Dreaming in English by Laura Fitzgerald

ISBN-13: 9780451232144
Publisher: Penguin Group (USA)
Published: February 2011
432 pgs
Source: Publisher



When the publisher contacted me awhile back and asked if I want to review Dreaming in English by Laura Fitzgerald, I jumped at the chance because this novel is the sequel of Veil of Roses and I enjoyed that book so much!

Dreaming in English continues the story of Tamila Soroush, a spirited Iranian young woman who wants to break free of the confine life in her country and finding her dreams in America. In this novel, we finally see her finding her true love - an American man named Ike Hanson; but as in life in general, there are always obstacles and challenges finding their ways into our life. In Tami's case, it is getting the approval of his parents (whom they think she's marrying Ike for a reason), meeting face-to-face with Ike's ex-girlfriend (whom she and Ike thought she'd never return to Tucson) and then comes the biggest obstacle - to gain her U.S. residency through an immigration interview.

I find myself rooting for Tami all the way while reading this novel. She is a likeable character and though she is not an outspoken person (due to the culture and her family tradition), she definitely has dreams and she is not afraid to fight for it given the circumstances.

While Dreaming in English is a fiction of a young woman pursuing her dreams, it is also very much about learning more of Iranian culture through Tami's eyes. Through her point of view, she shares with her readers her lifestyle in America and how much it differs from Iran in which they would never allow the freedom of speech or any other things for that matter. Readers would also read about the joys and challenges of cross-cultural marriage and like any other marriage, this requires trust, effort (and sensitivity) from both parties no matter what race or religion a person is. Reading this book also gives me the satisfaction of learning other cultures and be appreciative of the life I have. Dreaming in English is also very much a story about faith and hope on top of the love and the cultural issue and that we need to have those more than blind luck to fulfil our dreams.

(Not So) Wordless Wednesday (iPhone Edition)

Here's my fourth post of the (Not So) Wordless Wednesday (iPhone Edition). . . I hope you enjoyed viewing them.

The latest angel poppet added to my collection. There is a switch at the bottom where you can turn on the light. So very cool!

My youngest daughter.

I love these Sanrio characters ever since I was a child. And no, I didn't play this because I knew I'd never be able to get them no matter how hard I try.

Doraemon at a game arcade.

Taken outside from a Japanese restaurant. Loved the setting and the atmosphere there.

Mermaid doll - A birthday gift to my eldest daughter from my 2nd brother-in-law.

Desserts we had the other day (I ordered the hazelnut avocado sundae which is on the far right.)

Japanese candy. Yummy!

Puzzled Hearts

Well I can't really remember when I first signed up on Facebook. It seems like everyone I knew have a facebook account and not wanting to feel left out, I became a member. I wasn't really active then, and at that time I thought it was kinda silly to update my status now and then for I don't think anyone would be interested to know what I'm doing or where I go.

However, that mindset changed after seeing many of my blogger friends updating and voicing their opinions there, and I began to think it is a great platform to play catch up with one another on top of those. But that is not all, I also see myself addicted to one of their games there: Puzzled Hearts (PH). I know there are a lot more games over there but I'm trying hard not to participate in too many as I know once you are in it, it is hard to get out (see how PH has done to me).

Anyway, here is a collage of pictures I collected from PH. The method is actually very simple: You send and receive hearts from your friends. Once you have completed collecting the hearts you want, a love quote will be unlocked and it would prompt you to another stage where you get to collect and solve jigsaw puzzles. Below are some of the pictures I collected after completing the jigsaw puzzles, and don't you think they are lovely?

Top Row (from L to R): Old Castle, Magic Garden and Foggy Forest.

Bottom Row (L to R): Dreamy Fairy, Fairy Tale and Iron Heart.

Teaser Tuesdays

TEASER TUESDAYS asks you to:

• Grab your current read.
• Let the book fall open to a random page.
• Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page.
• You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!
• Please avoid spoilers!
  
  

My understanding of the law is this: if I came to the U.S. on a tourist visa for the sole purpose of getting married in order to stay, that would be illegal. But if I came for a visit and just happened to fall in love - well, then it would be okay. The immigration people would let me stay.

The problem is, I did both.

(Pg 136-7, Dreaming in English by Laura Fitzgerald)

TBR Dare Challenge Wrap Up

It's April, and C.B. James' TBR Dare Challenge ended last Friday. When I first participated in this challenge, I was thinking that maybe this would help me to leave a dent of my TBR pile, unfortunately it wasn't the case. For starters, my reading has been going on very slow since the beginning of the year; plus my regular readers will know that my commute time has also been cut short after the relocation of my office and this has somewhat affected my reading since I spent most of the time reading while travelling to and from work. And, lo and behold, another reason being that I've been eyeing at those lovely newly acquisitions and I simply couldn't say no to them after hearing them calling my name, ha (I know, it's entirely my fault and there's no excuse for this). Thus, that leaves me to only finishing two books for this challenge:

• Gone by Mo Hayder
• Spinning Tropics by Aska Mochizuki

Among the two books, I've to say while I enjoyed reading one, the other was a disappointment. Maybe I'm biased (I'm a huge fan of Mo Hayder), but I had had a far more enjoyable reading experience with Gone as compared to Aska Mochizuki's Spinning Tropics. I know it's unfair to compare them since they are of the different genre, I've to say the latter didn't leave up to my expectations. Though it has a chilling factor at some point, it failed to 'wow' me and I was just perplexed over the ending, oh well.

So did you participate in this challenge? If so, how are you doing?

Book Blogger Hop-April Fools

The Book Blogger Hop, hosted by Jennifer at Crazy-for-Books, is a change for book bloggers of all stripes to get the word out about their blog.  My hop post this week will be short and sweet...the question of the week is...

 "Since today is April Fool's Day in the USA, what is the best prank you have ever played on someone OR that someone has played on you?"

 

My answer is short and sweet because I have never had an April Fool's joke played on my, nor have I ever played one on someone else.  Well, unless you count the students at school who come in every April 1st and say "There's a bug in your hair!  April fools!" or "Your shoe's untied!  April fools!  Of course, as a teacher I feel obligated to look down and laugh, but really April Fools Day in my world is one long string of "tricks" that are older than me (which, of course, the kids think they made up-adorable).

 

 

The Literary Blog Hop: To Like or Dislike the Hype

The Literary Blog Hop is hosted by the brilliant bloggers at The Blue Bookcase.  This week's question is:

Do you find yourself predisposed to like (or dislike) books that are generally accepted as great books and have been incorporated into the literary canon? Discuss the affect you believe a book’s “status” has on your opinion of it. 

 I think that my feelings on this topic have changed over time.  When I was in high school and college I was much more likely to assume that whatever classic literature they were asking us to read must be of great value, because otherwise why would we be asked to read it.  So I searched for nuggets even in things I hated, like The Scarlet Letter or The Old Man and the Sea.  But as I've gotten older, and I've learned more about the history of teaching reading and literature in our schools, I've come to realize the many, many, many voices that were never heard.  Women, people of color, gays and lesbians-all, with the notable exceptions of the Brontes and Jane Austen, were either left out of the literary conversation all together or had their stories told by others (most often not very authentically).  So, as the years have gone on, I've been less likely to read something that is strictly from the cannon and choose other, more diverse voices instead.  I suppose if I'm not careful I'll swing too far the other way, but for now I'm content to stay away from some of the capital A authors in favor of looking at life through the eyes of a more diverse group of small a authors.

Capital A Authors:

 Small a authors: