Eighteen Days of Spring in Winter by Saeida Rouass
Literary fiction
Impress Books, 2015
It's 2011 in Cairo, Egypt. Khaled Said's unjust murder by police months after a desperate man in Tunisia immolated himself in hopeless protest of injustice propels the Arab world closer to political implosion. One modestly privileged Egyptian family with two physician parents, an eleven-year-old son, and an eighteen-year-old Sophia, whose narrative begins, "This is the only story I know to tell... the voice is a unique battle cry of love." all draw readers into the personal reverberations of a cultural shift.
As a university student of comparative literature, Sophia spends much of her time escaping reality by immersing herself in books. Yet the clamor for change swells around and within her until she can no longer ignore her volatile environment. Poetic sensibilities, gritty circumstances, family friction, and internal angst set against the backdrop of a pivotal historic moment. This author excavates the personal and cultural layers of shifts in consciousness that gradually accelerate in momentum and lead to revolutions both intimate and global.
Assembly of the Dead by Saeida Rouass
Literary historical mystery fiction
Impress Books, 2017
Assembly of the Dead begins with the poem "Ajax" by Al-Moghreb Al-Aksa in 1900. It poses questions about duty, tradition, ownership, and legacies, which sets the tone for this atmospheric mystery. Farook al-Alalmi arrives in Marrakesh, Morocco from Tangier in early 1906. He's an outsider who's been tasked by the sultan to investigate the abrupt disappearances of young women. The evolution of his mission reveals a tangled mess of bureaucratic apathy, political gamesmanship, abuse of power, patriarchal misogyny (Is that redundant?), xenophobia, and resistance to choosing scientific advancement over superstition. Add rich characterizations and a fraught, forced professional partnership to nuanced cultural immersion to create a compelling dramatic saga in three parts. Although it's inspired by actual events from the early 1900s there are unfortunate present-day parallels to the recent Gabby Petito case and the numerous unfound and unnamed people currently missing, particularly according to a sliding scale of human valuation by society. Be sure to read the glossary of terms and the historical note to further illuminate this moody tale. Its ending generates hope that this is the first in a series.
Hard Rhythm (Secrets of a Rock Star) by Cecilia Tan
Erotic romance
Hachette, 2017
Private sex club hostess, vlogger, aspiring journalist Madison Rofel and high-profile drummer Chino Garcia keep circling each other. One night they collide, igniting their explosive sexual chemistry and compatible kinks. They also tripwire each other's unresolved past traumas although their hardcore BDSM encounters are rooted in voluptuous pleasure, respect for consensual agency, and emotional intimacy, not sadness or dysfunction. That fundamental truth distinguishes Hard Rhythm from many books in this genre. Madison and Chino are complicated without being caricatures and volatile without being bombastic. They're irresistible to readers who enjoy explicit BDSM scenes with as much romance as sex. According to the author, the U.S.A. National Domestic Violence Hotline number of 1-800-799-7233 given from character to another is real.
W.I.S.E. Men (The Persistence of Memory #4) by Karen Janowsky
Speculative
December 2020
Currently binge reading and very much enjoying W.I.S.E. Men as of this Saturday, September 25th blog post in preparation for prerecording our #TWWBF2021adapt panel discussion early next week.
Will share my review of the fourth installment of this captivating series next weekend.
My reviews for volumes one and two were reposted here:
[I need to locate my earlier review for #3.š]
Appreciate you bloggiing this
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