His user name is "paperboy_1878." He rents booths at various Pit Boy internet café branches. He wears a newspaper mask that covers his whole head and a t-shirt with a smart phone screen. He posts video warnings. And then he carries out his own vigilante...
"For many years the house next to Sameer's had stood empty ...
If you're already a manga/anime aficionado, feel free to skip ahead to the next paragraph. If this is the first time you're hearing the titular word, henshin, then stay with me for a few lines. In Japanese – 変身 – the characters literally mean "change" and "body," respectively, and...
February marks African American Heritage Month. Do you know where your books are? I've been picking up older, missed titles the last couple of weeks, and discovering some unique treasures, especially those that highlight unusual or lesser-known historical experiences. Stay tuned for more ...
In order to give myself permission to read the latest bestseller by Rhodes Scholar/surgeon/professor/MacArthur “Genius”/New Yorker/TED-anointed Dr. Atul Gawande (and yes, all his books are lauded, importantly nominated, finalist-ed, awarded bestsellers), I decided I had to first finish his previous titles in order. What might sound a bit like unnecessary pressure just to...
For someone who uses a thesaurus incessantly, I was shocked to realize how little I knew of Peter Mark Roget. The Right Word is just the right discovery! At age 8, Roget began writing his first book, simply titled Peter, Mark, Roget. His Book: "instead of writing stories,...
Trust me, you're just going to have to go with the impossible premise right up front. If you need a little help, you can choose to go audible, because expert narrator Sneha Mathan will surely help you believe. Go ahead, check your doubts: you'll be amply rewarded by career diplomat...
Valentine's Day is already next week: let this sweet reminder of young love inspire your own heartfelt plans. Takeo and Sunakawa have been best friends and neighbors forever. As close as they are, they couldn't be more different: Takeo is a boisterous, gentle giant with as large a...
Go ahead and admit it: you were immediately, gleefully smiling when you saw that adorable face on the cover! [That sweet visage, actually, is not so unlike her talented creator ...
*STARRED REVIEW Yan Lianke (Dream of Ding Village) has built his substantial career on exposing the surreal absurdity of China's 20th-century tragedies. His latest-in-translation features the 99th district of a reeducation camp, where intellectuals controlled by a maniacally cruel yet innocently naïve child endure merciless conditions...
So I confess I haven't seen a single episode, but the hubby seems addicted to the TV series, Masterchef Junior. Time magazine recently declared it "the Best Cooking Show on TV," especially noting that "here are some other things you don’t have on MasterChef Jr....
Happy Are the Happy spins a lively cluster of stories around a Parisian couple and their social network At a spare 160 pages, Yasmina Reza’s latest novel can easily be read in a single sitting. Presented as 21 interlinked short stories whose titles bear the names...
"First comes love. Then comes marriage." As pervasively common as that children's rhyme is, the legal union between two people has not always been – nor is it still – a right granted to all Americans. In 1967, Richard and Mildred Loving challenged the state of...
"This is a book about performance in medicine," Atul Gawande writes in the "Introduction" of his second bestselling title (he's got four total thus far – and counting!). "In medicine, as in any profession, we must grapple with systems, resources, circumstances, people – and our own...
Here's an intriguing blend of vampiric dystopia: "One day ...
Ready for an around-the-world, invigorating, aquatic tour? Readers: get ready to be refreshed, guided by Pat Mora’s verses and Meilo So’s artistry...
In an attempt to better understand the unfamiliar territory in which I find myself domiciled through June 2016 (yes, I'm counting), I've been reading quite a few titles that hopefully will provide insight into the mindset of some of our would-be neighbors. Many of those books...
Mr. Brown is a bit of a curmudgeonly dandy. He's friendless on purpose, but he makes sure he looks good when he goes out. In spite of his protests, the truth is something else entirely: " ...
See how long this post title is above? Well, apparently, I seem to be discovering this spectacular story (and it really, truly is!) in its umpteenth iteration. Better late than never, I must say, because I'm convinced that this manga rendition is the very best...
Atul Gawande’s latest (and fourth) book, Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End, has been on countless 2014 'best-of' lists. His three previous titles have all been bestsellers, he's a 1987 Rhodes Scholar, a 2006 MacArthur "Genius" Fellow, and a TED favorite. He's also a...
