BookDragon Religious differences Tag

Boxers & Saints by Gene Luen Yang, color by Lark Pien

20 Sep, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Chinese, Chinese American, Fiction, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Young Adult Readers

In 2006, Gene Luen Yang made major literary headlines when his then-debut, American Born Chinese, became (not without controversy, ahem!) the first-ever graphic novel nominated for a National Book Award. [Click here for my 2007 post-NBA interview with Yang.] Released earlier this month, Yang's two-volume Boxers &...

An Infidel in Paradise by S.J. Laidlaw

13 Aug, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Canadian, Fiction, Middle Grade Readers, Pakistani, Young Adult Readers

Emma is hardly the typical Canadian teenager. At 16, she's lived all over the world, thanks to her career diplomat mother, who Emma currently blames for all the latest terrible events in her life: she's in yet another new country – this time Pakistan with some...

The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker

12 Aug, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Audio, European, Fiction, Nonethnic-specific

Magic happens when narrator George Guidall says "and yet ...

A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry

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

Reading four novels, each set in a major Indian city, one after another over a single week or so, has made the stories feel as if they might overlap, dovetail, conflate, creating quite the enriching literary experience. In the midst of A Fine Balance, I...

Templar by Jordan Mechner, illustrated by LeUyen Pham & Alex Puvilland, color by Hilary Sycamore and Alex Campbell

05 Jul, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, European, Fiction, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Nonethnic-specific, Vietnamese American, Young Adult Readers

Ready for some swashbuckling adventure ...

The Blind Man’s Garden by Nadeem Aslam + Author Interview [in Bookslut]

01 Jul, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Afghan, Author Interview/Profile, British, British Asian, Fiction, Pakistani, Repost

From the opening few pages of reading a Nadeem Aslam novel, I knew his writing was something to treasure and behold. Serendipitously, I used my then-day job to bring the Pakistan-born, British-educated-and-domiciled Aslam over the Pond to be a featured guest at the then-annual South...

The Blind Man’s Garden by Nadeem Aslam

16 May, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Afghan, British, British Asian, Fiction, Pakistani

Who needs films when writers like Nadeem Aslam can create such eloquent canvases that no celluloid could ever hope to project? Blind Man's Garden takes you deep into the tragic 'war on terror' and shows you the very lives of the individuals who must live...

Religion for Atheists: A Non-Believer’s Guide to the Uses of Religion by Alain de Botton

30 Apr, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Audio, British, Nonethnic-specific, Nonfiction

I refer to myself as a 'recovering Catholic,' and yet I can't stay out of churches for long. I enter as a tourist – admiration for architecture seems to be genetically coded into our extended family – but I linger to breathe deeply, clear the mind temporarily,...

Zeitoun by Dave Eggers

16 Apr, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Audio, Nonfiction, Syrian American

Clearly I waited too long to read this book, even though it sat ready on my shelves and on my iPod for years. Before I lament further, you should know that if you choose to go audible, Firdous Bamji doesn't disappoint; he remains one of the...

Between the Assassinations by Aravind Adiga

11 Apr, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Audio, British Asian, Fiction, Indian, Short Stories

For fans of Aravind Adiga's unforgettable 2008 Booker Prized first novel, The White Tiger, who were perhaps not as enthralled with his 2011 follow-up, Last Man in Tower, might I suggest you look backward a few more years to his very first book? Introduced to eager readers just after Adiga's Booker...

Jerusalem: A Family Portrait by Boaz Yakin and Nick Bertozzi, based on a story by Boaz Yakin and Moni Yakin, with art director Chris Sinderson

05 Apr, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Israeli, Jewish, Memoir, Middle Eastern, Nonfiction, Young Adult Readers

Some years back, during a discussion about what was then the latest tragic news coming out of the Middle East, a friend's mother softly remarked about the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, "The absolute worst arguments happen among families." She (the widow of conservative rabbi) was referring specifically...

The Wasted Vigil by Nadeem Aslam

27 Mar, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Afghan, Audio, British, British Asian, Fiction

In both content and form, The Wasted Vigil is a book of extremes. For readers who have experienced Nadeem Aslam before (and the apt word really is 'experience'), you'll recognize (and be awed by) his mesmerizing prose ...

Odette’s Secrets by Maryann Macdonald

27 Feb, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in European, Fiction, Middle Grade Readers, Nonethnic-specific, Poetry, Verse Novel/Nonfiction, Young Adult Readers

I'm compelled to start backwards with a number: 84. As children's writer (more than 25 times over) Maryann Macdonald explains in her ending "Author's Note," 84% of French children survived the horrors of World War II; in fact, "more children survived in France than in any other...

Message to Adolf (Part 2) by Osamu Tezuka, translated by Kumar Sivasubramanian

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

Official word of warning: this is NOT your kiddies' manga. Both in subject matter and graphics, Message is definitely for mature audiences. So if you have younger ones in the house, be careful not to leave the book lying around. The "godfather of manga" has...

A Kid’s Guide to Arab American History: More Than 50 Activities by Yvonne Wakim Dennis and Maha Addasi

12 Feb, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Arab American, Children/Picture Books, Middle Grade Readers, Nonfiction

Here's a common occurrence at our house: I can't go to bed without a book, which usually means I'm a constant barrage of 'Did you know that ...

The City of Devi by Manil Suri + Author Interview [in Bookslut]

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

Let's go back about seven years. So a writer walks into a bar. It's dark, but thankfully not smoky. The majority of the people there are more bookish (including Booker-ish!) than biker brutish. The writer finds a drink, and is standing slightly off the side with...

House of Stone: A Memoir of Home, Family, and a Lost Middle East by Anthony Shadid

14 Jan, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Lebanese, Lebanese American, Memoir, Middle Eastern, Nonfiction

The late Anthony Shadid is back in the headlines today with happy news: the double-Pulitzer winner's resonating memoir is one of the autobiography finalists for the National Book Circle Critics awards for the publishing year of 2012. House of Stone recounts Shadid's restoration of his great-grandfather's home...

The Book of Jonas by Stephen Dau

03 Jan, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Audio, Fiction, Middle Eastern, Nonethnic-specific, Young Adult Readers

Need the verdict first? READ THIS. Stephen Dau's The Book of Jonas is one of those rare, shattering, lingering, breathtaking-at-unexpected-moments debut novels that arrive so perfectly formed you're left both haunted (wondering what you could possibly read next to dispel the terror) and grateful (utterly so, that...

Distant View of a Minaret by Alifa Rifaat, translated by Denys Johnson-Davis

23 Dec, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Egyptian, Fiction, Short Stories, Translation

Given the monumental (continuous) changes post-Arab Spring, my recent (ongoing) search for women’s voices before and after led me to an unusual writer who defies many expectations of what it means to be internationally literary: Alifa Rifaat lives and works in a traditional Egyptian Muslim...

The Perfect Flower Girl by Taghred Chandab, illustrated by Binny Talib

22 Dec, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Australian, Children/Picture Books, Fiction, Lebanese

Awww ...