Beach Read Of The Day

I've been waiting for what seems like ages for my mother to finish Jhumpa Lahiri's new book. Actually, I keep pilfering it to use as a lunch companion, and then forgetting to return it, thus incurring wrath and impeding its eventual arrival to my nightstand. Unaccustomed Earth is a compilation of eight mid-length stories revolving around the struggles of second generation Indian Americans and their immigrant parents to combine two worlds.

These stories are not always easy to read, but they are beautifully, and quietly written, and managed to put me, a caucasian american, into the uncomfortable, shifting shoes of Bengali immigrants and their children. If you like books that sweep you into a never-before-imagined-but-very-real world, you'll love this one. 

[Image via Random House]