Love Archives - Page 22 of 84

Five More to Go: Kim Sagwa’s b, Book, and Me [in The Booklist Reader]

12 Feb, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, European, Fiction, Japanese, Korean, Lists, Memoir, Nonethnic-specific, Repost, Translation, Young Adult Readers

b, Book, and Me by Kim Sagwa and translated by Sunhee Jeong Although this book is set in a coastal suburb outside Seoul, the cycle of neglect by stressed or careless adults can and does happen anywhere. In such an all-too-familiarly indifferent environment, lauded Korean writer...

Diary of a Murderer and Other Stories by Young-Ha Kim [in Booklist]

11 Feb, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Audio, Fiction, Korean, Korean American, Short Stories, Translation

Author Young-Ha Kim, translator Krys Lee (herself an award-winning writer; Drifting House), and actor David Shih repeat the triumvirate success of Kim’s I Hear Your Voice to deliver his latest collection of four chilling, engrossing stories. The eponymous, novella-length “Diary of a Murderer” – the best of an...

Phantoms by Christian Kiefer [in Booklist]

05 Feb, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Fiction, Japanese American, Nonethnic-specific, Repost, Young Adult Readers

Peter Berkrot is not a Japanese speaker – and somehow, he went into the recording studio without pronunciation guidance, an aural detail that unfortunately mars an otherwise stellar presentation of Christian Kiefer’s (Infinite Tides) stunning, slim third novel. With his folksy, inviting delivery, Berkrot magnetically lures...

Very Nice by Marcy Dermansky [in Booklist]

02 Feb, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Audio, Fiction, Nonethnic-specific, Pakistani, Repost

Satire? Irony? A nine-hour extended joke? Certainly Marcy Dermansky’s latest is rife with almost every stereotype/cliché – the only one she thankfully avoids is the brown man as terrorist. That said, for those who survive the first eight hours and 40 minutes, the final poolside scene...

Palimpsest: Documents from a Korean Adoption by Lisa Wool-Rim Sjöblom, translated by Hanna Strömberg [in Booklist]

31 Jan, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, European, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Korean, Memoir, Repost, Translation, Young Adult Readers

Lisa Wool-Rim Sjöblom opens with definitions of two seemingly unrelated, yet brilliantly paired, words: palimpsest, “a very old text or document in which writing has been removed and covered or replaced by new writing,” and adoption, “the act of legally taking a child to be taken...

The Nine Cloud Dream by Kim Man-jung, translated with an introduction and notes by Heinz Insu Fenkl [in Booklist]

28 Jan, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Audio, Fiction, Korean, Repost, Translation

The warning comes early: “New readers are advised that this introduction makes certain details of the plot explicit.” For audiences adamant about discovering narratives autonomously, skipping the first track is recommended – but only with the intention of returning to the beginning upon book’s end. Professor/translator/writer...

Searching for Sylvie Lee by Jean Kwok [in Booklist]

27 Jan, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Audio, Chinese American, European, Fiction, Repost

Just before Grandma died in Amsterdam, Sylvie temporarily rejoined the Tan family to say goodbye. Grandma had been living with the Tans: Ma’s cousin Helena, husband Willem, their son Lukas – for decades. For her first nine years, Sylvie, too, had been the Tans’ responsibility,...

The Library of Lost and Found by Phaedra Patrick [in Booklist]

25 Jan, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Audio, British, Fiction, Nonethnic-specific, Repost

So you’re gonna find some conventional tropes here: mousy librarian, selfless sister/selfish sister, domineering father/submissive mother, free-spirited granny, mysterious guardian angel. But before your rolling eyeballs get stuck, two words on why you need to listen: Imogen Church! Perhaps best known for voicing clever thrillers...

Miracle Creek by Angie Kim [in Booklist]

23 Jan, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Audio, Fiction, Korean American, Repost

For those looking for alternate therapies, the Miracle Submarine in Miracle Creek, Virginia, provides HBOT – hyperbaric oxygen therapy – believed to treat such conditions as autism and infertility. Despite the many ‘miracles,’ the venture is anything but: a mysterious explosion kills two patients and...

Loveboat, Taipei by Abigail Hing Wen [in Shelf Awareness]

22 Jan, by SIBookDragon in Chinese American, Fiction, Repost, Taiwanese, Taiwanese American, Young Adult Readers

"This novel is a romp," Abigail Hing Wen promises (and delivers!) about Loveboat, Taipei. The Loveboat, she explains in her opening note to readers, is the popular name for Chien Tan, a real-life Taiwanese summer language program aimed at diasporic teens, with a reputation for...

Stories of the Sahara by Sanmao, translated by Mike Fu [in Christian Science Monitor]

21 Jan, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Chinese, European, Memoir, Nonfiction, Repost, Taiwanese, Translation

Stories of the Sahara celebrates a singular voice in travel writing Sanmao electrified Chinese readers when her travelogue “Stories of the Sahara” was published in 1976 – now it has been translated into English. She had three names; traveled to more than 55 countries; studied in Germany,...

The Other Americans by Laila Lalami [in Booklist]

20 Jan, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Arab American, Audio, Fiction, Moroccan American, Repost

Laila Lalami’s stupendous fourth title showcases a chorus of nine Rashomon-esque characters dealing with the hit-and-run death of a Moroccan immigrant diner owner in a California Mojave Desert town. That the novel gets a nine-member full cast (with who’s-who credits at recording’s end!), including some...

When You Read This by Mary Adkins [in Booklist]

18 Jan, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Audio, Fiction, Nonethnic-specific, Repost

Mary Shelley and Bram Stoker – both masterful epistolary novelists – couldn’t have imagined how today’s virtual communication would become an ideal medium to tell a story about ...

The Aosawa Murders by Riku Onda, translated by Alison Watts [in Shelf Awareness]

17 Jan, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Fiction, Japanese, Translation

What should have been a serendipitous event – a lavish birthday celebration for three generations in 1973 – turns horrific, leaving 17 family and friends dead. Decades after the tragedy, The Aosawa Murders might be a closed case, but award-winning Japanese novelist Riku Onda has plenty...

Five More to Go: Shokoofeh Azar’s The Enlightenment of the Greengage Tree [in The Booklist Reader]

16 Jan, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Fiction, Iranian, Iranian American, Persian, Repost, Translation

The Enlightenment of the Greengage Tree by Shokoofeh Azar Although the page facing the title of Azar’s first novel to be translated into English clearly states, “Translated from the Farsi,” the linguistic enabler remains anonymous; the publisher’s official line is, “the translator of this book has asked...

The Atlas of Reds and Blues by Devi S. Laskar [in Booklist]

15 Jan, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Audio, Fiction, Indian American, Repost, South Asian American

Author Devi S. Laskar knows what it’s like to have a police gun pointed at her. In 2010, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation raided her home when her professor husband was wrongly accused of misusing university funds. They confiscated her laptop, on which was stored...

Late in the Day by Tessa Hadley [in Booklist]

12 Jan, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Audio, British, Fiction, Repost

With the right posh British accent, even lying, cheating, and all sorts of promiscuity somehow don’t seem as unforgivable. Life, death, and plenty of bed-swapping happen in Tessa Hadley’s latest, elucidated by English actor Abigail Thaw, who reads with such perfect enunciation and elegant control...

North of Dawn by Nuruddin Farah [in Booklist]

08 Jan, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, African, Audio, European, Fiction, Repost

Originally from Somalia, Mugdi and Gacalo have now spent the majority of their lives in Norway, where they’ve been productive citizens, raising two children. Their quiet, middle-aged calm is shattered when their son Dhaqaneh commits a suicide bombing in Somalia. Gacalo’s only way forward after the...

Labyrinth by Burhan Sönmez, translated by Ümit Hussein [in Shelf Awareness]

07 Jan, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Fiction, Translation, Turkish American

Boratin is "back at zero" since his unsuccessful suicide has landed him in a hospital bed instead of Istanbul's Bosphorus Strait. He's broken a rib but lost his memory. Strangers – even though they aren't – assure him he's "a brilliant singer and songwriter" for...

All the Lives We Never Lived by Anuradha Roy [in Booklist]

06 Jan, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Audio, Fiction, Indian, Repost, South Asian

In his mid-60s, Myshkin is finally about to understand what he’s been yearning to know almost his entire life. Since age 9, he’s been “known as the boy whose mother had run off with an Englishman,” never mind that he is actually German. Except for...

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