FICTION
THE GOOD MAN: A NOVEL
By Edward Jae-Suk Lee (Bridge Works Publishing Company)
Undoubtedly, this 29-year-old author can write. His story is a little convoluted but well worth the read. Gabriel Guttman (in German, “Gutmann” is literally “good man”), a grisled Korean War veteran with one good eye, returns to the Montana sheep ranch of his youth. There he finds the Korean woman he rescued as penance for his participation in the war’s No Gun Ri massacre, her feisty daughter — and their troubled stories. In the tangled mess of their denied, tragic past, these three lost souls struggle to find the truth that will finally set them free.
THE NOODLE MAKER: A NOVEL
By Ma Jian, translated by Flora Drew (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
In the bleak, depressing decades after the Cultural Revolution and government corruptions of the Open Door Policy, a writer shares a weekly dinner with a professional blood donor. They recount their lives and talk deep through the night as the writer tells the very stories he dare not commit to pen and paper. In the sometimes odd and always intriguing, interconnected stories that follow, the writer’s unwritten creations include the young entrepreneur in charge of a prosperous cremation business, a frustrated suicidal actress, a has-been philandering editor and a professional letter writer.
POETRY
INDIAN LOVE POEMS
Selected and edited by Meena Alexander (Everyman’s Library/Random House)
This is one of those perfect little books that fit right in your pocket, to whip out when you have a few minutes to daydream. This slim volume offers bite-sized portions of love from the first to the 20th century that originate in areas ranging from the South Asian continent to the modern Indian diaspora everywhere.
THE ANCHOR BOOK OF CHINESE POETRY: FROM ANCIENT TO CONTEMPORARY, THE FULL 3000-YEAR TRADITION
Edited by Tony Barnstone and Chou Ping (Anchor Books/Random House)
Billed for “the general reader and student alike,” this compilation is a noteworthy introduction to “the essence of Chinese poetry.” Beginning with the Book of Songs (allegedly collected by Confucius himself) and ending with the poetry of National Book Award-winning author Ha Jin (who apparently helped find the book a publishing home), the collection even makes room for the fine voices of Chinese women. Now that’s progress!
NON-FICTION
A GUIDE TO THE JAPANESE STAGE: FROM TRADITIONAL TO CUTTING EDGE
By Ronald Cavaye, Paul Griffith, Akihiko Senda (Kodansha International)
The detailed, illustrated chapters on Kabuki, Bunraku and contemporary theater (with even a theater listings guide) make me wish this book was around when I was wandering the theaters of Tokyo as an often-befuddled graduate student …
GOOD LUCK LIFE: THE ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO CHINESE AMERICAN CELEBRATIONS AND CULTURE
By Rosemary Gong, foreword by Martin Yan (HarperCollins)
Everything you ever needed to know about celebrating the good life like a real Chinese American — from the new year to dragon boats to weddings and even funerals. And just in case you were wondering … Bill Gates is a Sheep and Arnie a Boar (no pun intended, of course).
THE HANDBOOK OF CHINESE HOROSCOPES
By Theodora Lau, calligraphy and illustrations by Kenneth Lau (HarperResource/HarperCollins)
In this updated 25th-anniversary edition of a how-to book on personal horoscopes, you’ll find a lot of “Uh-huh” and “Oh, wow — that’s so true!” going on. Lau even cross-tabulates Chinese horoscopes with astrological signs to give you a whole new look at who you really are!
CRUISING THE ANIME CITY: AN OTAKU GUIDE TO NEO TOKYO
By Patrick Macias and Tomohiro Machiyama (Stone Bridge Press)
If you understand the word “otaku” (and if you don’t, you’ll have to read this to find out), then this book’s for you: the first insider’s guide in English to where all the coolest manga, toys, anime, games and more can be found in the labyrinth that is 21st-century Tokyo. Grab it and go.
AN END TO SUFFERING: THE BUDDHA IN THE WORLD
By Pankaj Mishra (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
Novelist and essayist (and frequent New York Review of Books contributor) Mishra adds to the growing hybrid genre of memoir infused with history, philosophy and politics. What begins as a writing retreat to a tiny Himalayan village becomes a soul-searching personal journey to understand Buddhism — a search that proves both enlightening and elusive.
AND FOR THE KIDDIES …
MAYA RUNNING
By Anjali Banerjee (Wendy Lamb Books/Random House)
As the only South Asian in her middle school, Maya knows all about being different in her tiny Canadian town. She doesn’t speak Bengali; she’s at that awkward stage of pimples and endless limbs; she doesn’t want to move to California; and she’s madly in love with the coolest boy in her school who just might like her back. When her perfectly gorgeous cousin, Pinky, arrives from India to exacerbate Maya’s insecurities, Maya prays to Ganesh for help. She goes through a 13 Going on 30 sort of transformation, without the fast-forward, literally becoming an assertive, multilingual, overnight beauty. But then, getting her wishes granted is just the beginning to realizing what she really wants in life.
PAJAMAS ANYTIME
By Marsha Hayles, illustrated by Hiroe Nakata (G.P. Putnam’s Sons/Penguin)
Who doesn’t want to spend all day in their pajamas? Nakata superbly captures the energy of a little boy as he grows month to month, marking each memorable occasion — from a January snow day to a raucous New Year’s Eve — spent in his pajamas with leaping joy and endless playfulness.
IF YOU’LL BE MY VALENTINE
By Cynthia Rylant, illustrated by Fumi Kosaka (HarperCollins)
A small boy creates perfect little moments of love for everyone around him — for his pets, his siblings, his grandmother and, of course, his parents.
RED LAND YELLOW RIVER: A STORY FROM THE CULTURAL REVOLUTION
By Ange Zhang (Groundwood Books/Douglas & McIntyre)
A beautifully rendered, haunting autobiographical story about a young boy coming of age during China’s Cultural Revolution, a time marked with incomprehensible, dangerous, chaotic change. Absolutely breathtaking.