The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini [in AsianWeek]
30 May, by in Absolute Favorites, Adult Readers, Afghan, Afghan American, Fiction, Repost
A resonating, breathtaking first novel that chronicles the relationship of two boys, born and raised in Kabul, Afghanistan – both motherless, both nursed by the same woman and both lives inextricably linked, even in...
Xinran: The Voice of the Good Women of China
The Good Women of China: Hidden Voices is one of those books you just can’t put down. Part memoir, part history, part tragedy, part social documentary, Good Women...
An undeniably superb, even breathtaking short story collection about life spent in the “in-between” by the Japanese-born, German-domiciled, multi-dimensioned Tawada.
Review: 
This may be the kids’ find of the holiday season. An utterly delightful walk in the rain with the most colorful, inviting umbrellas, set to infectiously happy, twinkling music. My kids couldn’t stop pushing...
Over 60 years ago, the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 – “a day that will live in infamy” as then-President Roosevelt named it – eventually led to the signing of Executive Order 9066...
Delightful debut about two teenage boys sent to be “re-educated” during Mao’s Cultural Revolution and their love for a local village girl and banned western literature.
Review:...
One Man's Justice, the third book by bestselling Japanese author Akira Yoshimura to be translated into English, is all about perspective: One man's justice proves to be his condemnation. Takuya, an officer in the Japanese Imperial...
A quirky debut collection populated by the inhabitants of a fictional California seaside town, not unlike Half Moon Bay. Lee's memorable characters are so real, you'll swear you know some of them! Absolutely fabulous.
Review: <a href="http://bookdragonreviews.wordpress.com/files/2009/08/amagazine-2001-0607-new-and-notable.pdf"...
Let's face it, the media is great at creating and perpetuating stereotypes. Take Asians: inscrutable and mysterious, sly and calculating, from the shuffling house boy to the prostitute with the heart of gold, from Ming the...
Laying a Golden Egg
Everything – let me say that again – everything about this book is fabulous. So you’re off the hook: you can stop reading this review right now.
A...
The Easiest Thing to Do Is Stop Writing
Having just returned from Italy where he got a little R&R and did some research on his next novel, Chang-rae Lee didn’t even have time to recover...
My initial reaction – and it does not fade through the course of the book – is utter annoyance at yet another non-Asian exoticizing, objectifying, making inscrutable the Asian culture and its people. But...
Raj Kamal Jha’s slim debut novel, The Blue Bedspread, is fabulous. It is perhaps the best book I’ve read this year – maybe even several years. It’s also a precious find, not the least...
A Japanese American man recounts his grandfather’s journey from Japan to America, and back to Japan. He comes to understand his grandfather’s feelings of being torn by a sense of being home in two...
Every year, the extended Yang family gathers from all over the Hawaiian island of Oahu at Grandma’s house to celebrate New Year’s Eve. This year, young Marisa will help make the dumplings for Grandma’s...
A collection of original stories about growing up as an Asian American child, centered around the diverse ethnic Asian communities of Chicago – featuring Asian Americans of Bangladeshi, Cambodian, Chinese, Filipino, Indian,...
Five Chinese brothers look exactly alike, but each has an extraordinary talent. When First Chinese Brother is unfairly sentenced to death, the other brothers each call on their special talents to save...
A novel written entirely in verse, about the machinations of love in the modern age. John’s lonely, so Jan secretly runs a personal ad on his behalf. John finds Liz. Recently divorced Phil ends...
Lydia Minatoya, a second-generation Japanese American, searches for her own answers to what it means to be Asian American. Her personal odyssey begins in...