Spam® Cans, Rice Balls and Pearls: Snippets of Memory from World War II by Bruce Muench [in AsianWeek]
A rather quirky, earnest memoir of sorts – although Muench won't mind if you call it a novel because he admits that "there is some fiction...
A rather quirky, earnest memoir of sorts – although Muench won't mind if you call it a novel because he admits that "there is some fiction...
The book, apparently "based 80-90 percent on real stories," is admittedly over-the-top in a Miss Saigon sort of way. But the Donna/Mai story is everything Hollywood is searching for – so no...
Koul captures the lives of four generations of women in her native Kashmir, a tiny country caught between India and Pakistan since the Partition of 1947, the year of her birth. She weaves a...
Make sure you get this one into your library – it's the very first collection of historical writings by and about APA women. It's about rethinking our collective past as...
The re-release of the 10-million copy-strong bestselling epic memoir about three generations of Chinese women, opens with a brand-new introduction by the author. First published in 1991, Chang chronicles the lives of her concubine...
"It is not the accuracy of the story that concerns us," the author writes in the title's opening poem. "But who gets to tell it." Dhompa captures her fractured self...
The third thriller from See to feature Liu Hulan, an agent for China’s Ministry of Public Security, and her husband, American lawyer David Stark. This time, they’re investigating a potential murder and archeological theft...
From one of the world’s most famous – and favorite – ex-pats living in Japan comes a shrewd though appreciative look at Japan’s craze for fads, fashions, and style, from manga, pachinko, cell phones,...
Drawing upon the experiences of over 60 multiracial families – including her own, made up of a Japanese American husband and two hapa children – Nakazawa...
A disturbing collection of essays that explores the inextricable link between sex and consumerism in art in Japan. It is one of those “you just can’t take your eyes away” sort of voyeuristic books...
An anthology of works from Mark Twain to Langston Hughes, from Saul Bellow to David Sedaris that captures America’s love affair with the legendary city, which, according to M.F.K. Fisher, “should only...
Don’t know how this one fell through the cracks as I devoured it months ago and it was one of my favorites this whole year –...
Move over, Harry Potter – here’s a totally different kind of fantasy series. While this is the first available installment in English, the Japanese version has up to 89 titles! [Publisher Vertical, Inc. has...
A fabulous collection of prose and poetry from a new generation of Korean American authors. Grouped into three sets of pairings – arrival/return, dwelling/crossing, descent/flight, all with multiple layers of meaning –...
The captivating inspiration for the award-winning film of the same title about 8-year-old Kahu, who must convince her great-grandfather that females can carry on ancient Maori traditions just as well – if not better!...
Oh, if only all fast food was this toothsome. Even though I’m oh-so-worthless in the kitchen, this one made me believe I could actually make a dish or two. And the pictures alone are...
A wacky first novel about Korean American Ginger Lee, an English PhD dropout working in the fashion industry and trying to avoid her well-intentioned mother’s attempts to marry her off before she...
An anthology that takes a combined look at two rapidly growing fields of study – globalization of sexual cultures together with the study of “new media.” At its core is the internet, which has...
An entertaining, quirky, somewhat sad love story of sorts about a troubled young woman who marries a gay doctor and creates a new kind of family of her own. Review: "New and Notable...
A poetic first novel with some amazing images (“ … try to remember the wisdoms you unpacked that life scattered around your living room,” the author’s prologue begins) by an...