Audience Archives - Page 61 of 233

Marriage of a Thousand Lies by SJ Sindhu [in Library Journal]

16 Apr, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Audio, Fiction, Repost, South Asian American, Sri Lankan American

From outright untruths to complex subterfuge, the titular lies proliferate throughout SJ Sindhu’s debut novel, especially targeting the institution of marriage among three generations of a conservative Sri Lankan American family. Lucky and Kris are both gay, but their convenient matrimonial union finally satisfies parental...

The Lost Girls of Camp Forevermore by Kim Fu [in Library Journal]

13 Apr, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Audio, Canadian, Canadian Asian Pacific American, Fiction, Repost, Young Adult Readers

For five preteen Camp Forevermore girls, a simple overnight kayaking trip turns horrifying when their group leader dies mysteriously and the girls must find their way back alone. One insists on remaining with the corpse; the others leave and promise to send help. Interspersed with their...

The Baghdad Clock by Shahad Al Rawi, translated by Luke Leafgren [in Booklist]

12 Apr, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Fiction, Iraqi, Repost, Translation, Young Adult Readers

The lives of two girls, the narrator and Nadia, born during the Iran-Iraq War are continuously delineated by conflict. As young children, they meet in a Baghdad air-raid shelter under siege in 1991’s Operation Desert Storm and become best friends. Their growing up is marked...

The War I Finally Won [The War Series, Book 2] by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley [in School Library Journal]

11 Apr, by SIBookDragon in Audio, British, European, Fiction, Jewish, Middle Grade Readers, Nonethnic-specific, Repost

Continuing the story begun in Kimberly Brubaker Bradley’s 2016 Newbery Honor book, The War That Saved My Life , World War II rages on, and Ada is now 11. She has escaped London and her abusive mother and finally has the surgery to reverse her...

Someone to Talk to by Liu Zhenyun, translated by Howard Goldblatt and Sylvia Li-chun Lin [in Library Journal]

09 Apr, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Chinese, Fiction, Repost, Translation

Knowing each other's stories – even the most private details – doesn't equate with the true intimacy of having "someone to talk to." The two distinct sections of Liu's (Remembering 1942) latest Anglophone-friendly novel present two such lonely men whose seemingly unrelated lives share a...

Graphic Gems: Novels, Biographies, and Memoirs for Younger Readers [in The Booklist Reader]

05 Apr, by SIBookDragon in Chinese American, Fiction, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Japanese, Japanese American, Lists, Memoir, Middle Grade Readers, Native American/First Nations/Indigenous Peoples, Nonethnic-specific, Nonfiction, Repost, Russian, Russian American, Translation, Turkish, Turkish American, Young Adult Readers

Since I recently shared some utterly satisfying single-volume graphic titles for adults, I figured I should point out a few outstanding titles for middle-grade and YA readers, as well. That said, so-called grown-ups will surely find many of these titles just as satisfying. Equal literary...

Graphic Gems: Novels, Story Collections, and Memoirs for Adults [in The Booklist Reader]

04 Apr, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, British Asian, Canadian Asian Pacific American, Fiction, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Hapa/Mixed-race, Japanese, Japanese American, Korean American, Lists, Memoir, Nonethnic-specific, Nonfiction, Repost, Short Stories, Translation

While I’m addicted to various manga series (click here and here for some of my favorites), I’ve also discovered the satisfaction of single-volume graphic titles offering that perfect balance of fascinating narrative and gorgeously complementary, enhancing art. From goofy to haunting, comforting to challenging, and...

In the Shadow of the Sun by Anne Sibley O’Brien [in School Library Journal]

03 Apr, by SIBookDragon in Audio, Fiction, Korean, Middle Grade Readers, Nonethnic-specific, North Korean, Repost, Young Adult Readers

"Who in their right mind tries to bond with their kids by taking them on a tour of North Korea?'" American aid worker Mark Andrews does when he arrives in Pyongyang with 16-year-old son Simon and 12-year-old daughter Mia. He's convinced "the trip would be...

A 21st-Century Filipino American Fiction Reader [in The Booklist Reader]

30 Mar, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Fiction, Filipina/o, Filipina/o American, Repost, Short Stories, Southeast Asian, Southeast Asian American

Originally published in 1943, Carlos Bulosan’s America Is in the Heart is a cornerstone of classic Asian American literature. Drawing on Bulosan’s Filipino boyhood, his immigration to the United States, and the challenges he faced as a first-generation Asian American, it remains a notable inspiration, most recently...

Familiar Things by Sok-yong Hwang, translated by Sora Kim-Russell [in Booklist]

29 Mar, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Fiction, Korean, Repost, Translation

*STARRED REVIEW Toughened by a nickname thrown at him by a policeman threatening punishment, Bugeye arrives on Flower Island – an ironic name for the vast city dump on the outskirts of Seoul – with his mother, who works as a garbage picker. His father is...

The Beekeeper: Rescuing the Stolen Women of Iraq by Dunya Mikhail, translated by Dunya Mikhail [in Booklist]

28 Mar, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Iraqi, Iraqi American, Nonfiction, Repost, Translation

Award-winning poet Dunya Mikhail, an Iraqi exile who fled her homeland in 1996 and eventually settled in Michigan, makes her nonfiction debut with a hybrid text that combines reportage and personal memoir with the intention of giving voice to northern Iraqi women victims of Daesh...

The Astonishing Color of After by Emily X.R. Pan [in Shelf Awareness]

27 Mar, by SIBookDragon in Chinese, Chinese American, Fiction, Hapa/Mixed-race, Middle Grade Readers, Repost, Taiwanese, Taiwanese American, Young Adult Readers

*STARRED REVIEW Leigh and best friend Axel "figure out what the other person's feeling" by asking "'What color?’": "carbazole violet" for silence, "burnt orange" for anger, "Prussian blue" for hurt. Their unexpected first kiss sets off a "whole goddamn spectrum" of feelings Leigh doesn't have time...

What a Wonderful Word by Nicola Edwards, illustrated by Luisa Uribe

26 Mar, by SIBookDragon in Children/Picture Books, Middle Grade Readers, Nonethnic-specific, Nonfiction

Earlier this year, the National Book Foundation announced the addition of a fifth National Book Award: the National Book Award for Translated Literature. The news made me positively giddy: such specific recognition feels long overdue because I'm convinced translators do some of the hardest literary...

Let’s No One Get Hurt by Jon Pineda + Author Interview [in The Booklist Reader]

22 Mar, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Author Interview/Profile, Black/African American, Fiction, Filipina/o American, Repost

A Poet’s Novel: Jon Pineda talks LET’S NO ONE GET HURT Even a poetry dullard like me recognizes poet/memoirist/novelist Jon Pineda’s ability to do something spectacular with language. His lean sentences are surprisingly dense, as if to defy their brevity. Surely publishing three award-winning books of...

Ghost Boys by Jewell Parker Rhodes [in Shelf Awareness]

21 Mar, by SIBookDragon in Black/African American, Fiction, Middle Grade Readers, Repost, Young Adult Readers

Twelve-year-old Jerome was always "the good kid": "I've got troubles but I don't get in trouble." He's the son of a motel receptionist mother and sanitation officer father. His grandmother keeps house, so that he and his younger sister aren't home alone. At school, Jerome...

The Better Tree Fort by Jessica Scott Kerrin, illustrated by Qin Leng [in Shelf Awareness]

20 Mar, by SIBookDragon in Canadian, Canadian Asian Pacific American, Children/Picture Books, Fiction, Nonethnic-specific, Repost

*STARRED REVIEW In Russell's new backyard stands a giant maple tree with "great big limbs and a trunk so wide, even Russell's dad could not wrap his arms around it." When Russell deems it ideal for a new fort, his dad initially hesitates: "'I don't know...

Trampoline Boy by Nan Forler, illustrated by Marion Arbona [in Shelf Awareness]

19 Mar, by SIBookDragon in Canadian, Children/Picture Books, Fiction, Nonethnic-specific, Repost

"Twirly-whirly,/ loop-dee-loop" takes Trampoline Boy up "into the blue, blue sky." Each "BOING" enables him to see something new, from his own backyard to far beyond the clouds. In the morning, after school, and "until the sky turn[s] pink," Trampoline Boy finds contentment in the...

Forest Dark by Nicole Krauss [in Library Journal]

16 Mar, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Audio, Fiction, Israeli, Jewish, Repost

In Nicole Krauss's (The Great House) first novel in seven years, two untethered American Jews experience parallel epic quests in Israel. One will die, the other will be transformed. The story is told in alternating chapters, and the pair never meet. Jules Epstein, a Manhattan lawyer...

Fresh Complaint: Stories by Jeffrey Eugenides [in Library Journal]

15 Mar, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Audio, Fiction, Nonethnic-specific, Repost, Short Stories

Although Fresh is Pulitzer Prize-winning Jeffrey Eugenides's (Middlesex) first-ever collection, the contents might seem familiar as only two of the 10 stories are actually "fresh" – the opening "Complainers" and closing "Fresh Complaint." The rest appeared in various publications between 1989 and 2013. What's truly new...

Heather, the Totality by Matthew Weiner [in Library Journal]

14 Mar, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Audio, Fiction, Nonethnic-specific, Repost

At just two hours, Matthew Weiner's debut novel is more of a novella, perhaps its length (or lack thereof) a reflection of his television expertise. Screen aficionados will certainly recognize Weiner's name: he's creator/producer/director of the wildly successful Mad Men and writer/producer of the groundbreaking...

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