BookDragon Archives - Page 170 of 230

Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance by Barack Obama

The inaugural post for a historic inaugural year! While finding out so much more about our first African American president, you can also discover his Asian Pacific American cultural heritage, as well. He was born in Hawai’i, his father-figure ages 4-6 was an Indonesian man, Lolo...

China Witness: Voices from a Silent Generation by Xinran, translated by Nicky Harman, Julia Lovell, and Esther Tyldesley [in San Francisco Chronicle]

16 Mar, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Chinese, Nonfiction, Repost

Since the 2002 best-seller The Good Women of China: Hidden Voices, Beijing-born London journalist Xinran has emerged as an international dynamo reclaiming the voices of neglected citizens throughout her homeland. Her subsequent titles – Sky Burial: An Epic Love Story of Tibet, What the Chinese Don't Eat, Miss Chopsticks, and even her...

The Weight of Heaven by Thrity Umrigar [in Bloomsbury Review]

13 Mar, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Fiction, Indian, Indian American, Repost, South Asian, South Asian American

Frank and Ellie Benton have had the unthinkable happen to them: their precious 7-year-old son has died of a sudden illness. Even while Ellie is wracked with guilt, Frank blames her for what he believes was her negligence in not taking him to the hospital quickly...

Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell

13 Mar, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Absolute Favorites, Adult Readers, Audio, Canadian, Nonethnic-specific, Nonfiction, Young Adult Readers

Clearly, this is one of those books that will change the way you think about the world. Forget the 'rags to riches' stories out there, the lone 'self-made man' who rises to the top from nowhere. Gladwell, in his third intriguing book, argues that outliers...

The Eternal Smile by Gene Luen Yang and Derek Kirk Kim [in Bloomsbury Review]

13 Mar, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Chinese American, Fiction, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Korean American, Nonethnic-specific, Repost, Young Adult Readers

From two of the most successful names in contemporary graphic novels – Gene Luen Yang, whose multi-award-winning American Born Chinese was the first-ever graphic novel to be a finalist for the National Book Award, and Derek Kirk Kim, the equally multi-award-winning author of groundbreaking Same Difference and...

Haunting Bombay by Shilpa Agarwal [in Bloomsbury Review]

13 Mar, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Fiction, Indian, Indian American, Repost, South Asian, South Asian American

Pinky Mittal, a 13-year-old schoolgirl in 1960s Bombay, lives with her extended family in a sprawling family bungalow in one of the city's more fashionable neighborhoods. Her grandmother, who rescued her after her mother's death as an toddler, dotes on her. Her aunt-by-marriage barely puts...

A Party in Ramadan by Asma Mobin-Udden, illustrated by Laura Jacobsen [in Bloomsbury Review]

09 Mar, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Children/Picture Books, Fiction, Pakistani American, Repost, South Asian American

When young Leena is invited to Julia's pony party which happens to fall on the first Friday of Ramadan, she decides she will go anyway and just not eat or drink. During the month of Ramadan, observant Muslims fast during the day as a sign...

Almost Single by Advaita Kala [in Bloomsbury Review]

24 Feb, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Fiction, Indian, Repost, South Asian

Much to her mother's chagrin, Aisha has almost reached the big 3-0 and (gasp!) and is still single – but she's smart, independent, and definitely fun-loving. Working as the guest relations manager of a swanky Delhi hotel, she knows all about fast-paced city life. One...

In Other Rooms, Other Wonders by Daniyal Mueenuddin [in Bloomsbury Review]

09 Feb, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Absolute Favorites, Adult Readers, Fiction, Hapa/Mixed-race, Pakistani, Pakistani American, Repost, Short Stories, South Asian, South Asian American

What can I say? This debut collection is a gift. In eight intertwined stories using spare, perfectly measured language, hapa Pakistani American Daniyal Mueenuddin captures the lives of the haves and have-nots – money, position, power – with both precision and grace. Each of the collection's characters...

Absolutely Maybe by Lisa Yee [in Bloomsbury Review]

01 Feb, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Fiction, Middle Grade Readers, Repost, Young Adult Readers

Seventeen-year-old Maybelline Mary Katherine Mary Ann Chestnut, aka "Maybe," escapes the clutches of her slimy stepfather-to-be, for whom her ex-beauty queen alcoholic mother insists she'll walk down the aisle a seventh time. Maybe decides it's high time to go find her real father, the one...

Tales from Outer Suburbia by Shaun Tan [in Bloomsbury Review]

01 Feb, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Australian, Australian Asian, Children/Picture Books, Fiction, Middle Grade Readers, Nonethnic-specific, Repost, Short Stories

From the genius mind that brought you the wordlessly breathtaking bestseller, The Arrival, comes a collection of 15 short stories for all ages, uniquely illustrated in Tan's signature enigmatic style. The second story, "Eric," about the visit by a foreign exchange student like no one has...

The Piano Teacher by Janice Y.K. Lee [in Christian Science Monitor] [in Bloomsbury Review]

31 Jan, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, British, Chinese, Hapa/Mixed-race, Hong Kongese, Korean American, Repost

Something about Janice Y.K. Lee’s debut novel, The Piano Teacher, whispers, “Watch me.” Populated with a cast of “wandering global voyagers,” Lee unfurls her story, set in Hong Kong during and after World War II, layer by layer and in cinematic snippets. Captured in clipped, almost abbreviated...

Bloodvine: A Novel by Aris Janigian

30 Jan, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Armenian American, Fiction

Two half-brothers, Abe and Andy, the American descendants of Armenian refugees whose families have escaped the Armenian Genocide, have led very different lives in California's fertile Central Valley. Abe, the eldest, loses his father and is forced to take on adult responsibilities far too early by...

Erika-san by Allen Say [in Bloomsbury Review]

26 Jan, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Children/Picture Books, Fiction, Japanese, Japanese American, Repost

The prolific, Caldecott Medal-winning Allen Say debuts his latest picture book, as gorgeous as all the others. As a child, Erika falls in love with Japan through a framed picture her grandfather bought as a young man. "I want to go there when I grow...

In the Country of Men by Hisham Matar

15 Jan, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Arab, Audio, British, Fiction

In 1979, 9-year-old Suleiman already lives a fractured existence in the Libyan capital of Tripoli, controlled by Qaddafi and the ever-present threat of his secret police. While his father is often away on some unknown business, young Suleiman is left behind to take care of...

The Snow Day by Komako Sakai

01 Jan, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Children/Picture Books, Fiction, Japanese, Nonethnic-specific, Translation

Told with evocative, gentle pictures, The Snow Day opens with a young bunny who wakes up to a snow day – which means no kindergarten! Afraid that her little one might catch cold, the Mommy bunny asks him to wait until the snow stops. But...

Tan to Tamarind: Poems about the Color Brown by Malathi Michelle Iyengar, illustrated by Jamel Akib [in Bloomsbury Review]

01 Jan, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Black/African American, Children/Picture Books, Latina/o/x, Native American/First Nations/Indigenous Peoples, Pan-Asian Pacific American, Poetry, Repost, South Asian American

A joyful celebration of all sorts of brown-tinted skin colors, reflected in the tan of a spicy masala chai to the cocoa of a frothy hot chocolate to the ochre of a bridal mehendi hand design to the coffee brown of café con leche to the adobe...

Auntie Tiger by Laurence Yep, illustrated by Insu Lee

01 Jan, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Children/Picture Books, Chinese, Chinese American, Fiction

When two bickering sisters are left alone by their mother, she reminds Big Sister she must take care of Little Sister and Little Sister must listen to Big Sister. No sooner does she leave when Auntie Tiger knocks on the door. When the sisters don't...

The Angel Maker by Stefan Brijs, translated by Hester Velmans [in San Francisco Chronicle]

30 Dec, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Awful Duds, Fiction, Nonethnic-specific, Repost, Translation

angel-maker1 Belgian-born Stefan Brijs' novel The Angel Maker seemingly has all the necessary elements to be a success with U.S. readers. It's already an international bestseller, with 80,000 copies sold in Holland alone, according to the pre-publication...

World Ball Notebook by Sesshu Foster [in San Francisco Chronicle]

24 Dec, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Hapa/Mixed-race, Poetry, Repost, Young Adult Readers

world-ball-notebook1 The cover of Sesshu Foster's latest title, World Ball Notebook – with its leering skeleton partially superimposed on a photograph of children playing soccer on a city street flanked by abandoned buildings – is...

BookDragon BookDragon Tag