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BookDragon British

Boom! by Mark Haddon

20 Dec, by SIBookDragon in Audio, British, Fiction, Middle Grade Readers, Nonethnic-specific, Young Adult Readers

If you had any expectations from seeing Mark Haddon's name on the cover that this might be a deeply thoughtful novel about family relations, you'd be rather surprised. This is not Haddon's 2003 breakout title, A...

Out of Iraq: Refugees’ Stories in Words, Paintings and Music by Sybella Wilkes, foreword by Angelina Jolie, in association with UNHCR

27 Nov, by SIBookDragon in British, Children/Picture Books, Iraqi, Middle Grade Readers, Nonfiction
Alas, tragic headlines continue to repeat over and over: The front page of today's New York Times reports, "Iraq's Ills Lead Former Exiles to Flee Again." [An online version of the article is available...

Author Interview: Audrey Niffenegger [in Bookslut]

03 Nov, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Author Interview/Profile, British, Fiction, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Nonethnic-specific, Repost
Sometimes jet lag has its advantages. Amazingly enough, I caught Audrey Niffenegger soon after her London arrival, when she wasn’t sleeping – “I am very bad at jet lag,” she confesses....

Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger

07 Oct, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Audio, British, Fiction, Nonethnic-specific
Audrey Niffenegger's second novel begins with "The End" – the title of the book's opening chapter – and the words "Elspeth died ...

Raven Summer by David Almond

09 Apr, by SIBookDragon in British, Fiction, Middle Grade Readers, Young Adult Readers
David Almond has been repeatedly popping up in my inbox recently. Not him personally (don't I wish, as he is definitely one of my very favorite writers for young adult titles), but his mega-award-winning name is haunting my emails...

Studio Ghibli: The Films of Hayao Miyazaki & Isao Takahata by Colin Odell and Michelle Le Blanc and Satoshi Kon: The Illusionist by Andrew Osmond

01 Oct, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, British, Japanese, Nonfiction, Young Adult Readers
Studio Ghibli and Satoshi Kon are together an empowering exercise in girl power: strong, independent female protagonists of all ages abound in their anime. With countless awards, including a Best Animated Feature Oscar for Spirited Away, Hayao Miyazaki is one of anime's greatest. His Ponyo...

The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work by Alain de Botton

12 Sep, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, British, Nonethnic-specific, Nonfiction
"At first I was afraid, I was petrified ...

The Meaning of Everything: The Story of the Oxford English Dictionary by Simon Winchester

11 Sep, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, British, Nonfiction
From "aa" to "zyxt" [you'll have to look up the meanings yourself, because you thankfully can], the Oxford English Dictionary is filled with ...

The Devil’s Kiss by Sarwat Chadda

25 Jun, by SIBookDragon in British, British Asian, Fiction, Middle Grade Readers, Pakistani, South Asian, Young Adult Readers
Being a so-called 'normal' teenager for hapa Pakistani Londoner Bilqis SanGreal has never been an option. With an overbearing father who happens to be the Templar Master – even if many believe he murdered his beloved wife – Billi's destiny as the newest, youngest Knight is...

The Map that Changed the World: William Smith and the Birth of Modern Geology by Simon Winchester

12 May, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Audio, British, Nonfiction
Even prison did not stop William Smith from his tenacious decades-long journey to create a map that clearly captured in one colorful creation what was buried under England's rolling hills and valleys. Prison is where Simon Winchester, a remarkable chronicler of obscure and near-forgotten but terribly important lives...

Jeff in Venice, Death in Varanasi by Geoff Dyer [in San Francisco Chronicle]

17 Apr, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, British, European, Fiction, Indian, Repost, South Asian
Geoff Dyer's latest novel, teasingly titled Jeff in Venice, Death in Varanasi, is quite the mind game. To play, you obviously have to read the book. Here's the initial setup: two distinct parts with a few overlapping similarities. In the first, "Jeff in Venice," London journalist...

Burnt Shadows by Kamila Shamsie

13 Apr, by SIBookDragon in Absolute Favorites, Adult Readers, Afghan, British, British Asian, Fiction, Indian, Japanese, Pakistani, South Asian
Even though it's only April (and the book doesn't even hit stands until next month), I'm announcing with absolute certainty that Burnt Shadows gets my unwavering vote as THE Book of the Year. I'll only be too happy to eat my words because that can only mean...

The Piano Teacher by Janice Y.K. Lee [in Christian Science Monitor] [in Bloomsbury Review]

31 Jan, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, British, Chinese, Hapa/Mixed-race, Hong Kongese, Korean American, Repost
Something about Janice Y.K. Lee’s debut novel, The Piano Teacher, whispers, “Watch me.” Populated with a cast of “wandering global voyagers,” Lee unfurls her story, set in Hong Kong during and after World War II, layer by layer and in cinematic snippets. Captured in clipped, almost abbreviated...

In the Country of Men by Hisham Matar

15 Jan, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Arab, Audio, British, Fiction
In 1979, 9-year-old Suleiman already lives a fractured existence in the Libyan capital of Tripoli, controlled by Qaddafi and the ever-present threat of his secret police. While his father is often away on some unknown business, young Suleiman is left behind to take care of...

The Boy by Naeem Murr

29 Sep, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, British, Fiction, Hapa/Mixed-race, Lebanese, Lebanese American
You can't believe how scary this book can be, especially if you have children of your own. The eponymous boy of many names in Naeem Murr's disturbingly effective debut novel is a complicated, unpredictable,...

The Perfect Man by Naeem Murr

19 Sep, by SIBookDragon in Absolute Favorites, Adult Readers, British, British Asian, Fiction, Hapa/Mixed-race, Lebanese, Lebanese American, Young Adult Readers
Naeem Murr’s latest novel is a near-perfect coming-of-age story about an Indian-born, London-raised young man, dropped into the American Midwest virtually without support, and was last year’s Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for Europe...

Bombay Anna: The Real Story and Remarkable Adventures of the ‘King and I’ Governess by Susan Morgan [in Christian Science Monitor]

16 Sep, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Awful Duds, Biography, British, Hapa/Mixed-race, Indian, Nonfiction, Repost, South Asian, Thai
Immortalized by Deborah Kerr, Anna Leonowens – yes, that Anna, the one who taught the children of the King of Siam – was, without a doubt, a remarkable character. Unfortunately, her story remains buried in...

The Gift of Rain by Tan Twan Eng [in Bloomsbury Review]

01 May, by SIBookDragon in Absolute Favorites, Adult Readers, British, Chinese, Fiction, Hapa/Mixed-race, Japanese, Malaysian, Repost, Southeast Asian
IF YOU READ ONE BOOK, LET IT BE THIS EPIC STUNNER! One rainy evening, an elderly gentleman finds himself opening the door to his past in the form an elderly woman who arrives bearing a gift....

A Case of Exploding Mangoes: A Novel by Mohammed Hanif [in Bloomsbury Review]

01 May, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, British, Fiction, Pakistani, Repost, South Asian
Pakistani dictator General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq’s sudden death in a mysterious 1988 plane crash remains unsolved. Hanif, once part of the Pakistani air force and now a British expat, cleverly presents a riotous fictional version of how...

A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers by Xiaolu Guo [in San Francisco Chronicle]

23 Sep, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, British, Chinese, Fiction, Repost
Alas, summer's over, but that doesn't mean the fun reads have to be thrown aside for more serious fare. If anything, some depth mixed with light fun might make for the ideal transitional book. A Concise Chinese-English...