Where Is Your Bookmark: A Peek Into The Djinn Waits a Hundred Years & Other Friday Fun

I just started reading The Djinn Waits a Hundred Years by Shubnum Khan, and I am looking forward to seeing where it goes.  

Akbar Manzil was once a grand estate off the coast of South Africa. Nearly a century later, it stands in ruins: an isolated boardinghouse for eclectic misfits, seeking solely to disappear into the mansion’s dark corridors. Except for Sana. Unlike the others, she is curious and questioning and finds herself irresistibly drawn to the history of the mansion: To the eerie and forgotten East Wing, home to a clutter of broken and abandoned objects—and to the door at its end, locked for decades.

Behind the door is a bedroom frozen in time and a worn diary that whispers of a dark past: the long-forgotten story of a young woman named Meena, who died there tragically a hundred years ago. Watching Sana from the room’s shadows is a besotted, grieving djinn, an invisible spirit who has haunted the mansion since her mysterious death. Obsessed with Meena’s story, and unaware of the creature that follows her, Sana digs into the past like fingers into a wound, dredging up old and terrible secrets that will change the lives of everyone living and dead at Akbar Manzil.

Sublime, heart-wrenching, and lyrically stunning, The Djinn Waits a Hundred Years is a haunting, a love story, and a mystery, all twined beautifully into one young girl’s search for belonging. [Goodreads Summary]

A weekly meme where readers share the first sentence of the book they are reading and say what they think. Hosted by the amazing Gillion Dumas of Rose City Reader.

First Line of the Prologue: 

In an old wardrobe a djinn sits weeping. 

First Line from Chapter One: 

No one in Durban remembers a Christmas as hot as this. 

A weekly meme in which readers share a random sentence or two from page 56 or 56% of the book they are reading. Our wonderful host Freda of Freda's Voice is on a break, but Anne of My Head is Full of Books has stepped in to host!

The two women sit together for hours in the parlor discussing the intruder upstairs in hushed voices. Grand Ammi assures Jahanara Begum that it is only a matter of time before Akbar's fascination with Meena Begum wears. Men have phases, she says, and he will soon grow weary of the novelty of dark flesh in his bed. She says history is full of such women who try to ensnare great men; women with no morals or faith to keep them in check. 

Time is the enemy of these women, she says. Time reveals the fallacy of their plots. [excerpt from 56% of The Djinn Waits a Hundred Years]

The opening of the prologue hooked me right away. It made me want to know more. I am barely into the novel and so am not sure what is going on at the 56% mark of my e-book, but I will say I do not have a high opinion of the women talking. They sound like mean-spirited gossips. What unhappy women they must be, perhaps unsatisfied with their lots in life. I doubt Meena is any of the things Grand Ammi says she is. I cannot wait to meet her.

What do you think? Does The Djinn Waits a Hundred Years sound like something you would enjoy? 

Tell Me Something Tuesday is a weekly discussion post where bloggers discuss a wide range of topics from books and blogging to life in general. It is hosted by Linda Book Girl of Mur-y-Castell and Jen from That’s What I’m Talking About. Join in by answering this week's question in the comments or on your own blog.

Is it easier or harder to write a review for a book you loved?

It depends. Sometimes it comes easy, and other times I have trouble finding the words and all I want to write is "WOW!" because I know I will not do the book justice. 

Do you find it easier or harder? Or, like me, does it depend? 

Every Friday Coffee Addicted Writer from Coffee Addicted Writer poses a question which participants respond on their own blogs within the week (Friday through Thursday). They then share their links at the main site and visit other participants blogs.

How long have you gone without reading? (submitted by Billy @ Coffee Addicted Writer)

The best answer I can offer is a couple or so days maybe. Even when I am in the middle of a reading slump, I at least pick up a book to try to overcome it, even if I don't get too far. There are days when I am swamped with work, family or my daughter's activities and am so exhausted to read more than a page or two some days, but I try to find a way.

What about you? 

 I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! Be sure and tell me what you are reading and are up to!

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