BookDragon Murder Tag

Master Keaton (vol. 2) by Naoki Urasawa, story by Hokusei Katsushika and Takashi Nagasaki, translated and adapted by John Werry

03 Jul, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Absolute Favorites, Adult Readers, British, British Asian, Fiction, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Hapa/Mixed-race, Japanese, Translation, Young Adult Readers

Okay, I admit it: Master Keaton is my favorite new series. Luckily, Naoki Urasawa’s manga tend to go lonnnggggg (24 volumes of 20th-into-21st Century Boys, 18 volumes of Monster, and the shortest, eight-volumes of Pluto: Urasawa x Tezuka) so hopefully the good Master will keep me mightily satisfied for a...

The Ever After of Ashwin Rao by Padma Viswanathan [in Christian Science Monitor]

15 Jun, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Canadian, Canadian Asian Pacific American, Fiction, Indian, Indian American, Repost, South Asian American

The Ever After of Ashwin Rao explores grief that lingers long after the bombing of an airliner Two weeks short of the 19th anniversary of the bombing of Air India Flight 182 – which disintegrated off the Irish coast on June 23,1985 – psychologist Ashwin Rao...

Ghost Month [Taipei Night Market, Book 1] by Ed Lin

08 Jun, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Audio, Chinese American, Fiction, Taiwanese, Taiwanese American

Some strong suggestions first: 1. Don't read this hungry (just the phrase "Asian street food" will have many of you salivating); 2. Don't read this all alone at night. And, if you decide to 'read' by listening to narrator Feodor Chin, be further warned: he...

The Meursault Investigation by Kamel Daoud, translated by John Cullen [in Christian Science Monitor]

04 Jun, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, African, Arab, European, Fiction, French, Repost, Translation

The Meursault Investigation cleverly builds on The Stranger by Camus In a New Yorker interview this March, Algerian journalist Kamel Daoud spoke of reading the iconic 1942 classic, The Stranger by Albert Camus – in which a man arbitrarily commits murder and is tried and sentenced...

Ink and Ashes by Valynne Maetani + Author Interview [in Bloom]

03 Jun, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Author Interview/Profile, Fiction, Japanese American, Middle Grade Readers, Repost, Young Adult Readers

Having lived most of my life in cities, being temporarily stuck in a small ski resort town in the Wild West has been quite the challenge. Whenever I leave Dodge, I seem to take a good percentage of the diversity with me. When – shall...

Prophecy (vol. 3) by Tetsuya Tsutsui, translated by Kumar Sivasubramanian

29 May, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Fiction, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Japanese, Translation, Young Adult Readers

New readers, take note: Prophecy is a three-part series that needs to be read in order. No shortcuts, no interruptions. To catch up, go back here before continuing further. The final volume begins in the midst of an emergency call that should never have been made: “There...

A Perfect Crime by A Yi, translated by Anna Holmwood [in Library Journal]

18 May, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Chinese, Fiction, Repost, Translation

While most teenagers his age are assiduously studying for college entrance exams, the narrator instead plots the eponymous perfect crime. Sent away by his widowed mother, for whom he has little respect, he lives with his Auntie, a woman he "hates." She could have been...

Deogratias: A Tale of Rwanda by J.P. Stassen, translated by Alexis Siegel

17 Apr, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, African, European, Fiction, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Middle Grade Readers, Translation, Young Adult Readers

In Latin, Deo gratias, means 'thanks be to God.' And yet in Belgian graphic artist/author J.P. Stassen’s arresting title of the same name, gratitude and God have all but disappeared. The titular Deogratias here was once a teenage boy – mischievous, a little desperate, in love with...

Orhan’s Inheritance by Aline Ohanesian [in Christian Science Monitor]

09 Apr, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Armenian American, Fiction, Repost, Turkish

Orhan's Inheritance cleverly intertwines first love, ancient betrayal, secrets, and war crimes At age 8, Aline Ohanesian’s great-grandmother interrupted her seventh viewing of The Sound of Music with a promise: “I have a story, too.” That was the first and last time Ohanesian heard about her Nene’s...

Ruby by Cynthia Bond

24 Feb, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Audio, Black/African American, Fiction

How surprised was I to hear earlier this month that Oprah's latest Book Club 2.0 pick just happened to be on my iPod! I suppose the fact that I always have no fewer than a couple dozen books on my phone at all times makes...

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

21 Feb, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Audio, British, Fiction

It's on top of all the bestseller lists on both sides of the Pond and far beyond, as well. You've seen it in every bookshop window. It's incessantly compared to Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl. Dreamworks already claimed it for the big screen last year even before it hit...

Prophecy (vols. 1-2) by Tetsuya Tsutsui, translated by Kumar Sivasubramanian

20 Feb, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Fiction, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Japanese, Translation, Young Adult Readers

His user name is "paperboy_1878." He rents booths at various Pit Boy internet café branches. He wears a newspaper mask that covers his whole head and a t-shirt with a smart phone screen. He posts video warnings. And then he carries out his own vigilante...

The Accidental Apprentice by Vikas Swarup

09 Feb, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Audio, Fiction, Indian, South Asian

Trust me, you're just going to have to go with the impossible premise right up front. If you need a little help, you can choose to go audible, because expert narrator Sneha Mathan will surely help you believe. Go ahead, check your doubts: you'll be amply rewarded by career diplomat...

Broken Monsters by Lauren Beukes

07 Jan, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Audio, Black/African American, Fiction, Hapa/Mixed-race, Nonethnic-specific, South African

By about page 50 or within the first of 12 parts stuck in the ears (the multi-reader cast is absolutely superb, by the way), the whodunnit is pretty clear. That said, serial murder mystery this is, finding out whydunnit-and-howdunnit is the thrill ride you won't be...

Malice [Detective Kaga series] by Keigo Higashino, translated by Alexander O. Smith with Elye Alexander

06 Jan, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Audio, Fiction, Japanese, Translation

Just before Kumihiko Hidaka is to move from Tokyo to Vancouver, he's found in his home office ...

Master Keaton (vol. 1) by Naoki Urasawa, story by Hokusei Katsushika and Takashi Nagasaki, translated and adapted by Pookie Rolf

02 Jan, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Absolute Favorites, Adult Readers, British, British Asian, Fiction, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Hapa/Mixed-race, Japanese, Translation, Young Adult Readers

Goodbye to 2014. Whew! 2015 can only be better, thank you! What makes me so sure? Because among the many things to look forward to throughout the new year is a brand new Naoki Urasawa series-in-translation! How bereft was I when the 24-volume 20th-into-21st Century Boys ended almost two years ago. And...

The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters

30 Dec, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Audio, British, Fiction

The Great War is over, but tragedy and hunger still haunt 1922 London. On Champion Hill, the Wray family's once-upon-a-posh life has vanished; most notably, all the men are gone. The brothers became casualties of war, the father died leaving substantial debts, and the servants have been...

Attack on Titan (vols. 11-14) by Hajime Isayama, translated by Ko Ransom

16 Nov, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Fiction, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Japanese, Translation, Young Adult Readers

If this is the first time you're hearing about this worldwide phenomenon that is Attack on Titan, please pause and take the time to catch up. Trust me when I warn you that this is not a series that you can pick up midway; you’ll need and want to follow...

Attack on Titan (vols. 5-10) by Hajime Isayama, translated by Sheldon Drzka (vols. 5-8) and Ko Ransom (vols. 9-10)

14 Nov, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Fiction, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Japanese, Translation, Young Adult Readers

Publishers Weekly credits Attack on Titan with the recent manga rebound in the publishing industry. PW calls it "one of the best selling comics series in North America – yes, not just bestselling manga, best selling comic series, period." School Library Journal says Titan has "become one of the most...

In the Body of the World by Eve Ensler

11 Nov, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, African, Audio, Memoir, Nonethnic-specific, Nonfiction

To not stick this one in your ears would be such the missed opportunity. At just over four hours, this is undoubtedly longer than your usual theater performance, but with Eve Ensler herself so passionately narrating, her memoir transforms into a spectacular aural extravaganza. At 57, the woman...