BookDragon

Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi, translated by Geoffrey Trousselot [in Christian Science Monitor]

20 Nov, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Fiction, Japanese, Repost, Translation, Young Adult Readers

A chance to redo the past in Before the Coffee Gets Cold Time travel and café culture yields a lovely, wise brew in a translation of Toshikazu Kawaguchi’s popular play-turned-novel. Originally debuting onstage in Japan, Before the Coffee Gets Cold won praise and awards for its playwright, Toshikazu Kawaguchi....

My Brilliant Life by Ae-ran Kim, translated by Chi-Young Kim [in Booklist]

19 Nov, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Fiction, Korean, Repost, Translation, Young Adult Readers

The youngest winner ever of multiple important literary prizes in her native Korea, Ae-ran Kim’s first full-length novel arrives Stateside, hauntingly English-enabled by lauded translator Chi-Young Kim (no relation). Areum suffers from progeria, a rare disease that causes rapid, premature aging: “My dad sees his...

The Dragons, the Giant, the Women by Wayétu Moore [in Booklist]

18 Nov, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, African, Audio, Black/African American, Memoir, Nonfiction, Repost, Young Adult Readers

Wayétu Moore is the first to speak, although only briefly, to share her initial excitement over the possibility of narrating her elegant memoir. That opportunity, alas, became another “casualty of COVID-19,” preventing her from safe studio time, but she adds a personal thanks to narrator...

Measuring Up by Lily LaMotte, illustrated by Ann Xu [in Shelf Awareness]

17 Nov, by SIBookDragon in Chinese American, Fiction, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Middle Grade Readers, Repost, Taiwanese, Taiwanese American

Debut author Lily LaMotte draws on her immigrant experiences – as well as her cooking show obsession – for a toothsome #OwnVoices graphic feast vibrantly illustrated by the Ignatz-nominated Ann Xu. For 12-year-old Cici, leaving Taiwan means separation from her beloved A-má (grandmother). In Seattle, Cici's...

The Magical Language of Others by E. J. Koh [in Library Journal]

16 Nov, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Audio, Korean, Korean American, Memoir, Nonfiction, Repost, Young Adult Readers

That she’s fluent in Korean, Japanese, and English ensures a smooth double debut – as memoirist and narrator – for poet E. J. Koh (A Lesser Love). Her languid delivery is a lulling invitation into emotional intimacy. From her San Jose, California, birth into early...

True Story by Kate Reed Petty [in Booklist]

13 Nov, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Audio, Fiction, Nonethnic-specific, Repost, Young Adult Readers

In a story of “they said, she heard, he believed, she can’t remember,” whom do you trust? Even the title misleads – True Story: A Novel – while the final words confirm little: “But I’m trusting you to see this is true ...

His Only Wife by Peace Adzo Medie [in Booklist]

12 Nov, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, African, Audio, Black/African American, Fiction, Repost, Young Adult Readers

Prodigious Soneela Nankani – who reigns as the South Asian/South Asian American voice-of-choice – ventures onto onto a new continent, landing in Ghana to cipher debut novelist/gender scholar Peace Adzo Medie’s not-quite-Cinderella tale with energetic aplomb. Once upon a time, Afi was a poor village seamstress-in-training,...

Punching the Air by Ibi Zoboi and Yusef Salaam [in Booklist]

11 Nov, by SIBookDragon in Audio, Black/African American, Fiction, Repost, Verse Novel/Nonfiction, Young Adult Readers

What a striking confluence here: National Book Award finalist Ibi Zoboi’s co-writer, Yusef Salaam, was one of the Exonerated Five. Debut narrator Ethan Herisse portrayed the teenage Salaam in Ava DuVernay’s acclaimed dramatization of the aftermath of the Central Park jogger attack, When They See...

Luster by Raven Leilani [in Booklist]

10 Nov, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Audio, Black/African American, Fiction, Repost

*STARRED REVIEW Edie is 23, has a bottom-tier publishing job, and inhabits a shabby sixth-floor Bushwick walk-up. Eric is 23 years older, a New Jersey archivist, and in an open marriage – with rules dictated by his wife. Their one-month online affair compels a first date...

Sharks in the Time of Saviors by Kawai Strong Washburn [in Library Journal]

09 Nov, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Audio, Fiction, Hawaiian, Pacific Islander, Repost

Hardworking Malia and Augie have plenty of love but can’t ever quite get ahead. In hopes of providing better opportunities for their three children, the pair relocate from Hawai'i to Oahu, but not before Augie insists the family share an adventure on a glassbottom boat...

The New Wilderness by Diane Cook [in Booklist]

08 Nov, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Fiction, Nonethnic-specific, Repost

Veteran voice actor Stacey Glembowski – already seasoned with substantial science fiction experience – immediately commands Diane Cook’s (Man v. Nature) timely novel debut in which 20 desperate men, women, children abandon their depleting City lives to become the inaugural Community in the Wilderness State....

Sneeze by Naoki Urasawa, translated by John Werry [in Booklist]

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

For Naoki Urasawa newbies, his latest collection (another satisfying English translation by popular manga-specialist John Werry) is a beckoning introductory primer. For aficionados, these eight stories (none titled “Sneeze”), originally published between 1995-2018, are an affirming reminder of his irrefutable genius. Urasawa’s most memorable stories feature...

Dancing in the Mosque: An Afghan Mother’s Letter to Her Son by Homeira Qaderi, translated by Zaman Stanizai [in Shelf Awareness]

05 Nov, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Afghan, Afghan American, Memoir, Nonfiction, Repost, Translation

During the 985 nights since she was cleaved from her then 19-month-old, still-breastfeeding son, Homeira Qaderi managed to escape her native Afghanistan and eventually settle in California. Her son, now 4, has been told his mother is dead. With this haunting memoir, Dancing in the...

Hokusai Manga by Katsushika Hokusai, edited by Kyoko Wada, translated by Polly Barton [In Shelf Awareness]

04 Nov, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Japanese, Nonfiction, Repost, Young Adult Readers

A continuous "runaway bestseller" for over two centuries, Hokusai Manga re-emerges in the U.S. in an irresistible boxed gift set. Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849), renowned for his iconic The Great Wave Off Kanagawa print and the woodblock series Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji, created...

Memorial Drive: A Daughter’s Memoir by Natasha Trethewey [in Booklist]

03 Nov, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Audio, Black/African American, Hapa/Mixed-race, Memoir, Nonfiction, Repost

*STARRED REVIEW Former U.S. Poet Laureate Natasha Trethewey makes both her prose and narrating debut with a startling memoir that alchemizes neverending trauma into an exquisite memorial. On June 5, 1985, Trethewey’s mother, Gwendolyn Ann Turnbough, was murdered by former stepfather Joel Grimmett on Atlanta’s Memorial...

Nineteen by Ancco, translated by Janet Hong [in Booklist]

02 Nov, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Korean, Memoir, Nonfiction, Repost, Short Stories, Translation, Young Adult Readers

*STARRED REVIEW Introduced to Western audiences with the internationally awarded Bad Friends (2018), Ancco returns with a five-years-in-the-making collection she wrote in her early 20s, originally published more than a decade ago in her native Korea. Translated by prize-winning Canadian Janet Hong, these 13 stories are largely...

Kimiko Does Cancer by Kimiko Tobimatsu, illustrated by Keet Geniza [in Booklist]

30 Oct, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Canadian, Canadian Asian Pacific American, Filipina/o American, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Hapa/Mixed-race, Japanese American, Memoir, Repost

“I’m not a big fan of the common sentiment, ‘Cancer made me a better person,’” Kimiko Tobimatsu admits in her author’s note. “But then, cancer did make me a better person.” Diagnosed at 25 with “a rare form of breast cancer – mucinous,” Tobimatsu is...

10 Things I Hate about Pinky by Sandhya Menon [in Booklist]

29 Oct, by SIBookDragon in Audio, Fiction, Indian American, Repost, South Asian American, Young Adult Readers

Vikas Adam is three for three (because he’s that good) in voicing Sandhya Menon’s bestselling rom-com series. Rematched with Soneela Nankani after the success of There’s Something about Sweetie (2019), the pair presents Menon's latest frothy confection. The eponymous Pinky is another of Menon's feisty heroines...

The Girl with the Louding Voice by Abi Daré [in Library Journal]

28 Oct, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, African, Audio, Black/African American, Fiction, Repost, Young Adult Readers

If reading various dialects on the page is at all challenging, allow Adjoa Andoh to immediately immerse you in the mellifluous Nigerian English patois Abi Daré infuses into her empowering debut novel. At 14, Adunni is denied the education she so longs for, and is...

Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell [in Booklist]

27 Oct, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Audio, British, Fiction, Repost

*STARRED REVIEW Here’s what we might know – or agree on from limited historic documents and scholarly guessing research – about the Bard’s wife: she’s commonly named “Anne Hathaway” but her father referred to her as “Agnes” in his will; she was older than her still-teenage husband;...

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