BookDragon

The Art of Hearing Heartbeats by Jan-Philipp Sendker, translated by Kevin Wiliarty

30 Jan, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, European, Fiction, Hapa/Mixed-race, Myanmarese (Burmese), Myanmarese (Burmese) American, Southeast Asian, Southeast Asian American, Translation

I think I will forever remember this book, perhaps not so much for the story, but for a single word: a blind young man sitting in the dark with hands running across the pages answers when asked what he's doing ...

Genkaku Picasso (vols. 2-3) by Usamaru Furuya, translated by John Werry

29 Jan, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Fiction, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Japanese, Repost, Translation, Young Adult Readers

Doh! For some reason, I had no idea the other-worldly adventures of the Picasso/Chiaki dynamic duo [pocket-angel Chiaki directs the surviving Picasso towards doing good deeds for his fellow students] was a trilogy. I figured on a few more years of diving into secret sketches since...

Words from a Granary: An Anthology of Short Stories by Ugandan Women Writers edited by Violet Barungi

28 Jan, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, African, Fiction, Short Stories

Considered together, this collection of 15 stories is a welcome statement of women's literary empowerment. The second anthology published by FEMRITE, the Uganda Women Writers' Association founded by novelist/short story writer/playwright-turned Ugandan Cabinet member Mary Karoro Okurut and officially launched in 1996, is testimony that "Ugandan women...

Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity by Katherine Boo [in Christian Science Monitor]

27 Jan, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Indian, Nonethnic-specific, Nonfiction, Repost

Remember the title of Katherine Boo’s new book Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity, because you will see it on upcoming nominee lists for the next round of Very Important Literary Prizes. That Boo won the Pulitzer in 2000,...

River of Smoke [Ibis Trilogy, Book 2] by Amitav Ghosh

26 Jan, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Audio, Chinese, Fiction, Indian, South Asian

Allow me to start with two immediate thoughts about content and delivery. Content: Today's Mexican narcos, the Colombian cartels, the Afghan/Pakistani smuggling rings utterly pale in comparison to the British and American opium runners demanding access to 19th-century China. You might have studied the distant...

Crouching Tiger by Ying Chang Compestine, illustrated by Yan Nascimbene

23 Jan, by SIBookDragon in Children/Picture Books, Chinese American, Fiction

Celebrate the lunar Year of the Water Dragon with Ying Chang Compestine's latest picture book which reminds us all again (gently and poignantly) about the value of patience and perseverance (especially relevant in this Dragon year!), the wisdom of elders, and the importance of cultural connections. Ming...

Tesoro by Natsume Ono, translated by Joe Yamazaki

22 Jan, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, European, Fiction, Japanese, Short Stories, Translation, Young Adult Readers

More and more, I've noticed book cover flaps yielding important tidbits (which makes me a bit concerned about such covers going astray, especially for picture books handled by so many little hands!). But worry aside, how fitting to find this on the front flap about...

Which Side Are You On? The Story of a Song by George Ella Lyon, artwork by Christopher Cardinale

20 Jan, by SIBookDragon in Children/Picture Books, Nonethnic-specific, Nonfiction

If you're an American of a certain age, and went to public school when music class was still considered relevant and mandatory, you'll most likely recognize this historical song. Here's the link to legendary folk singer Pete Seeger's rendition. "What's going on here?" the front book...

Tina’s Mouth: An Existential Comic Diary by Keshni Kashyap, illustrated by Mari Araki

19 Jan, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Fiction, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Indian American, Japanese American, South Asian American, Young Adult Readers

"Dear Mr. Jean Paul Sartre, I know that you are dead and old and also a philosopher. So, on an obvious level, you and I do not have a lot in common." Thus begins 15-year-old Tina's class project for her English Honors elective on existential...

A Thousand Sisters: My Journey into the Worst Place on Earth to Be a Woman by Lisa J. Shannon, foreword by Zainab Salbi

18 Jan, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, African, Memoir, Nonethnic-specific, Nonfiction

Can anyone really understand such a number: 5,400,000. The death of a single loved one can leave you staggering and lost ...

Stir It Up by Ramin Ganeshram

17 Jan, by SIBookDragon in Caribbean American, Fiction, Indian American, Young Adult Readers

Food writer Ramin Ganeshram shares her Indo-Caribbean culinary prowess in her debut title for younger readers about eighth-grader Anjali Krishnan who really knows how to stir things up ...

Freedom’s a-Callin Me by Ntozake Shange, illustrated by Rod Brown

16 Jan, by SIBookDragon in Black/African American, Children/Picture Books, Poetry

From the power duo who created We Troubled the Waters comes another memorable volume detailing the African American experience – this time, re-imagining the death-defying, life-saving journey from slavery to freedom along the Underground Railroad. Combining powerful verse and richly textured paintings, Ntozake Shange and Rod...

The End of the World by Sushma Joshi

15 Jan, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Fiction, Nepali, Short Stories

Few Nepali writers have thus far landed on western bookshelves, with only two exceptions who come immediately to mind – elegant Samrat Upadhyay (Arresting God in Kathmandu, The Royal Ghosts) and activist Manjushree Thapa (The Tutor of History, Seasons of Flight). So to find another Nepali author writing in English is a...

A Long Way Down by Nick Hornby

14 Jan, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Audio, British, Fiction

An aborted suicide is probably not the most solid basis from which to start a lasting friendship ...

Dumpling Days by Grace Lin

13 Jan, by SIBookDragon in Chinese American, Fiction, Middle Grade Readers, Taiwanese American

Even though today's calendar reminds you it's Friday the 13th, no worries! Let me share with you the youthful wisdom of one Grace Pacy Lin: "There was no day dumplings couldn't make better." After a long-awaited four-year hiatus, Pacy's back ...

Wandering Son (vol. 2) by Shimura Takako, translated by Matt Thorn

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

The ongoing gender-bender adventures of Nitori Shuichi – a boy who wants to be a girl – and his best friend Takatsuki Yoshino – a girl who wants to be a boy – open with the beginning of the 6th-grade school year. What commenced as mostly cross-dressing fun in volume...

Beneath the Lion’s Gaze by Maaza Mengiste + Author Interview

09 Jan, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, African, Author Interview/Profile, Black/African American, Fiction

Maaza Mengiste's voice, delivered by telephone many thousands of miles away, sounds impossibly young and happy. She’s easy to talk to, easy to laugh with. She’s in Rome for another few months, enjoying the spring sun, sipping another cup of tea in a nearby café,...

Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami, translated by Alfred Birnbaum

08 Jan, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Audio, Fiction, Japanese, Translation

Chapter 1: an ultra high-tech building with an especially remarkable elevator (although without the usual, mundane details like floor buttons), loose change that suddenly doesn't add up, a beautiful (chubby) young woman in everything pink who might have said "Proust" (or maybe "Truest? ...

Nervous Conditions by by Tsitsi Dangarembga

07 Jan, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, African, Fiction, Young Adult Readers

The first sentence of Tsitsi Dangarembga's semi-autobiographical novel sets a haunting tone: "I was not sorry when my brother died." With his death, 13-year-old Tambu is presented with a profound opportunity: even though she's a girl, as the now-eldest child in her poor village family...

No Longer Human (vols. 1-2) by Usamaru Furuya, based on the novel by Osamu Dazai, translated by Allison Markin Powell

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

What does it take to update a 60+-year-old story? In the case of Usamaru Furuya's 21st-century manga adaptation of the literary classic Ningen Shikkaku, a semi-autobiographical novel by Dazai Osamu (published in 1948 in Japan, translated into English as No Longer Human in 1958), an...

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