Poornima Apte
Poornima Apte loves to read, write, and listen to NPR. She lives in the greater Boston area with her husband and two daughters.
Poornima also reviews/comments on her own blog: BooksnFreshAir and for the book lover’s site, BookBrowse. You can follow her on Twitter at @booksnfreshair.
Poornima has reviewed the following for MostlyFiction.com:
2014
- Long Man by Amy Greene (2-25-14)
- All the Light There Was by Nancy Kricorian (1-7-14)
2013
- Pig’s Feet by Carlos Acosta (12-29-13)
- Junkyard Planet: Travels in the Billion-Dollar Trash Trade by Adam Minter (12-13-13)
2011 (Top Picks)
- Assumption by Percival Everett (11-17-11)
- The Barbarian Nurseries by Héctor Tobar (10-17-11)
- The Visible Man by Chuck Klosterman (10-6-11)
- We the Animals by Justin Torres (9-22-11)
- Pigeon English by Stephen Kelman (9-14-11)
- The Family Fang by Kevin Wilson (9-5-11)
- The Leftovers by Tom Perrotta (8-30-11)
- Elegies for the Broken Hearted by Christie Hodgen (7-19-11)
- Daughters of the Revolution by Carolyn Cooke (6-27-11)
- The Descent of Man by Kevin Desinger (6-22-11)
- My American Unhappiness by Dean Bakopoulos (6-16-11)
- The Sly Company of People Who Care by Rahul Bhattacharya (5-22-11)
- A Young Man’s Guide to Late Capitalism by Peter Mountford (4-12-11)
- Nude Walker by Bathsheba Monk (3-18-11)
- The Tiger’s Wife by Téa Obreht (3-10-11)
- Falling Sideways by Thomas E. Kennedy (3-01-11)
- The Intimates by Ralph Sassone (2-21-11)
- West of Here by Jonathan Evison (2-16-11)
- Open City by Teju Cole (2-8-11)
- Small Kingdoms by Anastasia Hobbet (1-27-11)
- O: A Presidential Novel by Anonymous (1-25-11) (review by Poornima Apte)
2010 (Top Picks)
- The Disappearing Spoon and Other True Tales of Madness, Love and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements by Sam Kean (12-28-10)
- Everything Lovely, Effortless, Safe by Jenny Hollowell (12-14-10)
- Skippy Dies by Paul Murray (11-23-10)
- Travels in Siberia by Ian Frazier (11-10-10)
- How to Read Air by Dinaw Mengestu (10-28-10)
- By Nightfall by Michael Cunningham (10-02-10)
- The Wilding by Benjamin Percy (09-28-10)
- A Week at the Airport by Alain de Botton (09-22-10)
- Freedom by Jonathan Franzen (09-03-10)
- Bitter in the Mouth by Monique Truong (09-01-10)
- The Thieves of Manhattan by Adam Langer (08-26-10)
- Aunts Aren’t Gentlemen by P. G. Wodehouse (08-18-10)
- Super Sad True Love Story by Gary Shteyngart (08-02-10)
- The Lonely Polygamist by Brady Udall (07-21-10)
- 03 by Jean Christophe Valtat (07-14-10)
- Next by James Hynes (07-03-10)
- Work Song by Ivan Doig (06-29-10)
- Anthropology of an American Girl by Hilary Thayer Hamann (06-14-10)
- Leaving Rock Harbor by Rebecca Chace (05-31-10)
- The Unknown Knowns by Jeffrey Rotter (05-23-10)
- Ilustrado by Miguel Syjuco (05-17-10)
- The Singer’s Gun by Emily St. John Mandel (05-5-10)
- Boys and Girls Like You and Me by Aryn Kyle (04-20-10)
- Broken Glass Park by Alina Bronsky (04-13-10)
- Solar by Ian McEwan (03-30-10)
- Nothing to Lose: Ordinary Lives in North Korea by Barbara Demick (03-27-10)
- Bone Fire by Mark Spragg (03-17-10)
- The Surrendered by Chang-Rae Lee (03-09-10)
- The Room and the Chair by Lorraine Adams (02-24-10)
- The Routes of Man by Ted Connover (02-15-10)
- Union Atlantic by Adam Haslett (02-09-10)
- Baba Yaga Laid an Egg by Dubravka Ugresic (02-03-10)
- The Unnamed by Josh Ferris (01-18-10)
- Beneath the Lion’s Gaze by Maaza Mengiste (01-12-10)
- When Everything Changed by Gail Collins (01-03-10)
2009 (Top Picks)
- A Country Called Home by Kim Barnes (12-22-09)
- The Museum of Innocence by Orham Pamuk (12-14-09)
- American Salvage by Bonnie Jo Campbell (12-4-09)
- Pop Goes the Weasel by Jack Albert (11-26-09)
- Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer (11-18-09)
- The Coral Thief by Rebecca Stott (11-01-09)
- Generosity: An Enhancement by Richard Powers (10-18-09)
- Blame by Michelle Huneven (9-27-09)
- Zeitoun by Dave Eggers (9-19-09)
- A Gate at the Stairs by Lorrie Moore (9-9-09)
- In the Kitchen by Monica Ali (8-24-09)
- Brooklyn by Colm Toibin (8-13-09)
- Lowboy by John Wray (7-26-09)
- Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann (7-15-09)
- The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet by Reif Larson (7-5-09)
- The Nation. Guide to the Nation by Richard Lingeman (5-25-09)
- The Song Is You by Arthur Phillips (5-4-09)
- My Little Red Book by Rachel Kauder Nalebuff (4-23-09)
- Selling Your Father’s Bones by Brian Schofield (4-5-09)
- American Rust by Philipp Meyer (3-24-09)
- In Other Rooms, Other Wonders by Daniyal Mueenddin (3-17-09)
- Ruins by Achy Obejas (3-11-09)
- Bad Traffic by Simon Lewis (2-21-09)
- Security by Steve Amidon (2-3-09)
- Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese (2-2-09)
- Lark & Termite by Jayne Anne Phillips (1-24-09)
- Dream City by Brendan Short (1-15-09)
- Nemesis by Jo Nesbo (1-6-09)
2008
- Out of Mao’s Shadow by Philip P. Pan (12-31-08)
- Mrs. Hemple Chronicles by Sarah Shun-Lien Bynum (11-23-08)
- Traffic by Tom Vanderbilt (10-1-08)
- The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson (9-23-08)
- Dear American Airlines by Jonathan Miles (9-8-08)
- Petropolis by Anya Ulinich (8-5-08)
- The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski (7-17-08)
- The Great Derangement by Matt Taibbi (7-4-08)
- When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris (6-25-08)
- The Fortune Cookie Chronicle by Jennifer 8. Lee (6-17-08)
- The Boat by Nam Le (6-11-08)
- Homecoming by Bernhard Schlink (6-3-08)
- The Lazarus Project by Aleksandar Hemon (5-24-08)
- Enlightenment by Maureen Freely (5-14-08)
- Split Estate by Charlotte Bacon (5-9-08)
- Banana by Dan Koeppel (5-3-08)
- Unnaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri (4-24-08)
- Ellington Boulevard by Adam Langer (4-19-08)
- The Invention of Everything Else by Samantha Hunt (4-15-08)
- Slip of the Knife by Denise Mina (4-9-08)
- Knots by Naruddin Farah (3-21-08)
- Draining the Sea by Micheline Aharonian Marcom (3-13-08)
- The Geography of Bliss by Eric Weiner (3-3-08)
- How the Dead Dream by Lydia Millet (2-23-08)
- His Illegal Self by Peter Carey (2-11-08)
- Night Train to Lisbon by Pascal Mercier (2-6-08)
- My Revolutions by Hari Kunzru (1-25-08)
- A Golden Age by Tahmima Anam (1-18-08)
2007
- The Indian Bride by Karin Fossum (12-30-07)
- The Collaborator of Bethlehem by Matt Benyon Rees (12-19-07)
- Them by Nathan McCall (12-11-07)
- North River by Pete Hamill (11-30-07)
- Dreams from My Father by Barack Obama (11-29-07)
- China Road by Rob Gifford (11-8-07)
- The Air We Breathe by Andrea Barrett (11-4-07)
- A Free Life by Ha Jin (10-29-07)
- Away by Amy Bloom (10-16-07)
- Consolation by Michael Redhill (10-7-07)
- The Indian Clerk by David Leavitt (10-02-07)
- Gifted by Nikita Lalwani (9-27-07)
- The Assassin’s Song by M. G. Vassanji (9-20-07)
- The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot DÃaz (9-9-07)
- New Orleans Noir by Julie Smith (8-14-07)
- Out Stealing Horses by Per Petterson (7-27-07)
- The Tenderness of Wolves by Stef Penney (07-10-07)
- Free Food for Millionaires by Min Jin Lee (6-22-07)
- Certainty by Madeleine Thien (06-11-07)
- The Yiddish Policemen’s Union by Michael Chabon (05-30-07)
- In the Country of Men by Hisham Matar (05-15-07)
- Better by Atul Gawande (04-23-07)
- The Perfect Man by Naeem Murr (4-18-07)
- Dancing to “Almendra” by Mayra Montero (04-05-07)
- Then We Came to the End by Joshua Ferris (3-28-07)
- Arlington Park by Rachel Cusk (2-21-07)
- The Last Friend by Tahar Ben Jelloun (02-07-07)
- Zoli by Colum McCann (01-30-07)
- Sacred Games by Vikram Chandra (01-16-07)
- Death of a Writer by Michael Collins (01-01-07)
2006
- The Dead Hour by Denise Mina (9-30-06)
- Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits by Laila Lalami (6-4-06)
- Wickett’s Remedy by Mylla Goldberg (3-20-06)
- The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai (1-29-06)
2005
- Extreemly Loud & Incredibly Close by Jonanthan Safran Foer (3-27-05)
2004
- Tijuana Straits by Kem Nunn (10-12-04)
- Eats, Shoots & Leaves by Lynne Truss (9-16-04)
- An Embarrassment of Mangoes by Ann Vanderhoof (07-24-04)
- Dress Your Family in Corduroy & Denim by David Sedaris (07-03-04)
- The Dew Breaker by Edwidge Danticat (07-03-04)
- Dictionary of Maqiao by Han Shaogong (05-15-04)
- The Big Year by Mark Obmascik (04-23-04)
- Bandbox by Thomas Mallon (3-9-04)
- All That is Gone by Pramoedya Ananta Toer (2-23-04)
- The Pleasure of My Company by Steve Martin (1-25-04)
- The Locklear Letters by Michael Kun (1-11-04)
2003
- The Movies of My Life by Alberto Fuguet (11-30-03)
- The Great Fire by Shirley Hazzard (11-11-03)
- The Anomalies by Joey Goebel (10-21-03)
- Monsoon Diary by Shoba Narayan (9-24-03)
- Bangkok 8 by John Burdett (7-8-03)
- Drop City by T.C. Boyle (7-8-03)
- Shadow Without a Name by Ignacio Padilla (6-18-03)
- White Mughals by William Dalrymple (6-18-03)
- Monkey Hunting by Cristina Garcia (5-28-03)
- The Coffee Trader by David Liss (5-13-03)
- A Few Short Notes on Tropical Butterflies by John Murray (4-20-03)
- The Book of Salt by Monique Truong (3-31-03)
- The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown (03-16-03)
- The Slynx by Tatyana Tolstaya (2-10-03)