ARE YOU LISTENING? WAVE: A REVIEW AND GIVEAWAY

WELCOME TO BOOKIN' WITH BINGO'S" 
ARE YOU LISTENING? DAY"
I AM EXCITED TO ANNOUNCE TODAY'S
AUDIO BOOK CHOICE....

GIVEAWAY ENDED 
WAVE

BY SONALI DERANIYAGALA

READ BY HANNAH CURTIS

ABOUT THE AUDIO BOOK:

On the morning of December 26, 2004, on the southern coast of Sri Lanka, Sonali Deraniyagala lost her parents, her husband, and her two young sons in the tsunami she miraculously survived. In this brave and searingly frank memoir, she describes those first horrifying moments and her long journey since. She has written an engrossing, unsentimental, beautifully poised account.

The audiobook opens and we are inside the wave: 30 feet high, moving at 25 mph, racing two miles inland. And from there into the depths of the author's despair: how to live now that her life has been undone? Sonali Deraniyagala tells her story without artifice or sentimentality, in the stark language of unfathomable sorrow, anger, and guilt. She shares her struggles through the first months following the tragedy--someone always at her side to prevent her from harming herself, her whole being furiously clenched against the reality she can't face; and then reluctantly emerging and, over the ensuing years, slowly allowing her memory to function again. She then recalls the rich and joyous life she's mourning, from her family's home in London, to the birth of her children, to the year she met her English husband at Cambridge, to her childhood in Colombo, learning the balance between the almost unbearable reminders of her loss and her fundamental need to keep her family, somehow, still with her. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

SONALI DERANIYAGALA teaches in the Department of Economics at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London. She is currently a visiting research scholar at the School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA), Columbia University, New York, working on aspects of post-disaster economic recovery. The author lives in New York.

PRAISE FOR WAVE:

“An amazing, beautiful book.” --Joan Didion, author of The Year of Magical Thinking

“Wave is a haunting chronicle of love and horrifying loss. The heartfelt writing manages to render the absence of the loved ones—the void, and the pain of it—in such a beautiful way that what was lost emerges as a new life form, one whose flesh and sinew are memory, sorrow, and undying love.” --Abraham Verghese, author of Cutting for Stone

“An indelible and unique story of loss and resolution written with breathtaking refinement and courage . . . In rinsed-clear language, Deraniyagala describes her ordeal, surreal rescue, and deep shock, attaining a Didionesque clarity and power. We hold tight to every exquisite sentence as, with astounding candor and precision, she tracks subsequent waves of grief . . . But here, too, are sustaining tides of memories that enable her to vividly, even joyfully, portray her loved ones.” --Booklist

“Out of unimaginable loss comes an unimaginably powerful book. Wave is unflinching as it charts the depths of grief, but it's also, miraculously, a beautifully detailed meditation on the essence of happiness. I came away from this stunning book with a new appreciation of life’s daily gifts. I urge you to read Wave. You will not be the same person after you've finished.” --Will Schwalbe, author of The End of Your Life Book Club

“The most powerful and haunting book I have read in years . . . Sonali Deraniyagala has brought back to life in this stunning memoir all those she lost, so much so that we will never forget them or their lives.” --Michael Ondaatje, author of The English Patient

“A devastating but ultimately redemptive memoir . . . The craft and control reflect an exceptional literary command . . . Excellent. Reading Deraniyagala’s account proves almost as cathartic as writing it must have been.” --Kirkus Reviews (starred)

“Rarely are we given a story of such narrative force and poetic simplicity . . . Being spared, Deraniyagala seems doomed to spare herself nothing. Wave is a beautiful offering to readers. Bravissima.” --Mary Karr, author of Lit

MY THOUGHTS/REVIEW:

WAVE is an intensely heartrending memoir in which Sonali Deraniyagala openly shares her agonizing life journey. The journey began on December 26, 2004, in Sri Lanka, following the loss of her husband, her two young sons, and her parents in the tragic tsunami that she somehow physically survived.

Deraniyagala’s family was one moment celebrating the day after Christmas, with her boys playing and her parents in their nearby hotel room, when the unfathomable happened. Told in such a precise and painful narrative, your mind is barely able to create the extreme mental images she describes from the first sight of the unusual wave action seen from their hotel window. In what seemed like seconds, they go from vacation to disaster as they rush to flee the inconceivable approaching water. The tsunami not only destroyed everything in its path but it also took away everyone from Deraniyagala. Fighting through the waters and debris, she finally starts to realize what has happened.

How Sonali Deraniyagala deals with this loss is difficult to contemplate and yet she does. Readers will physically feel her pain as she tries to just survive what life has left her. Attempting to drink away the memories, she turns to alcohol for a while. How her heart and mind is able to only take in small pieces of reality one bit at a time becomes very understandable. I thought it almost had to be fiction I was listening to even though I knew it was a memoir. Deraniyagala slowly discovers small ways of finding the real meaning of happiness. As she learns to appreciate each day to its fullest, she almost seems to heal a little bit more with each painful experience she has to work her way through. With the lessons she learned from her tragedy, Deraniyagala imparts to readers what is really important in life. I could not stop listening to this once I started and recommend you set aside enough time yourself as you won’t want to stop once you begin WAVE.

  GIVEAWAY 

 THANKS TO RICHARD AND THE GOOD PEOPLE

AT RANDOM HOUSE AUDIO BOOKS, I HAVE

ONE COPY OF THIS AMAZING AUDIO BOOK

MEMOIR, WAVE, TO GIVE 

AWAY TO A LUCKY FOLLOWER

  

--U.S. RESIDENTS ONLY
--NO P. O. BOXES, PLEASE
--INCLUDE EMAIL ADDRESS IN COMMENT
--ALL COMMENTS MUST BE SEPARATE IN 
ORDER TO COUNT AS MORE THAN ONE ENTRY
 

HOW TO ENTER:

+1 ENTRY: COMMENT ON SOMETHING YOU FOUND INTERESTING ABOUT WAVE THAT WOULD MAKE YOU WANT TO WIN THIS AUDIO BOOK 

+1 MORE ENTRY: BLOG OR TWEET ABOUT THIS GIVEAWAY AND LEAVE A LINK I CAN FOLLOW IN THE ENTRY

+1 MORE ENTRY: COMMENT ON SOMETHING YOU FOUND INTERESTING BY VISITING AUTHOR SONALI DERANIYAGALA 'S WEBSITE HERE 

+1 MORE ENTRY: COMMENT ON ONE OTHER CURRENT GIVEAWAY YOU HAVE ENTERED ON MY BLOG. IF YOU ENTERED MORE THAN ONE, YOU CAN COMMENT ON EACH ON SEPARATELY AND GAIN MORE ENTRIES THAT WAY

+1 MORE ENTRY: COMMENT ON ONE WAY YOU FOLLOW MY BLOG. IF YOU FOLLOW MORE THAN ONE WAY, YOU CAN COMMENT SEPARATELY AND EACH WILL COUNT AS AN ENTRY

  

GIVEAWAY ENDS AT
 6 PM, EST, MARCH 28

  GOOD LUCK!