Schroder by Amity Gaige
18 Feb, by in Adult Readers, Audio, European, Fiction, Nonethnic-specific
This is an immigration story. But not the sort of immigration I've become accustomed to ...
BookDragon Nonethnic-specific
Dark Places by Gillian Flynn
08 Feb, by in Adult Readers, Audio, Fiction, Nonethnic-specific
If Gillian Flynn isn't already a household name, she will be sure enough. The film version of her mega-bestselling 2012 novel Gone Girl is due to hit screens in October with Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike starring as the troubled couple. Since Flynn herself wrote the...
The Map of Lost Memories by Kim Fay
28 Jan, by in Adult Readers, Audio, Cambodian, Fiction, Nonethnic-specific, Southeast Asian
This has been my go-to article of late: "The One Thing White Writers Get Away With, But Authors of Color Don't" by Gracie Jin. In the few blurbs I've briefly perused online about Lost Memories, I haven't seen any mention of author Kim Fay's ethnic...
Back When We Were Grownups by Anne Tyler
26 Jan, by in Adult Readers, Audio, Fiction, Nonethnic-specific, Repost
"Once upon a time, there was a woman who discovered she had turned into the wrong person," Anne Tyler's oldie-but-goodie begins, especially enhanced with the inimitable Blair Brown as welcome, familiar narrator. "How on earth did I get like this? How? How did I ever...
Facing the Wave: A Journey in the Wake of the Tsunami by Gretel Ehrlich
23 Jan, by in Adult Readers, Audio, Japanese, Memoir, Nonethnic-specific, Nonfiction
Before discussing content, I must start with a warning about presentation – think of it as a public service announcement: Choose the page, choose the page, choose the page! Although narrator Sumalee Montano (an American actress of Filipina and Thai/Chinese descent with a Harvard degree) lists...
The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
12 Jan, by in Adult Readers, Audio, Fiction, Nonethnic-specific
According to a recent article, "The Book(s) of the Year" in PublishersLunch, "the clear consensus for the 2013 'book of the year' has ended in ...
Parrots Over Puerto Rico by Susan L. Roth and Cindy Trumbore, illustrated by Susan L. Roth
11 Jan, by in Caribbean, Children/Picture Books, Nonethnic-specific, Nonfiction, Puerto Rican
Co-authors Susan L. Roth and Cindy Trumbore, whose last project à deux was the glorious The Mangrove Tree set in the tiny African country of Eritrea, travel south to the Caribbean to present another memorable story of preservation and conservation. Welcome to Puerto Rico, home of the Puerto Rican parrot, also...
Author Interview: Nina Schuyler (Part 2) [in Bloom]
09 Jan, by in Author Interview/Profile, Fiction, Japanese, Nonethnic-specific, Repost
Following is Part 2 of an extensive interview with author Nina Schuyler. Click here to read Part 1. Click here for the Schuyler feature. As a writer who is a woman, who also happens to be a mother of two small young kids – do you feel...
Author Interview: Nina Schuyler (Part 1) [in Bloom]
08 Jan, by in Author Interview/Profile, Fiction, Japanese, Nonethnic-specific, Repost
With all the vastness of the internet, I had quite a difficult time finding answers to the sorts of questions I had about Nina Schuyler and her relationship to her fiction – most especially regarding race and identity. (I know, so loaded!) In both of her lauded novels...
Author Profile: Nina Schuyler [in Bloom]
06 Jan, by in Author Interview/Profile, Fiction, Japanese, Nonethnic-specific, Repost
"Like most writers, I work at the edges of the day" Wife, mother, teacher, poet, writer – Nina Schuyler wears many labels. Her youngest is still a toddler, she balances multiple part-time jobs, keeps up with the daily-life expectations of cooking and laundry, soccer and basketball mom-ing, not...
Razia’s Ray of Hope: One Girl’s Dream of an Education by Elizabeth Suneby, illustrated by Suana Verelst
30 Dec, by in Afghan, Children/Picture Books, Fiction, Nonethnic-specific
The newest title in Canada’s Kids Can Press' vital CitizenKid series – "books that inform children about the world and inspire them to be better global citizens" – is also quite possibly the best thus far. "'This is where my school once stood ...
Attachments by Rainbow Rowell
24 Dec, by in Adult Readers, Audio, Fiction, Nonethnic-specific
What a year 2013 has been for Rainbow Rowell, beginning and ending with two bestsellers (!) – eleanor & park (oh, be still my heart) and Fangirl (a virtual world I never even knew about!). How lucky for me to have discovered a third Rowell title, her...
If I Stay and Where She Went by Gayle Forman
21 Dec, by in Audio, Fiction, Middle Grade Readers, Nonethnic-specific, Young Adult Readers
That the film version of If I Stay is currently in production is reason enough to read the book before Hollywood leaves its indelible imprint too soon. Trust me: 99.9% of the time, the book is better. The intensity and ferocity that author Gayle Forman offers with...
Digging to America by Anne Tyler
11 Dec, by in Adult Readers, Audio, Fiction, Iranian American, Korean American, Nonethnic-specific
A few months ago when I came upon this fascinating article, "The One Thing White Writers Get Away With, But Authors of Color Don't" by PolicyMic's Gracie Jin, I started trolling around for authors venturing into unexpected 'color'-ful fictional territory. I was fascinated to find two bestselling writers...
The Fences Between Us: The Diary of Piper Davis, Seattle, Washington, 1941 by Kirby Larson
07 Dec, by in Fiction, Japanese American, Middle Grade Readers, Nonethnic-specific, Young Adult Readers
How’s this for new math: the first 286 pages hold about the same weight as the final 25 pages. The fictional diary expounds and entertains, revealing a 13-year-old’s West Coast experiences during World War II; the ending “Life in America in 1941” section illuminates and...
Recipe by Angela Petrella and Michaelanne Petrella, illustrated by Mike Bertino and Erin Althea
04 Dec, by in Children/Picture Books, Fiction, Nonethnic-specific
In case you weren't already aware, whenever you happen upon a McSweeney's McMullens title, get ready for unpredictable high-jinks and not a little guffawing. Also, always remember to start with the cover: go ahead, it's made to come off ...
The Translator by Nina Schuyler [in Bloom]
02 Dec, by in Adult Readers, Audio, Fiction, Japanese, Nonethnic-specific, Repost
In just her protagonist's name alone, author Nina Schuyler imbues linguistic magic in her latest novel about language, communication, understanding, and ultimately, the bonds of family. Schuyler's leading lady is Hanne Schubert, a 53-year-old woman who speaks seven languages including Japanese, German, along with her...
Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Women’s Prison by Piper Kerman
01 Dec, by in Adult Readers, Audio, Memoir, Nonethnic-specific, Nonfiction
My older teenager tells me the series of the same name is what 'everyone' is watching: "It's the new favorite show," she insists. So when I found the book ("there's a book?" the daughter asks with surprise; there's almost always a book first!) available to...
Where’d You Go, Bernadette? by Maria Semple
30 Nov, by in Adult Readers, Audio, Fiction, Nonethnic-specific
Even though the Yoko Ono comment made by an angry daughter about her hapless father's extramaritally knocked-up girlfriend gets apologized for some 40 pages later – "'I called her Yoko Ono that night because she was the one who broke up the Beatles. Not because she's...
David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants by Malcolm Gladwell
27 Nov, by in Adult Readers, Audio, Nonethnic-specific, Nonfiction
Malcolm and I started out great here. We usually do. He's judgmental, opinionated, smart, questioning, and downright entertaining. Outliers remains my all-time Gladwell favorite, then Blink, then Tipping Point. I thought he faltered a bit in his last title, What the Dog Saw and Other Adventures, but those contents weren't...