Welcome to Litsy!

This was my book pick on this ‘books with movies‘ season of Book Interrupted. This is an amazing true story of a 5 year old in India that got caught on a train and ultimately got lost. He got adopted by a family in Australia and then 25 years later because of Google Earth was able to find home again. This is an incredible story with an unbelievably happy ending. The book was slow in places and the movie changed some things but I enjoyed both.

I enjoyed this third installment of the Perveen Mistry series, even if the ending was a little too tidy. I accidentally downloaded the next one from Libby, so I will at least start it there even though I have a hard copy.

It turns out I was a little hasty consolidating all my #serieslove2024 into one collage, so for various reasons I‘ve separated the mysteries from the rest again for now.

Well, I learned waaaay more about India‘s early politics and governmental structure in Part 14 than I expected (coupled with internet research to supplement my big knowledge gaps). The will-he-or-won‘t-he aspects of Nehru, India‘s enigmatic first Prime Minister, added some welcome tension to this chapter. I cheered confirmation of my suspicion that Maan is bisexual; also pleased that his father has recognized his good qualities. #SuitableBoy2024

“A child is born; wise women come to look.” [Is Seth talking about Meenakshi & Kakoli? 😂]
“A cobbler writes. A poet mails his book.” — talk about understatement! Haresh & Amit seem to be the major players in Lata‘s love story so I was glad to see a lot of both in this chapter. Kabir is there too. Also glad we didn‘t have to wait to hear about Pran‘s health. In baby news, what will happen with Meenakshi‘s accidental pregnancy? #SuitableBoy2024

1. Malice Domestic closing tea with a gift of the tagged book.
2. Nationals pet calendar cat picture when most months it‘s been a dog (also cute but not a cat).
3. New season of Welcome to Wrexham.
4. UMC eliminated the ban on LGBT pastors. I know some people who have been affected by this.
5. I just did early voting for the primary.
#5joysFriday

Emotions run high & disparate narrative threads come together. Rupa‘s annoyance over being last to meet Haresh is overshadowed by everyone‘s concern for Pran‘s health. Are any of you reassured on his behalf by the words of Pran‘s masseur? Meanwhile, Kabir is near & Maan may have kissed Saeeda Bai goodbye by kissing someone else. (A good thing?) And what‘s the Nawab‘s secret in regards to Tasneem? I don‘t think Firoz will be found suitable for her.

Old landlords sue the state to keep their lands.
Crushed corpses rot upon the holy sands.

Holy smoke! Momentous moments in this chapter! I don‘t usually get on with courtroom drama but Vikram Seth managed to make even that compelling. But little Bhaskar is my main concern. I hope we don‘t have to wait to long for an update.
#SuitableBoy2024

This one is not my favorite of “Tookies short perfect novels” that I have read so far, but I do see why it‘s on the list. The end did quite literally take my breath away.

A title that captures the last six months of my life would be Things Fall Apart. Watching my mother‘s rapid decline from Alzheimer‘s ending with her death Thursday has been agonizing, and trying to support my dad through it is equally so. Next week I will find out whether I will have a job next year or not (I‘m a school librarian in Texas, where the governor is holding our school funding hostage for his voucher program) so there‘s that . . . 😫

I have really enjoyed the books in Massey‘s Perveen Mistry series. Set in 1920‘s India, the sense of place and history are fascinating and this, her latest, is a great read. Perveen, the only female lawyer in Bombay, is representing a woman falsely charged with the use of an abortifacient, and later with the murder of her employer. The truth revolves around white colonial greed. We get to know more about Perveen in each novel