Buddy Read for There Are Rivers in the Sky

[Amy]

You guys know what it is like to be in the first words and first page(s) of a book and to know you are in the presence of a five (ten) star read. I thought I would start the discussion here, because you guys are going to want to talk about this book. Sally is right. It is indeed captivating, enthralling, and magical. I am 20% through.

[Sallys]

That's how I felt when I started. I knew that this would be a treasure and it was, all the way through. I can't wait to be able to really discuss this amazing work of literature when everyone participating in the Buddy read is done.

[Nicole R]

I am hoping to start this one on audio soon!! By soon, I mean hopefully in early March. lol. I will for sure pop back in when I am done but I am very much looking forward to finally getting to it.

[Joy D]

I read it last year and absolutely loved it!

[NancyJ]

I’m at the top of the wait list so I expect to get it this week.

[Amy]

This is one of those books that is just so incredibly special. Something happens to me when I read Elif Shafak. I find, like with Alice Hoffman, and also with Jodi Picoult, that the words are spiritual. I often have to read each line, each paragraph, more than once, and let the words and concepts sit with me. There is an astounding beauty to the way she writes. And to the way she thinks. This is not a book to summarize, it is one to savor. To immerse oneself in. To live in its beauty.

Water is memory. Water is the element that flows through us and connects us. The same raindrop that begins a flood in ancient Mesopotamia, is also the same raindrop in te flask of contaminated water that kills Arthurs brother. And the same part of the flood that washes away Zakeelah's parents. But it is also the same water that is the Tigres, and that Nirah bathes in for her baptism. As well as the River Thames, It is the water that runs underneath Zakeelah's houseboat, that Nen muckrakes in, and is told in stories, like Noah's Ark. Water holds memories. So does poetry, like the Epic of Gilgamesh, that Arthur, Nen, and Uncle Malek live for and through. They are connected through time, through the concepts and experience of this harsh and epic poem and tale, that speaks of heartbreak, but also love. Of memory, and of living. Nirah, her grandmother, and her great great grandmother were water dousers and story carriers. They can sense and find the water, as well as within themselves. Leila sees an awful prophecy, Nirah is slowly going deaf at age 9 or so. Her grandmother is her storyteller and protector. But no one can protect the Yadzi from their fate of being wrongly accused of being devil worshippers and wiping them and their stories from existence. There are symbols from the past that continue to entrance and take hold. A lapis lazuli necklace, that also contains the tale. A Cunieform tatooist, who has the symbol for water over her entrance door. A lamassah, a mythical beast with hooves and wings and a man's head, who held all the power. There is water, there is storytelling, there is devastation, there is beauty, and there is love. This story will live within me like the rain.

[Sallys]

I agree Amy. It spoiled me for other books.

[Amy]

New favorite author and definitely a top 10 for 2025!