BookDragon

Stargazing Dog by Takashi Murakami, translated by Atsuko Saisho and Spencer Fancutt

28 Nov, by SIBookDragon in Absolute Favorites, Adult Readers, Fiction, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Japanese, Translation, Young Adult Readers

Much to my children's dismay (and longing), we don't have a dog (allergies). I am, however, so lucky to have a regular canine companion, Z, whose mother brings her on our twice-a-week hikes through the woods. As I was sniffling and snuffling through this heartfelt...

A New Year’s Reunion by Yu Li-Qiong, illustrated by Zhu Chen-Liang

24 Nov, by SIBookDragon in Children/Picture Books, Chinese, Fiction, Translation

The simple things in life always deserve our greatest gratitude: Today, this day of turkeys and thanks, those of us with our families close by are quite possibly the luckiest people on earth. Take the small family of three in this gorgeous yet bittersweet story …...

The Tiger’s Wife by Téa Obreht

22 Nov, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Audio, European, Fiction

With the gushing acknowledgement of her debut novel – 2011 Orange Prize, 2011 National Book Award finalist, enthusiastic thumbs up from the New Yorker, New York Times, and too many starred reviews to count – Téa Obreht is already a renowned wunderkind. Always curious about that level of fuss, I...

The Princess and the Peanut: A Royally Allergic Fairytale by Sue Ganz-Schmitt, illustrated by Micah Chambers-Goldberg

20 Nov, by SIBookDragon in Children/Picture Books, Fiction, Nonethnic-specific

Quick: Growing up, how many kids did you know who carried epi-pens? I can't think of a single child (I'm dating myself, I'm sure), except for silly me, but mine were for bee stings. That certainly is not the case now! Our daughter was always...

My Korean Deli: Risking It All for a Convenience Store by Ben Ryder Howe

17 Nov, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Audio, Korean American, Memoir, Nonfiction

I swear this it not a spoiler because it's on the dedication page: Dwayne dies. His dates are right there before the book even starts: "1968-2009." Which is really quite sad, because inherited employee Dwayne Wright is one of the two most colorful Characters (capital...

Dance Dance Dance by Haruki Murakami, translated by Alfred Birnbaum

16 Nov, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Audio, Fiction, Japanese, Translation

Life just seems better with a Haruki Murakami story stuck in my ears ...

On Black Sisters Street by Chika Unigwe

15 Nov, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, African, European, Fiction, Translation

Four women, living together in a house in Antwerp, Belgium, are "[t]hrown together by a conspiracy of fate and a loud man called Dele." They have escaped their lives in Africa, but only at the cost of their freedom; Dele, who orchestrated their immigration, now...

Drawing From Memory by Allen Say and The House Baba Built by Ed Young [in The New York Times]

11 Nov, by SIBookDragon in Children/Picture Books, Chinese American, Japanese American, Memoir, Middle Grade Readers, Nonfiction, Repost

What formative experiences make a great children’s book illustrator? In the case of Allen Say and Ed Young, both Caldecott medalists, the journey begins with unusual childhoods in wartime Asia. Connecting the dots from those beginnings to what would become long and successful careers, Drawing...

Hocus Pocus by Sylvie Desrosiers, illustrated by Rémy Simard

11 Nov, by SIBookDragon in Canadian, Children/Picture Books, Fiction, Nonethnic-specific

A magician, his dog, their groceries come home and settle in to relax, eventually drifting off for a nap. Meanwhile, a rabbit peeks out from the magician’s hat, sees the snoozing man and dog, notices the carrot on the counter, and decides he must have...

The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka

10 Nov, by SIBookDragon in Absolute Favorites, Adult Readers, Fiction, Japanese American, Young Adult Readers

Almost 10 years after Julie Otsuka made her spectacular literary debut with When the Emperor Was Divine, I remain even more convinced that Emperor is the best book I've ever read about the Japanese American imprisonment during World War II. Truth be told, Emperor ranks so high on...

Whorled: Poems by Ed Bok Lee

09 Nov, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Korean American, Poetry

Timing is everything: I'm convinced my just-got-back trip from Korea gave me an especially empathetic appreciation for poetry slam artist/writer/playwright Ed Bok Lee's latest collection. I just wandered some of those same streets! And I definitely had to read it at 38,000-feet cruising altitude between there...

The Boy from the Dragon Palace retold by Margaret Read MacDonald, illustrated by Sachiko Yoshikawa

08 Nov, by SIBookDragon in Children/Picture Books, Fiction, Japanese American, Nonethnic-specific

Let me know if you’ve heard this one before – a poor man gets rich, gets greedy, not to mention careless and lazy, and loses everything. No … I’m actually not referring to the latest Wall Street headlines! This playful new version gets retold by peripatetic...

Tongue by Kyung Ran Jo, translated by Chi-Young Kim

07 Nov, by SIBookDragon in Fiction, Korean, Translation

Here's what stands out most about this slim Korean novel for me: it's surprisingly not Korean. Except for the few Korean names, virtually no other Korean markers exist within these pages, which I found rather strange in a novel set in Seoul featuring the lives of...

Saturn Apartments (vol. 3) by Hisae Iwaoka, translated by Tomo Kimura

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

With the debut volume receiving major approval by the American Library Association earlier this year by making YALSA (Young Adult Library Services Association)'s list of 2011 Top Ten Great Graphic Novels for Teens, the rest of the Saturn series certainly has quite a bright future on translated shores. Kind and gentle Mitsu...

Let’s Count to 100! by Masayuki Sebe, English edited by Yvette Ghione

05 Nov, by SIBookDragon in Children/Picture Books, Fiction, Japanese, Translation

I don’t think I’m exaggerating when I say that counting books are ubiquitous on kiddie shelves. And, alas, too many of them are just same old, same old: dressing up the familiar 1, 2, 3, is surely not an easy task. So when something clever...

Brothers by Yu Hua, translated by Eileen Cheng-yin Chow and Carlos Rojas

04 Nov, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Audio, Chinese, Fiction, Translation

Yu Hua's unforgettable tome requires a solid commitment in time and patience, yet your reward for finishing the final page will make your investment amply worthwhile. The opening paragraph begins with the end: "Baldy Li, our Liu Town's premier tycoon," sits contemplating his life on his...

Tashi and the Tibetan Flower Cure by Naomi C. Rose

03 Nov, by SIBookDragon in Children/Picture Books, Fiction, Tibetan American

Tashi’s beloved grandfather – her Popola – has been sick in bed for two weeks. “’The doctor’s doing all she can,’” her mother assures Tashi. But Tashi soon realizes that what will help Popola most may not be medical at all. Tashi asks Popola about how...

Chocolate Chocolate: The True Story of Two Sisters, Tons of Treats, and the Little Shop That Could by Frances Park and Ginger Park

01 Nov, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Korean American, Memoir, Nonfiction

On a long flight to Korea, I took the Park Sisters along to sweeten the tedious ride. I was barreling my way toward an international children’s literature festival where I was scheduled to talk about Korean American literature and, of course, the sisters and their...

Hampire! by Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen, illustrated by Howard Fine

31 Oct, by SIBookDragon in Children/Picture Books, Fiction, South Asian American

Ever feel like a total beast when you're soooo hungry? Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen surely understands midnight hunger: "the HAMPIRE left his pen / In quite an awful mood. / His belly growled. / 'I need,' he howled, / 'To sink my fangs in food!'" In spite of the danger...

Ikigami: The Ultimate Limit (vol. 7) by Motoro Mase, translated by John Werry, English adaptation by Kristina Blachere

30 Oct, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Fiction, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Japanese, Young Adult Readers

In anticipation of tomorrow's frightfest, thought I should share some deathly dystopian manga – ikigami literally translating to 'death paper.' While each volume could potentially stand alone as a series of individual episodes that detail how the chosen spend their predetermined final 24 hours, you'll need to start from...

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