Cannonball Read 15

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

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We all find refuge any place we can.

Refuge by Dina Nayeri

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Refuge is, appropriately, about the places we seek refuge: partnerships, houses, families, communities, meals, spaces.  The narrative is mostly about Niloo, a young Iranian-American who emigrated to the U.S. with her mother and brother in the 80s.  Niloo’s father, a dentist with a proclivity for opium, remained in Iran.  Niloo is now a 30 year old living in Amsterdam and married to a French dude who by all accounts adores her, and her father is divorcing his third wife and apparently interested in rekindling some […]

Sex, drugs and a little rock-n-roll in Iran

Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return by Marjane Satrapi

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Interestingly, in several ways I liked Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return better than the first book. And yet, I enjoyed the first book more. I put this towards Marjane Satrapi’s continuation of the first book by picking up where she left off but this time showing more growth. Literally (she has a growth spurt and puberty hits hard) and figuratively (learning about “new” authors, ideas, respect different cultures seem to have, values, drugs and more.). Though about the same amount of years go […]

Picture it: Iran 1979 and the world will never be the same

Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood by  Marjane Satrapi

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#cbr11bingo #banned Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood (Persepolis, #1) by Marjane Satrapi (translated by Matia Ripa), was not what I expected. On one hand, I really had no idea what to expect; on the other hand, I had preconceived notions. But what it boils down to is, I am not sure I really liked this book. Or liked Satrapi. Many books I have come away with a feeling of, “I could be friends with that author.” Or at least, we could have a conversation as we […]

A debut novel with pomegranates on the cover; obviously, I bought it.

The Girl from the Garden by Parnaz Foroutan

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This was on a list somewhere of noteworthy debut novels, and I quite enjoyed it.  It’s a fine novel and what’s more, it ticks almost all of my “I obviously have to read that” categories: historical fiction set in the Middle East!  Inter-generational family drama!  Slyly feminist messaging!  Pomegranates on the cover! This is the story of a wealthy family of Persian Jews in early twentieth-century Iran.  Asher Malacouti is the head – an astute businessman who has multiplied his family’s wealth.  His wife Rachel […]

Life is just a bowl of (sour) cherries

Refuge by Dina Nayeri

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CBR10Bingo: Delicious Finding a book for this CBR10Bingo square was oddly tough for me, as nothing in my TBR list really jumped out at me as being obviously about food. When I started pulling my books off the shelf, one by one, and saw those gorgeous yellow cherries on the cover of Dina Nayeri’s Refuge, I knew this was the one.  Early in the book, Niloo’s father imparts his life’s philosophy to his young daughter.: “Life in Ardestoon is a shank of lamb so bursting […]

How to Fight Loneliness

Digging to America by Anne Tyler

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Digging to America is the story of two Baltimore families who meet each other in an airport, pre-9/11, when they come to pick up their infant daughters they have adopted from South Korea. It’s similar to other Tyler novels, in that it’s an intimate examination of family dynamics, but it’s different than all the others, too–it’s bigger, as it also examines what it means to be an American. I know that makes it sound terrible and tiresome, but trust me, it is anything but. It’s […]



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