Malla Nunn
A brief but revealing Q&A with Malla Nunn, author of A Beautiful Place to Die, the first in a new series set in 1950s South Africa starring Detective Emmanuel Cooper.
Kate DiCamillo
Kate DiCamillo and Yoko Tanaka, the illustrator of The Magician's Elephant, discuss the writing and illustrating of the book. In a separate Q&A, Kate discusses The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane.
Brigid Pasulka
Brigid Pasulka explains why she wrote her first novel, A Long, Long Time Ago and Essentially True, which is set in Poland during World War II, and in Kraków 50 years later.
An Arab-American novel as delicious as Like Water for Chocolate.
Praised by critics from The New Yorker to USA Today for her first novel, Arabian Jazz ("an oracular tale that unfurls like gossamer"), Diana Abu-Jaber weaves with spellbinding magic a multidimensional love story set in the Arab-American community of Los Angeles.
Thirty-nine-year-old Sirine, never married, lives with a devoted Iraqi-immigrant uncle and an adoring dog named King Babar. She works as a chef in a Lebanese restaurant, her passions aroused only by the preparation of food—until an unbearably handsome Arabic literature professor starts dropping by for a little home cooking. Falling in love brings Sirene's whole heart to a boil—stirring up memories of her parents and questions about her identity as an Arab American.
Written in a lush, lyrical style reminiscent of The God of Small Things, infused with the flavors and scents of Middle Eastern food, and spiced with history and fable, Crescent is a sensuous love story and a gripping tale of risk and commitment.
Book Reviews
Library Journal
Wise, spirited, and evocative, this work offers an ardent look at the human side of political cant.
Publishers Weekly
[A] beautifully imagined and timely novel.
Booklist
Starred Review. Abu-Jaber's language is miraculous ... It is not possible to stop reading.
Kirkus Reviews
A powerful story about the loneliness of exile and the limits of love. An impressive second outing by Abu-Jaber.
Orlando Sentinel
A pleasing hybrid of Like Water for Chocolate and Haroun and the Sea of Stories.
The Baltimore Sun - John Muncie Crescent is a rich, delicious concoction that has you rooting for the star-crossed lovers.
Chicago Tribune - Beth Kephart
Radiant, wise and passionate ... a book written by an author who never for an instant relinquished her grip on this willingly enchanted reader.
Oregonian - Andrea Spencer
[A] lovely tale ... an urgent mix of Scheherazade-style storytelling and treatise on the loneliness of exile.
Vanity Fair
A deliciously romantic romp.
San Francisco Chronicle
Abu-Jaber's voluptuous prose features insights into the Arab-American community that are wisely, warmly depicted.
Christian Science Monitor
Exquisite ... Readers stuffed on headlines but still hungering for something relevant will enjoy this rich meal.
Sigrid Nunez
It is a story about how to cook and how to eat, and how to live in the new country. And, like all good novels, it is about how to tell a story.
Connie May Fowler
Lush, poignant, and searing ... unfolds with all the startling beauty of a hidden garden.
Sena Jeter Naslund
Abu-Jaber affirms the precious fragility of life, love, family, and the human community in meaningful ways.
Naomi Shihab Nye
Abu-Jaber is a high-spirited, magnificently graceful storyteller, a poet of deliciously fluted fiction, character, and culture.
A spellbinding novel that spans the Victorian era through the World War I years, and centers around a famous children's book author and the passions, betrayals, and secrets that tear apart the people she loves.
A novel on the anxiety and disconnection of post-9/11 America, on the insidiousness of racism, the blind-sidedness of war, and the recklessness thrust on others in the name of love.
Jeannette Walls's memoir The Glass Castle was "nothing short of spectacular" (Entertainment Weekly). Now, in Half Broke Horses, she brings us the story of her grandmother, told in a first-person voice that is authentic, irresistible, and triumphant.
A gripping and fascinating adventure of one young girl's obsession with knowing who her parents really were/are. The delving into the idea of ...
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I borrowed Johnathan Strange and Mr. Norrell from the library, hoping it would be a lively story of two feuding wizards. Instead, the author spends ...
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Borders to close 200 Waldenbooks outlets(Nov 06 2009) As Barnes & Noble prepares to close all but two of their B. Dalton mall stores by January 2010, Borders announced that they will close about 200 of the...
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NPR & ABA Partner to Share Book Coverage(Nov 05 2009) In a joining of like minds, NPR and ABA have partnered to provide thoughtful bestsellers and unique book coverage to readers, both on NPR.org and...
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Crescent
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