Mechademia, Volume 1: Emerging Worlds of Anime and Manga edited by Frenchy Lunning [in Bloomsbury Review]
While not itself a graphic novel, Mechademia is an inevitable – and arguably necessary – byproduct of the manga and anime craze, imported from Japan and embraced by the West, having now established itself into the...
This Chinese American installment of the Sex in the City-genre features three 20-something childhood best-friends, each pursuing her own brand of happiness in Manhattan. While it starts off with a rather cringe-inducing visit to a Chinatown...
Reddi’s debut – absolutely one of the best short story collections this year – captures the nuanced, often contradictory lives of multiple generations of the Indian diaspora. From the cranky old judge convinced he has...
Don’t start this at night because you won’t get any sleep until you’ve finished the final page. And still, the characters will linger on. Min’s aching debut novel tells the story of Isadora Myung Hee Sohn...
Here’s the updated second edition of what was already considered the definitive overview of modern Chinese literature in English translation, with representative writing from mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. With China poised to become a...
Seattle lifestyle guru Deirdre McIntosh’s life turns upside down when her Live Simple television show is suddenly cancelled, her live-in best friend decides to move in with his new soulmate and her bank account is about...
A young woman abandons her promising corporate job to seek out and photograph the scattered stories of women around the world. This slim, densely packed debut gives voice to eight questioning souls – some silenced by...
Marjane Satrapi on the "Axis of Evil," Cheese, and Exploring Family History
Marjane Satrapi changed my reading life. Before I picked up
Gene Luen Yang, National Book Award Nominee, Makes Publishing History ...
Buddha, Volume 1: Kapilavastu
Buddha, Volume 2: The Four Encounters
Buddha, Volume 3: Devadatta
Buddha, Volume 4: The Forest of Uruvela
Buddha, Volume 5: Deer Park
Buddha, Volume 6: Ananda
Buddha, Volume 7: Prince Ajatasattu
Buddha, Volume 8: Jetavana
Graphic novels are big...
Far atop the High Altai Mountains in western Mongolia is an unpredictable climate of extremes – breathtaking in its warmer beauty, yet unforgiving in the harshness of its frigid months. Unknown to most Westerners, the Republic...
Awake and Singing: Six Great American Jewish Plays (new edition), edited and with an introduction by Ellen Schiff
Nine Contemporary Jewish Plays, edited by Ellen Schiff and Michael Posnick, foreword by Theodore Bikel
Ask the random person...
Another bittersweet weep-fest of watching a child grow up, much along the lines of Robert Munsch’s timeless I Love You Forever. A parent's everlasting love, stunningly rendered by last year’s Caldecott-winning Jon Muth.
Review: "TBR's Contributing Editors'...
The follow-up to the writer-wife/illustrator-husband team’s award-winning Coolies resonates with deep hope. This Brothers for young readers tells the story of Chinese American Ming and his growing friendship with Irish American Patrick who lives just beyond...
In the barren Japanese American internment camp, young Mari finds solace in her art, her friends, her family … and the joy of discovering nine tiny green stems that finally blossom with promises of a beautiful...
In one of the first of numerous books about the devastating December 2004 tsunami that claimed over 280,000 lives, a courageous dog saves a frightened young boy from certain death. Based on a true story, this...
War – the worst of man-made disasters – throughout the ages is captured in verse from the young child’s point of view. A wake-up call for the safety of children everywhere.
Review: "TBR's Contributing Editors' Favorite Reads...
While her husband Da Chen writes sweeping literary historical sagas, newcomer Sunny offers a contemporary entertaining tale of young Mona Lisa who discovers she has latent super-powers. Turns out our heroine is actually half-Monère, an ancient...
From the fabulous author of the marvelous A Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time comes an entertainingly dysfunctional family tale starring newly retired George Hall who is convinced he’s dying of cancer (that “spot...
What a beginning: a snowstorm, a home birth, surprise twins, and a split-second decision by a father to give away his Down Syndrome-daughter while his wife believes their lost child has died. While the small leftover...