Ready for the frenzy of going back to school? So long, summer … hello, morning rush! I shudder ...
Ishan Mehra has CDS ...
I don't know how I never noticed before, but Kurosagi comes with a "Parental Advisory | Explicit Content" warning sticker (volume 11 had it on the outside plastic shrink-wrap; volume 12 got more serious and placed it on the actual book!). True enough that some...
* STARRED REVIEW The recipient of international accolades – including Canada’s coveted Governor General’s Literary Award for Fiction (2010) for its original Canadian debut in French – this extraordinary first novel unfolds like ethereal poetry. The enigmatic title means “a small stream and, figuratively, a flow, a discharge—of...
Self-made Mumbai real estate mogul Dharmen Shah is determined to build his iconic structure, the Shanghai, a "super-luxury" residential skyscraper, named to reflect his admiration for "all the will power in the world" he associates with the rising global power of the Chinese. In order...
Six children, six different faiths … while their holy days and festivals vary, the one thing they share – that we all share, regardless of the specifics of our backgrounds – are special foods we share with family and friends to celebrate memorable occasions. Francesca is...
As the e-publishing world is shrinking our stories into little mobile devices, storyteller, teacher, and author Steve Light brings back some delightful heft with his new Storybox collection that features classic tales from around the world that your youngest readers can bring immediately to life ...
"'I've always imagined paradise as something like a library,'" the titular March expounds. Is that not a perfect thought? Alas, while March is Geraldine Brooks' most award-winning – that yellow circle on the cover announces its 2006 Pulitzer Prize – I must confess it was my least favorite; if I had...
The legendary 1993 Nobel Prize-winning Toni Morrison begins her latest novel with a jarring disconnect of warning: the title is Home, and yet the first pages open with an unannotated verse – "Whose house is this? / ...
In between "Long, long ago ...
Remember that gorgeous film, Red Violin, which tells the story (backwards) of the creation and fantastical 300-plus-year-history of the eponymous instrument? People of the Book uses a similar structure to reveal the story of a 500-year-old illuminated manuscript known as the Sarajevo Haggadah. That haggadah is very real;...
I haven't picked up a Geraldine Brooks title since her 2001 debut novel, Year of Wonders, which promptly became an international bestseller. I definitely had that sense of 'wow' when I finished, but then I inexplicably ignored the rest of her titles ...
The work of Shigeru Mizuki, a legendary 90-year-old manga artist in his native Japan, arrived Stateside last year with the first-ever English translation of the award-winning Onward Towards Our Noble Deaths, which draws on Mizuki's own experiences during World War II when he was drafted into Japan’s...
Months (maybe longer) have passed since I finished Aminatta Forna’s third and latest title, exquisitely narrated by British actor Kobna Holdbrook-Smith. I think I just didn't want to let it go by posting a review ...
A full decade has passed since Yann Martel won the coveted Booker Prize for his Life of Pi. I confess I had to force myself to finish that book when it first appeared; I admit to being befuddled to learn of its Booker win and the...
You could flip through Michael Cho’s new graphic title in just a few minutes and pronounce it 'read.' But you'd be missing the whole point of the book ...
When the running gets tough (and long), I find my latest default stuck-in-the-ears choices to last me another 10, 20, 30 miles is something by Harlan Coben (because his Tell No One was my first pulp mystery ever and remains a favorite over a decade later) or Carl Hiaasen (because I get so...
Sometimes the best thing that can happen to a book is to get banned. REALLY. Just ask Rajaa al-Sanea (yes, the spelling of her name is different on the cover of her book from what she has on her personal website – which has two variations of...
As this is the penultimate volume in the 22-part series, I suppose I should have savored it ...
'Gritty' is the first word that comes to mind after finishing this slim young adult novel about a teenage Chinese immigrant's struggles with his conservative father over his sexuality. Ray Liu is new to the West. He's left behind half his family in China, including his...
