International Themes Archives

The Henna Artist by Alka Joshi

by Bubbly Bibbly | Jan 18, 2021 | Book Review, Historical Fiction

Summary: Escaping from an abusive marriage, seventeen-year-old Lakshmi makes her way alone to the vibrant 1950s pink city of Jaipur. There she becomes the most highly requested henna artist—and confidante—to the wealthy women of the upper class. But trusted with the...

Bel Canto by Ann Patchett

by Bubbly Bibbly | Oct 26, 2020 | Book Review, Literary Fiction

Summary: In an unnamed South American country, a world-renowned soprano sings at a birthday party in honor of a visiting Japanese industrial titan. Alas, in the opening sequence, a ragtag band of 18 terrorists enters the vice-presidential mansion through the air...

A Man Called Ove by Frederik Backman

by Bubbly Bibbly | Sep 9, 2020 | Book Review, Literary Fiction

Summary: In this bestselling and delightfully quirky debut novel from Sweden, a grumpy yet loveable man finds his solitary world turned on its head when a boisterous young family moves in next door. Meet Ove. He’s a curmudgeon—the kind of man who points at people he...

A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles

by Bubbly Bibbly | Sep 8, 2020 | Book Review, Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction

Summary: A Gentleman in Moscow immerses us in an elegantly drawn era with the story of Count Alexander Rostov. When, in 1922, he is deemed an unrepentant aristocrat by a Bolshevik tribunal, the count is sentenced to house arrest in the Metropol, a grand hotel across...

1Q84 by Haruki Murakami

by Bubbly Bibbly | Sep 3, 2020 | Book Review, Crime/Mystery/Thriller, Literary Fiction

Summary: A young woman named Aomame follows a taxi driver’s enigmatic suggestion and begins to notice puzzling discrepancies in the world around her. She has entered, she realizes, a parallel existence, which she calls 1Q84 —“Q is for ‘question mark.’ A world that...