the vibrant years book review

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THE VIBRANT YEARS

by Sonali Dev ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 1, 2022

A cozy cup of chai for the soul.

An intergenerational tale of self-discovery and the relationships that matter most.

Cullie Desai, a 25-year-old Indian American woman, is endlessly loyal to her mother, Alisha (known as Aly), and her paternal grandmother, Bindu. So when Cullie gets a call that Bindu is in distress, she immediately hops on a plane to Florida from her home in San Francisco and shows up at her grandmother’s new condo at a glitzy retirement center. A loving familial gesture—except that in this case, the older woman’s distress is the result of a really bad date, when the man she's with dies in the middle of their first sexual interlude. This sets the tone for the novel as a whole: It's the story of three women bound by deep love and very few boundaries. While Bindu’s sexual drama does drive a chunk of the plot, the three deal with a whole host of problems, supporting each other with advice, chai, and lavish home-cooked meals. Tech-genius Cullie needs to develop a new state-of-the-art app while opening herself up to the possibility of love. Recent divorcée Aly is trying to prove her worth at work while dealing with a surprise visit from Ashish, her ex-husband (and Bindu’s son). And Bindu is balancing her desire to be liberated in her golden years with traumatic memories that she cannot shut out. Told from the alternating perspectives of Cullie, Aly, and Bindu, the novel often relies on overly coincidental plot points and too-convenient characters. That said, these problems are offset by Dev’s success at portraying the profound bonds of care, humor, and love that run among the three women: “Love so strong it was almost painful tightened around Bindu’s heart for these two. The world would never see them like this, entirely comfortable in their skin. This was a world they had created, the three of them, because of who they were.”

Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2022

ISBN: 978-1-6625-0926-1

Page Count: 272

Publisher: Mindy's Book Studio

Review Posted Online: Aug. 30, 2022

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2022

FAMILY LIFE & FRIENDSHIP | GENERAL FICTION

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BOOK REVIEW

by Sonali Dev

Awards & Accolades

Our Verdict

New York Times Bestseller

by Kristin Hannah ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 6, 2024

A dramatic, vividly detailed reconstruction of a little-known aspect of the Vietnam War.

A young woman’s experience as a nurse in Vietnam casts a deep shadow over her life.

When we learn that the farewell party in the opening scene is for Frances “Frankie” McGrath’s older brother—“a golden boy, a wild child who could make the hardest heart soften”—who is leaving to serve in Vietnam in 1966, we feel pretty certain that poor Finley McGrath is marked for death. Still, it’s a surprise when the fateful doorbell rings less than 20 pages later. His death inspires his sister to enlist as an Army nurse, and this turn of events is just the beginning of a roller coaster of a plot that’s impressive and engrossing if at times a bit formulaic. Hannah renders the experiences of the young women who served in Vietnam in all-encompassing detail. The first half of the book, set in gore-drenched hospital wards, mildewed dorm rooms, and boozy officers’ clubs, is an exciting read, tracking the transformation of virginal, uptight Frankie into a crack surgical nurse and woman of the world. Her tensely platonic romance with a married surgeon ends when his broken, unbreathing body is airlifted out by helicopter; she throws her pent-up passion into a wild affair with a soldier who happens to be her dead brother’s best friend. In the second part of the book, after the war, Frankie seems to experience every possible bad break. A drawback of the story is that none of the secondary characters in her life are fully three-dimensional: Her dismissive, chauvinistic father and tight-lipped, pill-popping mother, her fellow nurses, and her various love interests are more plot devices than people. You’ll wish you could have gone to Vegas and placed a bet on the ending—while it’s against all the odds, you’ll see it coming from a mile away.

Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2024

ISBN: 9781250178633

Page Count: 480

Publisher: St. Martin's

Review Posted Online: Nov. 4, 2023

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2023

FAMILY LIFE & FRIENDSHIP | GENERAL FICTION | HISTORICAL FICTION

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by Kristin Hannah

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BOOK TO SCREEN

HOME IS WHERE THE BODIES ARE

by Jeneva Rose ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 30, 2024

Answers are hard to come by in this twisting tale designed to trick and delight.

Three siblings on very different paths learn that their family home may be haunted by secrets.

Eldest daughter Beth is alone with her fading mother as she takes her final breath and says something about Beth’s long-departed brother and sister, who may not have disappeared forever. Beth is still reeling from the loss of her mother when her estranged siblings show up. Michael, the youngest, hasn’t been home since their father’s disappearance seven years ago. In the meantime, he’s outgrown his siblings, trading his share of the family troubles for a high-paying job in San Jose. Nicole, the middle child, has been overpowered by addiction and prioritized tuning out reality over any sense of responsibility, much to Beth’s disgust. Though their mother’s death marks an ending for the family, it’s also a beginning, as the three siblings realize when they find a disturbing videotape among their parents’ belongings. The video, from 1999, sheds suspicion on their father’s disappearance, linking it to a long-unsolved neighborhood mystery. Was it just a series of unfortunate circumstances that broke the family apart, or does something more sinister underlie the sadness they’ve all found in life? In chapters that rotate among the family’s first-person narratives, the siblings take turns digging up stories and secrets in their search for solace.

Pub Date: April 30, 2024

ISBN: 9798212182843

Page Count: 270

Publisher: Blackstone

Review Posted Online: Feb. 3, 2024

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2024

SUSPENSE | THRILLER | FAMILY LIFE & FRIENDSHIP | SUSPENSE | GENERAL & DOMESTIC THRILLER | GENERAL THRILLER & SUSPENSE

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by Jeneva Rose

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Book Review: The Vibrant Years by Sonali Dev

The Vibrant Years by Sonali Dev is a story about the complicated bonds and dynamics within families. It’s also about customs and empowerment.

My Overview

The Vibrant Years is a multi-generational family story about three women.

• Bindu : A widowed grandmother.
• Aly : Bindu’s daughter-in-law.
• Cullie : Bindu’s granddaughter.

Bindu and Aly have a close mother/daughter relationship. They even continued living together in Florida, after Aly divorced Bindu’s son. Cullie is a young adult living in California. She’s a successful app developer who struggles with anxiety. Although she now lives far from her mother and grandmother, the bond between them is strong.

When an unexpected event puts Bindu in a negative spotlight, and secrets from her past threaten to resurface, the three women do what they have always done best. They band together to support each other. As they face various challenges the dynamic of their relationship fluctuates, but their love and respect remains the same.

This is a multi-layered story, with various storylines slowly unraveling to create mystery throughout. As the storylines unravel, we slowly learn about the characters’ present day situations and background. I liked the vulnerable way in which the characters were presented, with flaws and all. Also, since the story’s told from the POV of Bindu, Aly, and Cullie we truly get to experience and appreciate their situations. Part of the story is told through journal excerpts at the beginning of each chapter, and I enjoyed that unique way of giving that character a voice.

Overall, I enjoyed this story well enough. It wasn’t quite what I’d expected, but I enjoyed the positive direction and growth the characters experienced. This story is a reminder that families are complicated. However, when life gets messy it’s family who is there for you.

My Recommendation

I read the Kindle edition, but wish I’d listened to the audiobook instead. Unfortunately, although I found the story interesting, it wasn’t engaging enough to keep me wanting to read. This is an instance where for me, the audiobook would’ve been better. Overall, I recommend this story. If you give this story a try but feel it’s dragging, give the audiobook a try. By the end, I think you too will appreciate having met Bindu and her family.

Have you read this story?

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16 comments.

Dedra @ A Book Wanderer

Oooh, I have this one waiting on my kindle. Sounds like I might need to lower my expectations, which is fine. I’d rather go into a book with lower expectations than higher ones. 🙂 I hope you enjoy your next book more!

Thanks 💛. I hope you’ll enjoy this story more than I did. Sometimes it’s a matter of timing too.

Suzanne @ The Bookish Libra

Sorry to hear this wasn’t a better read for you. If I read it, I’ll take your advice and go the audiobook route.

Thank you 💛. I hope you’ll enjoy the audiobook, if you get around to it.

Carole @ Carole's Random Life

I think that a lot of books just seem to work better in audio. I will keep that in mind if I decide to pick this one up.

I agree. Done well, audiobooks can truly bring the story to life.

Rachel @Waves of Fiction

Glad to hear you enjoyed the story overall. I don’t think I’ll add this one since it didn’t knock your socks off.

Thank you 😊. I get it … so little time and all.

Lindsey @ Lindsey Reads

I’m curious about his since I haven’t read any multi-generational family stories before, but I think I’d indeed also would probably enjoy it more on audio.

Definitely give the audiobook a try. It has multiple narrators.

Cindy's Book Corner

There are books where I wished I had started with the audiobook as well. Nice review.

Thank you 💛. It does happen sometimes.

Deanna @ A Novel Glimpse

I can understand how this might be better listened to based on your comments. I would probably want to listen instead of read if I tried this one. Great review!

Thank you 😊. The audiobook has three narrators, so I’d expect it to be pretty good.

Families are definitely complicated.

They really are, and it becomes most obvious during family gatherings 😅.

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The story of three generations of women play out in Sonali Dev’s The Vibrant Years , a lovely comedy featuring personal growth, hidden secrets, and family connections – and some of Dev’s narrative pitfalls. The overall result is definitely worthwhile but is perhaps a tad overlong.

The Florida-bound Desai women are bonded together by general affinity, one man and, once upon a time, one house. Lively, sexually forward Bindu Desai’s son, Ashish, married a conservative newscaster named Alisha – Aly - while they were both in college and he was studying engineering in Florida. For twenty-three years, widowed Bindu lives with Ashish, Aly and their daughter, Cullie, and when Ashish divorces Aly, Aly and Bindu choose to keep living together. After all, they’re the best of friends. But then an argument and a sudden, million dollar windfall changes Bindu’s life.

The million dollars is a bequest from Oscar Seth, a famous director who cast Bindu in a very scandalous Bollywood film when they were romantically united in her youth (and he was also very married and much older than her seventeen years, yikes!). The release of the sexually explicit movie in which Bindu appears nude would utterly ruin her standing in the community and as a staid doctor’s wife, and so she has participated in its repression. Bindu wants to bury that lead as to why the movie was never released in Oscar’s lifetime even further and so she quickly spends the money given to her on a condo in a retirement community. While there her rebellious ways immediately irk the Home Owner’s Association. But Bindu’s secrets keep popping out of the closet – along with Oscar’s handsome grandson, Rishi Seth, who wants to make a documentary about the movie.

Bindu’s decision to move shocks Aly to the core, but makes her realize she’s been spinning her wheels since her divorce from Ashish. She’s stuck in a minor role at her station and due to ageism and racism has been denied an anchorship or a major reporting role, with everyone presuming she was a ‘diversity hire’ for the past ten years. When she hears that the networks’ loss of a sponsor is set to deny her a promised career advancement, she regrets pouring herself into her work in the wake of her divorce. Aly decides to sue the station for discrimination. But she keeps circling back to Ashish and their love…

Cullie lives in San Francisco and is a baby tech genius; she has developed a successful ap called Shloka , which helps her and millions of others cope with anxiety. Unfortunately, her own messy love life – an affair with a married man when she was too young – has added to her angst. CJ, who runs the startup that helped her bring Shloka to life, always promised Cullie they’d keep it free, but she wants them to turn to a subscriber-based situation so she can finally get her investment back. The startup’s board outvotes Cullie, who refuses to paywall the app, and CJ simply says she needs something to make cash off of. Cullie impulsively pitches a dating app although she has no coding prepared for it nor any plan to make it real. CJ agrees that if Cullie codes and creates the app and sells it to them, then they will keep Shloka free to use. A chance encounter with ER doc Rohan turns into love at first sight, but he keeps pushing Cullie away

Everything changes when one of Bindu’s dates – which happens to be with a famous author - ends when her lover dies post-orgasm while on top of her, in bed. Cullie and Aly arrive to support Bindu. Desperate for guinea pigs for the dating app, Cullie decides it on herself, her mother, and her grandmother. Cue the Desai ladies’ plunge back into the dating pool, for better or for worse…

The fact that everything I’ve described feels like it ought to be the main thrust of the novel’s plot – and isn’t – says something about The Vibrant Years. Most of the novel focuses on the three Desai women’s pursuit of love, sex and happiness, but much of it is wrapped up in Bindu’s grappling with her scandalous past, which sometimes gets a little tedious and is told in a florid, overheated manner. And yet she is absolutely my favorite character in the book – she’s filled with spirt, spunk and liveliness and is absolutely wonderful. I want to be like her when I’m sixty. And I really liked her choice to fully shed her shame.

Aly is more vague, someone to whom life generally happens, and I really didn’t get he romance with Ashish at all. Her plotline – which is amazingly trenchant and happens to so many women in real life – feels underwritten, with more attention paid to Bindu’s dramatics and Cullie’s mysterious love.

Cullie’s romance is definitely the most traditional, and I really enjoyed her love story and her struggle to free her app from the clutches of evil. There’s a great twist to that plotline mid-stream and I will reveal nothing about it here.

This novel has a lot of lovely things to say about discrimination, about ageism, about sexuality and how it ought to be enjoyed to its fullest. Those are among the reasons why The Vibrant Years lands at a solid B.

Sensuality:  Warm

Publication Date:  12/2022

Review Tags:  AoC PoC

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Any Shiny Thing - Life after 50

Midlife Fiction

The Vibrant Years by Sonali Dev with Intro by Mindy Kaling

November 14, 2022 By Lynne Morgan Spreen

A midlife fiction book recommendation

The title of this book doesn’t begin to convey the sweep of personalities, the character arc, the rich cultural descriptions, and the earthshaking changes undergone by the three main characters.

B indu is the 60-something grandmother, Alisha is the late-40’s DIL, and Cullie is her 25 yo daughter. When Bindu was a teen growing up in Goa, India, she worked as the actress/muse for an iconic filmmaker, an ethereal experience that resulted in her mother attempting to choke her to death. Instead, a doctor stepped forward, a cold but honorable man who married Bindu and brought her to America. Intent on behaving and sublimating her true nature, Bindu did what was expected. As so many of us do.

This novel centers around the reckoning that can occur later in life when that particular volcano erupts. Meanwhile, Aly and Cullie are going through their own character arcs, both of which could almost sustain a novel individually. This is a 3-generation saga covering ageism, sexism (as experienced by both women and men), and racism, beautifully wrought by a master author. 100% recommended. 5 of 5 stars. To see it on Amazon, go here: https://www.amazon.com/Vibrant-Years-Novel-Sonali-Dev-ebook/dp/B09QKWJD79

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Book Review: The Vibrant Years

The Vibrant Years by Sonali Dev is being released on 12/1 and is the first book out of Mindy Kaling’s new Amazon Little A imprint, Mindy’s Book Studio. I was sent an arc and I just finished it last night.

This multigenerational story is so good. The book follows three female main characters. Bindu is 65 and lives in a fancy retirement community, living her best life which includes dating and riling up the HOA. Her former daughter-in-law, Aly, is still very close with her. She is 47 and has been working towards her dream of anchoring her own segment on the news station she’s been working for for years. Cullie, Aly’s daughter is a tech-world star at 25, having created an extremely popular app.

Things aren’t all they’re cracked up to be though. Bindu has half of her retirement community after her for every little thing because they dislike her vibrant lifestyle and how attractive she is. Secrets from her past also plague Bindu. Aly dreams of anchoring her own segment on the news, but for years her boss has made excuses for passing her over. Add to that that her husband divorced her and moved back to India and her life is not going the way she had always hoped. Cullie is a coding genius but when her app is in danger of being available only by subscription service, she has to deliver something new to investors to keep her original app free.

I was instantly engaged in this story from chapter 1. I loved getting to know these ladies and I love their relationship with each other and their dynamic. They each have their own issues and problems that they are dealing with. I thin it’s so interesting and realistic to see these women who are all at different stages of their lives going through life changing events. It just shows that there is no set age that we have “everything” or have it all “figured out”. Sometimes it takes a while to figure out what you want in life or what you deserve in life. And it’s never too late to want to change your life. The love Bindu, Aly, and Cullie have for each other was so wonderful to see. Their love for each other and unwavering support for one another was really touching. This is a great book about love and self-discovery.

I loved this book and the characters so much!

*This book was sent to me in exchange for an honest view. All opinions are my own. This post contains affiliate links.*

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• THE WEDDING SETUP
• Appearances
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The Vibrant Years

“Bursting with humor, banter, and cringeworthy first dates, Sonali Dev’s  The Vibrant Years  is a joyful and fun read, but it’s also very much a timely tale about a group of underestimated women demanding respect and embracing their most authentic selves.” ―Mindy Kaling

Living on their own terms means being there for one another.

When sixty-five-year-old Bindu Desai inherits a million dollars, she’s astounded―and horrified. The windfall threatens to expose a shameful mistake from her youth. Desperate to keep the secret, Bindu quickly spends it on something unexpected: a condo in a posh retirement community in Florida.

The impulsive decision blindsides Bindu’s daughter-in-law, Aly. At forty-seven, Aly still shares a home with Bindu even after her divorce from Bindu’s son. But maybe this change is just the push Aly needs to fight for the segment she’s been promised for years at the news station where she works.

As Bindu and Aly navigate their new dynamic, Aly’s daughter, Cullie, is faced with losing the business that made her a tech-world star. The only way to save it is to deliver a new idea to her investors―and of course they want the half-baked dating app she pitched them in a panic. Problem is, Cullie has never been on a real date. Naturally, enlisting her single mother and grandmother to help her with the research is the answer.

From  USA Today  bestselling author Sonali Dev comes a heartfelt novel about three generations of hilarious, unconventional, ambitious women navigating bad dates, a spiteful HOA board, reemerging exes, and secrets that refuse to remain hidden. Join the Desai women on a shared journey of self-discovery as they dare to live their most vibrant lives.

“I would give this book five stars for the concept alone, but it’s Sonali Dev’s trademark character depth and beautiful writing that really make  The Vibrant Years  shine. A gorgeous story of evolving female relationships and how love, hilarity, and the bonds between three generations of women help them thrive in even the fiercest winds of change.”  — Christina Lauren,  New York Times  bestselling author of  The Soulmate Equation

“Oh, what a glorious tangle of love, career, the past, and family is  The Vibrant Years ! Sonali Dev writes beautiful prose and complex, delightful characters in this story of rediscovery and girl power for three generations of the Desai women. A delicious treat.”  — Kristan Higgins,  New York Times  bestselling author

“A vivid and touching story of the relationships between three women who love each other and their quest to find each other’s soul mates. Funny, fast paced, and insightful,  The Vibrant Years  gracefully explores questions of meaning and hope and regret and most of all the love between women. A beautiful book!”  — Barbara O’Neal, bestselling author of  This Place of Wonder

“I loved this story of three generations of women navigating life, love, and the patriarchy. Sonali Dev’s writing is lush and evocative, her characters vibrant with rage, humor, and wisdom.”  — Virginia Kantra,  New York Times  bestselling author of  Meg & Jo  and  Beth & Amy

“An intergenerational tale of self-discovery and the relationships that matter most…A cozy cup of chai for the soul.”  — Kirkus Reviews

“Sonali Dev has done it again in this sparkling page-turner about the unbreakable bonds of women and the necessity of forging an authentic path. Three generations of women from one dynamic family band together to navigate each chapter of life proving that, with the right people by your side, they can all be vibrant years. Dev’s storytelling shines!”  — Kristy Woodson Harvey,  New York Times  bestselling author of  The Wedding Veil

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'The Vibrant Years' Is Our January Book Club Pick

Read an excerpt from Sonali Dev's latest novel, here, then dive in with us throughout the month.

Welcome to #ReadWithMC— Marie Claire's   virtual book club . It's nice to have you! In January, we're reading Sonali Dev's  The Vibrant Years , a heartfelt, multigenerational story about self-discovery, love, family, and ambition. Read an excerpt from the book below, then find out how to participate. (You really don't have to leave your couch!)

"I have a hot date tonight." It wasn't quite the way one expected their conversation with their grandmother to start, but Cullie might suspect body swapping if her Binji didn't say something firmly ungrandmotherly at least once a day. "Get on video call so you can help me choose what to wear."

It was barely nine in the morning in California, and Cullie had been up working until four. But it was almost noon in Florida, where Binji was, so Cullie blinked the sleep from her eyes and dutifully switched the call to video. And was met by a close-up of her grandmother's ample cleavage.

"Binji, your girls are all I see." Cullie couldn't remember when she'd combined her grandmother's name, Bindu, and the Marathi word for grandma, aji , and come up with Binji, but it fit her grandmother perfectly.

Binji stepped away from the phone, which she always propped on the vanity in the bathroom of her fancy new condo when she needed fashion advice from Cullie. And by "needed" Cullie meant demanded, because the aim of the exercise was somewhat more complicated than it appeared. Her grandmother was a fashionista, and Cullie was ... well, not. These sessions were meant to inspire Cullie to "live a little" and "find her inner diva."

To Cullie, that sounded like far more trouble than it was worth. At twenty-five Cullie sometimes felt like she had lived a little too much already. Done all the things people try to accomplish over their lifetime. And honestly, her inner diva just wanted to take a nap.

"Why are you still in bed?" Twirling around, Binji modeled the hot-pink wrap dress that hugged her unfairly spectacular body. "Don't the girls look great? It's this bra—it gives armor-grade support. These cutlets are like having fists shoved under the boob droop."

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Cullie stretched against the high-density zoned-support mattress that was supposed to preserve the backs of deskbound workaholics. "That sounds painful. How is it fair that you look better in a fitted dress than your granddaughter? How come I didn't inherit all that. "

Binji adjusted the ruched and wrapped fabric under her breasts, further magnifying the pillowy cleavage, which looked even better for the delicate lines that glazed her skin like brushstrokes on a canvas. "You did inherit my looks. You also inherited my son's insouciance, so you don't bother with the upkeep it takes to work them to your advantage. Do you know how much moisturizer has gone into this décolletage in the past two decades?" She twisted to give Cullie a view of her butt, which hadn't held up quite as well to gravity.

Sure, that might seem like a mean thought to have about your grandmother, but only to someone who couldn't see quite how stunning Binji was. No lies were necessary.

"Why don't they make bras for the bum? Cutlets are needed there too." Binji's brown-bordering-on-hazel eyes-which fortuitously Cullie had inherited and needed no upkeep-lit up. "How's that for a business idea?"

Cullie groaned. "Right. Brutts?"

"Yes! We should patent that."

Cullie rolled onto her side and propped the phone against the pillow next to her. "You sound like Ma." Because if her mother didn't turn every conversation into a lecture about "potential," she thought she'd waste away into the ether of bad parenting. "My one patent is causing me enough heartache right now."

As soon as the words slipped out, Cullie regretted them, because Binji's eyes started studying her as though Cullie were a diamond she was gauging for cut, clarity, and color.

"Don't compare me to your mother. I do not have a twig stuck up my lady parts."

"A thorny twig too, lately. Tell me about this heartache business. Is Hot Steve causing you problems again?" Moving off camera, Binji started making sounds that indicated a dress change.

"No," Cullie mumbled. When an answer was too complicated, no was the perfect stand-in. Hot Steve was not the one causing Cullie problems. Cullie was. He was just using her problems against her.

"You should never sleep with someone you work for. It should be the first lesson women are taught in school." Binji came back into the frame, this time in a flowy white eyelet dress that was substantially lower on cleavage exposure. A little less New Binji.

Through most of Cullie's childhood, her grandmother had stuck to tunics and capris, with the odd caftan or midi dress thrown in, and saris and salwar kameez brought out only for special occasions. Always fashion forward and never anything like anyone else's grandmother, but this new superhot style choice was only six months old. Six months ago, Binji had mysteriously come into some money and bought herself a fancy condo where rich white people went after retirement to enjoy, and flash, their money.

That look was all Binji: Old Binji and New Binji all rolled up in one. She always looked you full in the eyes, like she owned herself and she wanted you to know it.

It was yet another of the many ways in which their family had changed after Cullie's parents' midlife crisis divorce. But the ease with which Binji had made the transformation was both disconcerting and oddly natural.

"How would you know, Binji? You've never worked for anyone." Must be nice, Cullie wanted to add, but Binji would only remind her that the fact that Cullie had created an app millions of people used did not give her a free pass to be arrogant. Cullie wasn't in the mood to argue the point. Because, really, it kind of did.

A flash of annoyance passed over Binji's face. But then she smiled, her upbeat self again, and spun around, displaying a back exposed all the way down to her waist, with a deftly located band of lace across the back of her bra.

"Not only did I work in the home, but I was the best homemaker of anyone I know." Binji made a face. "Wait a minute. If you consider your grandfather my boss, then, well, I did sleep with him. A lot." She got that sharp, sexy look as she appraised herself over her delicate shoulder. That look was all Binji: Old Binji and New Binji all rolled up in one. She always looked you full in the eyes, like she owned herself and she wanted you to know it. Maybe it was the contrast between her two grandmothers, but it was a look Cullie had learned to identify early in life. "Seven days a week for most of our marriage," Binji finished with a wink.

"Oh my God, Binji! TMI!" Even as Cullie yelled it, she knew the redundancy of it. As "one of the most elegant coders of her generation" (thanks for that pressure, Fortune magazine), Cullie understood redundancy if she understood anything. TMI should have been Bindu Desai's middle name-her platform if she'd been a social media influencer. Binji thrived on Too Much Information.

"JEI, Curly-Wurly! Did you know that LOL really stands for living out loud?" She tucked her sleekly bobbed hair behind her ear. She had professional highlights now, replacing her usual drugstore boxed color in dark medium brown. Another one of the changes since she'd moved into the schmancy new community.

“I’m pretty sure you're making that up. Just like you made up JEI. Just Enough Information hasn't caught on in popular culture for a reason."

"Popular culture is for sheep." Cullie mouthed it along with her grandmother as she made her favorite declaration. "Now, focus. Dress. Which one?"

Excerpted from The Vibrant Years by Sonali Dev with permission from the publisher, Mindy’s Book Studio. Copyright © 2022 by Sonali Dev. All rights reserved.

Brooke Knappenberger is the Associate Commerce Editor at Marie Claire, where she specializes in crafting shopping stories—from sales content to buying guides that span every vertical on the site. She also oversees holiday coverage with an emphasis on gifting guides as well as Power Pick , our monthly column on the items that power the lives of MC’s editors. She has over three years of experience writing on fashion, beauty, and entertainment and her work has appeared on Looper, NickiSwift, The Sun US, and Vox Magazine of Columbia, Missouri. Brooke obtained her Bachelor's Degree in Journalism from the University of Missouri’s School of Journalism with an emphasis on Magazine Editing and has a minor in Textile and Apparel Management.

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“Bursting with humor, banter, and cringeworthy first dates, Sonali Dev’s The Vibrant Years is a joyful and fun read, but it’s also very much a timely tale about a group of underestimated women demanding respect and embracing their most authentic selves.” ―Mindy Kaling

Living on their own terms means being there for one another.

When sixty-five-year-old Bindu Desai inherits a million dollars, she’s astounded―and horrified. The windfall threatens to expose a shameful mistake from her youth. Desperate to keep the secret, Bindu quickly spends it on something unexpected: a condo in a posh retirement community in Florida.

The impulsive decision blindsides Bindu’s daughter-in-law, Aly. At forty-seven, Aly still shares a home with Bindu even after her divorce from Bindu’s son. But maybe this change is just the push Aly needs to fight for the segment she’s been promised for years at the news station where she works.

As Bindu and Aly navigate their new dynamic, Aly’s daughter, Cullie, is faced with losing the business that made her a tech-world star. The only way to save it is to deliver a new idea to her investors―and of course they want the half-baked dating app she pitched them in a panic. Problem is, Cullie has never been on a real date. Naturally, enlisting her single mother and grandmother to help her with the research is the answer.

From USA Today bestselling author Sonali Dev comes a heartfelt novel about three generations of hilarious, unconventional, ambitious women navigating bad dates, a spiteful HOA board, reemerging exes, and secrets that refuse to remain hidden. Join the Desai women on a shared journey of self-discovery as they dare to live their most vibrant lives.

• Language English
• Publisher Mindy's Book Studio
• Publication date Dec 1 2022
• Dimensions 13.79 x 2.79 x 16.41 cm
• ISBN-10 1713681811
• ISBN-13 978-1713681816
• See all details

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Product description

“Narrators Deepti Gupta, Soneela Nankani, and Anita Kalathara come together to represent three generations of the Desai clan.… With this hilarious cast of characters and the matching range of talented narrators, listeners are in for a rollicking treat. Gupta, Nankani, and Kalathara provide great contrasts to one another as the three women fight for their happiness with wit and humor.” ― AudioFile Magazine

“Bindu is a wise, sexy woman and [Deepti] Gupta delivers a well-paced southeast Indian accent. [Soneela] Nankani brings her smoky voice to the recording, her intonations varying with the text. [Anita] Kalthara’s Cullie reflects the character's forthrightness and intensity. The three narrators do an excellent job mirroring each others’ developed characters as well as setting the mood. Fans will eat it up, and those drawn in by the cover's ‘Mindy's Book Studio’ sticker will love Kaling's introduction too.” ― Booklist

“Deepti Gupta's portrayal of Bindu as a woman of a certain age with plenty of buried regrets has the most emotional resonance. Gupta's audacious style drives the twisty narrative forward. Soneela Nankani's Aly is gentler and more cautious but provides a solid background to the wilder actions of her daughter and mother-in-law. Anita Kalathara brings out both Cullie's deep anxieties and her unspoken longing tor romance. The three voices interact well, creating a vibrant tapestry.” ― Library Journal

“These Indian American women and their struggles will appeal to readers from every age and culture.” ― Washington Post

“An intergenerational tale of self-discovery and the relationships that matter most…A cozy cup of chai for the soul.” ― Kirkus Reviews

“Dev easily gets the reader to root for her well-rounded characters, and the intertwined story lines wrap up with a delightful ending. This effervescent tale is sure to please the author’s fans and win her new ones.” ― Publishers Weekly

“Three generations of Indian American women strive to find what makes them happy in this heartwarming rom-com about the compromises that held them back and how they finally reclaimed their freedom.” ― Booklist (starred review)

“Dev weaves humor and romance through her tale of three generations of women.” ―Audible

“A super-fun, bingeable story about three generations of vibrant women navigating relationships, friendships, mishaps, and ambitions.” ― Ms. magazine

“Fun and heartfelt.” ―BookRiot

“A sweeping intergenerational tale showcasing the importance and value of family, relationships, and finding oneself as the world does what the world does: change.” ―Apartment Therapy

“A laugh-out-loud story full of love, regrets, and secrets.” ― Marie Claire

“I would give this book five stars for the concept alone, but it’s Sonali Dev’s trademark character depth and beautiful writing that really make The Vibrant Years shine. A gorgeous story of evolving female relationships and how love, hilarity, and the bonds between three generations of women help them thrive in even the fiercest winds of change.” ―Christina Lauren, New York Times bestselling author of The Soulmate Equation

“Oh, what a glorious tangle of love, career, the past, and family is The Vibrant Years ! Sonali Dev writes beautiful prose and complex, delightful characters in this story of rediscovery and girl power for three generations of the Desai women. A delicious treat.” ―Kristan Higgins, New York Times bestselling author

“A vivid and touching story of the relationships between three women who love each other and their quest to find each other’s soul mates. Funny, fast paced, and insightful, The Vibrant Years gracefully explores questions of meaning and hope and regret and most of all the love between women. A beautiful book!” ―Barbara O’Neal, bestselling author of This Place of Wonder

“I loved this story of three generations of women navigating life, love, and the patriarchy. Sonali Dev’s writing is lush and evocative, her characters vibrant with rage, humor, and wisdom.” ―Virginia Kantra, New York Times bestselling author of Meg & Jo and Beth & Amy

“Sonali Dev has done it again in this sparkling page-turner about the unbreakable bonds of women and the necessity of forging an authentic path. Three generations of women from one dynamic family band together to navigate each chapter of life proving that, with the right people by your side, they can all be vibrant years. Dev’s storytelling shines!” ―Kristy Woodson Harvey, New York Times bestselling author of The Wedding Veil

“Just the kind of book I love to get lost in. Great characters, tons of energy, perfect pacing. Sonali Dev absolutely nailed it. Loved it!” ―Susan Elizabeth Philips, #1 New York Times bestselling author

About the Author

USA Today bestselling author Sonali Dev writes Bollywood-style stories that explore universal issues. Her novels have been named best books of the year by Library Journal , NPR, the Washington Post , and Kirkus Reviews . She has won numerous accolades, including the American Library Association’s award for best romance, the Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Award, and multiple Romantic Times Seals of Excellence. She has also been a Romance Writers of America finalist and has been listed for the Dublin Literary Award. Shelf Awareness calls her “not only one of the best but one of the bravest romance novelists working today.” She lives in Chicagoland with her husband, two visiting adult children, and the world’s most perfect dog. Find out more at https://sonalidev.com.

Product details

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Mindy's Book Studio; Unabridged edition (Dec 1 2022)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1713681811
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1713681816
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 13.79 x 2.79 x 16.41 cm

About the author

Award winning author, Sonali Dev, writes Bollywood-style love stories that let her explore issues faced by women around the world while still indulging her faith in a happily ever after.

Sonali’s novels have been on Library Journal, NPR, Washington Post and Kirkus Best Books of the year lists. She has won the American Library Association’s award for best romance, the RT Reviewer’s Choice award for best contemporary romance, the RT Seal of Excellence, and is a RITA Finalist.

Sonali lives in the Chicago suburbs with her very patient and often amused husband and two teens who demand both patience and humor, and the world’s most perfect dog. Find out more at sonalidev.com.

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Book Review – The Vibrant Years

This book is a story of three generations of women supporting each other as life throws them a curveball. The book starts at a slow pace and picks up speed in the second half when the twist and turns come fast and furious at you.

Bindu, the grandmother in her sixties, is a study of conflicts. A housewife, a mother, and a grandmother, who puts her family before herself as an atonement for her deeds as a teenager, discovers freedom in a retirement community. Her modern attire and outward appearance are in constant conflict with the traditional values she unconsciously holds.

Alisha, whose relationship with her mother-in-law is a highlight of the book, is putting her career ahead of her marriage and paying the price for it.

Cullie, the genius daughter, does not want to deal with the vulnerability that comes with opening one’s heart.

You cannot read a Sonali Dev book hungry because her vivid food descriptions will assault all your five senses.

As in her other books, family plays a central role in this novel. Their love and support for each other is the life vest that keeps them from floating in this ocean of unpredictability. Recommend this book for readers who love reading about women of all ages struggling with understanding their desires.

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The Vibrant Years Book Club Questions and Recipe

*If you are new here, WELCOME! For The Vibrant Years, I provide your book club with a brief summary, food ideas and a recipe, and discussion questions in that order!

The Vibrant Years is Sonali Dev’s newest novel and the first book from Mindy Kaling’s new imprint Mindy’s Book Studio . Yes, that Mindy Kaling.

If you love the shows that Mindy Kaling produces, then you’ll love this novel–a rom-com about three generations of Indian-American women navigating the throes of love.

Insert one Millennial genius trying to code a revolutionary dating app. Add in two begrudging research assistants in her strong-willed, gorgeous grandmother and her career-stunted, timid mother. Top it off with a series of…unfortunate dates. And you have The Vibrant Years .

I love a good rom-com more than anything and Sonali Dev nails it.

I think I’ll have to pick up a few books from her backlist (all Jane Austen themed rom-coms about Indian-Americans!).

Be sure to check out The Vibrant Years , which was such a breath of fresh air and left me smiling, but didn’t lack depth. There’s still plenty of baggage for each character to sift through to find her happy ending, which means plenty to discuss with your book club.

The Vibrant Years is a novel chosen through Book Club Bites’ collaboration with The Best of Women’s Fiction podcast. Don’t forget to check out the fabulous Best of Women’s Fiction podcast where Sonali Dev discusses The Vibrant Years and more: HERE .

I’ve provided book club questions and delicious food ideas for The Vibrant Years and Sonali Dev has a special recipe for you! So if you are looking for book club ideas and more, keep reading!

Check out these fun bookish gadgets…

Here’s a brief summary of The Vibrant Years:

From the publisher:

“Bursting with humor, banter, and cringeworthy first dates, Sonali Dev’s  The Vibrant Years  is a joyful and fun read, but it’s also very much a timely tale about a group of underestimated women demanding respect and embracing their most authentic selves.” —Mindy Kaling

Living on their own terms means being there for one another.

When sixty-five-year-old Bindu Desai inherits a million dollars, she’s astounded—and horrified. The windfall threatens to expose a shameful mistake from her youth. Desperate to keep the secret, Bindu quickly spends it on something unexpected: a condo in a posh retirement community in Florida.

The impulsive decision blindsides Bindu’s daughter-in-law, Aly. At forty-seven, Aly still shares a home with Bindu even after her divorce from Bindu’s son. But maybe this change is just the push Aly needs to fight for the segment she’s been promised for years at the news station where she works.

As Bindu and Aly navigate their new dynamic, Aly’s daughter, Cullie, is faced with losing the business that made her a tech-world star. The only way to save it is to deliver a new idea to her investors—and of course they want the half-baked dating app she pitched them in a panic. Problem is, Cullie has never been on a real date. Naturally, enlisting her single mother and grandmother to help her with the research is the answer.

From  USA Today  bestselling author Sonali Dev comes a heartfelt novel about three generations of hilarious, unconventional, ambitious women navigating bad dates, a spiteful HOA board, reemerging exes, and secrets that refuse to remain hidden. Join the Desai women on a shared journey of self-discovery as they dare to live their most vibrant lives.

For The Vibrant Years Food Ideas:

This novel was bursting with food and I loved it. It made me want to sit down and overindulge in my favorite comfort food while reading. In my humble opinion, all the best books do that.

Here are some food ideas from the pages of The Vibrant Years . Many, but not all , are Indian foods.

• Matcha bubble tea when Steve tells Cullie about Shloka’s fee
• Aly and Bindu have lunch at an Iranian restaurant – khoresh bademjan, butter-fried eggplant layered on slow-cooked lamb
• Richard and Bindu’s tragic date – chicken curry (makhani chicken) with rice and koshimbir (tomatoes and cucumber)
• After Cullie flies home – Chinese take out — all the Szechuan dishes on the menu
• Ashish comes home and he and Bindu make rotis (Bindu enjoys a sugar-and-ghee roti most), and fish curry
• The terrible date with the noseless veternarian- vegetarian tacos and sweet potato fries
• Bindu cooks for days for Cullie and Rohan- Mutton xacuti, prawns kissmoor, and fried fish. Also, bebinca.
• Chai mentioned several times (along with Marie biscuits )

Sonali Dev was kind enough to provide us with a butter chicken (makhani chicken) recipe that she loves. Since the whole book really hinges on the tragedy of Richard and Bindu’s date, I think this is the perfect pick!

Plus, Sonali Dev says that butter chicken is the perfect “gateway” Indian dish – beloved by those who cherish Indian food already and those new to it.

Let me tell you, this recipe is a winner.

Easy to make and rich with spices and cream, this chicken should be on your dinner rotation even if you don’t make it for your book club (which you should!).

Whether you choose something from this list or try your own option, I hope these ideas will get your creative juices flowing to host your book club for The Vibrant Years .

A few tips on making Butter Chicken or Chicken Makhani :

Here are a few tips to help make your cooking experience the best it can be!

• Cut your chicken against the grain of the meat for the most tender bites.
• If you can’t find Tandoori spice mix at your grocery store, you can make it with your own spices. Here is a good recipe .
• Stir the sauce constantly as you cook to avoid burning it.
• Remove the aromatics before serving. Spoon out the whole peppercorns, cloves, cinnamon, and cardamom so that no one crunches on one. It’ll ruin the experience!

The Vibrant Years Book Club Recipe:

Chicken makhani/butter chicken, ingredients   .

• 1 lbs of Boneless chicken cut into 1½ inch pieces

For marinade

• ½ cup yogurt Recommended: whole fat Greek yogurt but you can use any
• 2 teaspoons ginger paste Recommended: homemade paste works best
• 2 teaspoons garlic paste Recommended: homemade paste works best
• Salt to taste
• 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon Tandoori spice mix
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 4 pods green cardamom
• 6 Black peppercorns
• 1 inch piece cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ginger paste
• 1 teaspoon garlic paste
• 6 oz can tomato sauce
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• ½ teaspoon kasoori methi
• ½ cup fresh cream

Instructions  

• Mix marinade ingredients and marinate chicken for at least 3-4 hours in a baking dish. (preferably overnight)
• Preheat the oven to 350°F
• Bake chicken in the baking dish for 20-25 minutes, until cooked. Make sure the juices collect in the dish.
• To make the sauce, heat the butter in a heavy bottomed pan. Add the cardamom pods, cloves, peppercorns, and cinnamon. Let bloom gently until you can smell them. About 2 minutes
• Add the ginger and garlic pastes and sauté for 2 minutes.
• Add the tomato sauce and bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for ten minutes.
• Remove the peppercorns, cardamom pods, whole cloves, and piece of cinnamon from the sauce.
• Add the sugar, powdered kasoori methi, salt to taste.
• Add the cooked tandoori chicken pieces along with the marinade juices and simmer for 5 minutes.
• Add fresh cream.
• Serve hot with naan or/and rice.

More Fun from Sonali Dev:

Please insert a short description of your recipe and why it relates to your novel. Include any information you think readers would enjoy!

Butter Chicken is widely regarded as the perfect “gateway Indian dish.” It’s equally popular inside and outside India. In The Vibrant Years, Bindu Desai loves to cook, but she’s spent so many years cooking and taking care of people that now she understands the value of her own food and is much more choosy about who deserves the gift of her cooking. In one of my favorite scenes in the book, the Butter Chicken she cooks for a date has some fairly disastrous consequences.

Good food and a good book go hand-in-hand. What is your favorite food to enjoy while reading?

A big bowl of chips and some dark dark chocolate.

Did you sample any interesting food while researching this book? Or experience anything exciting while researching?

I visited Goa (a coastal city in India) and wrote a large part of the book while I was there. The family The Vibrant Years is centered around, the Desais, are originally from Goa which has a rich and unique cuisine. Needless to say, it was absolutely necessary for me to taste every one of the fantastic foods mentioned in the book.

The Vibrant Years Book Club Questions:

*WARNING: May contain spoilers!

These book club questions were kindly provided by the author and/or publisher. Please use only for your book club and do not reproduce them.

• Dating apps are a part of our world today. Have you ever used them? Bindu, Aly, and Cullie find love outside the app, but so many find it within. Do you think there’s a way to make that happen, or is it purely accidental when it happens?
• Aly believes our parents’ marriage is our first roadmap for relationships. What role, if any, do you think Aly’s and Ashish’s parents played in their marital issues?
• Rishi lied to Cullie about who he was. How justified do you think he was? Did the fact that he told her the truth before he got what he wanted matter? How do you feel about Cullie’s decision to forgive him?
• Everyone around Aly believes she’s a diversity hire. How do you feel about her losing her job after the ten years of discrimination she faced under the guise of “opportunity”?
• Do you think the way society feels about women enjoying sex has changed over the years? How do you think women are perceived by society today if they are up front about their sexual pleasure?
• How do you feel about Bindu’s role in Poornima versus her lived reality?
• “The only kind of love that lasts forever is the unrequited kind.” Discuss.

Find Sonali Dev:

Sonali can be found online!

https://www.facebook.com/sonalidevfanpage/

https://www.instagram.com/sonali.dev/

http://sonalidev.com/

Don’t forget to check out the fabulous Best of Women’s Fiction podcast where Sonali Dev discusses The Vibrant Years and more: HERE .

Have you read The Vibrant Years ? What did you think? Did it satisfy you or were you left wishing for more? What are some similar books you’ve read?

Until next time, Happy Reading!

Disclosure: This page contains affiliate links. In the event of a sale, I will be awarded a small commission (at no extra cost to you or the featured book’s author). All opinions are 100% mine and every book, unless otherwise noted, is handpicked by me to be featured on the site.

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Paperback Row

6 New Paperbacks to Read This Week

By Shreya Chattopadhyay May 10, 2024

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In the throes of a reading slump? We’ve got you covered. This week’s roundup includes Jenny Erpenbeck’s love story set in 1980s East Berlin, a study by Simon Winchester on how humans pass down knowledge and a novel narrated by a Korean migrant from the afterlife.

Here are six paperbacks we recommend →

The German writer’s novel follows a 19-year-old theater design student and a writer in his 50s as they sustain a turbulent relationship in 1980s East Berlin. As the fall of the Berlin Wall looms, “the future that arrives is not the one either expected,” Dwight Garner wrote in his review.

A Korean American scholar tracks her changing relationship to race, from confusion and complicity during the 1990s Los Angeles riots to alienation from white academia, suggesting that “Indigenous precepts of reciprocity and mutuality can help us better understand our web of relationships.”

Through anecdotes about museums, kindergarten classes, the Catholic church’s propaganda efforts and more, Winchester tells the story “of how knowledge has been passed from its vast passel of sources into the equally vast variety of human minds.”

Jacy, the protagonist of Abbott’s latest noir, is newly married and visiting her beloved husband’s father in rural upstate Michigan while pregnant. But when a health scare leads to increasingly erratic behavior from both her father-in-law and her husband, “even the inanimate objects,” our reviewer wrote, “can’t seem to stop screaming.”

At age 105, Hak Jeonga was killed by a Chicago bus. From the afterlife, Jeonga reveals her journey: to Seoul from the North; to sharing a life with two sisters, not three; and finally to a street in America in what our reviewer called an “enthralling multigenerational tale of familial secrets.”

Once “the baby on the block,” Montana Barronette was sentenced to life in prison at age 23. Bowden’s deeply reported investigation into his life and community found “normal teenagers in an abnormal environment, one that Baltimore (and other cities) had built and sustained very deliberately over centuries,” he writes.

Read more books news:

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The complicated, generous life  of Paul Auster, who died on April 30 , yielded a body of work of staggering scope and variety .

“Real Americans,” a new novel by Rachel Khong , follows three generations of Chinese Americans as they all fight for self-determination in their own way .

“The Chocolate War,” published 50 years ago, became one of the most challenged books in the United States. Its author, Robert Cormier, spent years fighting attempts to ban it .

Joan Didion’s distinctive prose and sharp eye were tuned to an outsider’s frequency, telling us about ourselves in essays that are almost reflexively skeptical. Here are her essential works .

Each week, top authors and critics join the Book Review’s podcast to talk about the latest news in the literary world. Listen here .

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Enjoy a free trial on us P.when("A", "a-expander", "ready").execute(function(A, expander) { A.on("a:accordion:buybox-accordion:select", function(data) { // Change active accordion pricing to APEX pricing A.$("#buyBoxAccordion").find(".accordion-header div#adbl_bb_price") .removeClass("adbl_bb_price_show").addClass("adbl_bb_price_hide"); A.$(data.selectedRow.$row).find(".accordion-header div#adbl_bb_price") .removeClass("adbl_bb_price_hide").addClass("adbl_bb_price_show"); //initialize accordion expander expander.initializeExpanders(); }); }); /* Display price in a table block so it does not overflow, ref: https://t.corp.amazon.com/D76383263 */ #adbl_bb_price { display: table; } /* APEX Pricing for Mobile & MobileApp */ .adbl_bb_price_show .adbl_bb_savings_percent { color: #CC0C39; font-size: 36px; font-weight: 300; } .adbl_bb_price_hide .adbl_bb_savings_percent { color: #CC0C39; font-size: 24px; font-weight: 300; } .adbl_bb_pay_price { font-weight: 400; } .adbl_bb_price_show .a-price-whole { font-size: 38px; } .adbl_bb_price_hide .a-price-whole { font-size: 24px; } .adbl_bb_price_show .a-price-symbol, .adbl_bb_price_show .a-price-fraction { display: table-caption; font-size: 15px !important; line-height: 26px; } .adbl_bb_price_hide .a-price-symbol, .adbl_bb_price_hide .a-price-fraction { display: table-caption; font-size: 13px !important; line-height: 10px; } #mobile_buybox .adbl_bb_price_show .a-price-symbol, #mobile_buybox .adbl_bb_price_show .a-price-fraction { display: inline-block !important; top: -15px !important; } #mobile_buybox .adbl_bb_price_hide .a-price-symbol, #mobile_buybox .adbl_bb_price_hide .a-price-fraction { display: inline-block !important; } #mobileapp_buybox .adbl_bb_price_show .a-price-symbol, #mobileapp_buybox .adbl_bb_price_show .a-price-fraction { display: inline-block !important; top: -15px !important; } #mobileapp_buybox .adbl_bb_price_hide .a-price-symbol, #mobileapp_buybox .adbl_bb_price_hide .a-price-fraction { display: inline-block !important; } /* APEX Pricing for Desktop */ #desktop_buybox .adbl_bb_price_show .adbl_bb_savings_percent { color: #CC0C39; font-size: 24px; font-weight: 300; } #desktop_buybox .adbl_bb_price_hide .adbl_bb_savings_percent { color: #CC0C39; font-size: 21px; font-weight: 300; } #desktop_buybox .adbl_bb_pay_price { font-weight: 400; } #desktop_buybox .adbl_bb_price_show .a-price-whole { font-size: 28px; } #desktop_buybox .adbl_bb_price_hide .a-price-whole { font-size: 21px; } #desktop_buybox .adbl_bb_price_show .a-price-symbol, #desktop_buybox .adbl_bb_price_show .a-price-fraction { display: inline-block; font-size: 13px !important; line-height: 16px; top:-10px !important; } #desktop_buybox .adbl_bb_price_hide .a-price-symbol, #desktop_buybox .adbl_bb_price_hide .a-price-fraction { display: inline-block; font-size: 12px !important; line-height: 9px; } $0.00 $ 0 . 00

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Buy P.when("A", "a-expander", "ready").execute(function(A, expander) { A.on("a:accordion:buybox-accordion:select", function(data) { // Change active accordion pricing to APEX pricing A.$("#buyBoxAccordion").find(".accordion-header div#adbl_bb_price") .removeClass("adbl_bb_price_show").addClass("adbl_bb_price_hide"); A.$(data.selectedRow.$row).find(".accordion-header div#adbl_bb_price") .removeClass("adbl_bb_price_hide").addClass("adbl_bb_price_show"); //initialize accordion expander expander.initializeExpanders(); }); }); /* Display price in a table block so it does not overflow, ref: https://t.corp.amazon.com/D76383263 */ #adbl_bb_price { display: table; } /* APEX Pricing for Mobile & MobileApp */ .adbl_bb_price_show .adbl_bb_savings_percent { color: #CC0C39; font-size: 36px; font-weight: 300; } .adbl_bb_price_hide .adbl_bb_savings_percent { color: #CC0C39; font-size: 24px; font-weight: 300; } .adbl_bb_pay_price { font-weight: 400; } .adbl_bb_price_show .a-price-whole { font-size: 38px; } .adbl_bb_price_hide .a-price-whole { font-size: 24px; } .adbl_bb_price_show .a-price-symbol, .adbl_bb_price_show .a-price-fraction { display: table-caption; font-size: 15px !important; line-height: 26px; } .adbl_bb_price_hide .a-price-symbol, .adbl_bb_price_hide .a-price-fraction { display: table-caption; font-size: 13px !important; line-height: 10px; } #mobile_buybox .adbl_bb_price_show .a-price-symbol, #mobile_buybox .adbl_bb_price_show .a-price-fraction { display: inline-block !important; top: -15px !important; } #mobile_buybox .adbl_bb_price_hide .a-price-symbol, #mobile_buybox .adbl_bb_price_hide .a-price-fraction { display: inline-block !important; } #mobileapp_buybox .adbl_bb_price_show .a-price-symbol, #mobileapp_buybox .adbl_bb_price_show .a-price-fraction { display: inline-block !important; top: -15px !important; } #mobileapp_buybox .adbl_bb_price_hide .a-price-symbol, #mobileapp_buybox .adbl_bb_price_hide .a-price-fraction { display: inline-block !important; } /* APEX Pricing for Desktop */ #desktop_buybox .adbl_bb_price_show .adbl_bb_savings_percent { color: #CC0C39; font-size: 24px; font-weight: 300; } #desktop_buybox .adbl_bb_price_hide .adbl_bb_savings_percent { color: #CC0C39; font-size: 21px; font-weight: 300; } #desktop_buybox .adbl_bb_pay_price { font-weight: 400; } #desktop_buybox .adbl_bb_price_show .a-price-whole { font-size: 28px; } #desktop_buybox .adbl_bb_price_hide .a-price-whole { font-size: 21px; } #desktop_buybox .adbl_bb_price_show .a-price-symbol, #desktop_buybox .adbl_bb_price_show .a-price-fraction { display: inline-block; font-size: 13px !important; line-height: 16px; top:-10px !important; } #desktop_buybox .adbl_bb_price_hide .a-price-symbol, #desktop_buybox .adbl_bb_price_hide .a-price-fraction { display: inline-block; font-size: 12px !important; line-height: 9px; } -13% $20.56 $ 20 . 56

The vibrant years: a novel audible audiobook – unabridged.

“Bursting with humor, banter, and cringeworthy first dates, Sonali Dev’s The Vibrant Years is a joyful and fun read, but it’s also very much a timely tale about a group of underestimated women demanding respect and embracing their most authentic selves.”—Mindy Kaling

Living on their own terms means being there for one another.

When sixty-five-year-old Bindu Desai inherits a million dollars, she’s astounded—and horrified. The windfall threatens to expose a shameful mistake from her youth. Desperate to keep the secret, Bindu quickly spends it on something unexpected: a condo in a posh retirement community in Florida.

The impulsive decision blindsides Bindu’s daughter-in-law, Aly. At forty-seven, Aly still shares a home with Bindu even after her divorce from Bindu’s son. But maybe this change is just the push Aly needs to fight for the segment she’s been promised for years at the news station where she works.

As Bindu and Aly navigate their new dynamic, Aly’s daughter, Cullie, is faced with losing the business that made her a tech-world star. The only way to save it is to deliver a new idea to her investors—and of course they want the half-baked dating app she pitched them in a panic. Problem is, Cullie has never been on a real date. Naturally, enlisting her single mother and grandmother to help her with the research is the answer.

From USA Today bestselling author Sonali Dev comes a heartfelt novel about three generations of hilarious, unconventional, ambitious women navigating bad dates, a spiteful HOA board, reemerging exes, and secrets that refuse to remain hidden. Join the Desai women on a shared journey of self-discovery as they dare to live their most vibrant lives.

• Listening Length 11 hours and 1 minute
• Author Sonali Dev, see all
• Narrator Deepti Gupta, see all
• Audible release date December 1, 2022
• Language English
• Publisher Mindy's Book Studio
• ASIN B09YDMR65W
• Version Unabridged
• Program Type Audiobook
• See all details

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