Don’t Cry, Tai Lake: A Chief Inspector Chen Novel by Qiu Xiaolong

On May 22, 2012, in Book Reviews, Fiction, Mystery, Thrillers & Suspense, by Editor

Chief Inspector Chen Cao of the Shanghai Police Department is offered a bit of luxury by friends and supporters within the Party – a week’s vacation at a luxurious resort near Lake Tai, a week where he can relax, and recover, undisturbed by outside demands or disruptions. Unfortunately, the once beautiful Lake Tai, renowned for its clear waters, is now covered by fetid algae, its waters polluted by toxic runoff from local manufacturing plants.

The Impossible State: North Korea, Past and Future by Victor Cha

On May 20, 2012, in Book Reviews, History, Nonfiction, Political, by Editor

With rare personal anecdotes from the author’s time in Pyongyang and his tenure as an adviser in the White House, this engagingly written, authoritative, and highly accessible history offers much-needed answers to the most pressing questions about North Korea and ultimately warns of a regime that might be closer to its end than many might think—a political collapse for which America and its allies may be woefully unprepared.

They Eat Puppies, Don’t They?: A Novel About Chinese Culinary Propensities by Christopher Buckley

On May 1, 2012, in Book Reviews, Fiction, by Editor

In an attempt to gain congressional approval for a top-secret weapons system, Washington lobbyist “Bird” McIntyre teams up with sexy, outspoken neocon Angel Templeton to pit the American public against the Chinese. When Bird fails to uncover an authentic reason to slander the nation, he and Angel put the Washington media machine to work, spreading a rumor that the Chinese secret service is working to assassinate the Dalai Lama.

Farther Away: Essays of Passion and Loss by Jonathan Franzen

On April 30, 2012, in Book Reviews, Essays, Nonfiction, by Editor

In Farther Away, which gathers together essays and speeches written mostly in the past five years, Franzen returns with renewed vigor to the themes, both human and literary, that have long preoccupied him. Whether recounting his violent encounter with bird poachers in Cyprus, examining his mixed feelings about the suicide of his friend and rival David Foster Wallace, or offering a moving and witty take on the ways that technology has changed how people express their love, these pieces deliver on Franzen’s implicit promise to conceal nothing.

An American Spy – International Thriller by Olen Steinhauer

On March 31, 2012, in Book Reviews, Fiction, Mystery, Thrillers & Suspense, by Editor

With An American Spy, Olen Steinhauer, by far the best espionage writer in a generation, delivers a searing international thriller that will settle once and for all who is pulling the strings and who is being played.

No Enemies, No Hatred: Selected Essays and Poems by Nobel Prize Laureate Xiaobo Liu

On February 19, 2012, in Book Reviews, Essays, Nonfiction, Poetry, by Editor

When the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded on December 10, 2010, its recipient, Liu Xiaobo, was in Jinzhou Prison, serving an eleven-year sentence for what Beijing called “incitement to subvert state power.”

Brave Dragons: A Chinese Basketball Team, an American Coach, and Two Cultures Clashing by Jim Yardley

On February 19, 2012, in Book Reviews, History, Nonfiction, Social Studies, Sports, Travel, by Editor

The wonderfully original story of a struggling Chinese basketball team and its quixotic, often comical attempt to right its fortunes by copying the American stars of the NBA—a season of cultural misunderstanding that transcends sports and reveals China’s ambivalent relationship with the West.

Autumn in the Heavenly Kingdom: China, the West, and the Epic Story of the Taiping Civil War by Stephen R. Platt

On February 7, 2012, in Book Reviews, History, Nonfiction, by Editor

A gripping account of China’s nineteenth-century Taiping Rebellion, one of the largest civil wars in history. Autumn in the Heavenly Kingdom brims with unforgettable characters and vivid re-creations of massive and often gruesome battles—a sweeping yet intimate portrait of the conflict that shaped the fate of modern China.

Ghost Hero: A Lydia Chin/Bill Smith Novel by S. J. Rozan

On December 11, 2011, in Book Reviews, Fiction, Mystery, Thrillers & Suspense, by Editor

American-Born Chinese PI Lydia Chin is called in on what appears to be a simple case. Jeff Dunbar, art world insider, wants her to track down a rumor. Contemporary Chinese painting is sizzling hot on the art scene and no one is hotter than Chau Chun, known as the Ghost Hero.

The Emperor’s Tomb: A Novel by Steve Berry

On September 8, 2011, in Book Reviews, Fiction, Mystery, Thrillers & Suspense, by Editor

Former Justice Department operative Cotton Malone has received an anonymous note carrying an unfamiliar Web address. Logging on, he’s shocked to see Cassiopeia Vitt, a woman who’s saved his life more than once, being tortured at the hands of a mysterious man who has a single demand: Bring me the artifact she’s asked you to keep safe.