International storyteller Ashley Ramsden retells a Norwegian tale about the rich rewards of patient tenacity. "One winter's evening, a lone traveler trudged down a winding forest road looking for a place to spend the night ...
If I hadn't had Luis Alberto Urrea himself read the majority of his novel to me via iPod, I would never have known the proper pronunciation of Parangarícutirimícuaro, not to mention a few choice insults! Good thing I also bought the book, because I wouldn't...
"More than anything, I wished that my mother and my daughter could have known and loved each other," Maya Soetoro-Ng writes in her "Author's Note," mourning her late mother (anthropologist S. Ann Dunham), who died a decade before her granddaughter Suhaila was born. Through the infinite...
Decades ago, I went to college with one of Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie's grandsons. Beyond the seemingly ubiquitous images back then of Ethiopia's barren natural disasters and widespread starvation, that worldly, quiet, thoughtful young man was my first real encounter with Ethiopia ...
So phenomenally successful is the Death Note series, it's available in multiformats in the U.S. alone. Not even considering all the endless spin-off enterprises like anime, films, and games, Death Note on the page comes in single volumes (12 total), or a complete box set, or even...
Contrary as I am, I find I must start with this book backwards. The final entry in this important title by one of Palestine's literary icons is not only the collection's highlight, but it is undoubtedly one of those haunting 'what-if' situations that you'll find...
Sometimes, nothing satisfies like a sweeping family saga: convincing enough to believe the characters truly existed beyond the bound pages, long enough to feel like they've become a part of your lives, inspiring enough to mourn their company once the words are finished. Thus is Julie Orringer's...
Being madly appreciative of Natsume Ono's not simple, one of the most clever, time-bending manga I've ever been so lucky to read, I definitely felt a personal sense of pride when I heard this week that Ono's latest series-in-English-translation, House of Five Leaves (click here...
The literati around the world have surely got the memo that 2011 is Shaun Tan's year. Every few weeks, he seems to be back in the news with new accolades (all well-deserved, I must add ...
Been waiting to exhale? Here it comes ...
The greatest strength of this series debut is, without a doubt, the art: the first spread, for example, captures the eponymous Lee gliding along on her bike, then the shock of a narrowly-missed collision with an elderly woman, and the embarrassed apology as she picks...
First things first: do NOT read further if you haven't read Part 1 of Jenny Han's sigh-inducing Belly-trilogy, The Summer I Turned Pretty. Why spoil this delicious experience? Trust me ...
Balanced with deft reminders of impermanence –from vivid dreams and outdoor art to once-a-year cherry blossoms and death – Banana Yoshimoto’s latest is a love story with a higher-than-usual satisfying-sigh factor. Chihiro, an artist, and Nakajima, a graduate student in genetics, finally meet after watching and...
Since we had SNOW yesterday in DC, I guess we still have some leftover winter. Brrrr ...
With very good reason, Jennifer Egan's fifth title, A Visit from the Goon Squad, won the 2011 National Book Critics Circle Award for fiction, announced earlier this month. As with most major award winners, I try to take a look or a listen (forget the cat; curiosity...
Shizuo Oguro's definitely getting older, although not quite yet better. Having quit the corporate life at age 40 determined to become a manga artist in volume 1, Oguro is now 42 and facing creative rejection, trying to convince himself that "Great talents bloom late." His friend – the angry...
Everything about this multilayered title shouts fraud ...
As I've upped my running mileage (doggedly training for Leadville 100 in 2012!), my book consumption via iPod has increased dramatically. One of my favorite audible treats is to listen to the author read to me ...
Daytripper is a gift of unexpected brilliance. That's all you really need to know. And just as I soooooo appreciated knowing almost nothing about this title before I opened its enticing pages, I will try not to spoil a moment for you. If you're not ready to...
May-lee Chai’s second novel is one of those titles to consider reading from the end, in this case with the "Acknowledgements," where the Chinese Caucasian hapa Chai recounts her long personal involvement with the Cambodian American community. At 15, writing for her Midwest hometown newspaper in the...
