The Japanese Lover by Isabel Allende

Don’t judge a book by its cover. Seriously, are we back to that old adage? But so, so true. I picked up The Japanese Lover for two reasons: I haven’t read anything by Isabel Allende in years and based on the cover I assumed it was a war time novel set in Japan. I was close. The Japanese Lover is a novel partially set during WWII in San Francisco. 

The Incarnations by Susan Barker

The Incarnations by Susan Barker has been praised as China’s Midnight’s Children. I hate comparisons like that because it almost sets The Incarnations up for failure. Midnight’s Children was a game-changer for Indian literature in English, and in many ways put South Asian literature on the map. For years it was cited as the quintessential novel of India’s coming of age. The Incarnations, on the other hand, though a mighty book, is not forwarding the cause of Chinese literature per se, as Barker is a Brit of Malaysian-Chinese descent, and does not mark a moment in time when everything changed the way Midnight’s Children did.

Us Conductors by Sean Michaels

Us Conductors by Sean Michaels

If you are Canadian, you have undoubtedly already read Us Conductors by Sean Michaels. I think everyone got it for Christmas. And even if you haven’t read it, you have heard amazing things about it and probably gave it to somebody for Christmas. It won the Giller after all, and for Canadians that is a big endorsement.

Sacred Mountain by Robert Ferguson

Sacred Mountain by Robert Ferguson is not a novel a lot of people are talking about. It is put out by a small publisher with a limited marketing campaign. And yet, it caught my attention because it combines two of my favorite historical themes: early climbers of Mount Everest and the Asian battles of World War II.