This
is an excellent book that shows the life changes in two people: a woman who
learns to trust her own knowledge and instincts, and her son, who learns how to
both fend for himself and take on the responsibility for others.
The fact
that they both learn these lessons when he is accidentally swallowed by a large
whale (think Pinocchio rather than Ahab) adds a note of absurdity that is the
icing on the well-written cake.
Caught in a redundant housewife existence, Ann never leaves her beige suburban home, her schlubby do-nothing son Brian is directionless after graduating high-school, and it looks like nothing will ever change. But when Brian is swallowed by a whale and Ann receives a garbled phone call from him, she is determined to find that monstrous beast and rescue her son. Experts, her ex, the press-everyone thinks she's crazy-but she's committed to her worthy quest. Both Brian and Ann battle their skeptical inner voices in an inspiring journey of self-discovery, reinvention, survival, and sacrifice. As mother and son face epic adventures,…
This
novel illustrates a part of history I had no knowledge of: the story of Korean
immigrants to Japan and their families, who are never accepted as Japanese,
even after two and three generations.
In some ways, it’s a typical
immigration-based epic, but written elegantly and with characters that you
truly care about and who you truly want to succeed. I couldn’t put it down
until the end.
* The million-copy bestseller* * National Book Award finalist * * One of the New York Times's 10 Best Books of 2017 * * Selected for Emma Watson's Our Shared Shelf book club *
'This is a captivating book... Min Jin Lee's novel takes us through four generations and each character's search for identity and success. It's a powerful story about resilience and compassion' BARACK OBAMA.
Yeongdo, Korea 1911. In a small fishing village on the banks of the East Sea, a club-footed, cleft-lipped man marries a fifteen-year-old girl. The couple have one child, their beloved daughter Sunja. When Sunja…
This engrossing science fiction novel follows three
very different protagonists – from different backgrounds and different species
– and slowly, skillfully weaves their searches, their talents, and their experiences
together until it reaches a splendid and satisfying finale.
I haven’t read a
lot of straight science fiction recently (although it was once practically all
I read).
Still, this novel reminded me why I really love the genre, which it uses
to create believable and sympathetic characters that are simultaneously alien
and familiar.
'There are few who write science fiction like Ann Leckie can. There are few who ever could' John Scalzi
The mystery of a missing translator sets three lives on a collision course that will have a ripple effect across the stars in this powerful new novel by award-winning author Ann Leckie.Qven was created to be a Presger translator. The pride of their Clade, they always had a clear path before them: learn human ways, and eventually, make a match and serve as an intermediary between the dangerous alien Presger and the human worlds. The realization that they might want…
Months before World War I breaks out, two young Jewish girls just on the edge of adolescence—one from a bustling Russian city, the other from a German estate—meet in an eerie, magical forest glade.
They are immediately drawn to one another and swear an oath to meet again. Though war and an ocean will separate the two for the rest of their lives, the promise that they made to each other continues through the intertwined lives of their descendants.
This epic tale of the supernatural follows their families from the turn of the 20th Century through the terrors of the Holocaust, and ultimately to the wonders of a future they never could have imagined.
