British Archives - Page 5 of 11

The Bookshop on the Corner: 12(-ish) Novels about Bookstores [in The Booklist Reader]

14 Sep, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Australian, British, European, Fiction, Filipina/o American, Indian American, Lists, Nonethnic-specific, Nonfiction, Repost, South Asian American, Translation, Young Adult Readers

Sometimes – way too often, these days – reality is just, well, too real. So into these beckoning pages I retreat. Novels about bookstores are ultra-alluring, since the possibility of escapist respite is virtually limitless. To follow are a dozen recent titles celebrating those literary...

A Palestine Reader, Part I: Books for Youth [in The Booklist Reader]

28 Apr, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Arab, Arab American, British, Canadian, Children/Picture Books, Fiction, Lists, Memoir, Middle Grade Readers, Nonfiction, Palestinian, Palestinian American, Repost, Translation, Young Adult Readers

The unrelenting conflict between Palestine and Israel keeps the Middle East in the news. But for a fuller picture of the Palestinian and Palestinian American experience than what the media can provide, here's a starter reading list for young people. Stay tuned for our list of titles about...

Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows by Balli Kaur Jaswal [in Booklist]

18 Apr, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, British, British Asian, Fiction, Repost

Nikki’s begrudging agreement to help her sister, Mindi, “find a husband the traditional way” takes her to Southall, a predominately South Asian immigrant neighborhood in west London, to post a discreet marriage advert at the gurdwara (Sikh temple). Unlike Mindi, Nikki considers herself modern and...

Augustown by Kei Miller [in Booklist]

16 Mar, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, British, Caribbean, Caribbean American, Fiction, Repost

*STARRED REVIEW As both the introductory note and epithet doubly insist, August Town, divided into two words, is a real town in Jamaica, made (in)famous for being the founding home of Bedwardism, a short-lived, early twentieth-century religion. Fast-forward to 1982 when teary Kaia comes home to his...

Unbecoming by Jenny Downham [in School Library Journal]

03 Feb, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Audio, British, Fiction, Repost, Young Adult Readers

*STARRED REVIEW Mary, Caroline, and Katie are three very different generations in the same family; finding themselves unexpectedly under the same roof forces them to confront a complicated past that has kept them estranged for decades. Mary is the grandmother, newly widowed, fighting the dementia that...

Public Library and Other Stories by Ali Smith [in Library Journal]

20 Dec, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Audio, British, Fiction, Repost, Short Stories

The dozen stories in Ali Smith's (How To Be Both) latest collection share a common characteristic: a contagious sense of wordplay, from obscure etymology ("buxom" originally meant "obedient, compliant, gracious") in "Last," to multiple meanings of "fraud" linking D.H. Lawrence to credit card theft in...

A Separation by Katie Kitamura [in Library Journal]

08 Dec, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, British, European, Fiction, Japanese American, Repost

*STARRED REVIEW Although separated from philandering husband Christopher for six months, a London woman agrees to continue to postpone "the process…of telling people." Almost a month has passed since she last talked to Christopher, rendering her unable to answer his mother Isabella's unexpected request for his...

The Pier Falls and Other Stories by Mark Haddon [in Library Journal]

28 Sep, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Audio, British, Fiction, Repost, Short Stories

*STARRED REVIEW Wildly varying in topics from a seaside disaster in the titular opening story to an unlikely relationship that develops between an older man and the suicide attemptee he rescues in "The Weir," Mark Haddon’s nine stories here are thematically linked through a common sense...

The Bombs that Brought Us Together by Brian Conaghan [in Shelf Awareness]

09 Sep, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in British, European, Fiction, Middle Grade Readers, Nonethnic-specific, Repost, Young Adult Readers

Some time, somewhere, Little Town and Old Country are separated by borders and bombs. If Little Town is said to be filthy, broke, and run by ragtag criminals, Old Country is conformist, rich, and militaristic. Almost 15, cautious Little Towner Charlie Law stays relatively safe...

My Name Is Not Friday by Jon Walter [in School Library Journal]

31 Aug, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Audio, Black/African American, British, Fiction, Middle Grade Readers, Repost, Young Adult Readers

*STARRED REVIEW Samuel, almost 13, and his younger brother Joshua are orphans but born free and growing up educated. During the Civil War’s final year, Samuel takes the blame for mischief that he’s convinced that Joshua committed, and finds himself betrayed by the priest who has...

The Widow by Fiona Barton [in Library Journal]

09 Aug, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Audio, British, Fiction, Nonethnic-specific, Repost

While the titular widow is the character around which all others circle, she’s certainly not alone in holding secrets. Jean Taylor (read with unnerving control by Hannah Curtis) stood by her husband, Glen, through the heinous accusations leveled against him, until a week ago when...

Everyone Brave Is Forgiven by Chris Cleave [in Library Journal]

05 Aug, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Audio, British, Fiction, Repost

Inspired by his grandparents' love story, meticulously recorded in his grandfather's extant letters (his grandmother's replies were sunk), Chris Cleave’s latest feels like his gentlest – in spite of the backdrop of World War II. At the novel's core is privileged, headstrong Mary North, who signs...

Shylock Is My Name [Hogarth Shakespeare] by Howard Jacobson [in Library Journal]

02 Aug, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Audio, British, Fiction, Jewish, Repost

The Hogarth Shakespeare series—“Shakespeare’s plays reimagined by some of today’s bestselling and most celebrated writers” – continues with three additional releases in 2016: Jacobson’s take on The Merchant of Venice, Anne Tyler’s reimagining of The Taming of the Shrew in June’s Vinegar Girl, and Margaret...

The Past by Tessa Hadley [in Library Journal]

09 Jun, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Audio, British, British Asian, Fiction, Repost

Four siblings gather in their childhood home to determine its future. The oldest is the most distant, unsure she'll even stay the full three weeks they've planned to be there. The middle sister arrives with two children, complaining about her missing husband. The youngest sister...

The Art of Being Normal by Lisa Williamson [in Shelf Awareness]

03 Jun, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in British, Fiction, Repost, Young Adult Readers

While his 8-year-old classmates wrote about wanting to be an actress, prime minister or even Harry Potter, David Piper had a six-word wish for his future: "I want to be a girl." At 14, David's wish has only become more fervent, as his traitorous body...

The Lie Tree by Frances Hardinge [in Shelf Awareness]

13 Apr, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in British, Fiction, Nonethnic-specific, Repost, Young Adult Readers

"A girl cannot be brave, or clever, or skilled as a boy can. If she is not good, she is nothing," an angry Reverend Erasmus Sunderly admonished his usually obedient 14-year-old-daughter, Faith. His words are harsh, but in Victorian England, not without societal support. He...

Dear Bunny … by Katie Cotton, illustrated by Bianca Gómez [in Booklist]

28 Feb, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in British, Children/Picture Books, European, Fiction, Repost

A little girl answers her bunny’s question of “What’s your favourite thing in the world?” in a sweetly revealing letter. She chronicles their day together, listing everything she likes to do with her furry buddy, from choosing socks to appreciating how her bunny cools her...

Otters Love to Play by Jonathan London, illustrated by Meilo So [in Booklist]

02 Feb, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in British, British Asian, Children/Picture Books, Nonethnic-specific, Nonfiction, Repost

Last year’s beaver den is this year’s cozy lair for a mother otter and three newborn pups. When they are finally allowed out, they lose no time leaping and tumbling, pouncing and wrestling, because, well, otters love to play. With their waterproof fur coats, the pups...

A Beginner’s Guide to Bear Spotting by Michelle Robinson, illustrated by David Roberts [in Booklist]

12 Jan, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in British, Children/Picture Books, Fiction, Nonethnic-specific, Repost

Going for a walk in “bear country” could be very dangerous business, unless you heed the wise advice of this intrepid child, whose well-stocked, oversize backpack contains all the many things necessary to negotiate potential sightings. When confronted by a black or brown bear, pepper spray...

The Gap of Time [Hogarth Shakespeare] by Jeanette Winterson [in Library Journal]

10 Dec, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Audio, Black/African American, British, Fiction, Repost

Jeanette Winterson inaugurates “The Hogarth Shakespeare” series – “a major international project [that] will see Shakespeare’s plays reimagined by some of today’s bestselling and most celebrated writers” – with a contemporary reinvention of The Winter’s Tale. In Winterson’s version, the setting moves between post-2008 market-crashed London and a...

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