Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows in Around the Year in 52 Books

Jan 14, 2022 Sukhraj rated it liked it

Shelves: popsugar-2022-reading-challenge

Ahhhhhhhhh....where do I start with this? I don't even know.

I was really excited to read this ever since I discovered it on #booktok and then later found out it was chosen for @reesesbookclub. Getting recognition for the brown community is HUGE and I like to support and read works by desi authors whenever I can, especially when they're writing about the Sikh community.

This book is a love letter to our culture but also highlights some of the negative aspects of our community - our close-mindedne Ahhhhhhhhh....where do I start with this? I don't even know.

I was really excited to read this ever since I discovered it on #booktok and then later found out it was chosen for @reesesbookclub. Getting recognition for the brown community is HUGE and I like to support and read works by desi authors whenever I can, especially when they're writing about the Sikh community.

This book is a love letter to our culture but also highlights some of the negative aspects of our community - our close-mindedness, our prejudices, how judgmental we are, and other hot topics like arranged marriages and the crux of the book - sex (or a lack thereof of any discussion or desire).

Jaswal's novel starts off light-hearted. Nikki is a typical first-generation Punjabi woman who has upset her parents because she's not married, quit college because she didn't want to be a lawyer, moved out, works at a pub, and is basically the disappointment of the family. Her sister Mindi is the exact opposite and while placing an ad for her at the gurdwara to find her a match, she notices another ad for an English teacher and decides to apply.

On her first day of class, she discovers that the women are illiterate and only applied because they're bored at home and want to gossip with the other women. The class then quickly becomes a place to share erotic sex tales, that then get printed and published around town - much to the dismay of the Punjabi community and a group of men called the "Brothers" who serve as the moral police of the neighborhood.

While the book and the stories are oftentimes hilarious, what keeps this from a 5 star are all the little side stories. The book then strays from the exotic tales and becomes an overall observation of multiple things that are oftentimes confusing to follow because you forget what the whole point of that story was to begin with. Overall, I loved the raw look into the Punjabi community but I think that could have been a separate book and the focus should have been more on the widows sharing their exotic tales and why they were at the class.
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Jan 11, 2020 Kim rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: sisters, chick-lit, women-friends, europe

I liked this book much better than I thought I would. There was some romance, much mystery, and a whole lot of female empowerment!
AtY Winter Challenge: Feb - Valentine's Day - Read a book with Romance listed as one of the top five genres on its Goodreads page
AtY 2020 Challenge: 35. A book with a geometric pattern or element on the cover
2020 Pop Sugar Challenge: A book that is set in a city that hosted the Olympics
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Jun 21, 2018 hannah rated it really liked it

Overall a great read. Engaging characters and though I guessed a few plot elements early, there were a few twists at the end that I didn't expect. ...more

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