BookDragon

The Blind Man’s Garden by Nadeem Aslam + Author Interview [in Bookslut]

01 Jul, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Afghan, Author Interview/Profile, British, British Asian, Fiction, Pakistani, Repost

From the opening few pages of reading a Nadeem Aslam novel, I knew his writing was something to treasure and behold. Serendipitously, I used my then-day job to bring the Pakistan-born, British-educated-and-domiciled Aslam over the Pond to be a featured guest at the then-annual South...

Shelter and Seconds Away [Mickey Bolitar series] by Harlan Coben

30 Jun, by SIBookDragon in Fiction, Jewish, Young Adult Readers

If you're needing a Myron Bolitar fix – Harlan Coben, the first author to win an Edgar, Shamus, and Anthony (three of the top awards for mystery writers), seems to be taking a break from his most persistent protagonist after 10 volumes – then this new series...

Atomcat by Osamu Tezuka, translated by Sachiko Sato

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

If you knew nothing about manga history before picking up Atomcat, you would find an entertaining story of a young boy, Tsugio, who shares a love of comic books with his father. Bullied by neighborhood classmates, Tsugio longs for a friend who might have the...

The House Girl by Tara Conklin

26 Jun, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Audio, Black/African American, Fiction, Nonethnic-specific

Give me a story with two narratives interwoven through nonlinear timelines and, usually, I'll be one committed reader. The House Girl opens in 1852 rural Virginia with a teenage slave girl named Josephine, then fast forwards in the next chapter to Lina, an ambitious attorney...

Bella’s Rules by Elissa Haden Guest, illustrated by Abigail Halpin

25 Jun, by SIBookDragon in Children/Picture Books, Fiction, Nonethnic-specific

Meet irresistible, rambunctious, adorable Bella ...

Tiger, Tiger by Margaux Fragoso

23 Jun, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Memoir, Nonfiction, Puerto Rican

Warning: This harrowing memoir is the most difficult book I've read this year. Since I actually started it in 2012 (highly recommended by one of my editors), it's actually the most difficult book I've read over two years (and more). To get to the final...

The Book of Human Insects by Osamu Tezuka, translated by Mari Morimoto

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

"I was born in an impoverished backwater, and could easily have lived out my days as an insignificant country girl," a young woman modestly professes on stage as she receives the Akutagawa Prize, Japan's highest literary honor for a debut author. Barely out of her...

Brush of the Gods by Lenore Look, illustrated by Meilo So

19 Jun, by SIBookDragon in Biography, British Asian, Children/Picture Books, Chinese, Chinese American, Fiction

Somehow, over the last millennium-plus, the life story of Wu Daozi (689-759), possibly China's greatest painter, went mostly missing. Chinese American author Lenore Look (best known for her entertaining double series about growing up bicultural, Alvin Ho and Ruby Lu), together with British Asian illustrator Meilo So, whimsically...

Wave by Sonali Deraniyagala

18 Jun, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, British, British Asian, Memoir, Nonfiction, South Asian, Sri Lankan

Confession: I started Wave stuck in the ears, but didn't get very far because the narrator seems to have a lisp – which is not a judgment about the reader herself, but my little ears had too challenging a time comprehending each sentence. This is a...

Beyond the Moongate: True Stories of 1920s China by Elizabeth Quan

17 Jun, by SIBookDragon in Canadian, Canadian Asian Pacific American, Children/Picture Books, Chinese, Memoir, Nonfiction

"Moongates dotted the landscape of Old China," the second of artist Elizabeth Quan's two-part childhood memoir begins. "Stepping through one of these doorways was to enter a world of peace and happiness ...

The Night Ferry by Michael Robotham

16 Jun, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Audio, Australian, British, British Asian, Fiction

If I had not stuck Tana French's Dublin Murder Squad thrillers in my ears, I might never have discovered Australian journalist-turned-bestselling novelist Michael Robotham – French's The Likeness (I think) ended with the 'if you liked x, then try y'-recommendation that led me to Night Ferry. Contrarian that I am, however,...

Raven Girl by Audrey Niffenegger

14 Jun, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, British, Fiction, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Nonethnic-specific

Internationally renowned for her two bestselling novels, The Time Traveler’s Wife and Her Fearful Symmetry, Audrey Niffenegger is also a splendiforous artist with double the graphic titles to her lauded name. Her fourth and latest is "a new fairy tale" with origins that begin with movement: "Awhile ago, Wayne...

The Favorite Daughter by Allen Say

11 Jun, by SIBookDragon in Absolute Favorites, Children/Picture Books, Fiction, Hapa/Mixed-race, Japanese American, Memoir

Well, goodness ...

The Magic of Saida by M.G. Vassanji

10 Jun, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, African, Canadian Asian Pacific American, Fiction, Indian African, South Asian American

Poisoned and hallucinating, a Canadian doctor lies in a hospital in the remote town of Kilwa in Tanzania. A stranger happens to hear a few brief details of the man's outrageous story, and decides to introduce himself to this doctor with an Indian name – Kamal...

Broken Harbor [Dublin Murder Squad 4] by Tana French

08 Jun, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Audio, Fiction, Irish

With Broken Harbor finished, my Tana French days are over ...

Wandering Son (vol. 4) by Shimura Takako, translated by Matt Thorn

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

First things first: click here to catch up. You'll be well-rewarded for sure! This latest volume opens with an intriguing graphic of characters captured in a two-page spread of bubbles and dots, labelled "The Wandering Son Board Game": "Don't be so fresh. 1 space back," a...

OY FEH SO? by Cary Fagan, illustrated by Gary Clement

06 Jun, by SIBookDragon in Canadian, Children/Picture Books, Fiction, Jewish

"Every Sunday my two aunts and my uncle come to visit." This isn't exactly a joyous occasion for the three children who watch from the front window as the old Lincoln arrives in the driveway. They know only too well what to expect: "Oy," sighs...

eleanor & park by Rainbow Rowell

05 Jun, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Audio, Fiction, Hapa/Mixed-race, Korean American, Nonethnic-specific, Young Adult Readers

Wow, I sort of wondered ...

Snow Hunters by Paul Yoon [in Library Journal]

04 Jun, by SIBookDragon in Absolute Favorites, Adult Readers, Fiction, Korean, Korean American, Repost, South American

* STARRED REVIEW After surviving the Korean War, Yohan spends another year in a prisoner-of-war camp south of the new border that splits the country in two. Rather than return north, where no one awaits him, Yohan begins life anew in a faraway coastal Brazilian village as...

On Sal Mal Lane by Ru Freeman [in Library Journal]

03 Jun, by SIBookDragon in Absolute Favorites, Adult Readers, Fiction, Repost, South Asian, South Asian American, Sri Lankan, Sri Lankan American

* STARRED REVIEW As in Ru Freeman’s absorbing 2009 debut, A Disobedient Girl, the intricate lives of young children also take center stage in this latest work. In 1979, the titular Sal Mal Lane is a cul-de-sac on the outskirts of Sri Lanka’s largest city and former...

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