Elena Ferrante

Ann Goldstein

Light Paperback (1 lb or less)

Massachusetts

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The Washington Post * O, The Oprah Magazine * TIME Magazine * NPR * Financial Times * New York Post * Kirkus Reviews * Harper's Bazaar AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * A NATIONAL INDIE BESTELLER In this powerful novel set in a divided Naples by Elena Ferrante, the New York Times best-selling author of My Brilliant Friend, fourteen-year-old Giovanna is searching for her reflection in two kindred cities that fear and detest one another: Naples of the heights, which wears a mask of refinement, and Naples of the depths, a place of excess and vulgarity, where her guide is the unforgettable Aunt Vittoria. With this new novel about the passage from childhood to adolescence to adulthood, Ferrante gives her readers another gripping, highly addictive, Neapolitan story. "Another spellbinding coming-of-age tale from a master."--People Magazine

The Lying Life of Adults

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Adania Shibli

Paula Haydar

A Simon & Schuster eBook. Simon & Schuster has a great book for every reader.

Touch

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Ao Omae

Emily Balistrieri

Hardcover (1 to 2 lbs)

Stories

A fresh, thoughtful, and always surprising short story collection from a rising young star in the world of Japanese literature.

Composed of the title novella and three short stories, People Who Talk to Stuffed Animals Are Nice sensitively explores gender, friendship, romance, love, human interaction and its absence, and how a misogynistic society limits women and men.

In the title story, Nanamori and Mugito, two university students appalled by society's gendered roles, rebel. Refusing to interact with other people they use stuffed toys for emotional support. Unlike Nanamori and Mugito, their fellow plushie society member Shiraki does not talk to plushies. Pragmatic, she accepts the status quo that boys sometimes make nasty jokes; she believes their behavior resembles the real world.

In "Realizing Fun Things Through Water," a young woman named Hatsuoka must contend with a mother-in-law who swears by cancer-preventing "hyper-organization" water, and a sister who writes fake news for a living. "Bath Towel Visuals" illuminates the mental cost of not just laughing along at mean humor, while "Hello, Thank You I'm Okay" follows a family's response when their shut-in son announces he wants to throw himself a birthday party.

Written in brisk and gentle prose, Ao Omae's stories capture the subtleties and complexities of his characters' inner world, individuals struggling to conform in an inflexible society little tolerant of difference. These stories, sometimes comical, sometimes bittersweet, and always thought-provoking, speak to the pain and desires of all who embrace nuance, repudiate traditional sex roles, and long for a gentler and more tolerant world.

People Who Talk to Stuffed Animals Are Nice

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Lisa Taddeo

“Raw and searching...Taddeo returns with more ruthless explorations of the feminine mystique.” —Entertainment Weekly, “The Best New Books of the Month” * “Provocative.” —Los Angeles Times From the #1 New York Times bestselling and award-winning author of Three Women and “our most eloquent and faithful chronicler of human desire” (Esquire), comes an electrifying collection of nine fearless and ferocious short stories. Behind anonymous screens, an army of cool and beautiful girls manage the dating service Ghost Lover, a forwarding system for text messages that promises to spare you the anguish of trying to stay composed while communicating with your crush. At a star-studded political fundraiser in a Los Angeles mansion, a trio of women compete to win the heart of the slick guest of honor. In a tense hospital waiting room, an inseparable pair of hard-partying friends crash into life’s responsibilities, but the magic of their glory days comes alive again at the moment they least expect it. In these nine riveting stories—which include two Pushcart Prize winners and a finalist for the National Magazine Award—Lisa Taddeo brings to life the fever of obsession, the blindness of love, and the mania of grief. Featuring Taddeo’s arresting prose that continues to thrill her legions of fans, Ghost Lover dares you to look away.

Ghost Lover

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Vanessa Montgomery

A Simple Guide to Astrology for the Modern Mystic

Become a better modern mystic with the help of this invaluable handbook. Through easy-to-follow chapters, it breaks down all you need to know in order to read your own astrological chart, from the movement and meaning of the plants to understanding what your birth chart reveals about you. It will show you how to make sense of the houses and aspects, allow you to track future planetary shifts and explain how these can help you know more about yourself, your life and your future self. You'll find out which start sign you're compatible with, how the universe impacts your approach to love, wealth, creativity and careers, and ultimately learn to take cosmic control of your universe.

Star Power

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Elaine Hsieh Chou

A Novel

A NEW YORK TIMES EDITORS' CHOICE SELECTION * A MALALA BOOK CLUB PICK * AN INDIE NEXT PICK * A FAVORITE BOOK OF 2022 BY NPR AND BOOK RIOT * A MUST-READ MARCH 2022 BOOK BY TIME, VANITY FAIR, EW AND THE CHICAGO REVIEW OF BOOKS * A MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK OF 2022 BY GOODREADS, NYLON, BUZZFEED AND MORE

A Taiwanese American woman's coming-of-consciousness ignites eye-opening revelations and chaos on a college campus in this outrageously hilarious and startlingly tender debut novel.

Twenty-nine-year-old PhD student Ingrid Yang is desperate to finish her dissertation on the late canonical poet Xiao-Wen Chou and never read about "Chinese-y" things again. But after years of grueling research, all she has to show for her efforts are junk food addiction and stomach pain. When she accidentally stumbles upon a curious note in the Chou archives one afternoon, she convinces herself it's her ticket out of academic hell.
 
But Ingrid's in much deeper than she thinks. Her clumsy exploits to unravel the note's message lead to an explosive discovery, upending not only her sheltered life within academia but her entire world beyond it. With her trusty friend Eunice Kim by her side and her rival Vivian Vo hot on her tail, together they set off a roller coaster of mishaps and misadventures, from book burnings and OTC drug hallucinations, to hot-button protests and Yellow Peril 2.0 propaganda.
 
In the aftermath, nothing looks the same to Ingrid--including her gentle and doting fiancé, Stephen Greene. When he embarks on a book tour with the super kawaii Japanese author he's translated, doubts and insecurities creep in for the first time... As the events Ingrid instigated keep spiraling, she'll have to confront her sticky relationship to white men and white institutions--and, most of all, herself.
 
For readers of Paul Beatty's The Sellout and Charles Yu's Interior Chinatown, this uproarious and bighearted satire is a blistering send-up of privilege and power in America, and a profound reckoning of individual complicity and unspoken rage. In this electrifying debut novel from a provocative new voice, Elaine Hsieh Chou asks who gets to tell our stories--and how the story changes when we finally tell it ourselves.

Disorientation

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Hiromi Kawakami

Allison Markin Powell

This "gentle, humorous novel" follows a young Japanese woman as she yearns for the love of a reluctant coworker (The Wall Street Journal).

The objects for sale at the Nakano Thrift Shop appear as commonplace as the staff and customers who handle them. But like those staff and customers, they hold many secrets. If examined carefully, they show the signs of innumerable extravagances, of immeasurable pleasure and pain, and of the deep mysteries of the human heart.Hitomi, the inexperienced young woman who works the register, has fallen for her coworker, the oddly reserved Takeo. Unsure of how to attract his attention, she seeks advice from her employer's sister, Masayo, whose sentimental entanglements make her a somewhat unconventional guide. But thanks in part to Masayo, Hitomi will come to realize that love, desire, and intimacy require acceptance not only of idiosyncrasies but also of the delicate waltz between open and hidden secrets, in this novel from the author of Strange Weather in Tokyo that "captures an untranslatable Japanese mood" (The New York Times).

"Uses a series of vignettes to chronicle a girl's time working at Mr. Nakano's secondhand store in Tokyo . . . Pleasant, leisurely prose."--Publishers Weekly

"Hiromi Kawakami's charming novel illuminates moments of kindness, love and friendship that pop up like the unexpected treasures amid the shop's dusty collection of pretty mismatched bowls and plates, castoff eyeglasses, task lamps and old electric fans."--Minneapolis Star-Tribune

The Nakano Thrift Shop

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Ruth Ozeki

Paperback (1 to 2 lbs)

A novelist on a remote island in the Pacific is linked to a bullied and depressed Tokyo teenager after discovering a Hello Kitty lunchbox that washed ashore.

A Tale for the Time Being

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Jessa Maxwell

"When production for the tenth season of the hit cooking competition Bake Week begins at the gothic estate of the show's host and founder, celebrity chef Betsy Martin, everything seems normal. The six contestants are eager to prove their culinary talents over the course of five days, while Betsy struggles for control of the show with her new co-host, the brash and unpredictable Archie Morris. But as the baking competition gets under way, things begin to go awry. At first it's merely sabotage-sugar replaced with salt, a burner turned to high-but then someone shows up dead and suddenly everyone's a suspect"--

The Golden Spoon

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Makoto Shinkai

Naruki Nagakawa

Ginny Tapley Takemori

A collection of four interrelated, stream-of-consciousness short stories follows women and their cat companions as they explore the frailty of life, the pain of isolation, and the limits of communication.

She and Her Cat

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Scott Rutherford

William Matsuzaki

Useful Phrases + Travel Tips + Etiquette + Manga

This travel-sized 4 x 7 inch book is a combination Japanese phrasebook, Japanese travel guide and Japanese etiquette guide.

Packed with expressions and information for every travel situation, Japanese for Travelers Phrasebook & Dictionary helps you to get around and communicate more effectively during your time in Japan. This book includes hundreds of tips and phrases for the following situations:
 * Meeting people
 * Asking directions
 * Shopping and asking about prices
 * Ordering food and drinks
 * Getting connected to the Internet
 * Taking a subway, bus or taxi
 * Asking for help
 * Daily conversations

Helpful illustrations demystify Japan's complicated rail system and provide handy information on ferry travel as well. The text offers tips on where to look for a cheap, comfortable night's sleep (you'd be surprised), to whom not to stand behind when in line at customs, as well as essential things to purchase for your Japan trip before you leave your home country and how to say you do not eat fugu (poisonous pufferfish!).

About this new, updated edition:
 * New manga illustrations
 * New phrases for technology, checking in for a flight, baggage claim and more!
 * Japanese script and Romaji have been added for all phrases
 * Suggestions for downloading useful apps to make travel around Japan easier

Japanese for Travelers Phrasebook and Dictionary

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Paul Norbury

The Essential Guide to Customs and Culture

"The essential guide to customs & culture"--Cover.

Culture Smart! Japan

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Max Gross





WINNER OF THE NATIONAL JEWISH BOOK AWARD AND THE JEWISH FICTION AWARD FROM THE ASSOCIATION OF JEWISH LIBRARIES

GOOD MORNING AMERICA MUST READ NEW BOOKS * NEW YORK POST BUZZ BOOKS * THE MILLIONS MOST ANTICIPATED

A remarkable debut novel--written with the fearless imagination of Michael Chabon and the piercing humor of Gary Shteyngart--about a small Jewish village in the Polish forest that is so secluded no one knows it exists . . . until now.

What if there was a town that history missed

For decades, the tiny Jewish shtetl of Kreskol existed in happy isolation, virtually untouched and unchanged. Spared by the Holocaust and the Cold War, its residents enjoyed remarkable peace. It missed out on cars, and electricity, and the internet, and indoor plumbing. But when a marriage dispute spins out of control, the whole town comes crashing into the twenty-first century.

Pesha Lindauer, who has just suffered an ugly, acrimonious divorce, suddenly disappears. A day later, her husband goes after her, setting off a panic among the town elders. They send a woefully unprepared outcast named Yankel Lewinkopf out into the wider world to alert the Polish authorities.

 Venturing beyond the remote safety of Kreskol, Yankel is confronted by the beauty and the ravages of the modern-day outside world - and his reception is met with a confusing mix of disbelief, condescension, and unexpected kindness. When the truth eventually surfaces, his story and the existence of Kreskol make headlines nationwide. 

Returning Yankel to Kreskol, the Polish government plans to reintegrate the town that time forgot. Yet in doing so, the devious origins of its disappearance come to the light. And what has become of the mystery of Pesha and her former husband Divided between those embracing change and those clinging to its old world ways, the people of Kreskol will have to find a way to come together . . .  or risk their village disappearing for good.

The Lost Shtetl

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Alka Joshi

 A NEW NOVEL BY THE AUTHOR OF THE HENNA ARTIST,  A REESE'S BOOK CLUB PICK



Good Morning America's "27 Books for June"

 

PopSugar's Best Summer Reads of 2021 



In New York Times bestselling author Alka Joshi's intriguing new novel, henna artist Lakshmi arranges for her protégé, Malik, to intern at the Jaipur Palace in this tale rich in character, atmosphere, and lavish storytelling.



It's the spring of 1969, and Lakshmi, now married to Dr. Jay Kumar, directs the Healing Garden in Shimla. Malik has finished his private school education. At twenty, he has just met a young woman named Nimmi when he leaves to apprentice at the Facilities Office of the Jaipur Royal Palace. Their latest project: a state-of-the-art cinema.



Malik soon finds that not much has changed as he navigates the Pink City of his childhood. Power and money still move seamlessly among the wealthy class, and favors flow from Jaipur's Royal Palace, but only if certain secrets remain buried. When the cinema's balcony tragically collapses on opening night, blame is placed where it is convenient. But Malik suspects something far darker and sets out to uncover the truth. As a former street child, he always knew to keep his own counsel; it's a lesson that will serve him as he untangles a web of lies.



"Captivated me from the first chapter to the last page." --Reese Witherspoon on The Henna Artist

The Secret Keeper of Jaipur

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Anna Burns

Winner of the Man Booker Prize “Everything about this novel rings true. . . . Original, funny, disarmingly oblique and unique.”—The Guardian In an unnamed city, middle sister stands out for the wrong reasons. She reads while walking, for one. And she has been taking French night classes downtown. So when a local paramilitary known as the milkman begins pursuing her, she suddenly becomes “interesting,” the last thing she ever wanted to be. Despite middle sister’s attempts to avoid him—and to keep her mother from finding out about her maybe-boyfriend—rumors spread and the threat of violence lingers. Milkman is a story of the way inaction can have enormous repercussions, in a time when the wrong flag, wrong religion, or even a sunset can be subversive. Told with ferocious energy and sly, wicked humor, Milkman establishes Anna Burns as one of the most consequential voices of our day.

Milkman

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Donna Tartt

Heavy Paperback (2 to 4 lbs)

Richard Papen, a relatively impoverished student at a New England college, falls in with an exclusive clique of rich, worldly Greek scholars and soon learns the dreadful secret that keeps them together. Reader's Guide included. Reprint. 50,000 first printing.

The Secret History

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A NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER



A REESE WITHERSPOON x HELLO SUNSHINE BOOK CLUB PICK



"Captivated me from the first chapter to the final page."--Reese Witherspoon



Vivid and compelling in its portrait of one woman's struggle for fulfillment in a society pivoting between the traditional and the modern, The Henna Artist opens a door into a world that is at once lush and fascinating, stark and cruel.



Escaping from an abusive marriage, seventeen-year-old Lakshmi makes her way alone to the vibrant 1950s pink city of Jaipur. There she becomes the most highly requested henna artist--and confidante--to the wealthy women of the upper class. But trusted with the secrets of the wealthy, she can never reveal her own...



Known for her original designs and sage advice, Lakshmi must tread carefully to avoid the jealous gossips who could ruin her reputation and her livelihood. As she pursues her dream of an independent life, she is startled one day when she is confronted by her husband, who has tracked her down these many years later with a high-spirited young girl in tow--a sister Lakshmi never knew she had. Suddenly the caution that she has carefully cultivated as protection is threatened. Still she perseveres, applying her talents and lifting up those that surround her as she does.



"Eloquent and moving...Joshi masterfully balances a yearning for self-discovery with the need for familial love."--Publishers Weekly



Look for The Secret Keeper of Jaipur and The Perfumist of Paris from New York Times bestselling author Alka Joshi!

The Henna Artist

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Scott W. Morton

Once a star of postwar industrial production and methods,Japan has encountered serious trouble with market forces in recent years. Social changes and departures from tradition are becoming more common in this conservative country. The revised edition of the popular work, Japan: Its History and Culture, Fourth Edition, documents and explains these changes. Seamlessly blending current events, politics, and cultural elements, the authors provide a riveting account of a nation often misunderstood by the West.

Japan: Its History and Culture

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Thomas O'Malley

Phillip Tang

Lonely Planet : Pocket guides for quick, easy and accessible information for a short break. Fashion- and technology-forward but also deeply traditional, this dynamic city mashes up palaces, temples, cutting-edge design and mountain trails, all to a nonstop K-Pop beat. Pull-out city map. Full-colour, pocket-sized guidebook. The city's best walking tours.

Lonely Planet Pocket Seoul 2

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Min Jin Lee

NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST * A NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW TOP TEN OF THE YEAR * NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF 2017 *A USA TODAY TOP TEN OF 2017 Roxane Gay's Favorite Book of 2017, Washington Post NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * #1 BOSTON GLOBE BESTSELLER * USA TODAY BESTSELLER In this gorgeous, page-turning saga, four generations of a poor Korean immigrant family fight to control their destiny in 20th-century Japan, exiled from a home they never knew. "There could only be a few winners, and a lot of losers. And yet we played on, because we had hope that we might be the lucky ones." In the early 1900s, teenaged Sunja, the adored daughter of a crippled fisherman, falls for a wealthy stranger at the seashore near her home in Korea. He promises her the world, but when she discovers she is pregnant--and that her lover is married--she refuses to be bought. Instead, she accepts an offer of marriage from a gentle, sickly minister passing through on his way to Japan. But her decision to abandon her home, and to reject her son's powerful father, sets off a dramatic saga that will echo down through the generations. Richly told and profoundly moving, Pachinko is a story of love, sacrifice, ambition, and loyalty. From bustling street markets to the halls of Japan's finest universities to the pachinko parlors of the criminal underworld, Lee's complex and passionate characters--strong, stubborn women, devoted sisters and sons, fathers shaken by moral crisis--survive and thrive against the indifferent arc of history. *Includes reading group guide*

Pachinko (National Book Award Finalist)

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Marie Kondo

A Magical Story

"A graphic novel to spark joy in life, work, and love"--Cover.

The Life-Changing Manga of Tidying Up

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Banana Yoshimoto

Michael Emmerich

Demonstrating again the artful simplicity and depth of her vision, Banana Yoshimoto reestablishes her place as a writer of international stature in a book that may be her most delightful since Kitchen.

In Asleep, Yoshimoto spins the stories of three young women bewitched into a spiritual sleep. One, mourning for a lost lover, finds herself sleepwalking at night. Another, who has embarked on a relationship with a man whose wife is in a coma, finds herself suddenly unable to stay awake. A third finds her sleep haunted by a woman against whom she was once pitted in a love triangle. Sly and mystical as a ghost story, with a touch of Kafkaesque surrealism, Asleep is an enchanting new book from one of the best writers in contemporary international fiction.


Asleep

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Julia Phillips

"One August afternoon, on the shoreline of the Kamchatka peninsula at the northeastern edge of Russia, two sisters, eight and eleven, go missing. In the ensuing months the police investigation turns up nothing. Echoes of the disappearance reverberate across a tightly woven community, with the fear and loss felt most deeply among its women. Connected by the crime: a witness, a neighbor, a detective, a mother. Social and ethnic tensions have long simmered in the region, and outsiders are often the first to be accused..."--Provided by publisher.

Disappearing Earth

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Elisa Shua Dusapin

Aneesa Abbas Higgins

From the author of Winter in Sokcho, Winner of the 2021 National Book Award for Translated Literature.

The days are beginning to draw in. The sky is dark by seven in the evening. I lie on the floor and gaze out of the window. Women's calves, men's shoes, heels trodden down by the weight of bodies borne for too long.

It is summer in Tokyo. Claire finds herself dividing her time between tutoring twelve-year-old Mieko, in an apartment in an abandoned hotel, and lying on the floor at her grandparents': daydreaming, playing Tetris, and listening to the sounds from the street above. The heat rises; the days slip by.

The plan is for Claire to visit Korea with her grandparents. They fled the civil war there over fifty years ago, along with thousands of others, and haven't been back since. When they first arrived in Japan, they opened Shiny, a pachinko parlor. Shiny is still open, drawing people in with its bright, flashing lights and promises of good fortune. And as Mieko and Claire gradually bond, a tender relationship growing, Mieko's determination to visit the pachinko parlor builds.

The Pachinko Parlor is a nuanced and beguiling exploration of identity and otherness, unspoken histories, and the loneliness you can feel among family. Crisp and enigmatic, Shua Dusapin's writing glows with intelligence.

Browse by categories

Elena Ferrante; Ann Goldstein

The Lying Life of Adults

Adania Shibli; Paula Haydar

Touch

Ao Omae; Emily Balistrieri

People Who Talk to Stuffed Animals Are Nice

Lisa Taddeo

Ghost Lover

Vanessa Montgomery

Star Power

Elaine Hsieh Chou

Disorientation

Hiromi Kawakami; Allison Markin Powell

The Nakano Thrift Shop

Ruth Ozeki

A Tale for the Time Being

Jessa Maxwell

The Golden Spoon

Makoto Shinkai; Naruki Nagakawa; Ginny Tapley Takemori

She and Her Cat

Scott Rutherford; William Matsuzaki

Japanese for Travelers Phrasebook and Dictionary

Paul Norbury

Culture Smart! Japan

Max Gross

The Lost Shtetl

Alka Joshi

The Secret Keeper of Jaipur

Anna Burns

Milkman

Donna Tartt

The Secret History

Alka Joshi

The Henna Artist

Scott W. Morton

Japan: Its History and Culture

Thomas O'Malley; Phillip Tang

Lonely Planet Pocket Seoul 2

Min Jin Lee

Pachinko (National Book Award Finalist)

Marie Kondo

The Life-Changing Manga of Tidying Up

Banana Yoshimoto; Michael Emmerich

Asleep

Julia Phillips

Disappearing Earth

Elisa Shua Dusapin; Aneesa Abbas Higgins

The Pachinko Parlor

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