Guest Post: Shobhan Bantwal - Marriage By Arrangement

Today, I am honored and thrilled to welcome one of my favorite authors, Shobhan Bantwal, to A Sea of Books. Ms. Bantwal has just published her fourth novel, The Unexpected Son. Check back tomorrow for my review. (I'll give you a hint: I loved it!)

Marriage by Arrangement
by Shobhan Bantwal - author of The Unexpected Son

While arranged marriage may seem like an antiquated practice to most Americans, it has been around for thousands of years and has worked rather well in establishing the institutions of family, community, and even entire civilizations. To this day, many conservative Europeans and Jews practice arranged marriage, albeit subtly and not as frequently as they did a hundred years ago.

In my own Indian culture, what started out as a way to assure the compatibility of a couple by matching partners from similar social and economic backgrounds has worked so well over the centuries that it continues in the same vein in contemporary India. The divorce rate in India and similar cultures is a fraction of what it is in the western world.

I had a strictly arranged marriage more than 36 years ago and I'm still happily married to the same man. Arranging a marriage is not some magic formula. It is all based in the fact that family is valued above all else. To preserve that precious unit, people passionately work towards finding partners who will support it and nurture it. And who better than experienced and wise elders to go about seeking a suitable bride for their sons or grooms for their daughters?

Arranging a marriage is serious business in my culture. An intricate network of relatives, neighbors and friends are involved in the process. The horoscopes of the potential bride and groom are often matched, dowries may be discussed behind closed doors (although, not all Indian communities follow the dowry system), educational levels, likes and dislikes, hobbies, and a whole list of items that apply to both parties. Indian marriages are not just between two individuals but two families, and in rural areas, between two communities.

All my books and short stories have some reference to arranged marriage. In my latest novel, The Unexpected Son, the protagonist has a happy arranged marriage, until a shocking letter abruptly turns her cozy life upside down. A closely-guarded secret comes to haunt her after 30 long years.

A Note From Shobhan Bantwal - Information about my books, video trailers, contact, photos from India, reviews, contests, and recipes is available on my website: www.shobhanbantwal.com. All my books can be purchased at any retail bookstore or online bookseller.

For more information about The Unexpected Son virtual tour, visit http://bookpromotionservices.com/2010/07/02/unexpected-son-virtual-tour/

About The Unexpected Son (from the publisher):
What happens when a woman who's realized her dreams wakes up to a shocking truth? It is a morning like any other in suburban New Jersey when Vinita Patil opens the battered envelope postmarked “Mumbai.” But the letter inside turns her comfortable world upside down. It tells Vinita an impossible story: she has a grown son in India whose life may depend on her.

Once upon a time, a naive young college girl fell for a wealthy boy whose primary interests were cricket and womanizing. Vinita knew, even then, that a secret affair with a man whose language and values were different from her own was a mistake. He finished with her soon enough--leaving her to birth a baby that was stillborn. Or so Vinita was told.

Now that child is a grown man in desperate need. How will she confess her secret past to her arranged-marriage husband and her grown daughter? Nonetheless, to help her son, to know him, Vinita must revisit her darkest hours by returning to her battle-scarred homeland--and pray for the faith of the family she leaves behind.

About Shobhan Bantwal (from the publisher):
Shobhan Bantwal calls her writing “Bollywood in a Book,”romantic, colorful, action-packed tales, rich with elements of Indian culture -- stories that entertain and educate.

Her writing career is a “menopausal epiphany,” because she took up creative writing at the age of 50. By day Shobhan works for the government. In the evenings and on weekends she slips into her writer's cape and flies off to Authorland. She loves writing stories about her native India and Hindu culture.

To date, Shobhan has four published novels by Kensington Publishing, with a fifth slated for 2011. Since 2002, Shobhan's articles and short stories have appeared in a variety of publications. Her award-winning stories are available for reading on her website: http://www.shobhanbantwal.com/



Natasha from Princeton Community Television on Vimeo.

For more information about The Unexpected Son virtual tour, visit http://bookpromotionservices.com/2010/07/02/unexpected-son-virtual-tour/

Thank you to Nikki Leigh and Promo 101 Virtual Blog Tours
for organizing this tour.

Book Giveaway and Review #50: THE SECRETS OF NEWBERRY by Victor McGlothin

CLOSED.

Thanks to the generous folks at
Hachette Book Group,

I have been authorized to
 give away three (3) copies of

THE SECRETS OF NEWBERRY
by Victor McGlothin.

Rules for entering this giveaway
are at the bottom of this post.

THE SECRETS OF NEWBERRY

by Victor McGlothin

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing

Category: Fiction

Format: Trade Paperback

Publish Date: 6/21/2010

Price: $13.99/$16.99

ISBN: 9780446178136

Pages: 384

Size: 5-1/4" x 8"

Description (from the back cover):

1950 New Orleans couldn't be sweeter for Ivory "Bones" Arcineaux and Hampton Bynote. Friends since meeting at an illegal gambling house outside Newberry, Louisiana, they indulge themselves with all the fine women, good food, and wild nights they can handle. All seems good in N'awlins-especially for Hampton, who plans to make a clean break from riotous living after falling for the woman of his dreams, classy Magnolia Holiday. But the love of a good woman may not be enough to pull Hampton from the brink of disaster when his pal Bones murders a white city councilman during a simple robbery gone wrong.

Now with the local police and the FBI hot on their trails, Hampton and Bones must decide whether friendship is worth losing their freedom-and possibly their lives.

My Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Stars - Good but slightly flawed.

My Thoughts:  I had more than a little trouble settling on a rating for this book, most likely because despite what I view as some pretty obvious flaws, I still liked this book. THE SECRETS OF NEWBERRY is a deceptively ambitious novel, and I think it just gets away from the author.  For the most part, I enjoyed the book while I was reading it but, once I was finished and considered it as a whole, I was frustrated and a little disappointed. I ended up with a lot of questions. On the other hand, I think it's a worthwhile, entertaining, and provocative read. It could certainly generate some good discussions.

Most of the story is set in 1950's Jim Crow era in and around New Orleans and is told from the point of view of Hampton Bynote, a young black man who has been banned from the plantation where his family has been sharecropping for generations -- actually, since slavery was abolished. He doesn't mind too much because he wants more of life than what sharecropping can provide, and he's still able to sneak onto the plantation to visit his family. When he's in the city, he dabbles in crime as a means of survival but doesn't want to get too deep into the life. Things change drastically when he meets up with Ivory "Bones" Arcineaux. Bones is of mixed race, mostly passing as white for safety and convenience while his loyalties are firmly placed within the black community. He has the potential to be a fascinating character, but the focus of the story is not on him and, as the story progresses, his character actually loses dimension. Unfortunately for the story, I believe his character and his motivations are too integral not to be explored more thoroughly.

Meanwhile, Hampton is a nice young guy, rather naive, who just wants to live a little before finding the perfect woman and settling down. He fully intends to lead a good life -- just not quite yet. He falls victim to Bones' manipulations and, for most of the story, it's arguable whether Bones will save Hampton or destroy him.

Actually, there are quite a few victims in THE SECRETS OF NEWBERRY.  Back on the plantation, life hasn't progressed all that much since the era of slavery. It's revealed very early on in the story that the black women sharecroppers have entered into secret sexual relationships with the white plantation owners throughout the entire town, what is referred to as a "Gentlemen's Agreement," and the women believe this somehow protects the lives of their husbands, brothers, fathers, and sons. It was difficult for me to accept the premise that this secret has been successfully kept from the black men for generations. Both Hampton's mother and his sister, Pearl Lee, have become entangled in this agreement. What is hinted at and never fully explored, are the complex and conflicting feelings the women possess toward their secret "lovers" in particular and the agreement in general.

There are other victims of sexual abuse as well, far too many for this novel to address in a satisfactory manner. The frequent instances of abuse may be true-to-life, but in the circumstances of this novel, it strains believability and, therefore, detracts from the horror that is suffered.

So, what did I like about THE SECRETS OF NEWBERRY and why would I recommend it? I liked both Pearl Lee and Magnolia, a young girl who sets her mind and heart on Hampton and won't let go. I also liked Hampton. I was probably most satisfied with the development of Magnolia's character. She arrives on the scene as a seemingly wide-eyed innocent, but she's a pretty spunky young woman with a keen eye on everything going on around her. She's determined, knows what she wants, and knows how to go after it.  The novel holds a rich cast of secondary characters, and I enjoyed observing their interactions and the various ways they handled conflict and adversity, as well as good fortune.

I also liked the glimpse into this complicated historical era - right on the cusp of the civil rights movement. You could see America changing, one person at a time. Some people were holdouts - some of the most steadfast holdouts grew by leaps and bounds at the last possible moment. Some just got meaner.

I liked the author's writing style - it's clean, straightforward, and very discriptive. The reader experiences the essence of the time and place, the voice of each character is distinctive. I liked the pace of the storytelling - threads are unwound slowly and leisurely - until toward then end when everything feels too rushed.

THE SECRETS OF NEWBERRY would have been a better book if it had been more tightly written.  Kind of like this review!

So, enter the contest, and judge this book for yourself.

About the author (from the publisher):

Essence bestselling author Victor McGlothin is a former bank vice-president who nearly forfeited an athletic scholarship due to poor reading skills. Ultimately, he overcame that obstacle and later completed a Masters degree in Human Relations & Business. Victor is also an on-line columnist of Victor Said?, a real Brotha to Sistah look at relationship.

Victor lives in Dallas with his wife and two sons.

Click here to visit the author's website.

RULES FOR ENTERING THE GIVEAWAY:

• Leave a comment on this post telling me you would like to win. Include an email address with your comment so that I can contact you if you do win. Use a spam-thwarting format such as geebee.reads AT gmail DOT com or geebee.reads [at] gmail [dot] com

• You must leave an email address in order to qualify. If I can't contact you, you can't win!

• You can earn an extra entry by being or becoming a Follower or Subscriber of this blog and telling me about it in a separate comment.

• Blog about this contest and provide me with the link to the post in a separate comment, and I'll give you yet another entry.

• Tweeting about this contest and providing me the link in a separate comment will get you one more entry. I've added a Retweet button at the bottom of every post.

• Stumble this blog, Digg it, or Technorati Fave it, whatever, and leave a separate comment for another entry.

• Winners must provide a U.S. or Canadian street address. Hachette is unable to deliver to P.O. Boxes.

• Deadline for entry is 11:59 p.m. EST on Friday, August 6, 2010.

• Winners will have 48 hours to respond to my email announcing that they have won; if I don't hear from a winner, I will draw another name.

Thank you to Valerie
at Hachette Book Group

for making this giveaway possible.

GOOD LUCK EVERYONE!

Thank you to Hachette Book Group for my review copy of this book.

THIS CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED.

Book Review #40: THE MOON LADY by Amy Tan; illustrated by Gretchen Schields

THE MOON LADY

by Amy Tan

illustrated by Gretchen Schields

Pub. Date: November 1995

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing

Format: Paperback, 32pp

Age Range: 6 to 9

ISBN-13: 9780689806162

ISBN: 0689806167

Edition Description: Reprint

Description (from the publisher):
A magical night when secret wishes can come true.
On a rainy afternoon, three sisters wish for the rain to stop, wish they could play in the puddles, wish for something, anything, to do. So Ying-Ying, their grandmother, tells them a tale from long ago. On the night of the Moon Festival, when Ying-ying was a little girl, she encountered the Moon Lady, who grants the secret wishes of those who ask, and learned from her that the best wishes are those you can make come true yourself. This haunting tale, adapted from Amy Tan's best-seller The Joy Luck Club and enhanced by Gretchen Schields's rich, meticulously detailed art, is a book for all to treasure.

My Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars

My Thoughts:  THE MOON LADY by Amy Tan is a sophisticated story of a young girl's maturation woven around an actual character from Chinese folklore. Tan originally told a version of this story in her novel, THE JOY LUCK CLUB. It's been years since I read that novel (definitely in line for re-read), and I don't specifically recall this story from that source. My review is based solely on this picture book.

In this book, richly illustrated by Gretchen Schields, a grandmother recounts an incident from her childhood to her three restless granddaughters.  On the day her family travels to Tai Lake to celebrate the Moon Festival, 7-year-old Ying-ying is so excited she can barely control herself. She can't understand why everyone else isn't as excited as she or as eager to be on their way. Like most children her age, she is by turns sulky and sweet, selfish and loving, distracted and introspective -- basically, naughty and nice. Throughout the day, these aspects of her personality lead her into many adventures, some quite dangerous and scary. Everything culminates with Ying-ying's encounter with the Moon Lady who, on this one special day of the year, has the power to fulfill a secret wish. But what is it that Ying-ying desires most?

I enjoyed this story quite a bit. I loved how the language easily transported me to another place and time, another way of describing the world: ". . . the fifteenth day of the eighth moon."  You can't read those words and think you are in modern day America. I loved Ying-ying's spirit and her curiosity, her sense of wonder of the world.  There is a lovely scene where she plays with her shadow and speaks of it as though it is a little friend.

There are also darker elements to this tale, so that even though the story is presented in picture book format, I think it is more appropriate for older children and adults. One scene describes a toothless old woman gutting eels for making soup. When Ying-ying accidently gets some of the blood on her clothes, she naively thinks she can hide the stains by smearing even more blood all over her outfit. Fortunately, in the accompanying illustration, the blood is more magenta in color as opposed to red so that it's not so frightening to look at! Subsequently, Ying-ying is separated from her family. The story enters into a dreamlike phase where Ying-ying is rescued and returned to her family, only to have them deny her because they don't believe she is lost. Ying-ying actually sees her doppleganger on the boat with her family. And then there is the encounter with the Moon Lady herself . . .

Of course the story ends on a happy note - Ying-ying is obviously reunited with her family as she is telling this story to her granddaughters. I read this book to my 9-year-old nephew who has a fascination with Asian cultures. The moral and messages were lost on him - it is a rather convoluted tale. He enjoyed certain passages and was very interested in the detailed illustrations.

I enjoyed this book but can see that it would not be to everyone's taste. As a fable, it is more apt to appeal to adults. For sheer narrative, some children will enjoy the adventuresome nature of the story; I think others will get bogged down by the twists and turns. I'd recommend THE MOON LADY to adults and older children who are interested in Chinese culture and folktales.

About the author (from the publisher):
With her acclaimed 1989 novel The Joy Luck Club and its successors, Amy Tan succeeded in revealing the Chinese-American sensibility to readers in unprecedented numbers. In mystical, winding prose, she draws the boundaries and commonalities between generations of women who are related, but born worlds apart.

I read this book for the Middle Grade Book Challenge hosted by
Linda Ellen at Bambi Reads. Despite its picture book format, I think it qualifies because of the sophisticated language and story strucuture.

My review copy came from the Portsmouth Free Public Library, and I read this as part of the 2010 Support Your Local Library Challenge hosted by J. Kaye's Book Blog.

Audiobook Giveaway and Review #38: THE CONCISE KING

Thanks to the generous folks at
Hachette Book Group,

I have been authorized to
 give away three (3) audiobook copies of

THE CONCISE KING
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Rules for entering this giveaway are at the bottom of this post.

THE CONCISE KING

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Read by Martin Luther King, Jr., Coretta Scott King, et al.

edited by Clayborne Carson, Peter Holloran and Kris Shepard

Publisher: Hachette Audio

Category: History

Format: Audio Book

Subformat: CD (Audio)

Edition: Abridged

Publish Date: 12/22/2009

Price: $19.98/$24.98

ISBN: 9781600248740

Pages: 0

Description (from the publisher):

For the first time, an edition of Martin Luther King's most important speeches and selected sermons are assembled and available on CD as a value-priced edition. Hachette Audio believes that the timeless message of King, in his own words and voice, are essential listening for any American and for any world citizen interested in American history, social justice, or non-violent protest. We hope to make these incredibly momentous speeches, extraordinary historical documents, accessible to an even wider population via this affordable offering.

Click here to listen to an excerpt.

MY RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars - Highly Recommended

MY THOUGHTS: I expected to be inspired by listening to this collection of King's speeches, but I wasn't prepared to be so deeply moved. It's not unusual to have heard bits and pieces of the more famous speeches; hearing a speech in its entirety is so powerful as to leave me, well, speechless!

I really enjoyed hearing the Reverend's early speeches and tracing the arc and progression of his mission. I think my favorite is one of his earliest, his sermon on Loving Your Enemies. I like that he urges us to take a hard look at ourselves before judging anyone else, to realize that everyone has some element of goodness within them, and to understand that hating "only intensifies the existance of hate and evil in the universe." He talks about how the downward spiral of hate ultimately leads to destruction for the individual as well as others and coaches us to "rise" to the level of love.  

Anything I could say would just sound trite in comparison to King's words. I can only recommend that everyone take the opportunity to listen to these speeches with an open mind and heart. It is truly a rare individual who can both humble and uplift a person. The world and our country lost a great man far before his time, but we are lucky to live in an age when his words could be recorded in his own voice. As a listener, I was inspired, empowered, and uplifted. Listening to this collection of King's speeches is a gift everyone should give to themselves.

RULES FOR ENTERING THE GIVEAWAY:

• Leave a comment on this post telling me you would like to win. Include an email address with your comment so that I can contact you if you do win. Use a spam-thwarting format such as geebee.reads AT gmail DOT com or geebee.reads [at] gmail [dot] com

• You must leave an email address in order to qualify. If I can't contact you, you can't win!

• You can earn an extra entry by being or becoming a Follower or Subscriber of this blog and telling me about it in a separate comment.

• Blog about this contest and provide me with the link to the post in a separate comment, and I'll give you yet another entry.

• Tweeting about this contest and providing me the link in a separate comment will get you one more entry. I've added a Retweet button at the bottom of every post.

• Stumble this blog, Digg it, or Technorati Fave it, whatever, and leave a separate comment for another entry.

• Winners must provide a U.S. or Canadian street address. Hachette is unable to deliver to P.O. Boxes.

• Deadline for entry is 11:59 p.m. EST on Friday, January 29, 2010.

• Winners will have 48 hours to respond to my email announcing that they have won; if I don't hear from a winner, I will draw another name.

Thank you to Anna
at Hachette Book Group

for making this giveaway possible.

GOOD LUCK EVERYONE!

THIS CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED.

Blog Tour and Giveaway: THE HEARTBREAK PILL by Anjanette Delgado

Today I am pleased to shine a spotlight on the debut novel of author Anjanette Delgado, THE HEARTBREAK PILL, as well as offer a giveaway for one (1) copy of her book. I haven't received my review copy as yet, but once I do, I'll read it and let you know what I think!

THE HEARTBREAK PILL

by Anjanette Delgado

Pub. Date: April 2008

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing Group

Format: Paperback, 288pp

ISBN-13: 9780743297530

ISBN: 0743297539

Description (from the publisher):

Is it really necessary to suffer for love? What if an easy-to-swallow pill could turn love off and on? You wouldn't desire what isn't good for you. You wouldn't cry for what cannot be. You'd just live. You'd be happy.

Erika Luna is a thirty-something scientist living and working in Miami. When her husband of seven years -- the very successful, very smart, very good-looking founding partner of one of Miami's top public relations firms -- falls in lust with another woman, their marriage spirals toward divorce and Erika's practical nature leads her down a strange path.

What is a scientist to do when slapped with a pain so deep it interferes with her breathing? Develop a cure, of course. Erika moves into a new apartment and turns it into her own personal laboratory. She frantically begins mixing potions and uses herself as a guinea pig as she desperately tries to create a pill that will rid the world of heartbreak forever. As she navigates the murky waters of the recently divorced, Erika also struggles to find her own sense of self and the answer to whether love, and its pain, is worth the risk.

Click here to read Chapter One.

About the Author (from the publisher):
Anjanette Delgado is an Emmy award-winning writer and producer with over eighteen years of local and network news experience. She has produced for CNN, NBC, Univision and Telemundo, among others, producing extensive coverage for events such as the 1991 Gulf War, the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the present war with Iraq, which she executive produced for Telemundo in 2003. She won her first Emmy for her human-interest series “Madres en la lejanía,” about the plight of Latino mothers who leave their own children behind and come to the United States to work illegally... as nannies.

More Tour Stops:
Nov 9 Unloaded
Nov 10 Julia Amante
Nov 11 The Sol Within
Nov 12 Latino Book Examiner
Nov 13 Behind Brown Eyes
Nov 16 Chasing Heroes
Nov 17 Musings
Nov 18 Reading with Monie
Nov 19 That Happened to me
Nov 20 Writing to Insanity

RULES FOR ENTERING THE GIVEAWAY:

• Leave a comment on this post telling me you would like to win. Include an email address with your comment so that I can contact you if you do win. Use a spam-thwarting format such as geebee.reads AT gmail DOT com or geebee.reads [at] gmail [dot] com

• You must leave an email address in order to qualify. If I can't contact you, you can't win!

• You can earn an extra entry by being or becoming a Follower or Subscriber of this blog and telling me about it in a separate comment.

• Blog about this contest and provide me with the link to the post in a separate comment, and I'll give you yet another entry.

• Tweeting about this contest and providing me the link in a separate comment will get you one more entry. I've added a Retweet button at the bottom of every post.

• Stumble this blog, Digg it, or Technorati Fave it, whatever, and leave a separate comment for another entry.

• Winners must provide a U.S. or Canadian street address. Hachette is unable to deliver to P.O. Boxes.

• Deadline for entry:  Get your entries in TODAY! I will use Random.org on Tuesday, November 24, 2009 to determine a winner.

• Winner will have 24 hours to respond to my email announcing that they have won; if I don't hear from the winner, I will draw another name.

 Thank you to Jo Ann Hernandez
at Bronze Word Latino Authors
for organizing this tour and
making this giveaway possible.

GOOD LUCK EVERYONE!

This contest is now closed.

Blog Tour and Book Review #25: JAPAN TOOK THE J.A.P. OUT OF ME: A Memoir by Lisa Fineberg Cook

JAPAN TOOK THE J.A.P. OUT OF ME

by Lisa Fineberg Cook

Pub. Date: October 2009

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing Group

Format: Paperback, 288pp

Sales Rank: 191,181

ISBN-13: 9781439110034

ISBN: 1439110034

Description (from the publisher):
Six days after an InStyle-worthy wedding in Los Angeles, Lisa Fineberg Cook left behind her little red Jetta, her manicurist of ten years, and her very best friend for the land of the rising sun. When her husband accepted a job teaching English in Nagoya, Japan, she imagined exotic weekend getaways, fine sushi dinners, and sake sojourns with glamorous expatriate friends. Instead, she's the only Jewish girl on public transportation, and everyone is staring. Lisa longs for regular mani/pedis, valet parking, and gimlets with her girlfriends, but for the next year, she learns to cook, clean, commute, and shop like the Japanese, all the while adjusting to another foreign concept -- marriage. Loneliness and frustration give way to new and unexpected friendships, the evolution of old ones, and a fresh understanding of what it means to feel different -- until finally a world she never thought she'd fit into begins to feel home-like, if not exactly like home.

My Rating: 4 Stars out of 5

My Thoughts:
I was so excited when my review copy of JAPAN TOOK THE J.A.P. OUT OF ME by Lisa Fineberg Cook arrived. As an armchair traveler, I love reading about people's experiences in other countries, the more exotic the better. And the twist of this memoir -- that the author, a self-described Jewish American Princess loses her royal crown while living abroad -- promised to make this book an entertaining read.

I'm happy to say that I was not disappointed.  In fact, I appreciated this memoir on a level I totally did not anticipate.  I really didn't expect that I would ever be able to identify with anyone who would be described as a "princess," but I found that many of the author's reactions to her foreign circumstances were not so foreign to me! For example, I hate being the center of attention and feeling that all eyes are on me, especially out in public. Most of the time I tell myself that no one is really paying attention to me and just get on with my business. After all, no one likes being stared at. But for our intrepid Princess Lisa, all eyes really ARE on her! As a tall blond woman in a world of small dark-haired people, she becomes something of a spectacle just by stepping outside her door. Spoiled she may be, but this sort of celebrity attention is not something she is used to or desires.

For all her whining about having to figure out how to do her own laundry and cooking and being reduced to using public transportation, Princess Lisa plunges in and carries on. During her first year in Japan, she actually confronts several versions of culture shock: the most obvious is as an American living in a foreign country with it's different viewpoints and customs. Secondly, this is also her first year of marriage, and that requires adjustments and compromises in an uncharted territory that would challenge anyone. And thirdly, she discovers the vast landscape of her own character. In the past, she may have enjoyed her pampered existence, but she takes pride in learning to fend for herself -- and laugh at herself.

JAPAN TOOK THE J.A.P. OUT OF ME was an enjoyable read and a fun little escape. I enjoyed the author's light writing style and her ability to poke fun at herself. And if she sometimes sounds childish in her complaints about the lifestyle she has taken on, she also possesses an almost childlike wonder and ability to have fun.

"Tokyo rocks. I love it. Everything moves incredibly fast and the lights and sounds collide colorfully, creating a kind of benevolent Blade Runner atmosphere. It happens to be raining this weekend, which adds to the allure as live-action billboards glisten throughout the Ginza district. When we come to the famous four corners crosswalk, which is as wide and long as an L.A. city park, we stand on the curb for several minutes waiting for the light to change, and I look at the bright neon puddles and smile at my husband." p. 79

I want to read more from this author -- what was her second year in Japan like? How did she adjust to life back in the States? What is her life like now?  Oops! Am I staring?



Check out these other blogs on the tour to read some more reviews:

The Life (And Lies) of an Inanimate Flying Object: http://haleymathiot.blogspot.com/

The Neverending Shelf: http://neverendingshelf.blogspot.com

Drey’s Library: http://dreyslibrary.blogspot.com/

A Sea of Books: http://aseaofbooks.blogspot.com/

Libby’s Library News: http://www.libslibrary.blogspot.com/

Bookin’ With Bingo: http://bookinwithbingo.blogspot.com/

Readaholic: http://bridget3420.blogspot.com/

That’s A Novel Idea: http://thatsanovelidea.blogspot.com

Starting Fresh: http://startingfresh-gaby317.blogspot.com/

Just Another New Blog: http://justanothernewblog.blogspot.com/

Blog Business World: http://www.blogbusinessworld.blogspot.com

My Friend Amy: http://www.myfriendamysblog.com

Chick With Books: http://www.chickwithbooks.blogspot.com/

Book N Around: http://booknaround.blogspot.com/

My Book Views: http://my-book-views.blogspot.com/

So Many Books, So Little Time: http://purplg8r-somanybooks.blogspot.com/

Keep on Booking: http://keeponbooking.blogspot.com

Reading at the Beach: http://ilratb.blogspot.com/

Found Not Lost: http://jmomfinds.amoores.com/

Brizmus Blogs Books: http://brizmusblogsbooks.blogspot.com/

I Read: http://sumanam.wordpress.com/

Thank you to Sarah at Simon & Schuster

for organizing this blog tour

and providing me with a review copy.

Blog Tour and Book Review #17: SARI SHOP WIDOW by Shobhan Bantwal

THE SARI SHOP WIDOW

by Shobhan Bantwal

Publisher: Kensington Publishing Corporation
Pub. Date: September 2009
ISBN-13: 9780758232021
Sales Rank: 97,288
352pp

About The Sari Shop WidowPungent curry, sweet fried onions, incense, colorful beads, and lush fabrics - THE SARI SHOP WIDOW is a novel set on the streets of Edison, New Jersey's Little India, where a young businesswoman rediscovers the magic of love and family. When Anjali Kapadia's posh sari boutique in New Jersey is on the verge of financial ruin, her wealthy uncle from India comes to her rescue.But the wily, dictatorial uncle arrives with some unpleasant surprises--a young Indo-British partner named Rishi Shah for one--and a startling secret that disturbs Anjali.

Falling in love with the mysterious Shah only adds to Anjali's burgeoning list of complications. Torn between her loyalty to her family and her business on the one hand and her growing attraction for a man who could never fit into her life on the other, Anjali turns to her family and cultural roots to make a life-altering decision.
My Rating: 4/5 Stars

My Thoughts:
Let's not beat around the bush: I absolutely love this book! The main character, Anjali, is a beautiful, smart yet vulnerable businesswoman. As a 37-year-old widow, she lives in New Jersey with her parents who immigrated from India years ago. Anjali has one foot in her family's traditional Hindu world and the other in modern American society. She deftly manages to juggle fulfilling her parents' expectations of a dutiful daughter with her own needs and desires as an independent adult woman.
True, I first fell in love with the gorgeous cover of THE SARI SHOP WIDOW. I printed out a copy of the picture and taped it near my computer, glancing at it frequently and eagerly anticipating getting my hands on the actual book. When I was offered the opportunity to participate in this blog tour and receive a copy of the book in pdf, I jumped at the chance. I loaded up my printer with some scrap copy paper and started printing away. I clipped the pages together in groups of about 5 chapters each, and every night for a week, I climbed into bed with my bundle of pages.
Though THE SARI SHOP WIDOW is a quick and easy read, I really enjoyed rationing the chapters throughout the week. I could have read it all in one afternoon, but this approach allowed me to linger with the completely engaging characters. Every day I looked forward to the next installment. During the workday, a glance at the book cover pinned up by my desk brought to mind the exotic scents of the Indian meals Anjali and her mother prepared for her conservative uncle during his extended visit with the family. I could hear the click-clack of Anjali's high heels as she walked through her upscale sari shop, Silk & Sapphires, arranging displays and assisting customers. I envisioned the vibrant colors and felt the luxurous silks of the saris and imagined them fluttering in the slight breeze as Anjali briskly took care of business. During my breaks, I would take a peak at Shobhan Bantwal's website and soak up information and images of Indian culture. And finally, at the end of each day, nestled in bed with that evening's alloted chapters, I moved into Anjali's world where she slowly learned how to blend the traditional and the modern aspects of her life and found the courage to risk falling in love and embarking on a new way of living.
As much as I loved this book, it's not without a couple of flaws. There are passages where the writing is a bit awkward, and sometimes I grew impatient with Anjali's continuing reluctance to embrace her second chance at love and happiness. While I feel obligated to mention these little bits that I didn't like, I so enjoyed THE SARI SHOP WIDOW and my whole reading experience, that I scoff at my own criticism of the book! Who cares if it's not perfect? I fell in love, and I'm betting you will, too!
Come back tomorrow to read an excerpt of THE SARI SHOP WIDOW as well as a guest post by Shobhan Banwal.
About Shobhan Banwal

Shobhan Bantwal calls her writing “Bollywood in a Book,” romantic, colorful, action-packed tales, rich with elements of her own Indian culture -- stories that entertain and educate. She is an award-winning women's fiction author of three published novels and has contributed to an anthology of short stories. Shobhan writes for a variety of publications including The Writer magazine, India Abroad, Little India, U.S. 1, Desi Journal, India Currents, Overseas Indian, and New Woman India. Her short stories have won honors/awards in contests sponsored by Writer's Digest, New York Stories and New Woman magazines

For a preview of the book, visit - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9uRlbkxxes

Order Your Copy at Amazon - http://www.amazon.com/Sari-Shop-Widow-Shobhan-Bantwal/dp/0758232020

For more information on Shobhan Bantwal's new and other books and to enter a drawing to win a number of prizes, please go to her website's “Contests” page and sign up between Sept 1 and Sept 30, 2009 at http://www.shobhanbantwal.com/

Full September Virtual Tour Details - http://virtualblogtour.blogspot.com/2009/07/sari-shop-widow-by-shobhan-bantwal.html

Thank you to Nikki Leigh and Promo 101 Virtual Blog Tours
for organizing this tour
and for providing me with my review copy of THE SARI SHOP WIDOW.