South Asian Archives - Page 5 of 14

In Celebration of Museum Day 2016: Chatting with Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

09 Mar, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Author Interview/Profile, Children/Picture Books, Fiction, Indian, Indian American, Middle Grade Readers, South Asian, South Asian American, Young Adult Readers

Here’s a ‘did you know …?’-fact about the Smithsonian Museums … they’re all free, all the time. That’s not the case in many museums around the country, so the Smithsonian created Museum Day Live!, an annual event in which participating museums across the country open...

The Bollywood Bride by Sonali Dev [in Library Journal]

06 Mar, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Audio, Fiction, Indian, Indian American, Repost, South Asian, South Asian American

Ria Parker has avoided going home to Chicago for far too long, offering up convenient excuses about her demanding Bollywood career. With her beloved more-brother-than-cousin's impending wedding, Ria finally heads stateside from Mumbai to face the family. For 10 years, she's managed to avoid first-and-only-love Vikram,...

The House that Sonabai Built by Vishakha Chanchani, photographs by Stephen P. Huyler

29 Oct, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Biography, Children/Picture Books, Indian, Middle Grade Readers, Nonfiction, South Asian

Married at 14 to a much older man, Sonabai spent the first decade of wifehood cooking and cleaning for her demanding in-laws. When the couple moved to a tiny village to be on their own, Sonabai had far less to do, but she became a prisoner in her...

Behind the Beautiful Forevers: A Play by David Hare, adapted from the book by Katherine Boo

14 Oct, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, British, British Asian, Drama/Theater, Indian, Nonfiction, South Asian

When Pulitzer-ed MacArthur 'Genius' Katherine Boo's first (and thus far only) book debuted in January 2012, I predicted it would be found alongside the nominees/finalists for all the Very Important Literary Prizes that year – indeed, among many, many honors, Boo won the 2012 National Book Award for Nonfiction. What...

Discover WeNeedDiverseBooks with Mitali Perkins’ Secret Keeper

26 Aug, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Fiction, Indian, Indian American, Middle Grade Readers, South Asian, South Asian American, WeNeedDiverseBooks, WNDB.SummerReadingSeries2015, Young Adult Readers

Island of a Thousand Mirrors by Nayomi Munaweera

24 Aug, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Audio, Fiction, South Asian, South Asian American, Sri Lankan, Sri Lankan American

In a house by the sea in Colombo, Sri Lanka, live two families: below are the Sinhala owners, the Rajasinghes with two daughters, Yasodhara and Lanka; upstairs are the Tamil clan of Shivalingams with their son, Shiva, twinned by a shared birthday to Yasodhara. While the...

Flood of Fire [Ibis Trilogy, Book 3] by Amitav Ghosh [in Christian Science Monitor]

04 Aug, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Chinese, Fiction, Indian, Indian American, Repost, South Asian, South Asian American

Flood of Fire brings the astounding, exceptional Ibis Trilogy to a close Readers of this review will fall into two categories: (1) Those who are already two-thirds invested in the Ibis Trilogy, and (2) Newbies who might be wondering if continuing the perusal of this review...

In a Village by the Sea by Muon Van, illustrated by April Chu

27 Jul, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Children/Picture Books, Fiction, South Asian, South Asian American, Vietnamese, Vietnamese American

As minimal as the text might initially appear, Muon Van’s debut picture book is as deep as the Sea she references in her title. The resplendently rendered story seems simple: a family awaits for the safe return home of the fisherman father. But, of course,...

The Way Things Were by Aatish Taseer [in Library Journal]

01 Jun, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Fiction, Indian, Indian American, Repost, South Asian, South Asian American

Aatish Taseer's latest opens with a mother's call to her Manhattan-based son, asking him to ferry his just-deceased father's body from Geneva back to Delhi. Though a minor Indian prince, "Toby" G.M.P.R. Kalasuryaketu – half-actually Scottish, half-Indian – was more a foreign "novelty" in his...

The Taliban Cricket Club by Timeri N. Murari

14 May, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Afghan, Audio, Fiction, Indian, South Asian

What I know about cricket is not so much about how the game is actually played, but that it's a cultural phenomenon that can actually save lives. Two favorite Indian films come immediately to mind: Lagaan, which was Oscar-nominated for Best Foreign Language Film in 2002,...

The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen + Author Interview [in Bloom]

08 Apr, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Fiction, Repost, South Asian, South Asian American, Vietnamese, Vietnamese American

Việt Thanh Nguyễn – Associate Professor at USC in English and American Studies – has a 25-page CV online that highlights countless publications, including articles, essays, book chapters, reviews, blog posts, commentaries, short stories, and more. His accomplishments are numerous: citations, awards, fellowships, etc. All...

Odysseus Abroad by Amit Chaudhuri [in Library Journal]

06 Apr, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, British, British Asian, Fiction, Indian, Repost, South Asian

This latest from Amit Chaudhuri (Freedom Song; The Immortals) offers minimal plot: a 22-year-old homesick Indian literature student and aspiring poet wakes in his shabby London studio, practices his singing, meets his university tutor, delivers his rent, and visits his uncle Radhesh, with whom he...

the extraordinary journey of the fakir who got trapped in an Ikea wardrobe. A novel. by Romain Puértolas, translated by Sam Taylor

15 Mar, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Audio, European, Fiction, Indian, South Asian, Spanish, Translation

An Indian fakir gets in an old red Mercedes cab at Terminal 2 of Charles de Gaulle Airport and utters his first word – in Swedish – to the driver: "Ikea." Have you heard this one before? Well, no, most probably not ...

Discontent and Its Civilizations: Dispatches from Lahore, New York, and London by Mohsin Hamid [in Christian Science Monitor]

26 Feb, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, British, British Asian, Memoir, Nonfiction, Pakistani, Repost, South Asian

'Civilization and its Discontents' highlights the intertwined Pakistani, British, and American roots of Mohsin Hamid Thanks to Haruki Murakami, we won't have to wait as long for Mohsin Hamid’s future novels. Hamid's acclaimed first two, Moth Smoke and The Reluctant Fundamentalist, took seven years each. His...

The Accidental Apprentice by Vikas Swarup

09 Feb, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Audio, Fiction, Indian, South Asian

Trust me, you're just going to have to go with the impossible premise right up front. If you need a little help, you can choose to go audible, because expert narrator Sneha Mathan will surely help you believe. Go ahead, check your doubts: you'll be amply rewarded by career diplomat...

A Bollywood Affair by Sonali Dev

29 Dec, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Audio, Fiction, Indian, Indian American, South Asian, South Asian American

Leaning toward something light, frothy, and just a little steamy for your next holiday season read? While the printed page is always grand, going audible here is also highly recommended: I'm thinking Priya Ayyar is quickly becoming one of my favorite crisp voices to stick in...

The Elephant Bird by Arefa Tehsin, illustrated by Sumit and Sonal

03 Dec, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Children/Picture Books, Fiction, Indian, South Asian

The underdog overpowers her detractors. Check! The unjustly accused is publicly exonerated. Check! An unexpected friendship repairs foolhardy mistrust. Check! Girl power saves all! Check! Surely that sounds like just the superhero adventure tale you want to share with your kiddies! Munia's tiny village is in an uproar over a missing...

Takloo: The Little Salt Seller by Radhika Bapat, illustrated by Poonam Athalye

25 Nov, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Children/Picture Books, Fiction, Indian, South Asian

Meet Takloo who lives in Anjarle, "a small village in the far, far west of India," not too far south of Mumbai. "If you went further west, you would be a fish in the ocean." Takloo lives with his mother and father, and his beloved...

A Path Appears: Transforming Lives, Creating Opportunity by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn

10 Nov, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, African, Audio, Chinese American, Nonethnic-specific, Nonfiction, South Asian, Southeast Asian, Young Adult Readers

A fatally injured 9-year-old girl, a third-grade boy labelled by teachers as "‘mentally retarded,’" a restless doctor burnt out from overwork in refugee camps, are saving the world. Rachel Beckwith didn't survive a highway collision, but her ninth birthday wish to raise $300 to build a faraway...

Malala: A Brave Girl from Pakistan | Iqbal: A Brave Boy from Pakistan by Jeanette Winter

29 Oct, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Biography, Children/Picture Books, Nonethnic-specific, Nonfiction, Pakistani, South Asian

Earlier this month, 17-year-old Malala Yousafzai made world history by becoming the youngest recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. She shares the award for 2014 with India's Kailash Satyarthi: the pair were cited "for their struggle against the suppression of children and young people and for the...

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