Celeste Ng

Our Missing Hearts is set in a near-future United States, where a recent economic collapse called the Crisis leads the government to pass legislation censoring “un-American” ideas. Though the named purpose of PACT (Preserving American Cultures and Traditions) is to protect the country from disunity and crisis by rooting out un-American ideologies, it instead leaves the nation in a dystopian state of surveillance and fear.

The novel begins when 12-year-old Bird receives a letter from his mother, Margaret, who abandoned him and his father three years prior for reasons he does not understand. The letter contains a drawing of numerous cats, but Bird does not know what the drawing means.

Bird and his friend, Sadie, used to bond over their missing mothers. Under the PACT law, authorities can take custody of children who are exposed to dangerous, unpatriotic ideas by their parents. Sadie was removed from her home and placed with a foster family because of her mother, Erika’s journalistic criticism of PACT. Last year, she ran away from her foster family, and Bird has not heard from her since.

Bird lives with his father, Ethan, who works in Harvard University’s library, though he used to be a professor of linguistics. At school, Bird is shunned for being the son of Margaret Miu, the seditious Chinese American poet. “Persons of Asian origin”—known as PAOs—are subject to greater surveillance and discrimination under PACT law, since the U.S. blames China for the Crisis. Bird’s memories of his mother center around the stories she told him, one of which was about a boy who drew cats.

Hardcover (1 to 2 lbs)

California

A Novel

The Reese's Book Club October Pick!

From the #1 bestselling author of Little Fires Everywhere, comes one of the most highly anticipated books of the year - the inspiring new novel about a mother's unbreakable love in a world consumed by fear.
 
"It's impossible not to be moved." --Stephen King, The New York Times Book Review
 
"Riveting, tender, and timely." --People, Book of the Week

"Thought-provoking, heart-wrenching...I was so invested in the future of this mother and son, and I can't wait to hear what you think of this deeply suspenseful story!" - Reese Witherspoon (Reese's Book Club October '22 Pick)

Twelve-year-old Bird Gardner lives a quiet existence with his loving but broken father, a former linguist who now shelves books in a university library. Bird knows to not ask too many questions, stand out too much, or stray too far. For a decade, their lives have been governed by laws written to preserve "American culture" in the wake of years of economic instability and violence. To keep the peace and restore prosperity, the authorities are now allowed to relocate children of dissidents, especially those of Asian origin, and libraries have been forced to remove books seen as unpatriotic--including the work of Bird's mother, Margaret, a Chinese American poet who left the family when he was nine years old.
 
Bird has grown up disavowing his mother and her poems; he doesn't know her work or what happened to her, and he knows he shouldn't wonder. But when he receives a mysterious letter containing only a cryptic drawing, he is pulled into a quest to find her. His journey will take him back to the many folktales she poured into his head as a child, through the ranks of an underground network of librarians, into the lives of the children who have been taken, and finally to New York City, where a new act of defiance may be the beginning of much-needed change.
 
Our Missing Hearts is an old story made new, of the ways supposedly civilized communities can ignore the most searing injustice. It's a story about the power--and limitations--of art to create change, the lessons and legacies we pass on to our children, and how any of us can survive a broken world with our hearts intact.

Our Missing Hearts

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Sayaka Murata

Ginny Tapley Takemori

Keiko Furukura is a 36-year-old woman who has been working part-time at a convenience store, or konbini, for the last 18 years. She has known since childhood that she is "different" and that expressing her own views and actions is inexplicable and distressing to others, and causes problems.

She models her behaviour, dress style, and even speech patterns on those of her coworkers. Keiko maintains some friendships and a relationship with her sister, but finds it increasingly difficult to explain why, after 18 years, she is still single and working as a temp in a convenience store.

Keiko meets Shiraha, a man who cannot hold a steady job and lives on the fringes of society since he doesn't conform to "normal" expectations. While they have no affection for each other, Shiraha eventually moves in with Keiko. They decide that by pretending to be a couple, they can avoid problems with families and a society that expects them to have romantic relationships, children, and stable jobs.


Light Paperback (1 lb or less)

Shortlisted for the Best Translated Book Award Longlisted for the Believer Book Award Longlisted for the Warwick Prize for Women in Translation A Los Angeles Times Bestseller The English-language debut of an exciting young voice in international fiction, selling 660,000 copies in Japan alone, Convenience Store Woman is a bewitching portrayal of contemporary Japan through the eyes of a single woman who fits into the rigidity of its work culture only too well. The English-language debut of one of Japan's most talented contemporary writers, selling over 650,000 copies there, Convenience Store Woman is the heartwarming and surprising story of thirty-six-year-old Tokyo resident Keiko Furukura. Keiko has never fit in, neither in her family, nor in school, but when at the age of eighteen she begins working at the Hiiromachi branch of "Smile Mart," she finds peace and purpose in her life. In the store, unlike anywhere else, she understands the rules of social interaction--many are laid out line by line in the store's manual--and she does her best to copy the dress, mannerisms, and speech of her colleagues, playing the part of a "normal" person excellently, more or less. Managers come and go, but Keiko stays at the store for eighteen years. It's almost hard to tell where the store ends and she begins. Keiko is very happy, but the people close to her, from her family to her coworkers, increasingly pressure her to find a husband, and to start a proper career, prompting her to take desperate action... A brilliant depiction of an unusual psyche and a world hidden from view, Convenience Store Woman is an ironic and sharp-eyed look at contemporary work culture and the pressures to conform, as well as a charming and completely fresh portrait of an unforgettable heroine.

Convenience Store Woman

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Emiko Jean

Izumi Tanaka feels like an outsider in her small northern California town. Growing up as a Japanese American girl, she hasn’t quite fit in with the mostly white community. Raised by a single mother, it has always been just the two of them against the world. Izumi often goes by “Izzy,” believing that it’s easier to navigate life that way. Yet, her life takes an unexpected turn when she discovers a clue about her father’s identity. The shocking revelation that her father is none other than the Crown Prince of Japan changes everything for her. In a whirl of excitement and uncertainty, Izzy finds herself on a journey she never imagined.

The New York Times bestseller and Reese Witherspoon x Hello Sunshine YA Book Club Pick! Emiko Jean’s Tokyo Ever After is the “refreshing, spot-on” (Booklist, starred review) story of an ordinary Japanese-American girl who discovers that her father is the Crown Prince of Japan. Izumi Tanaka has never really felt like she fit in—it isn’t easy being Japanese American in her small, mostly white, northern California town. Raised by a single mother, it’s always been Izumi—or Izzy, because “It’s easier this way”—and her mom against the world. But then Izumi discovers a clue to her previously unknown father’s identity...and he’s none other than the Crown Prince of Japan. Which means outspoken, irreverent Izzy is literally a princess. In a whirlwind, Izumi travels to Japan to meet the father she never knew and discover the country she always dreamed of. But being a princess isn’t all ball gowns and tiaras. There are conniving cousins, a hungry press, a scowling but handsome bodyguard who just might be her soulmate, and thousands of years of tradition and customs to learn practically overnight. Izumi soon finds herself caught between worlds, and between versions of herself—back home, she was never “American” enough, and in Japan, she must prove she’s “Japanese” enough. Will Izumi crumble under the weight of the crown, or will she live out her fairy tale, happily ever after? Look for the sequel, Tokyo Dreaming, in 2022!

Tokyo Ever After

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Laura Esquivel

The novel follows the story of a young woman named Tita, who longs for her beloved, Pedro, but can never have him because of her mother's upholding of the family tradition: the youngest daughter cannot marry, but instead must take care of her mother until she dies. Tita is only able to express herself when she cooks.

The book has inspired a 1992 film of the same name, a ballet, and a 2024 TV series; 2 sequels were written by Esquivel. It was named by Spanish periodical El Mundo as one of the best Spanish-language novels of the 20th century.

A Novel in Monthly Installments with Recipes, Romances, and Home Remedies

Despite the fact that she has fallen in love with a young man, Tita, the youngest of three daughters born to a tyrannical rancher, must obey tradition and remain single and at home to care for her mother.

Like Water for Chocolate

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Cristina Henríquez

family from Mexico settles in Delaware and strives to repair emotional and physical wounds in Henríquez’s dramatic page-turner.

The author’s third book of fiction (Come Together, Fall Apart, 2006; The World in Half, 2009) opens with the arrival of Arturo and Alma Rivera, who have brought their teenage daughter, Maribel, to the U.S. in the hope of helping her recover from a head injury she sustained in a fall. Their neighbors Rafael and Celia Toro came from Panama years earlier, and their teenage son, Mayor, takes quickly to Maribel. The pair’s relationship is prone to gossip and misinterpretation: People think Maribel is dumber than she is and that Mayor is more predatory than he is. In this way, Henríquez suggests, they represent the immigrant experience in miniature. The novel alternates narrators among members of the Rivera and Toro families, as well as other immigrant neighbors, and their stories stress that their individual experiences can’t be reduced to types or statistics; the shorter interludes have the realist detail, candor and potency of oral history. Life is a grind for both families: Arturo works at a mushroom farm, Rafael is a short-order cook, and Alma strains to understand the particulars of everyday American life (bus schedules, grocery shopping, Maribel’s schooling). But Henríquez emphasizes their positivity in a new country, at least until trouble arrives in the form of a prejudiced local boy. That plot complication shades toward melodrama, giving the closing pages a rush but diminishing what Henríquez is best at: capturing the way immigrant life is often an accrual of small victories in the face of a thousand cuts and how ad hoc support systems form to help new arrivals get by.

A smartly observed tale of immigrant life that cannily balances its optimistic tone with straight talk.

Paperback (1 to 2 lbs)

Moving from Mexico to America when their daughter suffers a near-fatal accident, the Riveras confront cultural barriers, their daughter's difficult recovery and her developing relationship with a Panamanian boy.

The Book of Unknown Americans

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Toshikazu Kawaguchi

There’s something magical about the aroma of freshly brewed coffee wafting through a cozy café on a crisp autumn day. It has the power to transport us—to cherished memories, to hopes for the future, to a moment of quiet reflection amidst life’s chaos. In Toshikazu Kawaguchi’s enchanting novel Tales from the Cafe, this transportive power of coffee becomes literal, as patrons of a small Tokyo establishment are given the extraordinary opportunity to travel back in time.

Take the story of Yukio, the son who missed his mother’s funeral. His initial plan to use time travel as an escape from guilt evolves into a profound moment of self-reflection and healing. It’s a beautiful illustration of how facing our past—even when we can’t change it – can be transformative.

Tales from the Cafe

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James Bowen

James Bowen’s life changed dramatically one evening in 2007. Living in a sheltered accommodation in London, he stumbled upon a ginger street cat. The feline, later named Bob, was injured and needed care. Although James struggled with addiction and homelessness, he couldn’t turn his back on the injured cat. After nursing Bob back to health, James imagined he would soon see him leave. To his surprise, Bob had other plans. From the moment Bob started following James, they formed an inseparable bond. Together, they experienced various adventures that were often amusing, sometimes dangerous, but always transformative. James had not expected this street cat would become his beacon of hope, helping him heal emotional and physical wounds along the way.

Note * there is a small piece of tape on back cover from a tiny rip * 

And How He Saved My Life

The Instant New York Times Bestseller! Now a major motion picture, this instant classic is an international sensation. It made the New York Times bestseller list, was on the bestseller list in England for 52 consecutive weeks, and is currently being published in 30 different countries around the world. James and Bob now have more than 500,000 Facebook followers! The film’s all-star cast includes Luke Treadway (Unbroken, Clash of the Titans), Joanne Froggatt (Downton Abbey), and Ruta Gedmintas (The Borgias). For more James and Bob, please follow the pair on Twitter @StreetCatBob; “like” the “A Streetcat Named Bob” Facebook page; visit the Around the World in 80 Bobs blog at streetcatbob.blogspot.com; and watch videos of James and Bob on their YouTube channel Street Cat Bob. The movie trailer can be viewed at https://youtu.be/arcBKWZMW1I.

A Street Cat Named Bob

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Sally Rooney

Beautiful World, Where Are You follows four central characters: Alice, a successful novelist; Eileen, her childhood friend who works at a literary magazine; Felix, a warehouse worker who enters into a romantic relationship with Alice; and Simon, a friend of Eileen’s who is also entangled in his own romantic and existential struggles. These characters’ lives intersect in various ways, and the novel explores their relationships, desires, and the search for meaning in the midst of modern life’s complexities.

Alice, the central figure, is a well-known writer who has recently moved to the countryside to escape the pressures of her public life. She is in a relationship with Felix, an earnest and somewhat unrefined man who works at a warehouse. Despite their differences, Alice and Felix begin an unexpected romantic relationship, one marked by an odd but intense chemistry. Felix, who has been grappling with his own uncertain past, finds a sense of connection with Alice, but their relationship is strained by their contrasting backgrounds and the different ways they approach life.

AN INSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

Beautiful World, Where Are You is a new novel by Sally Rooney, the bestselling author of Normal People and Conversations with Friends

Alice, a novelist, meets Felix, who works in a warehouse, and asks him if he'd like to travel to Rome with her. In Dublin, her best friend, Eileen, is getting over a breakup, and slips back into flirting with Simon, a man she has known since childhood.

Alice, Felix, Eileen, and Simon are still young--but life is catching up with them. They desire each other, they delude each other, they get together, they break apart. They have sex, they worry about sex, they worry about their friendships and the world they live in. Are they standing in the last lighted room before the darkness, bearing witness to something? Will they find a way to believe in a beautiful world?

Beautiful World, Where Are You

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Charles Yu

You shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, but sometimes, you can take one look at a book and know it’s going to be good. “Interior Chinatown” is that kind of book. A purposefully distressed red cover is simultaneously reminiscent of a red packet, a newspaper cover, and a playbill.At the center is a small Chinatown gate; the interior area of the gate frames are filled by what resembles a prison or a birdcage.

Based on Charles Yu’s 2020 novel of the same name, Hulu’s Interior Chinatown is a layered, reality-bending tale that follows an actor named Willis Wu. He’s used to playing small, background roles — he calls them “Generic Asian Man” — on a police procedural called Black and White. But he dreams of working his way up to a bigger part, one he calls “Kung Fu Guy.”



"From the infinitely inventive author of How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe comes a deeply personal novel about race, pop culture, assimilation, and escaping the roles we are forced to play."--

Interior Chinatown

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Asha Lemmie

A Good Morning America Book Club Pick and New York Times Bestseller!
 
From debut author Asha Lemmie, “a lovely, heartrending story about love and loss, prejudice and pain, and the sometimes dangerous, always durable ties that link a family together.” —Kristin Hannah, #1 New York Times–bestselling author of The Nightingale

Kyoto, Japan, 1948. “Do not question. Do not fight. Do not resist.”

Such is eight-year-old Noriko “Nori” Kamiza’s first lesson. She will not question why her mother abandoned her with only these final words. She will not fight her confinement to the attic of her grandparents’ imperial estate. And she will not resist the scalding chemical baths she receives daily to lighten her skin.

Spanning decades and continents, Fifty Words for Rain is a dazzling epic about the ties that bind, the ties that give you strength, and what it means to be free.

A Good Morning America Book Club Pick and New York Times Bestseller! From debut author Asha Lemmie, “a lovely, heartrending story about love and loss, prejudice and pain, and the sometimes dangerous, always durable ties that link a family together.” —Kristin Hannah, #1 New York Times–bestselling author of The Nightingale Kyoto, Japan, 1948. “Do not question. Do not fight. Do not resist.” Such is eight-year-old Noriko “Nori” Kamiza’s first lesson. She will not question why her mother abandoned her with only these final words. She will not fight her confinement to the attic of her grandparents’ imperial estate. And she will not resist the scalding chemical baths she receives daily to lighten her skin. The child of a married Japanese aristocrat and her African American GI lover, Nori is an outsider from birth. Her grandparents take her in, only to conceal her, fearful of a stain on the royal pedigree that they are desperate to uphold in a changing Japan. Obedient to a fault, Nori accepts her solitary life, despite her natural intellect and curiosity. But when chance brings her older half-brother, Akira, to the estate that is his inheritance and destiny, Nori finds in him an unlikely ally with whom she forms a powerful bond—a bond their formidable grandparents cannot allow and that will irrevocably change the lives they were always meant to lead. Because now that Nori has glimpsed a world in which perhaps there is a place for her after all, she is ready to fight to be a part of it—a battle that just might cost her everything. Spanning decades and continents, Fifty Words for Rain is a dazzling epic about the ties that bind, the ties that give you strength, and what it means to be free.

Fifty Words for Rain

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Laurence Yep

A very interesting book about how Chinese families survived in the early 1900s. 
This book has been heavily enjoyed and I hope you enjoy reading it too ! 


Golden Mountain Chronicles: 1903

Will Windrider take to the skies? Moon shadow is eight years old when he sails from China to join his father, Windrider, in America. Windrider lives in San Francisco and makes his living doing laundry. Father and son have never met. But Moon Shadow grows to love and respect his father and to believe in his wonderful dream. And Windrider, with Moon Shadow's help is willing to endure the mockery of the other Chinese, the poverty, the separation from his wife and country'even the great earthquake'to make his dream come true.

Dragonwings

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Yoshi Yoshitani

Powerful and universal retellings of seventy-eight divine stories, legends, and myths from around the world. 
Each of these myths and folklore has beautifully illustrated images that helps the readers imagination soar up to the clouds. 
Wide variety of stories and myths from all over the world. 
If you are fascinated by vintage myths or timeless tales, this book is for you ! 


Fairy Tales, Myths, and Divine Stories from Around the World

Powerful and universal retellings of seventy-eight divine stories, legends, and myths from around the world, each accompanied by a gorgeous illustration from acclaimed artist Yoshi Yoshitani. Many of the lessons we learn are shared stories passed among cultures and generations. In this riveting collection of fables and folktales from cultures across the globe, characters from beloved fairytales, cultural fables, ancient mythologies, and inspirational deities are brought to life, including Sleeping Beauty (Italy), Rapunzel (Germany), Jack and the Beanstalk (England), Our Lady of Guadalupe (Mexico), Sun God Ra (Egypt), the Crane Wife (Japan), and dozens more. Lesser-known stories introduce characters such as the volcano goddess Pele from Hawaii; Mwindo, the wise and powerful king of the Nyanga people; and the strong and resilient Yennenga, mother of the Mossi people in Burkina Faso. The recurring themes of conquering evil, overcoming adversity, and finding love and companionship are woven throughout this collection. Yoshi Yoshitani's art style is fresh and unique, featuring diverse and multicultural characters. Each story will be featured opposite a correlating illustration, both lush and vibrant.

OldSoulBooksellers

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Books Listed

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Followers

Celeste Ng

Our Missing Hearts

Sayaka Murata; Ginny Tapley Takemori

Convenience Store Woman

Emiko Jean

Tokyo Ever After

Laura Esquivel

Like Water for Chocolate

Cristina Henríquez

The Book of Unknown Americans

Toshikazu Kawaguchi

Tales from the Cafe

James Bowen

A Street Cat Named Bob

Sally Rooney

Beautiful World, Where Are You

Charles Yu

Interior Chinatown

Asha Lemmie

Fifty Words for Rain

Laurence Yep

Dragonwings

Yoshi Yoshitani

Beneath the Moon

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Celeste Ng

Our Missing Hearts

Sayaka Murata; Ginny Tapley Takemori

Convenience Store Woman

Emiko Jean

Tokyo Ever After

Laura Esquivel

Like Water for Chocolate

Cristina Henríquez

The Book of Unknown Americans

Toshikazu Kawaguchi

Tales from the Cafe

James Bowen

A Street Cat Named Bob

Sally Rooney

Beautiful World, Where Are You

Charles Yu

Interior Chinatown

Asha Lemmie

Fifty Words for Rain

Laurence Yep

Dragonwings

Yoshi Yoshitani

Beneath the Moon

Get The App