The River of Lost Footsteps: Histories of Burma by Thant Myint-U [in Bloomsbury Review]
Interweaving his own multigenerational family history, Thant thoughtfully presents the troubled story of his homeland from ancient times to its colonized modern legacy. Thant’s grandfather, U Thant, figures prominently in the title, once a small town...
Using food as an engaging trope to tell her poignant story – from Pringles to Big Macs to Bubble Yum and Little Debbies – Nguyen takes the reader on a vicarious munching session, recounting her experiences...
The renowned cooking guru and award-winning actress presents an inviting memoir – complete with family recipes, of course! – about growing up in the sprawling family compound in Delhi, surrounded by extended family members, literally climbing...

Marjane Satrapi on the "Axis of Evil," Cheese, and Exploring Family History
Marjane Satrapi changed my reading life. Before I picked up
This is not a spoiler: Estella Habal's San Francisco's International Hotel: Mobilizing the Filipino American Community in the Anti-Eviction Movement is a story with a happy ending. Proof positive is the 2-year-old International Hotel, which stands...
This is one of those life-changing books. Truly. I read it just before my first-ever trip to India (hoping to also go to Bangladesh at some point, but hasn't happened...
Far atop the High Altai Mountains in western Mongolia is an unpredictable climate of extremes – breathtaking in its warmer beauty, yet unforgiving in the harshness of its frigid months. Unknown to most Westerners, the Republic...
Imagine a childhood marked by separation, isolation, abuse, sexual assault, disease and starvation. And imagine feeling lucky – because you survived such atrocities.
The most tragic irony of all is that Emily Wu is indeed lucky, even...
Clara Breed, a children’s librarian at the San Diego Public Library, proved to be a staunch supporter and enduring friend to a group of young Japanese American students who were forced to leave their homes and...
Lam’s keen journalistic experience as NPR commentator and Pacific News Service editor comes through clearly in this collection of noteworthy essays. He weaves personal story and reports from the Vietnamese American community of which...
The turbulent mother-daughter relationship between world-renowned filmmaker Deepa Mehta and her photographer/journalist daughter is interwoven into a fascinating account of how Mehta’s latest film, Water, came to be. As the final installment of Mehta’s...
Cho starts with “haven’t we heard enough from these ancient white guys?” and ends with “Choosing to stay and fight for ourselves in the...
Good Morning America viewers, with a panel of bestselling authors, chose Ahmedi’s story in a nationwide search for the most extraordinary true-life experience. Afghani-born Ahmedi’s 19 years are marked by...
From one of my favorite writers comes a highly readable memoir of a seed-collecting trek through eastern Nepal with three botanist friends. As always, Kincaid is blunt, honest, and highly observant, never overlooking her...
WOW. Here’s a white man’s exploration of race in America and his humble, blunt, sometimes even unknowingly racist attempts to be anti-racist even as he is part of the privileged majority.
Review: <a...
A heartbreakingly inspirational book about a young girl in a tiny rural Chinese village who desperately wants an education, and the love and gratitude she feels for her parents –...
A loving tribute, memoir-style, to the author’s father, a South Vietnamese pilot shot down during the Vietnam War and assumed dead. Pham and his mother begin a new life in the United...
From the author of the acclaimed two-part graphic autobiography, Persepolis, comes an outrageously entertaining afternoon of stories shared amid close women relatives and friends as they reveal the poignant, subversive, sometimes hilarious details of their most...
One child escapes, the other is left behind: In this continuation of the bestseller,