Girl in a Red Silk Sari

I love reading Indian fiction so I could not pass up this book when I found it on Amazon. The author, Sharon Maas, is new to me. I am surprised that I have never heard of her before as she writes historical fiction about women and their struggles. Her past settings include France, Germany and India. Girl in a Red Silk Sari was published in April 2025.

The publisher's summary:

Madras, India. Caroline steps off the plane into the searing heat, senseless with worry. So much has changed since her first visit. This time, a piece of her heart is missing. This time, she is here to find her daughter…

Caroline Mitchell has never truly made peace with her past—and the circumstances that led to her separation from her beloved child. And when thirteen-year-old Asha vanishes without a trace, she faces every parent’s worst nightmare.

Desperate to find her, Caroline returns to India determined to do whatever it takes. The search will mean reconnecting with her estranged husband Kamal, and burying the memories of everything that happened between them. It will lead to the darkest corners of Mumbai’s infamous red-light district—a world of shadows, secrets, and unspeakable horrors. There, she discovers her precious daughter has been caught in a trafficking ring that preys on vulnerable children.

As Caroline navigates the labyrinthine streets and corrupt systems of Mumbai, she must find the strength to become the mother she has always wanted to be. Her mission will test her in ways she could never have imagined—but can she reach Asha in time, and save her from a terrifying fate? And if so, will she finally be able to heal the wounds of the past.

This was a captivating story. The first half introduces us to the characters, their lives, loves, personality and family backgrounds. Later the story becomes a mystery as Asha's friends and family search for her. While the pace was always good it speeds up into a frantic pace as the search for Asha continues. 

All of the characters were fascinating. It was interesting that they all had different personalities but got along well. Caroline is the stereotypical New England Brahmin. In her youth she was more adventurous which is why she moved to India with new husband Kamal. Kamal was a quiet man who always followed his family’s honor system. When they arrived in India, Caroline's thesis research required that they split up their living arrangements. She could never have completed her research if she followed Kamal to his place of employment, two hours away from her. Caroline lived with the Pandian family who allowed her to have few responsibilities. After the birth of her daughter Asha she left the care of the baby to the family. It began with nursing struggles. I was surprised that Caroline continually made decisions that separated her from caring for the baby. It’s not something I expected a wealthy woman would do and if she was home in America her mother probably would have helped her bond with the baby. She was selfish to the n'th degree. 

After two years in India Caroline was homesick and went home for a visit. Of course, she left Asha in India. Caroline decided to remain in America, without Asha, and thought that Kamal would follow her back to America. However, Kamal kept getting good engineering jobs in India and stayed there. Both thought the marriage would last though. It didn't because Caroline had an affair.

Asha stayed with the Pandian family eight more years until Mr. and Mrs. Pandian died in an auto accident. Asha was sold by her Pandian brother to a brothel. When her parents realize that she is missing they both gather together in India to find her. There were many twists in the search. My heart felt sorrowful each time they hit a roadblock. I was invested in the lives of this family and felt that I was part of the family too. These were intense feelings.

Girl in a Red Silk Sari is an emotional journey. I absolutely loved it. 5 out of 5 stars.

The Red Mother Volume One

The Red Mother Volume 1 is a fantastic comic psychological horror story by Jeremy Haun. In Volume 1 Daisy McDonough loses one eye and the man she loves in a brutal mugging. As she tries to put the pieces of her life back together, Daisy gets a glass eye to match the other.  Just when she begins to think she can move on, she begins to see strange things through her new prosthetic eye. Daisy sees everything in red in the prosthetic eye. Her doctor says she has Charles Bonnet Syndrome. Charles Bonnet Syndrome (CBS) is a condition that causes vivid, complex visual hallucinations in people who have lost significant vision, where the brain creates images to fill the visual void, similar to phantom limb pain. These hallucinations are purely visual (no sounds/smells), the person knows they aren't real, and they typically involve patterns, people, or landscapes, lessening over time as the brain adapts, though no specific cure exists.

Daisy is a puzzle designer but she hasn't worked in months because of the accident. She receives a puzzle in the shape of a heart by delivery and easily solves the puzzle. The name and phone number in the puzzle refers her to Leland Black. After meeting him Daisy has another red hallucination. Something strange then happened. She was asked by a passerby if she had seen the red mother. This is where the story ended. I wish I had picked up the next Volume because this cliff hanger was intense. 

I liked all of the characters. Daisy is very sympathetic. The drawings of her show how much pain she had to endure. They also show her going to endless doctor appointments. Her life was on hiatus as she recovered from her injuries. I liked that her career was as a puzzle maker. It's an interesting field and I am looking forward to reading more about it in future installments of the series. Daisy's best friend Pari is supportive, always trying to get Daisy to go out for dinner or even business meetings. They work together in a puzzle business. Pari is very likable. Daisy's boyfriend Luke was not featured much. Daisy was told that he was lost after the mugging.

Volume 1 is a fun start to the Red Mother series. It is a clean story, no sex or foul language. 5 out of 5 stars.

Midnight

I bought an ecopy of this book last year, thinking I could use it for the Color Coded Reading Challenge. Can midnight be a black shade?  I didn't get around to reading it until this week. It's awful I hate to say. If I hadn't read the publisher's summary before beginning this read, I would have no idea what it is about. 

The publisher's summary:

In the frigid summers of the Antarctic continent, the sun never sets, and Olivia Campbell has long dreamed of spending a sunlit night in this beautiful, remote place. So when her boyfriend—a high-powered art dealer with a taste for the finer things in life—decides to stage an ostentatious, career-making auction aboard a luxury cruise liner to Antarctica, Olivia can hardly believe her luck. That is, until the ship sets sail and her boyfriend is nowhere to be found, and she is left to manage both the auction and her own creeping fear of the open ocean entirely alone. And as though that weren’t enough, the first bodies turn up soon after. 

It seems like a terrible accident. This is the Drake Passage, after all, one of the most notorious bodies of water on the planet, and there are always risks in such extreme conditions. But as the situation deteriorates, it soon becomes clear that there is real danger on board—and that the closest help is hundreds of miles away. With tensions rising and temperatures plummeting, Olivia wonders whether she’s booked a fabulous adventure . . . or a one-way ticket to her own destruction.

The dialogue between the characters seemed to take precedence over plot action. Nothing really happened during the first half of the story. Also, Olivia is not an interesting character. She has PTSD from being on a ship years earlier with her father, who died on the trip. This could have been better written into her character but it wasn't. So why bring it up? As for the pace, I did not see any pace; just character dialogue that did not even move the plot.

The setting descriptions were spot on. I loved reading about Antarctica. I also enjoyed the cruise ship descriptions, including the activities onboard. Another aspect of the book that I liked was seeing how the art market works. It was informative. 

This book fell short. I don't know why I didn't DNF it. As for the rating, I am giving it a 1.7, one of the lowest ratings I have ever given a book. 

2026 Color Coded Reading Challenge

I have participated in this challenge for several years and have enjoyed most of the books that I read. Some were not as enjoyable so I need to be more careful how I choose books. Next year it will be easier to pick them because the rules will allow the color to be be named in the title, in the author's name, or it may appear as the dominant color for the cover of the book. The color category for "implies color" means  the image implying color should dominate the cover--for instance a large rainbow, a field of flowers, or the image of a painter. Once again  the challenge host is the My Reader's Block blog.

General Rules:

1. The challenge runs from January 1 through December 31, 2026 and any book read after January 1 may count regardless of when you sign up. You may sign-up any time.

2. Participants must read nine books from the following categories:

A. A book with "Blue" or any shade of Blue in the title/author name/on the cover.

B. A book with "Red" or any shade of Red in the title/author name/on the cover.

C. A book with "Yellow" or any shade of Yellow in the title/author name/on the cover.

D. A book with "Green" or any shade of Green in the title/author name/on the cover.

E. A book with "Brown" or any shade of Brown in the title/author name/on the cover.

F. A book with "Black" or any shade of Black in the title/author name/on the cover.

G. A book with "White" or any shade of White in the title/author name/on the cover.

H. A book with any other color in the title/author name/on the cover.title/on the cover (Purple, Orange, Silver, Pink, etc).

I. A book with a word/image that implies color in the title/author name/on the cover. (Rainbow, Polka-dot, Plaid, Shadow, Paint, Ink, etc).

3. Crossovers with other challenges are allowed.

4. To Sign Up please fill in the form in the challenge post. If you have a blog, please post about the challenge on your site and enter the url link. You may also enter a link to a Goodreads or Library Thing list, Instagram, etc. 

5. If you post on Facebook, Instagram, or other social media to log a book, please use the hashtag #ColorCoded2026.