Starlight Book Review – Mansi Choksi’s The Newlyweds… 🇮🇳

Cover of The Newlyweds: Rearranging Marriage in Modern India by Mansi Choksi on a “Tangerine” background | Image Source: Goodreads

World Tour Stellar Reading Challenge – India

3.85/5 While India remains on my leap list of places to visit, I have read many books at least partially set there. In fact, Jhumpa Lahiri holds a prominent spot on my list of favorite authors. Yet, I challenged myself to read “new to me” writers in 2023. When I saw The Book Girls’ Guide’s recommendation of The Newlyweds: Rearranging Marriage in Modern India by Mansi Choksi, I felt this work of nonfiction met much of my 2023 reading criteria. Check out this and more suggestions from The Book Girls’ Guide by clicking here.

Learn more about this 2023 SRC by clicking here.

Click here to discover more about 2024 SRC.

“A literary investigation into India as a society in transition through the lens of forbidden love, as three young couples reject arranged marriages and risk everything for true love in the midst of social and political upheaval… In India, two out of every three people are under the age of thirty-five. These are men and women who grew up with the internet and the advent of smartphones and social media. But when it comes to love and marriage, they’re expected to adhere to thousands of years of tradition. It’s that conflict between obeying tradition and embracing modernity that drives journalist Mansi Choksi’s The Newlyweds… Through vivid, lyrical prose, Choksi shines a light on three young couples who buck against arranged marriages in the pursuit of true love, illustrating the challenges, shame, anger, triumph, and loss their actions and choices set in play… Against the backdrop of India’s beautiful villages and cities, Choksi introduces our newlyweds. First, there’s the lesbian couple forced to flee for a chance at a life together. Then there’s the Hindu woman and Muslim man who escaped their families under the cover of night after being harassed by a violent militia group. Finally, there’s the inter-caste couple who are doing everything to avoid the same fate as a similar couple who were burned alive… Engaging and moving, The Newlyweds raises universal questions, such What are we really willing to risk for love? If we’re lucky enough to find it, does it change us? If so, for the better? Or for the worse?”

The Newlyweds… made for a quick read. Choksi’s book read like many novels with the narrative alternating among these three different couples. I felt I came away with a considerable amount of knowledge about the state of Indian marriages. In particular, I rooted for Neetu and Rani, the inter-caste couple. Sometimes, I found myself bogged down with some of the statistics and I might have preferred less “couple hopping” but I don’t begrudge Choksi that too much. At the end of the day, I encourage anyone seeking more information about marriage in India to read The Newlyweds…

Quotes come from book flaps/cover and are featured on color blocks.

Starlight Book Review – Annette Gordon-Reed’s On Juneteenth

Cover of Book – On Juneteenth by Annette Gordon-Reed – centered on an old rose red background with the “Starry Night Elf” Logo in the lower right hand corner | Cover Image Source: Goodreads

4.18/5 I recall seeing Annette Gordon-Reed’s On Juneteenth hit shelves in libraries and stores alike soon after its publication. Also, I remember hearing of Juneteenth as a child reared practically in Galveston’s backyard. I recollect the thrill seeing this book gave me when Gulf Coast Reads (GCR) announced On Juneteenth as one of its three nominees for the 2022 GCR. Click here to learn more about GCR.

Alas, another book received more votes in the GCR. I mentally On Juneteenth onto my To Be Read (TBR) Shelf. As mentioned in the previous paragraph, this book takes place in the Lone Star State and thus qualifies as a book Set in Texas for the Regional U.S.A. (RUSA) Tour Stellar Reading Challenge (SRC) as well as the Local Tour SRC. Check out these SRC by clicking on the hyperlinked phrases, Gnomies.

“Weaving together American history, dramatic family chronicle, and searing episodes of memoir, Annette Gordon-Reed’s On Juneteenth provides a historian’s view of the country’s long road to Juneteenth, recounting both its origins in Texas and the enormous hardships that African-Americans have endured in the century since, from Reconstruction through Jim Crow and beyond. All too aware of the stories of cowboys, ranchers, and oilmen that have long dominated the lore of the Lone Star State, Gordon-Reed—herself a Texas native and the descendant of enslaved people brought to Texas as early as the 1820s—forges a new and profoundly truthful narrative of her home state, with implications for us all… Combining personal anecdotes with poignant facts gleaned from the annals of American history, Gordon-Reed shows how, from the earliest presence of Black people in Texas to the day in Galveston on June 19, 1865, when Major General Gordon Granger announced the end of legalized slavery in the state, African-Americans played an integral role in the Texas story… Reworking the traditional “Alamo” framework, she powerfully demonstrates, among other things, that the slave- and race-based economy not only defined the fractious era of Texas independence but precipitated the Mexican-American War and, indeed, the Civil War itself… In its concision, eloquence, and clear presentation of history, On Juneteenth vitally revises conventional renderings of Texas and national history. Especially now that the U.S. recognizes Juneteenth (June 19) as a national holiday, On Juneteenth is both an essential account and a stark reminder that the fight for equality is exigent and ongoing.”

Overall, I appreciated On Juneteenth. Through essays and memoir, Gordon-Reed related the history of June 19 when it stood on the precipice of becoming a federal holiday. Gordon-Reed not only shared about Major General Gordon Granger’s announcement on June 19, 1865, she also spoke of her connection to this and more. She discussed growing up in Jim Crow Conroe, Texas (north of Houston, where I grew up) and was the first black child in her elementary school. Gordon-Reed spoke, too, of Estevanico; the first African to explore North America. I only previously knew of Estevanico because my dad told me about him. On Juneteenth packs so much information in such a slim volume. I shaved off a partial star in my rating of On Juneteenth mostly because of a reference to the Great Galveston Hurricane also known as the 1900 Storm. Gordon-Reed stated it happened in 1901. Despite that, I fully recommend On Juneteenth as a book to read to learn more of June 19, a holiday I’m grateful to celebrate.

Quotes come from book flaps/cover and are featured on color blocks.

Starlight Book Review – Stephen L. Klineberg’s Prophetic City…

Cover of Prophetic City: Houston on the Cusp of a Changing America by Stephen L. Klineberg centered on a tan background | Image Source: Goodreads

4/5 What’s a better way to “Read Local” than to read a book focused on your town, Gnomies? When seeking out books set in my hometown of Houston, Texas, a Gnomie recommended Prophetic City: Houston on the Cusp of a Changing America by Stephen L. Klineberg. I’m definitely counting Prophetic City… as my book set in HTown for the Read Local Stellar Reading Challenge (SRC).

“Sociologist Stephen Klineberg presents fascinating and groundbreaking research that shows how the city of Houston has emerged as a microcosm for America’s future—based on an unprecedented thirty-eight-year study of its changing economic, demographic, and cultural landscapes… Houston, Texas, long thought of as a traditionally blue-collar black/white southern city, has transformed into one of the most ethnically and culturally diverse metro areas in the nation, surpassing even New York by some measures… With a diversifying economy and large numbers of both highly-skilled technical jobs in engineering and medicine and low-skilled minimum-wage jobs in construction, restaurant work, and personal services, Houston has become a magnet for the new divergent streams of immigration that are transforming America in the 21st century. And thanks to an annual systematic survey conducted over the past thirty-eight years, the ongoing changes in attitudes, beliefs, and life experiences have been measured and studied, creating a compelling data-driven map of the challenges and opportunities that are facing Houston and the rest of the country… In Prophetic City, we’ll meet some of the new Americans, including a family who moved to Houston from Mexico in the early 1980s and is still trying to find work that pays more than poverty wages. There’s a young man born to highly-educated Indian parents in an affluent Houston suburb who grows up to become a doctor in the world’s largest medical complex, as well as a white man who struggles with being prematurely pushed out of the workforce when his company downsizes… This timely and groundbreaking book tracks the progress of an American city like never before. Houston is at the center of the rapid changes that have redefined the nature of American society itself in the new century. Houston is where, for better or worse, we can see the American future emerging.”

Klineberg’s study of Houston amazed me in both its depth and breadth. While I knew some of the info shared in Prophetic City…, I also learned many things about the Energy Capital of the World <smile>. It took me a few months to read Prophetic City… because other library patrons and I took turns checking out this book. Klineberg excelled in explaining why Houston possesses certain facets — lack of zoning, traffic woes, phenomenal citizens and cuisine. Also, early on in Prophetic City…, Klineberg stated that a number of sociological trends happen in Houston first. A couple of these deal with the economy — the 1982 Crash and the Enron Scandal. This held my fascination throughout most of the work. As more of a recreational historian and less of a leisurely sociologist or statistician, I found various data pours rather dry and dull. Yet, I recommend this book to anyone interested in Houston’s history.

Quotes come from book flaps/cover and are featured on color blocks.

Starlight Book Review – Malcolm Gladwell’s Talking to Strangers…

Cover of Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know About the People We Don’t Know by Malcolm Gladwell on light sea blue color background | Image Source: Goodreads

4.25/5 My earliest nonfiction reading forays beyond “Biography/Memoir” as an adult were works by Malcolm Gladwell. These works are still mind-blowing in my estimation; they have raised the bar in my expectations as a reader. Thanks to Gladwell, I am always seeking a lot from nonfiction works. Just shy of the pandemic arriving in my neck of the woods, I was able to tune into Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know About the People We Don’t Know as an audiobook. I’m so glad I did!

“Malcolm Gladwell, host of the podcast Revisionist History and author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Outliers, offers a powerful examination of our interactions with strangers — and why they often go wrong… How did Fidel Castro fool the CIA for a generation? Why did Neville Chamberlain think he could trust Adolf Hitler? Why are campus sexual assaults on the rise? Do television sitcoms teach us something about the way we relate to each other that isn’t true?… While tackling these questions, Malcolm Gladwell was not solely writing a book for the page. He was also producing for the ear. In the audiobook version of Talking to Strangers, you’ll hear the voices of people he interviewed–scientists, criminologists, military psychologists. Court transcripts are brought to life with re-enactments. You actually hear the contentious arrest of Sandra Bland by the side of the road in Texas. As Gladwell revisits the deceptions of Bernie Madoff, the trial of Amanda Knox, and the suicide of Sylvia Plath, you hear directly from many of the players in these real-life tragedies. There’s even a theme song – Janelle Monae’s “Hell You Talmbout.”… Something is very wrong, Gladwell argues, with the tools and strategies we use to make sense of people we don’t know. And because we don’t know how to talk to strangers, we are inviting conflict and misunderstanding in ways that have a profound effect on our lives and our world.”

Gladwell has lived up to, perhaps exceeded his high standards from previous works. In Talking to Strangers…, he presents a number of conflicts… and puts interesting twists and views on these dilemmas. Two and a half years after I first read Talking to Strangers…, I’m still recommending various chapters/passages to others. Also, I highly recommend that anyone who picks up Talking to Strangers… read the book with their ears; this book makes for stellar listening. I did knock off a partial star on my rating, however, since I wanted to know more on some of Gladwell’s subjects.

Quotes come from book flaps/cover and are featured on color blocks.

Starlight Review – Tara Westover’s Educated: A Memoir

Across the USA Stellar Reading Challenge – Spot #2 – Idaho

4.5/5 I saw nothing but praise for Tara Westover’s Educated: A Memoir. Yet, it took a friend mentioning this book before I started seeking out the memoir to read. When I learned much of the action took place in Idaho, I mentally shelved it for my upcoming 2021 Across the USA Reading Challenge.

In Educated, Tara Westover relates her story of growing up off the grid in rural, sometimes brutal, Idaho, the youngest in her survivalist, fringe Latter Day Saints (LDS) family. Instead of going to public school or to the doctor, Tara helped in her father’s scrap yard and with her mother’s herbalist/midwife businesses. She endures all of this in addition to physical abuse at the hand of an older brother. Tara finds a way out by taking the ACT and escaping to the LDS-sponsored Brigham Young University. Once Tara gets her bearings, she soars and ultimately earns a PhD from the renowned Cambridge as a Gates Scholar.

I like books which take concepts I take for granted on their ears. Educated does just that by showing how Tara, whose teachers had let’s say a rather “selective curriculum” and doesn’t go to any school. With sheer grit and determination, Tara earns doctorate from one of the world’s best universities. I admire her and her writing style. I confess to a bit of rubber necking as I was riveted by the horror of her childhood among a few other circumstances in Tara’s life. As I hope others will read this gripping memoir, I won’t tell you the rest. – sne