Ollie and Claire by Tiffany Strelitz Haber, illustrated by Matthew Cordell
20 Mar, by in Children/Picture Books, Fiction, Nonethnic-specific
Meet Ollie and Claire: "...
BookDragon Fiction
Moth Smoke by Mohsin Hamid
18 Mar, by in Adult Readers, Audio, Fiction, Pakistani
Let's work ourselves from the outside in ...
Lost in the City: Stories by Edward P. Jones
17 Mar, by in Adult Readers, Audio, Black/African American, Fiction, Short Stories
So first off, I read backwards (see yesterday's post) ...
All Aunt Hagar’s Children: Stories by Edward P. Jones
16 Mar, by in Adult Readers, Audio, Black/African American, Fiction, Short Stories
Edward P. Jones takes up little space on library shelves. Over the last 20+ years, he's published three books: two story collections and a single novel. Proving the adage 'quality over quantity,' Jones' awards are considerably more extensive, from the PEN/Hemingway Award for his first...
Thermae Romae I by Mari Yamazaki, translated by Stephen Paul
15 Mar, by in Adult Readers, European, Fiction, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Japanese, Translation, Young Adult Readers
Rome, 128 AD. Even back then architects had a hard time finding work. Poor, poor Lucius – in spite of his fancy Athens training, his designs are considered "half-baked," and he finds himself "blacklisted out of the industry." Instead of sulking, an old friend convinces him...
How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia by Mohsin Hamid
13 Mar, by in Absolute Favorites, Adult Readers, Fiction, Pakistani
I realize it's only March, but I'm pretty convinced Mohsin Hamid's latest will be one of my top three favorites for 2013. True, such a pronouncement might seem rash in a year that will see new titles from Nadeem Aslam (The Blind Man's Garden next month), Khaled Hosseini...
War Brothers: The Graphic Novel by Sharon E. McKay and Daniel Lafrance, illustrated by Daniel Lafrance
11 Mar, by in Adult Readers, African, Canadian, Fiction, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Middle Grade Readers, Nonfiction, Young Adult Readers
If you look at the bottom of this post at "Filed under," you'll see this title is listed as both "Fiction" and "Nonfiction." That's not a mistake – and the explanation is found in the book's "Postscript": "This is a book of fiction based on...
The Hunger Games Trilogy: The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
09 Mar, by in Adult Readers, Audio, Fiction, Middle Grade Readers, Nonethnic-specific, Young Adult Readers
The day I stuck Hunger Games into my ears, Jennifer Lawrence won Best Actress Oscar, albeit for her role in a different film, Silver Livings Playbook. I took that as a sign that I should finish the almost 35 hours (every bit admirably read by...
Limit (vols. 2-3) by Keiko Suenobu, translated by Mari Morimoto
08 Mar, by in Adult Readers, Fiction, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Japanese, Translation, Young Adult Readers
First things first: you need to start with Volume 1 – that's where the fear begins. Volumes 2 and 3 won't offer much reprieve, but readers just might find a few life lessons within. Here's the set-up: Five survivors – all girls – of a tragic school bus accident...
Sandalwood Death by Mo Yan, translated by Howard Goldblatt [in Library Journal]
07 Mar, by in Adult Readers, Chinese, Fiction, Repost, Translation
This recent novel-in-translation by the 2012 Nobel Laureate Mo Yan, originally published in China in 2004, embodies a labyrinthine web of changing alliances and terrifying vengeance. Set during the Boxer Rebellion, the turn-of-the-20th-century Chinese uprising against Western imperialism, it features pivotal figure Sun Meiniang, who...
The Stamp Collector by Jennifer Lanthier, illustrated by François Thisdale
03 Mar, by in Absolute Favorites, Adult Readers, Canadian, Children/Picture Books, Chinese, Fiction, Middle Grade Readers, Young Adult Readers
Here's how this mesmerizing book begins ...
Delicate Edible Birds and Other Stories by Lauren Groff
02 Mar, by in Adult Readers, Audio, Fiction, Nonethnic-specific, Short Stories
If the name Lauren Groff sounds familiar, that might be because her latest title, Arcadia, appears on oh-so-many Best-of-2012 lists. I admit I haven't yet read Arcadia (it's high in my 'must-read' pile), but if I have the option among an author's titles, short stories are usually my first choice. Just...
Odette’s Secrets by Maryann Macdonald
27 Feb, by in European, Fiction, Middle Grade Readers, Nonethnic-specific, Poetry, Verse Novel/Nonfiction, Young Adult Readers
I'm compelled to start backwards with a number: 84. As children's writer (more than 25 times over) Maryann Macdonald explains in her ending "Author's Note," 84% of French children survived the horrors of World War II; in fact, "more children survived in France than in any other...
The Lions of Little Rock by Kristin Levine
26 Feb, by in Audio, Black/African American, Fiction, Middle Grade Readers, Young Adult Readers
1958, Little Rock, Arkansas: A year has passed since nine courageous African American students – history's "Little Rock Nine" – integrated Central High School. Just days before the new school year is scheduled to begin that September 15, then-Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus closed the city's three high...
Irises by Francisco X. Stork
24 Feb, by in Audio, Fiction, Latina/o/x, Young Adult Readers
First things first: choose the page, not the headset. Carrington MacDuffie's voice is just too old to narrate the inner lives of two teenage sisters – no lilting resonance, no youthful lightness. Might I suggest that the better options for aurally appreciating the extraordinary Francisco X. Stork would be Marcelo...
The Flowers of Evil (vol. 4) by Shuzo Oshimi, translated by Paul Starr
22 Feb, by in Adult Readers, Fiction, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Japanese, Translation, Young Adult Readers
Before you read further, you'll need to click here to catch up on the first three volumes of this creepy, obsessive, love-triangle-of sorts. While the three protagonists are tweenaged middle-schoolers, this is definitely not your kiddie manga: abusive language aside, the deviant psychological manipulations are shocking,...
Author Interview: Pauline A. Chen [in Bloom]
20 Feb, by in Adult Readers, Author Interview/Profile, Chinese, Chinese American, Fiction, Middle Grade Readers, Repost, Taiwanese American, Young Adult Readers
A couple of days after filing my feature on Pauline A. Chen, I got on the phone to ask her all the questions I couldn’t find answers to out there in the virtual world of google-ing. True confession moment: I admit I was a wee bit...
The Red Chamber by Pauline A. Chen + Author Profile [in Bloom]
18 Feb, by in Adult Readers, Author Interview/Profile, Chinese, Chinese American, Fiction, Repost, Taiwanese American
When the teenaged Pauline Chen arrived in Harvard Yard, her intention was to become a writer. The American-born daughter of Taiwanese parents, she grew up amidst Long Island’s endless strip malls and was determined – she wrote in July 2012 at Tribute Books – to shed her “provincial” upbringing....
The Sandcastle Girls by Chris Bohjalian
17 Feb, by in Adult Readers, Armenian American, Audio, Fiction
I think at least a decade has passed since I read a Chris Bohjalian title (Midwives remains my favorite). Two shocks came with this, his latest: 1. He's got 15 books out already; and 2. He's of Armenian descent (yes, I should have connected that '-ian'...
Carry the One by Carol Anshaw
16 Feb, by in Adult Readers, Audio, Fiction, Nonethnic-specific
A couple of months ago, one of my trusty literary friends with whom I often share must-read titles told me about seeing 'everyone' carrying this novel around last fall. So she decided to see for herself what the hubbub was about. Once she started, she...
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