Vikas Adam embodies the mixed feelings of Ashish Patel, the younger brother of Rishi, a character also portrayed by Adam. Ashish, a handsome high school basketball star at his elite school, has been dumped by his college girlfriend. Adam enacts the fading of Ashish’s haughty attitude as his mojo is replaced by severe self-questioning that has him ready to accept his parents’ challenge of arranged dates. Their choice, Sweetie, is portrayed by Soneela Nankani. Nankani articulates the insecurity of a teen who struggles with her mother’s continual comments about her weight but who in other moments knows that she is powerful and talented. Both excellent narrations depict minor characters and reveal cultural elements well. But the focus is the tenderness, vulnerability and self-discovery of the two protagonists. S.W. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award, 2019 Best Audiobook © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine
Contemporary is my favorite genre in part for all its possibilities. In any given list of contemporary greats, including this one, there can be romantic comedies, thrillers, stories of perseverance in the face of an adverse world, explorations of real-life issues, and settings that can be wildly true to where you grew up or a […]
Go big or go home! Dumplin’ is now streaming on Netflix, and it’s capturing hearts and causing a new generation to Google Dolly Parton. Based on Julie Murphy’s 2015 novel by the same name, Dumplin’ stars Danielle Macdonald as Willowdean Dickson and Jennifer Aniston as her pageant queen mom. Like To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, it […]
Like so many other readers, I’m a sucker for romance. Give it to me with drama and angst or sweetness and banter! Start them off as the best of friends or the worst of enemies! Slow-burn or insta-lust, brand new or a second chance, I’m here for it all and psyched to rec some of […]
As the conversation about diversifying our shelves (and the publishing industry as a whole) continues, it’s three steps forward, and two steps back. (See the still startling and disappointing numbers from the annual Lee & Low diversity in publishing survey, which reads quite bleak for 2018.) But more and more (and more, please!), publishers, editors […]