Adult Readers Archives - Page 46 of 154

The Dead Eye and the Deep Blue Sea: A Graphic Memoir of Modern Slavery by Vannak Anan Prum, edited by Ben Pederick and Jocelyn Pederick [in Booklist]

05 Jul, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Cambodian, Fiction, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Memoir, Nonfiction, Repost, Young Adult Readers

According to 2016 International Labor Organization data, “at least 40 million people are held in servitude.” Among these modern-day slaves was Vannak Anan Prum, a Cambodian man whose determination to finance his pregnant wife’s impending hospital stay sent him away from their village to find...

The Good Son by You-Jeong Jeong, translated by Chi-Young Kim [in Booklist]

26 Jun, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Fiction, Korean, Repost, Translation

The opening sentence – “The smell of blood woke me” – gives way to a young man discovering his mother’s freshly murdered corpse. He’s gone off his epilepsy medications again, and has trouble remembering, but he’s determined to figure out what happened. Initially, the whodunit and...

Out in the Open by Javi Rey, based on the novel by Jesús Carrasco, translated by Lawrence Schimel [in Booklist]

20 Jun, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, European, Fiction, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Repost, Young Adult Readers

*STARRED REVIEW Somewhere, a once fertile town has lost its “green and fragrant waves,” the riverbed dried to dust. Deep in a hole in the earth, a small, huddled body hides from shouting voices determined to expose him. Darkness and silence finally allow him to escape “the...

The Incendiaries by R.O. Kwon [in Booklist]

18 Jun, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Fiction, Korean American, Repost, Young Adult Readers

Looming death, missing parents, God, and reinvention turn an unlikely pair, Phoebe Lin and Will Kendall, into lovers at privileged Edwards University in upstate New York. In the fresh, transformative independence that is college life, Phoebe can forget her aching connection to the piano, hide her...

Not That Bad: Dispatches from Rape Culture edited by Roxane Gay [in Library Journal]

13 Jun, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Audio, Black/African American, Haitian American, Memoir, Nonethnic-specific, Nonfiction, Repost

"What is it like to live in a culture where it often seems like it is a question of when, not if, a woman will encounter some kind of sexual violence?" Roxane Gay (Hunger) posits in the introduction to her latest title, a "place for...

Educated by Tara Westover [in Library Journal]

12 Jun, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Audio, Memoir, Nonethnic-specific, Nonfiction, Repost

As the youngest of seven children born to a junkyard-tending father and midwife-herbalist mother in remote Idaho, Tara Westover realizes at age 7 that the single fact “that makes [her] family different: we don’t go to school.” Her family espouses Mormonism, although their practices tend toward...

The Friend by Sigrid Nunez [in Library Journal]

11 Jun, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Audio, Chinese American, Fiction, Hapa/Mixed-race, Repost

Hillary Huber takes on human and canine characters with mindful, measured narration. The woman – an unnamed writing professor – lost her best friend and mentor to suicide. When she's summoned postmortem by Wife Three (Wife One is a friend, Wife Two not at all,...

Next Year in Havana by Chanel Cleeton [in Library Journal]

07 Jun, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Audio, Cuban, Cuban American, Fiction, Latina/o/x, Repost

In 1959 Havana, as Fidel Castro claims absolute power, the sugar-rich Perez family's vast wealth marks them as targets, necessitating their escape to Miami, FL. With her three sisters and their parents, 19-year-old Elisa Perez leaves Cuba forever. Almost 60 years later, Marisol Ferrara arrives in...

Asymmetry by Lisa Halliday [in Library Journal]

05 Jun, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Audio, Fiction, Iraqi American, Nonethnic-specific, Repost, South Asian American

Be warned: this three-parter, four-narrator delight requires utmost attention. But be assured: rewards aplenty await. With crisp, almost staccato delivery, Candace Thaxton affectingly presents Part 1, "Folly," in which editor Alice and author Ezra share 97 years between them. Hint: Alice is 27, but the age...

The Widows of Malabar Hill [A Mystery of 1920s India, Book 1] by Sujata Massey [in Library Journal]

04 Jun, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Audio, Fiction, Indian, Indian American, Repost, South Asian, South Asian American

Versatile, charming, culturally well-matched Soneela Nankani auspiciously voices Sujata Massey’s ("Rei Shimura" mysteries) promising new series set in early 20th-century colonial India. Here the author introduces feisty Perveen Mistry, India's first female solicitor in 1921. Perveen's debut dovetails her challenging career journey – from facing...

Only Child by Rhiannon Navin [in Library Journal]

01 Jun, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Audio, Fiction, Nonethnic-specific, Repost

When her 5-year-old twins began practicing lockdown procedures in kindergarten, Rhiannon Navin channeled her fearful helplessness into writing what would become her debut novel. Six-year-old Zach's memories of the "POP POP POP" he hears from inside his first-grade classroom closet remind him of a video game....

The Monk of Mokha by Dave Eggers [in Library Journal]

31 May, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Arab, Arab American, Audio, Biography, Nonethnic-specific, Nonfiction, Repost

Dion Graham has narrated 10 – which is almost all – of McSweeney's founding publisher and literary powerhouse Dave Eggers's books. Graham showcases his staggering genius for aural incarnations across gender, ethnicity, culture, age – whatever details Eggers writes, Graham inspiringly brings to listeners' ears. Their...

When the World Was Steady by Claire Messud [in Library Journal]

30 May, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Audio, Australian, British, Fiction, Nonethnic-specific, Repost

Following the collapse of her marriage, not-quite-50-year-old Emmy arrives in Bali from Sydney, Australia, where she's built her life after leaving her native England almost three decades prior. Now unfettered, she finds herself in the hostel-like home of local guide (and lothario) Buddy, all the...

The Burning Girl by Claire Messud [in Library Journal]

29 May, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Audio, Fiction, Nonethnic-specific, Repost, Young Adult Readers

Julia Robinson and Cassie Burnes found each other at age 4 in the middle of the nursery school playground, but their glorious best friendship crumbles when they're middle schoolers. Julia, with her supportive parents and a stable home, watches as Cassie, the only child of...

Song of a Captive Bird by Jasmin Darznik [in Library Journal]

24 May, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Audio, Fiction, Iranian, Iranian American, Persian, Persian American, Repost

*STARRED REVIEW With her eloquent contralto, Mozhan Marnò exquisitely embodies the Persian poet and filmmaker Forugh Farrokhzad – her experiences as a young bride, maturation as a writer, hesitant then strident steps toward independence, and refusal to be silenced through the violent horrors of the autocratic...

Manhattan Beach by Jennifer Egan [in Library Journal]

23 May, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Audio, Fiction, Nonethnic-specific, Repost

An 11-year-old's daring 1934 dip at Brooklyn's Manhattan Beach introduces the tautly twisted threads of Jennifer Egan’s first novel since 2011's Pulitzer Prize-winning A Visit from the Goon Squad. This tripart historical hybrid – part family saga, part noirish mystery, part testimony to women's war-fueled...

Anglophoned Fiction Favorites [in Global Literature in Libraries Initiative’s “Japan in Translation” series]

22 May, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Fiction, Japanese, Repost, Translation, Young Adult Readers

My two unfinished almost-ABD-PhDs still makes my mother cringe. I know, I know: even in middle age, my tiger mother looms, not to mention I still have occasional nightmares about missing seminar with my beloved, last advisor. His passing remains my excuse for academic desertion,...

The Bishop’s Wife series by Mette Ivie Harrison + Author Interview [in The Booklist Reader]

21 May, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Audio, Author Interview/Profile, Fiction, Nonethnic-specific, Repost

Talking Mormon Murder Mysteries with Mette Ivie Harrison Trust me: Linda Wallheim is a sleuth like no other. She’s a devout Mormon, for starters, and the wife of a respected Utah ward bishop. And yet her sense of justice gets her into plenty of trouble, especially...

Smile by Roddy Doyle [in Library Journal]

18 May, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Audio, Irish, Nonethnic-specific, Repost, Short Stories

*STARRED REVIEW When an author is as spectacular reading his work as his writing is on the page, the result is a literary treasure. Having created these characters, Roddy Doyle (Paddy Clark Ha Ha Ha) knows exactly who endures, who lashes out, who threatens, who flirts,...

The Heart Is a Shifting Sea by Elizabeth Flock [in Library Journal]

17 May, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Audio, Indian, Nonethnic-specific, Nonfiction, Repost, South Asian

Journalist Elizabeth Flock's intention to write about "the Indian love story" – "because it seemed more honest and vulnerable," especially when compared to her parents' multiple failed marriages – began in 2008 when she first lived in Mumbai. Although a spinal injury unexpectedly sent her...

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