BookDragon Audience

Parrotfish by Ellen Wittlinger

04 Oct, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Audio, Fiction, Nonethnic-specific, Young Adult Readers

Two things are keeping me up at nights ...

I’ll Give It My All … Tomorrow (vol. 1) by Shunju Aono, English adaptation by Akemi Wegmüller

03 Oct, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Fiction, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Japanese, Translation, Young Adult Readers

At 40, Shizuo Oguro lives with his cranky father, his helpful teenage daughter, and has had the same job for 15 years. He couldn't exactly say "what was wrong with [his] life." But his sudden need to "find [him]self" means quitting his job, starting up...

The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

02 Oct, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Audio, Fiction, Nonethnic-specific

Tending toward contrary (ahem!) means I can't seem to read ubiquitous bestsellers when everyone else does. Nope, haven't read a single Stieg Larsson (one the last hold-outs, I'm sure) or Evanovich or Cussler or Patterson. I know, like an ostrich am I. So while Time Traveler's Wife was...

Oishinbo: A la Carte: Japanese Cuisine (vol. 1) by Tetsu Kariya, art by Akira Hanasaki, translated by Tetsuichiro Miyaki

02 Oct, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Fiction, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Japanese, Translation, Young Adult Readers

Oishinbo is apparently one of those cult manga series that only recently hit U.S. shelves in translation, but floating out there all over the world already are over 100 million copies. The title, by the way, translates to something like delicious (oishii: 美味しい, orおいしい) and 'a...

The Things They Carried (20th Anniversary Edition) by Tim O’Brien

01 Oct, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Audio, Memoir, Nonethnic-specific, Southeast Asian, Vietnamese, Young Adult Readers

In spite of the "A Work of Fiction" disclaimer on one of the front pages of Tim O'Brien's Vietnam War classic, you'll probably close the book believing every word contained between the covers to be true. That O'Brien the author names his narrator Tim O'Brien...

Eight Days: A Story of Haiti by Edwidge Danticat, illustrated by Alix Delinois

30 Sep, by SIBookDragon in Black/African American, Caribbean, Caribbean American, Children/Picture Books, Fiction, Haitian, Haitian American

This has been one tragic week: the deadly Oaxaca, Mexico mudslide, the two Rutgers freshmen whose abusively invasive actions led to the suicide of a third first-year student, the deaths of iconic actor Tony Curtis and director Arthur Penn ...

The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game by Michael Lewis

29 Sep, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Audio, Biography, Black/African American, Nonfiction, Young Adult Readers

I rarely ever say this: skip the book, and go see the film version of The Blind Side (which got Sandra Bullock her much-deserved Oscar win). The story of Michael Oher – a massive young man estranged from his addict mother, his dysfunctional siblings, and lost to...

The Boy in the Garden by Allen Say

28 Sep, by SIBookDragon in Children/Picture Books, Fiction, Japanese, Japanese American

Jiro and his father arrive at Mr. Ozu's to wish him a happy new year. As the grown-ups talk, Jiro wanders first out of the room, then into the garden where he sees a striking, unmoving large bird. As he approaches it, laughter breaks out...

The Night Bookmobile by Audrey Niffenegger

27 Sep, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Fiction, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Nonethnic-specific

Unlike probably most of her many, many readers, I knew (not personally, but as an author, I mean) Audrey Niffenegger first as a graphic artist than as a novelist; her 'novels-in-pictures,' The Three Incestuous Sisters (2005) and The Adventuress (2006), sit prominently displayed (covers facing out for maximum...

Mad at Mommy by Komako Sakai

26 Sep, by SIBookDragon in Children/Picture Books, Fiction, Japanese, Nonethnic-specific, Translation

"Mommy, I – I – I AM SO MAD AT YOU!" Okay, Mommies (and Daddies) ...

Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson

25 Sep, by SIBookDragon in Audio, Fiction, Nonethnic-specific, Young Adult Readers

What timing ...

Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us by Seth Godin

24 Sep, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Audio, Nonethnic-specific, Nonfiction

Seth Godin has written a dozen worldwide bestsellers. I admit I'm late in discovering him; this is my first Godin title, which Godin himself read to me (it's loaded on my iPod so I can take it on my training runs – Leadville 100 in...

East Eats West: Writing in Two Hemispheres by Andrew Lam

23 Sep, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Memoir, Nonfiction, Southeast Asian American, Vietnamese American

Unlike the rest of Andrew Lam’s relatives who only want to bombard him with questions about meeting Hiroyuki Sakai of Iron Chef fame (I don't watch TV and I hate to cook), what I want to know is, 'how's the love life?' Some might say...

Thanking the Moon: Celebrating the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival by Grace Lin

22 Sep, by SIBookDragon in Children/Picture Books, Chinese American, Fiction

What a festive day this is in most Asian and the Asian American communities throughout the world ...

Playing in the Light by Zoë Wicomb

21 Sep, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, African, Fiction, South African

"Playing – as others would call it – in the light left no space, no time for interiority, for reflecting on what they had done. Under the glaring spotlight of whiteness, they played diligently, assiduously; the past, and with it conscience, shrunk to a black...

A Drunken Dream and Other Stories by Moto Hagio, translated by Matt Thorn

20 Sep, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Fiction, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Japanese, Translation

As I discovered manga in so-called mid-life, I'm especially illiterate in the shōjo genre – manga marketed specifically to young girls ages 10 to 18-ish with pages that seem to show a plethora of starry eyes, fluffy costumes, talking animals and such. The Japanese characters for 'shō-jo'...

YUMMY: The Last Days of a Southside Shorty by G. Neri, illustrated by Randy DuBurke

19 Sep, by SIBookDragon in Black/African American, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Middle Grade Readers, Nonfiction, Young Adult Readers

True stories about kids with tragic endings are undoubtedly effective in fueling parents' worst nightmares. This one proves especially haunting. Six years ago today, "Yummy" Sandifer made the cover of Time magazine. Along with his mugshot were the words, "The Short, Violent Life of Robert 'Yummy'...

Marcelo in the Real World by Francisco X. Stork

18 Sep, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Audio, Fiction, Latina/o/x, Nonethnic-specific, Young Adult Readers

Marcelo marks quite a memorable moment in our family's dynamics: For the first time ever, our daughter actually shut us out with her headphones (I realize it's coming relatively late in modern teenage life), demanding that she be able to finish this book right now (it was...

Manazuru by Hiromi Kawakami, translated by Michael Emmerich

17 Sep, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Fiction, Japanese, Translation

Manazuru is the first of Akutagawa Prize-winning Japanese writer Hiromi Kawakami's novels to be translated into English. It's one of those unexpected titles that wear better with time; it needs to sort of 'sit' after reading to fully appreciate. While the overall story might initially seem almost...

In front of my house by Marianne Dubuc, translated by Yvette Ghione

16 Sep, by SIBookDragon in Canadian, Children/Picture Books, Fiction, Nonethnic-specific

"On a little hill, behind a brown fence, under a big oak tree, is ...