherwise, who need a life of their own on top of being a super parent. An inspiring read for moms, and single parents, everywhere!

Amy Byler's husband left her permanently for Hong Kong three years earlier, left her with two kids in grammar school whom she had to support financially and physically. After John comes home unexpectedly for one summer and decides to bond with the kids for a brief while, Amy gets a chance to spend a week on her own in New York City to attend a librarian's conference.

How she finds herself in her new surroundings, among new friends and acquaintances, and even with the prospect of new loves and a boost in her career, is the theme of the story.

A thumbs up novel for overworked moms. A novel meant to inspire parents , especially women and single mothers. 

The Satapur Moonstone by Sujata Massey: A Brief Review

The Satapur Moonstone by Sujata Massey, May 14, 2019, Soho PressSetting: India, 1922, southeast of BombayGenre: mystery

My goodreads review:

Traveling back in time to 1922 in British India, where the Raj (the British) oversaw royal families and princely states, while allowing local religious and other traditions to continue. I learned a lot about what it might have been like then, for men,  and women as well who were living in purdah or seclusion. 

A mystery novel, with intrigue and suspense, and romance, in a unique historical setting and time period.  Perveen, a female lawyer, is sent to Satapur state to help resolve the conflicts over where the young raj is to be educated. There are conflicts between the boy's grandmother, who wants him to stay close to home, and his mother, who wants an English education for him. There have been unfortunate deaths in the family, and Parveen wonders if the young raj is in danger. 

I enjoyed this second in the Perveen Mistry series and look forward to the next.

Opening paragraph:

Perveen Mistry sighed, adjusting her hat on her sweating brow. It was six thirty in the morning, and already eighty-two degrees. Cantering around the riding ring at the Royal  Western India Turf Club, never quite keeping up with her friend Alice, was vigorous exercise. 

 Memes: First Chapter/Intros, now hosted by I’d Rather Be at the Beach; and Teaser Tuesdays hosted by The Purple Booker.