Belletrista Blog

Belletrista Issue 9

January 24, 2011

After a hard day at work I arrive home to find that the new issue of Belletrista has been published. Lovely!

My highlights:

  • Julie Mignone’s review of Skylark Farm by Antonia Arslan. This book is sitting on my shelf just begging me to pick it up. After reading Julie’s review I have bumped it to the top of my ‘to read’ pile.
  • We Are A Muslim, Please written by Zaiba Malik (with a great review by Darryl Morris) about her experiences of growing up in Britain as a Muslim of Pakistani descent. One of our female Muslim politicians recently commented that Islamophobia has “crossed the threshold of middle-class respectability” and is now seen as uncontroversial. It’s certainly true that Britain claims to be a multi-cultural society while often the reality is very different.

What’s caught your eye in Belletrista this month?

Posted by Char

2 Comments for this entry

  • Joyce

    Char – Darryl’s review of We Are Muslim, Please really caught my eye too. On the wishlist it goes!

    I currently have 495 books sitting in Mnt. TBR (that’s Mount To-Be-Read), and more than that on my wish list. I usually read 85-100 books a year, so obviously I don’t need to find any more books. However, I’m itching to get my hands on these books from the latest issue of Belletrista:

    - Witness the Night, by Kishwar Desai (mentioned in the Awards and Nominations section as the winner of the Costa First Novel award)

    - from the New & Notable section, I have my eye on The Hairdresser of Harare, by Tendai Huchu and Red Wolf, by Liza Marklund (can you believe I’ve never read a Scandinavian crime novel?)

    - and finally, from the review section, I’ve picked out Pictures of You, by Caroline Leavitt; The Event Factory, by Renee Gladman; Butterfly, by Sonya Hartnett; We are Muslim, Please, by Zaiba Malik; and I Want to Get Married, by Ghada Abde Aal.

    Once more, I’m reminded that there are too many books, too little time!

  • Jana

    I really enjoyed both stories in this issue! I noticed the new Lorraine Adams title in the New and Notable section. I read her “Harbor” and it was terrific, although I’m not sure I’m up for the subject matter of this one.

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