Eating Fire and Drinking Water

“I was someone hungry for stories; more specifically, I was someone who craved after facts. I was, you see, a person with no history. Lacking this, I developed a curiosity about other's people's stories. . . .”

Clara Perez is a reporter on a small South seas island. An orphan raised by nuns, she is a young woman with origins shrouded in mystery. Full of idealistic ambition, she grows tired of the trivial assignments she's given at the daily paper, yearning to write articles of substance. So when the tiny street of Calle de Leon bursts into flames after a student demonstration--and a soldier kills an unarmed man--Clara seizes the chance to cover the explosive story. Yet after Clara rushes to investigate the tragedy, she discovers another, more personal one involving some remarkable truths about her unknown past--ghosts, she realizes, which have been silently pursuing her all her life.

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State of War

"He saw clearly, immediately, that the man didn't care about the gift's value, didn't care about the gift even, but cared profoundly for the act of receiving as though the gift were a tribute, a confirmation of his self, his being, his reality. He found no pleasure in what he was taking but in the act of taking itself."

An endless festival amidst an endless war is the central theme of this Philippines novel about the Marcos era. Depicting a culture and a country in conflict during a brutal time, this book is a masterpiece and a must-read for all Filipino people.

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Noli Me Tangere (Touch Me Not) 

"At the center of Noli Me Tangere (Touch Me Not) by Philippine national hero José Rizal is the conflict against Spanish colonialism. The Philippines, which is named after King Philip II of Spain, was ruled by the Spanish empire as a colony from 1565 until the Philippine Revolution ended this rule in 1898. For his part in the Philippine Revolution, José Rizal was tried and convicted for rebellion, sedition, and conspiracy. His sentence was to be death by firing squad. Juan Crisóstomo Ibarra, the main character of Noli Me Tangere (Touch Me Not), returns to the Phillipines after a seven year absence studying in Europe. He is betrothed to the María Clara, the beautiful daughter of Captain Tiago. With this work, Rizal set out to write a novel that would expose the ills of Philippine society and in so doing created a passionate love story set against the backdrop of the political conflict against a repressive regime."

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In The Country

"These nine globe-trotting, unforgettable stories vividly give voice to the women and men of the Filipino diaspora. Here are exiles, emigrants, and wanderers uprooting their families from the Philippines to begin new lives in the Middle East, the United States, and elsewhere—and, sometimes, turning back again. 

In the Country speaks to the heart of everyone who has ever searched for a place to call home. From teachers to housemaids, from mothers to sons, Alvar’s powerful debut collection explores the universal experiences of loss, displacement, and the longing to connect across borders both real and imagined. Deeply compassionate and richly felt, it marks the emergence of a formidable new writer."

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Dogeaters

"Finalist for the National Book Award and a 2015 Wall Street Journal Book Club selection: An intense portrait of the Philippines in the late 1950s.

Dogeaters follows a diverse set of characters through Manila, each exemplifying the country’s sharp distinctions between social classes. Celebrated novelist and playwright Jessica Hagedorn effortlessly shifts from the capital’s elite to the poorest of the poor. From the country’s president and first lady to an idealist reformer, from actors and radio DJs to prostitutes, seemingly unrelated lives become intertwined."

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Cancer Ward

One of the great allegorical masterpieces of world literature, Cancer Ward is both a deeply compassionate study of people facing terminal illness and a brilliant dissection of the “cancerous” Soviet police state. Banned in Russia, it became, along with One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, a work that awoke the conscience of the world. As Robert Service wrote of its appeal in the Independent, “In waging his struggle against Soviet communism, Solzhenitsyn the novelist preferred the rapier to the cudgel”.

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Beginning Operations

Sector General: A massive deep-space hospital station on the Galactic Rim, where human and alien medicine meet. Its 384 levels and thousands of staff members are supposedly able to meet the needs of any conceivable alien patient—though that capacity is always being strained as more (and stranger) alien races turn up to join the galactic community. Sentient viruses, interspecies romances, undreamed-of institutional catering problems—it all lands on Sector General's doorstep. And the only thing weirder than a hitherto unknown alien species is having a member of that species turn up in your Emergency Room.

This first omnibus volume includes the works that began the Sector General series, which were previously published as Hospital Station, Star Surgeon, and Major Operation.

Note: Interestingly, the author said that the Troubles in Northern Ireland (i.e., the violent conflicts which resulted in bombings & death) induced him to write about the sort of world he would like to live in. This becomes awe-inspiring when you realize that Sector General is a gigantic multi-species hospital space station founded as a peace-making project by two heroes from opposite sides of humanity's only full interstellar war.

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Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

"'Compulsively readable. ... Simon Armitage has given us an energetic, free-flowing, high-spirited version.' —Edward Hirsch, New York Times Book Review

One of the earliest great stories of English literature after Beowulf, Sir Gawain is the strange tale of a green knight on a green horse, who rudely interrupts King Arthur's Round Table festivities one Yuletide, challenging the knights to a wager. Simon Armitrage, one of Britain's leading poets, has produced an inventive and groundbreaking translation that helps liberate Gawain from academia."

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All Creatures Great and Small

Delve into the magical, unforgettable world of James Herriot, the world's most beloved veterinarian, and his menagerie of heartwarming, funny, and tragic animal patients.

Generations of readers have thrilled to Herriot's marvelous tales, deep love of life, and extraordinary storytelling abilities. For decades, Herriot roamed the remote, beautiful Yorkshire Dales, treating every patient that came his way from smallest to largest, and observing animals and humans alike with his keen, loving eye.

In All Creatures Great and Small, we meet the young Herriot as he takes up his calling and discovers that the realities of veterinary practice in rural Yorkshire are very different from the sterile setting of veterinary school. Some visits are some are lighthearted and fun, some are heart-wrenchingly difficult, and yet others are inspirational and enlightening. From seeing to his patients in the depths of winter on the remotest farms to dealing with uncooperative owners and critically ill animals, Herriot discovers the wondrous variety and never-ending challenges of veterinary practice as his humor, compassion, and love of the animal world shine forth.

“This warm, joyous and often hilarious first-person chronicle of a young animal doctor . . . shines with love of life. All Creatures Great and Small may well be the happiest book of the year.” —The New York Times Book Review

“Absolutely super, a rarity, magnificently written, insightful, unforgettable.” —Houston Chronicle

“One of the funniest and most likeable books around.” —The Atlantic Monthly

“Refreshingly original . . . as close to a novel as a chronicle of memoirs could be . . . hilarious, touching, athletic and warming.” —Los Angeles Times

“What the world needs now, and does every so often, is a warm, G-rated, down-home, unadrenalized prize of a book that sneaks onto the bestseller lists . . . James Herriot's memoirs qualify admirably.” —Time

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Battle Royale

Longlisted for the Japan Horror Fiction Awards

Koushun Takami's runaway bestseller is based on an irresistible premise: Set in a fictional totalitarian dictatorship called the Republic of Greater East Asia, a class of junior high school students is taken to a deserted island where, as part of a ruthless authoritarian program, students are forced to fight to the death. Provided weapons, they are forced to kill one another until only one survivor is left standing.

Battle Royale is a brutal, high-octane thriller told in breathless, shocking fashion that has become a contemporary Japanese pulp classic. This critically-acclaimed novel is a 21st century Lord of the Flies meshed with Running Man—a potent allegory of what it means to be young and (barely) alive in a dog-eat-dog world.

“The story is brilliant … the book opens up all sorts of doors to conversations and thoughts about psychology, murder, survival, love, loyalty, and moral ground …[However] those who cringe at slash and hack should steer away.” —Red Room

“Both gripping and original. … It is a simple premise, superbly executed … you will become completely immersed in the mindsets of the various characters.” —Sarugumo

Note: This novel was also made into a controversial hit movie as well as adapted into a manga collection of the same name.

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Ruby Red

Translated by Anthea Bell, the foremost translator of German literature in the world. And she thinks Ruby Red is “just charming!”

Sixteen-year-old Gwyneth Shepherd comes from a family of time travelers. The gene was supposed to have skipped Gwen, but sneaks up on her unexpectedly in the middle of class one day and hurls her way back to the 18th century. There, she meets an insufferable time-traveler named Gideon from a similarly gifted family that passes the gene through its male line.

Gwyneth must now unearth the mystery of why her mother would lie about her birth date to ward off suspicion about her time-traveling ability, brush up on her history, and work with Gideon. Together, Gwyneth and Gideon journey through time to discover who, in the 18th century, they can trust.

“Thrilling and witty.” —Radio Bremen

“What makes this such a standout is the intriguingly drawn cast, stars and supporting players both, beginning with Gwen, whose key feature is her utter normality… Adventure, humor, and mystery all have satisfying roles here.” —Starred, Booklist

“This book was so much fun! Magic, romance, and time travel. A great start to a series that will appeal to the awkward adventurer in all of us.” -Diana DeVault

“Guaranteed to be addictive.” —Badische Neueste Nachrichten

Note: Even if you usually don't like YA (we prefer the A generally ourselves), we found this trilogy to be a great set of light, fun reads. Also great in audio form.

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Beowulf

"Beowulf is to English what the Odyssey is to Greek literature. Beowulf is also the oldest example of vernacular literature of any substance in the whole of Western Europe. Since its rediscovery and the appearance of the first printed editions in the middle of the last century, this moving and dramatic epic has attracted considerable scholarly attention, and Dr Swanton is able to draw on this wealth of scholarship to present a considered and balanced introduction to the poem. Explanatory notes, drawing on archaeological sources, expand the poet's more esoteric allusions and offer background information on contemporary manners and customs. A prose translation faces the text, which should be invaluable to both students and the general reader."

Note: We recommend this particular translation which is considered the best.

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The Elven

An international bestseller which kicks off an epic adventure in the wonderful series, the Saga of the Elven!

A fierce and merciless demon has been unleashed on the world, spreading destruction and bloodshed in both the human and the elven realms.

Northlander Jarl Mandred witnesses the ruthless attack on his men, and he seeks vengeance with the help of the elf queen, Emerelle. Despite Mandred’s barbaric human nature, the queen orchestrates an elfhunt joined by the two strongest warriors in Albenmark to pursue the beast. Farodin, the fiercest fighter in the land, and Nuramon, the healer, seize the opportunity to make history alongside Mandred in a life-defining series of battles waged in parallel universes.

The Elven is an international bestseller and epic tale, bringing heroes together across the boundaries of their worlds to avenge past losses and influence fates yet to be decided.

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The Odyssey

“Robert Fagles, winner of the PEN/Ralph Manheim Medal for Translation and an Academy Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, presents us with Homer's best-loved and most accessible poem in a stunning modern-verse translation.

‘Sing to me of the man, Muse, the man of twists and turns driven time and again off course, once he had plundered the hallowed heights of Troy.’ So begins Robert Fagles' magnificent translation of the Odyssey, which Jasper Griffin in the New York Times Book Review hails as ‘a distinguished achievement.’

If the Iliad is the world's greatest war epic, the Odyssey is literature's grandest evocation of an everyman's journey through life. Odysseus' reliance on his wit and wiliness for survival in his encounters with divine and natural forces during his ten-year voyage home to Ithaca after the Trojan War is at once a timeless human story and an individual test of moral endurance. In the myths and legends  retold here,

Fagles has captured the energy and poetry of Homer's original in a bold, contemporary idiom, and given us an Odyssey to read aloud, to savor, and to treasure for its sheer lyrical mastery. Renowned classicist Bernard Knox's superb introduction and textual commentary provide insightful background information for the general reader and scholar alike, intensifying the strength of Fagles's translation. This is an Odyssey to delight both the classicist and the general reader, to captivate a new generation of Homer's students.”

Note: The Robert Fagles translation is the version we recommend: It’s a “jaw-droppingly beautiful rendering of Homer's Odyssey. Fagles captures the rapid and direct language of the original Greek, while telling the story of Odysseus in lyrics that ring with a clear, energetic voice.”

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The Original Folk and Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm 

"When Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm published their Children's and Household Tales in 1812, followed by a second volume in 1815, they had no idea that such stories as "Rapunzel," "Hansel and Gretel," and "Cinderella" would become the most celebrated in the world. Yet few people today are familiar with the majority of tales from the two early volumes, since in the next four decades the Grimms would publish six other editions, each extensively revised in content and style. For the very first time, The Original Folk and Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm makes available in English all 156 stories from the 1812 and 1815 editions. These narrative gems, newly translated and brought together in one beautiful book, are accompanied by sumptuous new illustrations from award-winning artist Andrea Dezsö."

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Through the Looking Glass

"Alice laughed. 'There's no use trying,' she said: 'one can't believe impossible things.' 'I daresay you haven't had much practice,' said the Queen. 'When I was your age, I always did it for half-an-hour a day. Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.'

The 1872 sequel to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland finds Carroll's inquisitive heroine in a fantastic land where everything is reversed. Alice encounters talking flowers, madcap kings and queens, and becomes a pawn in a bizarre chess game involving Humpty Dumpty, Tweedledum and Tweedledee, and other amusing nursery-rhyme characters."

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1Q84

"The year is 1984 and the city is Tokyo. A young woman named Aomame follows a taxi driver’s enigmatic suggestion and begins to notice puzzling discrepancies in the world around her. She has entered, she realizes, a parallel existence, which she calls 1Q84 —'Q is for question mark.’A world that bears a question." Meanwhile, an aspiring writer named Tengo takes on a suspect ghostwriting project. He becomes so wrapped up with the work and its unusual author that his life begins to come unraveled. 

A love story, a mystery, a fantasy, a novel of self-discovery, a dystopia to rival George Orwell’s—1Q84 is Haruki Murakami’s most ambitious undertaking yet: an instant best seller in his native Japan, and a tremendous feat of imagination from one of our most revered contemporary writers.."

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One Hundred Years of Solitude

"One of the world's most famous novels, One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, blends the natural with the supernatural in on one of the most magical reading experiences on earth.

It tells the story of the rise and fall, birth and death of the mythical town of Macondo through the history of the Buendia family. Inventive, amusing, magnetic, sad, and alive with unforgettable men and women—brimming with truth, compassion, and a lyrical magic that strikes the soul—this novel is a masterpiece in the art of fiction."

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The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

"'It did no good to cry, she had learned that early on. She had also learned that every time she tried to make someone aware of something in her life, the situation just got worse. Consequently it was up to her to solve her problems by herself, using whatever methods she deemed necessary.' ― The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Murder mystery, family saga, love story, and financial intrigue combine into one satisfyingly complex and entertainingly atmospheric novel, the first in Stieg Larsson's thrilling Millenium series featuring Lisbeth Salander.

Harriet Vanger, a scion of one of Sweden's wealthiest families disappeared over forty years ago. All these years later, her aged uncle continues to seek the truth. He hires Mikael Blomkvist, a crusading journalist recently trapped by a libel conviction, to investigate. He is aided by the pierced and tattooed punk prodigy Lisbeth Salander. Together they tap into a vein of unfathomable iniquity and astonishing corruption."

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The Complete Stories

"'An important book, valuable in itself and absolutely fascinating. The stories are dreamlike, allegorical, symbolic, parabolic, grotesque, ritualistic, nasty, lucent, extremely personal, ghoulishly detached, exquisitely comic, numinous, and prophetic.' —The New York Times

The Complete Stories brings together all of Kafka’s stories, from the classic tales such as The Metamorphosis, In the Penal Colony, and A Hunger Artist to shorter pieces and fragments that Max Brod, Kafka’s literary executor, released after Kafka’s death. With the exception of his three novels, the whole of Kafka’s narrative work is included in this volume."

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