|
After Dark
Haruki Murakami (Tr. Jay Rubin) (Knopf, c2007)
Shelf Number: Fiction/MUR
This, Murakami’s 12th work of fiction is darkly entertaining and takes place over seven hours of a Tokyo night. The events of the three loosely related stories happen between midnight and dawn. The stories are linked by magical-realism, absurd coincidences and end with an ambiguous, mostly upbeat denouement. |
| d |
|
A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers
Xiaolu Guo (N.A. Talese/Doubleday, c2007)
Shelf Number: Fiction/GUO
This debut novel is an original story about learning a new language and dealing with culture shock. A 23-year-old woman from rural China arrives in London, dispatched there by her parents to get an education. She learns among other things how to comprehend love and heartbreak in English. |
d |
|
The Devil’s Whisper
Miyuki Miyabe (Tr. Deborah Iwabuchi) (Kodansha Int., c2007)
Shelf Number: Mystery/MIY
Miyabe is Japan’s number one bestselling mystery author. This atmospheric, intriguing and emotionally satisfying novel of suspense should earn the author new fans in the U.S. With both of his parents dead Mamoru Kusaka must start a new life with relatives in Tokyo. When his uncle, a taxi driver, runs over a young woman and is arrested, Mamoru tries to help his uncle and stumbles upon evidence that the victim may have been fleeing the person responsible for two other recent strange deaths. Mamoru is an engaging amateur sleuth, and mystery readers should enjoy this eerie tale. |
| a |
 |
The Eye of Jade: A Novel
Diane Wei Liang (Simon & Schuster, c2008)
Shelf Number: Fiction/LIA
This debut novel introduces a new mystery series featuring an unforgettable female detective in modern Beijing. Her search for a missing artifact leads to the discovery of the dishonorable secrets of her nation’s culture, and her family’s past. The scenes of challenging family life complement the puzzle of the missing jade and the shifting Chinese political climate. |
| a |
 |
A Free Life
Ha Jin (Pantheon, c2007)
Shelf Number: Fiction/JIN
Acclaimed and award-winning author Ha Jin in this new novel re-imagines the American immigrant saga. This is the story of Nan Wu who drops out of a U.S. grad school after the repression of the democracy movement in China. He is hoping to find his voice as a poet, but after several years of penny-pinching the Wu family has enough money to buy a Chinese restaurant in suburban Atlanta. This sounds the death knell for Nan’s literary hopes. |
| a |
 |
I Have the Right to Destroy Myself
Young-ha Kim (Harcourt, c2007)
Shelf Number: Fiction/KIM
This first novel by Korean novelist Kim is about a calculating young man who makes a business of helping his clients commit suicide. This mesmerizing novel is bleak, chilling and economically written. |
| a |
| Click here to view printable version. |
Back to Spotlight On..... 
