Singaporean Archives

Himawari House by Harmony Becker [in Booklist]

23 Sep, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Fiction, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Hapa/Mixed-race, Japanese, Japanese American, Korean, Repost, Singaporean, Young Adult Readers

*STARRED REVIEW Harmony Becker, who brilliantly created the artwork for George Takei’s Eisner-winning They Called Us Enemy (2019), makes her stupendous solo debut in what will prove to one of the best graphic titles of the year. The narrative might initially seem simple: a mixed-race U.S. teen...

Let’s Not Talk Anymore by Weng Pixin [in Shelf Awareness]

30 Jul, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Chinese, Fiction, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Memoir, Repost, Singaporean, Young Adult Readers

*STARRED REVIEW Singaporean creator Weng Pixin's vibrant Let's Not Talk Anymore began with a "big 'f*ck this, f*ck you!' kind of attitude" after one of her "many disputes and disagreements with [her] Mom." The work made her think more deeply about not just her mother, but her...

Fly on the Wall by Remy Lai [in Shelf Awareness]

18 Sep, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Australian, Australian Asian, Fiction, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Indonesian, Middle Grade Readers, Repost, Singaporean

Duplicating the prose and graphic hybrid format of her award-winning debut, Pie in the Sky, Indonesia-born Remy Lai presents Fly on the Wall, another pitch-perfect middle-grade book about the longing to belong. As the youngest Khoo, 12-year-old Henry is "FORBIDDEN from Doing Anything on His Own...

Sex and Vanity by Kevin Kwan [in Booklist]

02 Sep, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Audio, Chinese American, European, Fiction, Hapa/Mixed-race, Repost, Singaporean, Singaporean American

Following the über-success of his three-part Crazy Rich Asians, Kevin Kwan returns with another over-the-top bestseller, this time contemporizing and diversifying E.M. Forster’s A Room with a View. Lydia Look, narrator for previous Kwan titles, ushers the characters through a (practically) royal East/West wedding in Capri, then a...

Sweet Time by Weng Pixin [in Shelf Awareness]

20 Aug, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Fiction, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Repost, Singaporean, Singaporean American, Southeast Asian, Southeast Asian American

In Singaporean artist Weng Pixin’s striking debut graphic collection, Sweet Time, the connecting theme throughout is clarified in the fourth story, "Ballad," using the commonly repeated "he loves me, he loves me not" refrain. As anonymous fingers peel a bloom's petals, the panels flip between...

The Perfect World of Miwako Sumida by Clarissa Goenawan [in Library Journal]

08 Jun, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Audio, Fiction, Indonesian, Japanese, Repost, Singaporean

Indonesian-born, Singaporean-domiciled Clarissa Goenawan (Rainbirds) takes her sophomore title back to a death in remote Japan. This time, death arrives via suicide, claiming the titular Miwako, an enigmatic university sophomore who disappears without notice, and is found only after death. Desperate to comprehend her fatal...

How We Disappeared by Jing-Jing Lee [in Booklist]

09 Dec, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Audio, Fiction, Repost, Singaporean

*STARRED REVIEW Singaporean born, Oxford-educated, Amsterdam-domiciled Jing-Jing Lee opens her expansive, extraordinary debut novel with a reclamatory dedication: “For all the grandmas (halmonies, lolas and amas) who told their stories, so that I could tell this one.” Lee’s rescue of stories belonging to older women is...

An Ocean of Minutes by Thea Lim [in Booklist]

23 Oct, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Audio, Canadian, Canadian Asian Pacific American, Fiction, Repost, Singaporean, Singaporean American

In 1981, Frank is about to fall victim to a deadly worldwide flu pandemic. In exchange for Frank’s recovery, girlfriend Polly time-travels 12 years into the future and commits to 32 months of bonded servitude. Their 1993 reunion plan goes awry when Polly lands in...

13 Terrifying Tales of Diverse Hauntings [in The Booklist Reader]

25 Oct, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, African, Black/African American, British, Chinese, Chinese American, Fiction, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Indian, Indian American, Japanese, Japanese American, Lists, Malaysian, Repost, Short Stories, Singaporean, Southeast Asian, Southeast Asian American, Translation, Vietnamese, Vietnamese American, Young Adult Readers

It’s the time of the year to be scared witless – and by choice, egads! Gluttons for fear, unite. And brace yourselves for the following 13 diverse hauntings. The Black Isle by Sandi Tan The protagonist begins her life as Ling, the first-born twin in a well-to-do Shanghai clan. Half...

Rich People Problems [Crazy Rich Asians 3] by Kevin Kwan [in Library Journal]

25 Sep, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Audio, Chinese, Chinese American, Fiction, Hong Kongese, Repost, Singaporean, Singaporean American, Southeast Asian, Southeast Asian American

*STARRED REVIEW Kevin Kwan’s third volume continues to expose – albeit with plenty of schadenfreudian humor – the outrageous excesses and over-the-top machinations that began with his debut, Crazy Rich Asians (currently in highly anticipated celluloid production). Lydia Look, who voiced book two, China Rich Girlfriend,...

Sarong Party Girls by Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan [in Library Journal]

19 Oct, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Audio, Fiction, Repost, Singaporean, Singaporean American, Southeast Asian, Southeast Asian American

Jazzy is still single at almost 27. When her BFF-quartet lost Sher to the dream they all aspire to – marrying an "ang moh," a wealthy Western expat, because local Singaporean men "are a bit fussy" about "older girls" – Jazzy decides she needs a...

China Rich Girlfriend [Crazy Rich Asians 2] by Kevin Kwan

31 Aug, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Audio, Chinese, Chinese American, Fiction, Hong Kongese, Singaporean, Singaporean American, Southeast Asian, Southeast Asian American

Summer is waning way too quickly, but you still have a final week left to indulge in frothy reads: the over-the-top excesses of Singaporean Manhattanite Kevin Kwan’s novels might be just what you've been looking for as Labor Day looms. If you haven't yet relished Kwan's debut,...

Discover WeNeedDiverseBooks with Gene Luen Yang’s Shadow Hero

08 Aug, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Chinese American, Fiction, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Malaysian, Middle Grade Readers, Singaporean, WeNeedDiverseBooks, WNDB.SummerReadingSeries2014, Young Adult Readers

Shadow Hero by Gene Luen Yang and Sonny Liew

13 Jun, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Chinese American, Fiction, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Malaysian, Middle Grade Readers, Singaporean, Young Adult Readers

You can go two ways here: 1. Just read this as is, without context or background, and you would enjoy it immensely because it's just so much fun; 2. Invest a little research time before you open the book and reach the final page satisfied and...

Crazy Rich Asians [Crazy Rich Asians 1] by Kevin Kwan

29 Apr, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Audio, Chinese, Chinese American, Fiction, Hong Kongese, Singaporean, Singaporean American, Southeast Asian, Southeast Asian American

You might consider duct-taping your jaw shut because Manhattan-based Singaporean author Kevin Kwan insists on the veracity of the excesses in his outrageous, hilarious, train-wreck tragic debut novel: "So many aspects of and stories in the book I actually had to tone down!" he told...

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