BookDragon

20th Century Boys (vol. 20) by Naoki Urasawa, with the cooperation of Takashi Nagasaki, English adaptation by Akemi Wegmüller

11 Apr, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Fiction, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Japanese, Translation, Young Adult Readers

Manga addict though I am, I DO try to keep manga posts spaced out, so I don't look TOO panel-dependent (even though I am!). But right now, I can't contain my effusive excitement over the latest volume of 20th Century Boys – which hit shelves yesterday! –...

Princess Knight (vols. 1-2) by Osamu Tezuka, translated by Maya Rosewood

10 Apr, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Fiction, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Japanese, Translation, Young Adult Readers

With all that swashbuckling fun, Princess Knight – recently available in full, in English translation, in two volumes – is seemingly one of the godfather of manga's more goofy stories. Up in heaven, God's in the process of deciding gender for each about-to-be-born baby, assigning a girl heart...

Sông I Sing: Poems by Bao Phi

09 Apr, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Poetry, Southeast Asian American, Vietnamese American, Young Adult Readers

April is National Poetry Month. Every once in a long while, even a poetry-dullard like me has a poetic WOW!-moment. Certainly I'm not alone ...

Return to Sender by Julia Alvarez

08 Apr, by SIBookDragon in Audio, Caribbean American, Fiction, Latina/o/x, Middle Grade Readers, Young Adult Readers

Here's a rather unique literary coincidence: Julia Alvarez's Finding Miracles ends with an uncle missing the grandmother's wedding because of hemorrhoid surgery. Return to Sender begins with the mention of another uncle (in a totally unrelated story) suffering through a hemorrhoid operation. Try and find two...

Mr. Reaper by Tatsuya Miyanishi, translated by Vertical, Inc.

06 Apr, by SIBookDragon in Children/Picture Books, Fiction, Japanese, Translation

While most of us all know our birthdays, not all of us know when we might pass from this life. "The only one who knows, / the one who decides the day / is me, the Reaper." Out in the forest, the Reaper points out a...

What Is the What: The Autobiography of Valentino Achak Deng by Dave Eggers

05 Apr, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, African, Audio, Black/African American, Fiction, Memoir

First things first: Let's try to clear up some of the oxymoronic labels. Although this title is classified as a novel written by Dave Eggers (he of bad boy-genius fame for his debut, A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, and, of course, the mini-empire that is McSweeney's),...

Larf by Ashley Spires

03 Apr, by SIBookDragon in Canadian, Children/Picture Books, Fiction, Nonethnic-specific

As we leave the wild mountains and head back to (so-called) civilization this morning, I'm convinced that Ashley Spires' Larf captures that disorienting journey just right, with lots of easy laughter offered on every page. Re-entry always requires maintaining a sense of humor! Larf thinks he...

Escape from Camp 14: One Man’s Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West by Blaine Harden [in Christian Science Monitor]

02 Apr, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Korean, Nonfiction, North Korean, Repost

Escape from Camp 14 is the most devastating book I have ever read. Perhaps the resilience of youth got me through the aftermath of learning about slavery, the Holocaust, even Iris Chang’s now-classic The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust, the title I previously held...

Finding Miracles by Julia Alvarez

02 Apr, by SIBookDragon in Audio, Caribbean American, Fiction, Latina/o/x, Middle Grade Readers, Young Adult Readers

Sandwiched between sister Kate and brother Nate, Milly Kaufman is the only adopted child of their Jewish father and Mormon mother. She began life with the name Milagros (as in 'miracles'), until she was claimed as an infant by parents working with the Peace Corps...

Shalimar the Clown by Salman Rushdie

01 Apr, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Audio, Fiction, Indian, Indian American, South Asian, South Asian American

I've been working through numerous 'should-have-read-earlier'-titles lately, and Salman Rushdie's books always loom large as objects of fascination. After four attempts to read his The Enchantress of Florence (twice on the page, twice stuck in the ears narrated by Firdous Bamji whose recordings can make me choose a book...

Vote for Me! by Ben Clanton

28 Mar, by SIBookDragon in Absolute Favorites, Adult Readers, Children/Picture Books, Fiction, Middle Grade Readers, Nonethnic-specific, Young Adult Readers

Given this is a presidential election year, I know you've been searching for the perfect (non-partisan!) political primer. Look no further ...

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

26 Mar, by SIBookDragon in Absolute Favorites, Adult Readers, Audio, Australian, European, Fiction, Jewish, Young Adult Readers

After two books on the horrors of North Korea, two memoirs about the Palestinian occupation, another about a Lost Boy of Sudan, still another highlighting Hindu/Muslim massacres in Kashmir – all one after the other (what was I thinking??!!) – I picked up Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief,...

Bakuman (vols. 3-5) by Tsugumi Ohba, art by Takeshi Obata, translated by Tetsuichiro Miyaki

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

Manga-maker wannabes: check out this illuminating insider look (but do start with volumes 1 and 2), then make sure to study every detail if you're hoping to break into one of the toughest industries around. But before we talk story, here's a quick refresher on names:...

Lila and the Secret of Rain by David Conway, illustrated by Jude Daly

24 Mar, by SIBookDragon in African, British, Children/Picture Books, Fiction, South African

Lila, her family, their animals are all too hot. Their Kenyan village has not had rain for far too long. The well has dried up, and the crops are failing. "'Without water there can be no life,'" Lila overhears her mother's worry. Then her grandfather...

Fortunate Son by Walter Mosley

22 Mar, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Black/African American, Fiction

Culling together every spare moment I had over a single day (amazing how much more enlightening mindless chores, endless driving, and running can be with a book stuck in your ears!), I managed to listen to all 9.5 hours of Lorraine Toussaint's honeyed narration of...

S is for South Africa by Beverley Naidoo, photographs by Prodeepta Das

21 Mar, by SIBookDragon in African, Children/Picture Books, Nonfiction

"When I was a child, our beautiful land was made ugly by racism," writes longtime author Beverley Naidoo in an introductory note. "Black, brown and white people were forced apart by apartheid (separateness) laws, and children of different colours weren't allowed to go to the same schools...

The Orphan Master’s Son by Adam Johnson

20 Mar, by SIBookDragon in Absolute Favorites, Adult Readers, Audio, Fiction, Korean, Nonethnic-specific, North Korean

This is a book I bought twice: first to stick in my ears on long runs (chillingly read by a Korean American triumvirate of Tim Kang, Josiah D. Lee, and James Kyson Lee), and when I couldn't soak in the story quickly enough, I ordered...

Dororo: Omnibus Edition by Osamu Tezuka, translated by Dawn T. Laabs

19 Mar, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Fiction, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Japanese, Translation, Young Adult Readers

Oh, what a plethora of choices for accessing this swashbuckling series by the godfather of manga: you could go with the original 1960s manga series in Japanese, watch the 26-part anime from 1969 or the live-action film (available dubbed in English even!) from 2007, play the video...

Sharon and My Mother-In-Law: Ramallah Diaries by Suad Amiry

18 Mar, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Memoir, Nonfiction, Palestinian

For most of us in the west, our filtered news of the Middle East is, more often than not, rife with contention, violence, and tragedy. Laughter would certainly be a rare reaction to the decades-long Palestinian/Israeli conflict, and yet Palestinian author Suad Amiry manages to...

The Secret World of Arrietty (vols. 1-2) planning by Hayao Miyazaki, based on The Borrowers by Mary Norton, translated Rieko Izutsu-Vajirasarn and Jim Hubbert

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

The latest from Studio Ghibli, powered by the creative genius of legendary Hayao Miyazaki, introduces brave Arrietty, her auburn tresses pulled up by a tiny orange clothespin, ready to explore and conquer the "bean" world. Released by Disney in the U.S. last month, the animated...

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