Consuming Bodies: Sex and Contemporary Japanese Art edited by Fran Lloyd [in AsianWeek]
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:
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...
A collection of 23 traditional Chinese myths and legends, uniquely illustrated with rare advertising posters from the 1920s and ’30s.
Review:
A young Korean girl experiences her first day of school where the children do not look like her or speak her language. But with a kind...
A perfect introduction for older children about the culture and arts of the ancient land of Korea. The book is especially timely now, if nothing else but to dispel some...
An adorable skunk goes to school for the first time, only to be ostracized by the other animal children because of her pungent odor. But watch out for...
In alternating voices, this lyrical novel captures the relationship between two stepsisters – one a Japanese American, the other a blond Jewish-Catholic – who are so different and yet so alike, proving that some...
Debut collection of breathtaking, breathless stories by a half-Japanese, half-Irish American writer who seems to be searching for meaning in the spaces between war and peace, between being Japanese and becoming American,...
For two years before she left Iran, Nafisi, a resigned university professor, spent almost every Thursday morning with seven of her favorite former female students, discussing Western classics in a...
Here's the book that inspired both the Japanese cult film, Ringu, and the recent American remake, The Ring. With its bright pink and white cover, it’s a major eye-catcher. Start reading and it’s so creepy, your...
A young woman returns to her home in India after a seven-year absence and has a difficult time telling her family about her non-Indian fiancé. The story is an otherwise entertaining light read about...