BookDragon Books for the Diverse Reader

The Flowers of Evil (vols. 8-9) by Shuzo Oshimi, translated by Paul Starr

06 Jun, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Fiction, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Japanese, Translation, Young Adult Readers

While he's not exactly Mr. Popularity at his new school, Takao Kasuga is gingerly settling into his uprooted life far from the small town of Gunma where he was involved in so many shameful, difficult, frustrating, violent experiences. His favorite book, Baudelaire's The Flowers of Evil,...

Reconstructing Amelia by Kimberly McCreight

05 Jun, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Audio, Fiction, Nonethnic-specific

Without a doubt, Kimberly McCreight's bestselling debut contains every parent's every nightmare, beginning with the absolute worst at the end of the first full chapter: "I'm sorry, Mrs. Baron. But your daughter, Amelia, is dead." Her 15-year-old body lies broken on the grounds of her posh private school...

Everybody Dies: A Children’s Book for Grown-Ups by Ken Tanaka with David Ury

04 Jun, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Fiction, Nonethnic-specific

So the book is funny ...

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

03 Jun, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Audio, Fiction, Indian American, Nonethnic-specific, South Asian American, Young Adult Readers

Get ready: E. Lockhart's latest is apparently the young adult read of the summer. That John Green cover endorsement alone should sell endless copies. So when everyone is chattering about what happened, you're going to want to join in. An aging, wealthy, widowed patriarch spends his summers on a private...

Wave by Suzy Lee

02 Jun, by SIBookDragon in Children/Picture Books, Fiction, Korean

Summer is finally, suddenly almost here (we had snow just two weeks ago where I happen to be stuck). With that steady warmth comes the sort of utter enchantment found between the pages of Suzy Lee's wordless Wave-y wonder. Really, who needs text when you have such whimsical, beckoning expanses? Arriving...

Before You Know Kindness by Chris Bohjalian

01 Jun, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Armenian American, Audio, Fiction, Nonethnic-specific

As epigraphs go, Chris Bohjalian couldn't have chosen better (as if we would expect any less), not only for the words, but for the poet who originated the verses: "Before you know what kindness really is / you must lose things, / feel the future...

Thermae Romae III by Mari Yamazaki, translated by Stephen Paul

30 May, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, European, Fiction, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Japanese, Translation, Young Adult Readers

Before you can fully appreciate the final volume of the adventures of our favorite time-traveling hunky bathing beauty, you'll need to dive into the two previous volumes to catch up. If nothing else, aren't you curious why our ancient stoner is holding that bottle of Yakult? You won't find...

The Blood of Flowers by Anita Amirrezvani

29 May, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Audio, Fiction, Iranian, Iranian American

When her father dies, a girl and her mother's futures are forever altered. As a 14-year-old living in a 17th-century Persian village, she expected to be contentedly married, looking forward to starting her own family, not unlike her best friend who is already heavy with...

Review: “Unlikely connections to Laura Ingalls Wilder in Bich Minh Nguyen’s Pioneer Girl”

29 May, by SIBookDragon in BookDragon Book Club

Claire of the Sea Light by Edwidge Danticat

28 May, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Black/African American, Caribbean, Caribbean American, Fiction, Haitian, Haitian American

I read the eponymous first chapter almost a year ago and then stopped. I listened to the same story – the absolute highlight in the disappointingly uneven collection Haiti Noir – so smoothly, lullingly read by Robin Miles, and again stopped. The book stayed on my desk...

The Girl in the Garden by Kamala Nair

27 May, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Audio, Fiction, Indian, Indian American, South Asian, South Asian American

After years of keeping secrets, Rakhee Singh's "demons" have finally "clawed their way free." Without confronting what happened to her family that summer in India when she turned 11, she finds herself unable to embrace her future – her impending architecture degree, her promising design job, and most importantly,...

How to Be an American Housewife by Margaret Dilloway

26 May, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Audio, Fiction, Hapa/Mixed-race, Japanese, Japanese American

Okay, I confess the cover put me off from opening the book for months (well, actually, years); I recently compromised by choosing to go aural and was surprisingly delighted to spend almost eight hours with narrators Laural Merlington and Emily Durante (who take turns reading as mother and...

Every Day by David Levithan

25 May, by SIBookDragon in Audio, Fiction, Middle Grade Readers, Nonethnic-specific, Young Adult Readers

I really, really don't want to tell you what this book is about because I don't want to ruin your delight of discovery. I knew nothing at all of its premise ...

Ikigami: The Ultimate Limit (vols. 8-9) by Motoro Mase, translated by John Werry, English adaptation by Kristina Blachere

23 May, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Fiction, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Japanese, Translation, Young Adult Readers

First thing first: although every volume offers possibly standalone chapters, to get the full narrative arc, you really need to read them all in order. [Click here to check out the rest of Ikigami.] If you're not yet familiar with this chillingly effective, utterly addictive series, the most important...

I See the Sun in India by Dedie King, illustrated by Judith Inglese, translation by the University of Massachusetts Translation Center

22 May, by SIBookDragon in Bilingual, Children/Picture Books, Fiction, Indian, Nonethnic-specific, South Asian, Translation

Here's lucky #7 of the bilingual I See the Sun series from internationally-minded boutique press Satya House – lucky because India celebrates the series' gravitas by being the first to be offered in lasting hardcover. This summer, the rest of the series also reappears in solid incarnation;...

Author Interview: A.X. Ahmad [in Bloom]

21 May, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Author Interview/Profile, Fiction, Indian, Indian American, Repost, South Asian, South Asian American

Amin Ahmad not only writes mysteries – The Caretaker and The Last Taxi Ride make up two-thirds of his Ranjit Singh thriller trilogy – I confess he remains quite a personal mystery.] While he’ll answer almost any question from a distance, he’s been quite agile avoiding our carefully...

Frog Music by Emma Donoghue

20 May, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Audio, Canadian, Fiction

So much happens in the first few pages, you might need to re-read them a few times before moving on. Blanche is covered in blood, while Jenny lies dead. "Not quite a month ago," Blanche was again screaming because of Jenny, this time having just been thrown to the...

Author Profile: A.X. Ahmad [in Bloom]

19 May, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Author Interview/Profile, Fiction, Indian, Indian American, Repost, South Asian, South Asian American

“You Won’t Believe What Happened!”: A.X. Ahmad’s Ranjit Singh Mysteries “Everyone in my family is a storyteller,” A.X. Ahmad told Charlene Allen in an interview for The Brooklyn Rail. “Nobody has ever had a normal day, and the stories always started with, ‘You won’t believe what...

Hollow City by Ransom Riggs

18 May, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Audio, British, Fiction, Nonethnic-specific, Young Adult Readers

As sensational as Hollow City is, Ransom Riggs' latest novel most definitely is not a standalone. Take that "The second novel of ...

Summer Wars (vols. 1-2) by Mamoru Hosoda, illustrated by Iqura Sugimoto, character design by Yoshiyuki Sadamoto

16 May, by SIBookDragon in Fiction, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Japanese, Middle Grade Readers, Translation, Young Adult Readers

"2010 late July. A record of the biggest, hottest summer of my life." High school student Kenji is 17, and mourning the fact that he "failed to become Japan's rep in the Math Olympics." At the suggestion of his best friend Sakuma, he's agreed to...