Facing North

“Ten intriguing tales from the Caribbean island of Barbados—an antidote to the daily farrago of celebrity lives served up by the media. This book celebrates the true 'homo ordinarius' and his response to personal, natural and man-made challenges. A well prepared potpourri lovingly served with gentle humour and a dash of nostalgia.”

“Reminiscent of some of Mavis Gallant's short fiction, the stories—all good reads—deal with the serious current issues of politics, economics, race, sex, land appropriation, and identity...these are hopeful stories.” - Robert Edison Sandiford

”[Edison T. Williams] is a story teller! He has the technique of gripping the reader from the beginning. [His] endings are classic Somerset Maugham/O. Henry. I have my favourites among the stories: 'Desmond Lola and Bassman' is fascinating...'The New Sybaris' is a riveting read... 'Island Man' is captivating... but I really loved them all.” - Peter Laurie

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Born in the Briar Patch

“The pretty young housemaid Nellie Peterkin catches the eye of the plantation owner John Bottomsley and at the age of fourteen becomes his mistress. Shortly after she finds out she is pregnant, the plantation owner’s wife announces her pregnancy. John Bottomsley forces Nellie into a pact to take her child should his wife have another miscarriage.

Emily Bottomsley grows up believing she is the daughter of John and Sarah Bottomsley. Just after marrying a British lawyer, she becomes pregnant and gives birth to a child who is obviously not Caucasian and whom her mother immediately banishes from the plantation. Confused by this strange thing that has taken hold of her life, Emily turns to her nanny's mother for answers and the strange phenomenon of 'striking back' is explained to the bewildered young woman.”

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In Time of Need

A collection of award-winning Barbadian stories that showcase the controversial and often hidden aspects of the supposed Caribbean paradise.

The themes of love and relationships, domestic and emotional abuse, politics in the rum shop, sex tourism and human trafficking and more, are narrated in a satirical and humorous style, often through the voices of innocent and naïve characters.

“Issue-based writing that doesn't seem preachy or pedantic. There is humour. There is full humanity. There is certainly a love of Barbados and the Caribbean evidenced through a willingness to peek beneath the paradisical surface, poke beneath the tropical facade and embrace, warts and all, the society that inhabits our dynamic island and archipelago.” —Ayesha Gibson

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Vaucluse

“Vaucluse is the story of the struggle for freedom versus the fight against emancipation during a period of great turmoil in Barbados. It is 1816 and the planters are determined to maintain their enviable lifestyles. Many plantations are heavily indebted and are going into Chancery.

Henry Peter Simmons, owner of the prosperous Vaucluse plantation, claims that ‘the negro is not yet fitted for his freedom’ and fights against abolition. However, in his will he left the plantation to his ‘two natural coloured and reputed’ sons whom he manumitted before the end of slavery. One former slave referred to Simmons in his own will as a ‘kind master.’

Who was the real Henry Peter Simmons? The profit-driven anti-abolitionist or the kind master? You decide.”

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The Three-Body Problem

"Wildly imaginative, really interesting." - President Barack Obama

“A breakthrough book. A unique blend of scientific and philosophical speculation, politics and history, conspiracy theory and cosmology.” - George R. R. Martin

“The Three-Body Problem is the first chance for English-speaking readers to experience the Hugo Award-winning phenomenon from China.

Set against the backdrop of China's Cultural Revolution, a secret military project sends signals into space to establish contact with aliens. An alien civilization on the brink of destruction captures the signal and plans to invade Earth. Meanwhile, on Earth, different camps start forming, planning to either welcome the superior beings and help them take over a world seen as corrupt, or to fight against the invasion. The result is a science fiction masterpiece of enormous scope and vision.”

(A special thank you to book club member, Caity Greig for the group read suggestion.)

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The Art of War

“2,500 years ago, Sun Tzu wrote this classic book of military strategy based on Chinese warfare and military thought. Since then, all levels of the military around the world have continued to use the teachings of Sun Tzu. Much of the text notes how to outsmart one's opponent—fighting and winning wars without actually having to do battle.

In recent years, this text has become the essential strategy guide for use in business, politics, law, and everyday life. The Art of War is a book which should be used to gain advantage of opponents in the boardroom and battlefield alike.”

Note: We recommend this translation by Gagliardi. It’s not only a multi-award winner, but a complete version with what appears to be more accurate (& readable) translation.

Don’t think the translation makes that much of a difference?

Here’s a good example we compiled which compares the same 3 lines:

Gagliardi translation—the version we recommend
Do not entice the enemy when their ranks are orderly.
You must not attack when their formations are solid.
This is how you master adaptation.

Ames translation
Do not intercept an enemy that is perfectly uniform in its array of banners;
do not launch the attack on an enemy that is full and disciplined in its formations. This is the way to manage changing conditions.

Clavell/Giles translation
To refrain from intercepting an enemy whose banners are in perfect order,
to refrain from attacking an army drawn up in calm and confident array—
this is the art of studying circumstances.

Cleary translation
Avoiding confrontation with orderly ranks
and not attacking great formations
is mastering adaptation.

Griffith translation
They do not engage an enemy that is advancing with well-ordered banners,
nor whose formations are in impressive army.
This is control of the factor of changing circumstances.

Kaufman translation
Never attack if you see the enemy in prime condition
and his appearance is strong and steady.
His organization may be stronger than yours and you will need to replan your strategy. Note: This version seems to be incomplete skipping over & leaving out many lines!

Sawyer translation
Do not intercept well-ordered flags;
do not attack well-ordered formations.
This is the way to control changes.

What a huge difference & you can clearly see why we recommend the Gagliardi translation!

(A special thank you to book club member, Sena Karataşlı for the group read suggestion.)

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The Chilli Bean Paste Clan

“Chilli bean paste was big business, had been for Gran’s family for four or five generations. Sichuan peppers, on the other hand, were the sort of thing any small trader could sell. All they needed was a place to set up their stall. But, humble though the trade was, the Sichuan pepper was as essential as chilli bean paste at all Pingle Town dinner tables.

Dad had kicked around the chilli bean paste factory for over 20 years, learning the ins and outs of his trade under the tutelage of his shifu, Chen, and if it had taught him one thing, it was that people were born to sweat. You ate chilli bean paste, and Sichuan peppers, and ma-la spicy hotpot, to work up a good sweat, and screwing a girl made you sweat even more. The more you sweated, the happier you felt, Dad reckoned. He remembered the fiery heat that the sweat-soaked bed-sheets in Baby Girl’s house gave off.”

“Set in a fictional town in West China, this is the story of the Duan-Xue family, owners of the lucrative chilli bean paste factory, and their formidable matriarch. As Gran’s 80th birthday approaches, her middle-aged children get together to make preparations. Family secrets are revealed and long-time sibling rivalries flare up with renewed vigour. As Shengqiang struggles unsuccessfully to juggle the demands of his mistress and his wife, the biggest surprises of all come from Gran herself.”

“Yan Ge’s writing is outstandingly imaginative… The Chilli Bean Paste Clan delves deep into the pettiness and shortcomings of family relationships, dissecting them with remarkable insight and humour.... Yan Ge is not just a talented story-teller, she is also a versatile stylist, able to put her mastery of the local dialect to excellent use.” - China Literature Media Award judging panel, 2013

(Group read suggestion from Mia DeGiovine Chaveco, book club co-founder.)

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Empress Dowager Cixi

“Empress Dowager Cixi (1835–1908) is the most important woman in Chinese history. She ruled for decades and brought a medieval empire into the modern age.

At the age of 16, in a nationwide selection for royal consorts, Cixi was chosen as one of the emperor’s numerous concubines. When he died, their five-year-old son succeeded to the throne. Cixi at once launched a palace coup against the regents appointed by her husband and made herself the real ruler of China—behind the throne, literally, with a silk screen separating her from her officials who were all male.

In this groundbreaking biography, Jung Chang vividly describes how Cixi fought against monumental obstacles to change China. Under her, the ancient country attained virtually all the attributes of a modern state: industries, railways, electricity, the telegraph, and an army and navy with up-to-date weaponry. It was she who abolished gruesome punishments like ‘death by a thousand cuts’ and put an end to foot-binding. She inaugurated women’s liberation and embarked on the path to introduce parliamentary elections to China. Chang comprehensively overturns the conventional view of Cixi as a diehard conservative and cruel despot.

Cixi reigned during extraordinary times and had to deal with a host of major national crises: the Taiping and Boxer rebellions, wars with France and Japan—and an invasion by 8 allied powers including Britain, Germany, Russia, and the US.

Based on newly available (mostly Chinese) historical documents such as court records, official and private correspondence, diaries and eyewitness accounts, this biography will revolutionize historical thinking about a crucial period in China’s history. Packed with drama, fast paced and gripping, it is both a panoramic depiction of the birth of modern China and an intimate portrait of a woman: as the concubine to a monarch, as the absolute ruler of a third of the world’s population, and as a unique stateswoman.”

(Group read suggestion from Beth McCrea, book club co-founder.)

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A Hero Born

“The epic Chinese classic and phenomenon published in the US for the first time!

Set in ancient China, in a world where kung fu is magic, kingdoms vie for power and the battle to become the ultimate kung fu master unfolds, an unlikely hero is born.

After his father—a devoted Song Dynasty patriot—is murdered by the Jin empire, Guo Jing and his mother flee to the plains of Ghengis Khan and his people for refuge. For one day, he must face his mortal enemy in battle in the Garden of the Drunken Immortals. Under the tutelage of Genghis Khan and the Seven Heroes of the South, Guo Jing hones his kung fu skills. Humble, loyal and perhaps not always wise, Guo Jing faces a destiny both great and terrible.

However, in a land divided—and a future largely unknown—Guo Jing must navigate love and war, honor, and betrayal before he can face his own fate and become the hero he’s meant to be.”

This book is included in a distinctive genre that few Western readers are familiar with—wuxia which literally means “martial arts chivalry” in Chinese. It’s a unique blend of the Ancient Chinese martial arts philosophy of xia (chivalry) & the long history of wushu (Chinese kung fu). While deeply reflective of Chinese culture, with deep roots in Chinese history, language, & nuance, with culturally-specific plots which will appeal to historical fiction aficionados, wuxia also fuses in elements of martial arts fantasy. In this ancient Chinese world full of noble heroes & pitched battles, fantastical kung fu swordsmen who can fly & walk on water are woven into dramatic historical events making this an original genre which will appeal to those who love fantasy or those who love historical fiction.

Note: If you’re looking for the paperback in Amazon US, it appears as if there are 2 different versions—one that’s not out till March. I can’t tell the difference between the two (maybe a new publisher or a new translator). Amazon is doing funny things so if you want the paperback version or are having an issue seeing the paperback version that’s available now, use this link: https://amzn.to/2R0lmPp.

(Group read suggestion from Beth McCrea, book club co-founder.)

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Love in a Fallen City

“Masterful short works about passion, family, and human relationships.

These six stories, most available in English for the first time, were published to acclaim in China and Hong Kong in the '40s; they explore, bewitchingly, the myriad ways love overcomes (or doesn't) the intense social constraints of time and place.

Eileen Chang is one of the great writers of 20th century China, where she enjoys a passionate following both on the mainland and in Taiwan. At the heart of Chang’s achievement is her short fiction—tales of love, longing, and the shifting and endlessly treacherous shoals of family life. Written when Chang was still in her twenties, these extraordinary stories combine an unsettled, probing, utterly contemporary sensibility, keenly alert to sexual politics and psychological ambiguity, with an intense lyricism that echoes the classics of Chinese literature. Love in a Fallen City, the first collection in English of this dazzling body of work, introduces American readers to the stark and glamorous vision of a modern master.”

“With language as sharp as a knife edge, Eileen Chang cut open a huge divide in Chinese culture, between the classical patriarchy and our troubled modernity. She was one of the very few able truly to connect that divide, just as her heroines often disappeared inside it. She is the fallen angel of Chinese literature, and now, with these excellent new translations, English readers can discover why she is so revered by Chinese readers everywhere." – Ang Lee

(Group read suggestion from Mia DeGiovine Chaveco, book club co-founder.)

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Countrymen

“Amid the dark, ghastly history of WW II, the literally extraordinary story, never before fully researched by a historian, of how the Danish people banded together to save their fellow Jews from the Nazis—told through the remarkable unpublished diaries and documents of families forced to run for safety, leaving their homes and possessions behind, and of those who courageously came to their aid.


In 1943, with its king and administration weakened but intact during the Nazi occupation, Denmark did something that no other country in Western Europe even attempted. Anticipating that the German occupying powers would soon issue the long-feared order to round up the entire population of Jews for deportation to concentration camps, the Danish people stood up in defiance and resisted. The king, politicians, and ordinary civilians were united in their response—these threatened people were not simply Jews but fellow Danes who happened to be Jewish, and no one would help in rounding them up for confinement and deportation.  

While diplomats used their limited but very real power to maneuver and impede matters in both Copenhagen and Berlin, the warning that the crisis was at hand quickly spread through the Jewish community. Over 14 harrowing days, as they were helped, hidden, and protected by ordinary people who spontaneously rushed to save their fellow citizens, an incredible 7,742 out of 8,200 Jewish refugees were smuggled out all along the coast—on ships, schooners, fishing boats, anything that floated—to Sweden.

While the bare facts of this exodus have been known for decades, astonishingly no full history of it has been written. Unfolding on a day-to-day basis, Countrymen brings together accounts written by individuals and officials as events happened, offering a comprehensive overview that underlines occupied Denmark’s historical importance to Hitler as a prop for the model Nazi state and revealing the savage conflict among top Nazi brass for control of the country. This is a story of ordinary glory, of simple courage and moral fortitude that shines out in the midst of the terrible history of the twentieth century and demonstrates how it was possible for a small and fragile democracy to stand against the Third Reich.”

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Seven Gothic Tales

Here are seven exquisite tales combining the keen psychological insight characteristic of the modern short story with the haunting mystery of the 19th-century Gothic tale, in the tradition of writers such as Goethe, Hoffmann, and Poe.

Seven Gothic Tales was instantly popular when it was first published, revolving around mysterious, bizarre or supernatural events that explore questions of philosophy and identity. Although writing of death and failed loved affairs, Dinesen’s lush, ornate prose also has moments of humour.

“These Danish tales are a modern refinement of German romanticism. They are peopled, or haunted, by ghosts of a past age, voluptuaries dreaming of the singers and ballerinas of the operas of Mozart and Gluck, young men who are too melancholy to enjoy love or too perverse to profit by it, maidens dedicated to chastity and others hopeful of a gentlemanly seduction; their generally fantastic adventures are exquisitely played.” —The NY Times

”A book in that special realm in which artistry is more real than reality.” — Time

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The Keeper of Lost Causes

“Far from being just another morose Nordic crime writer, Adler-Olsen creates a detective whose curiosity is as active as his soul is tortured.” - Library Journal

“Adler-Olsen merges story lines with ingenious aplomb, effortlessly mixing hilarities with horrors. This crime fiction tour de force could only have been devised by an author who can even turn stomach flu into a belly laugh.” - Publishers Weekly

“Darkly humorous, propulsive, and atmospheric, The Keeper of Lost Causes introduces American readers to the mega-bestselling series fast becoming an international sensation.

Carl Mørck used to be one of Denmark’s best homicide detectives. Then a hail of bullets destroyed the lives of two fellow cops, and Carl—who didn’t draw his weapon—blames himself. So a promotion is the last thing he expects. But Department Q is a department of one, and Carl’s got only a stack of cold cases for company. His colleagues snicker, but Carl may have the last laugh, because one file keeps nagging at him: a liberal politician vanished five years earlier and is presumed dead. But she isn’t dead...yet.”

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The Fall of the King

“The Fall of the King recaptures for us with an astonishing vividness the feeling of the period. What lures you to the end is the power of its descriptions; what makes it distinguished at rare moments is the richness of its poetry.” - The NY Times

“Taking place during the first half of the sixteenth century, The Fall of the King tells the story of dreamy, slacking student Mikkel Thøgersen and the entanglements that ultimately bring him into service as a mercenary under King Christian II of Denmark. Moving from the Danish countryside to Stockholm during the execution of Swedish nobility and finally to the imprisonment of Mikkel and Christian, the narrative is a lyrical encapsulation of ‘the fall’—the fall of country, history, individuals, and nature.

Twice voted as the most important Danish novel of the twentieth century, The Fall of the King is both an epic depiction of real events and a complex psychological novel. Half pure narration, half prose poem, its scenes of brute realism mixed with rhapsodical passages make it a work of artistic genius.”

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The Little Book of Hygge

NY Times Bestseller

“Embrace Hygge (pronounced hoo-ga) and become happier with this definitive guide to the Danish philosophy of comfort, togetherness, and well-being.

Why are Danes the happiest people in the world? The answer, says Meik Wiking, CEO of the Happiness Research Institute in Copenhagen, is Hygge. Loosely translated, Hygge is a sense of comfort, togetherness, and well-being. ‘Hygge is about an atmosphere and an experience,’ Wiking explains. ‘It is about being with the people we love. A feeling of home. A feeling that we are safe.’

Hygge is the sensation you get when you’re cuddled up on a sofa, in cozy socks under a soft throw, during a storm. It’s that feeling when you’re sharing comfort food and easy conversation with loved ones at a candlelit table. It is the warmth of morning light shining just right on a crisp blue-sky day.

The Little Book of Hygge introduces you to this cornerstone of Danish life, and offers advice and ideas on incorporating it into your own life, such as:

  • Get comfy. Take a break.

  • Be here now. Turn off the phones.

  • Turn down the lights. Bring out the candles.

  • Build relationships. Spend time with your tribe.

  • Give yourself a break from the demands of healthy living. Cake is most definitely Hygge.

  • Live life today, like there is no coffee tomorrow.

From picking the right lighting to organizing a Hygge get-together to dressing hygge, Wiking shows you how to experience more joy and contentment the Danish way.”

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The Boy in the Suitcase

“Nina Borg, a Red Cross nurse, wife, and mother of two, is a compulsive do-gooder who can't say no when someone asks for help—even when she knows better. When her estranged friend Karin leaves her a key to a public locker in the Copenhagen train station, Nina gets suckered into her most dangerous project yet. Inside the locker is a suitcase, and inside the suitcase is a three-year-old boy: naked and drugged, but alive.

Is the boy a victim of child trafficking? Can he be turned over to authorities, or will they only return him to whoever sold him? When Karin is discovered brutally murdered, Nina realizes that her life and the boy's are in jeopardy, too. In an increasingly desperate trek across Denmark, Nina tries to figure out who the boy is, where he belongs, and who exactly is trying to hunt him down.”

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We, the Drowned

“An international hit, this bold seafaring epic spans 100 years in the lives of the men and women from a small town on an island off the Danish coast.

Carsten Jensen’s debut novel has taken the world by storm. Already hailed in Europe as an instant classic, We, the Drowned is the story of the port town of Marstal, whose inhabitants have sailed the world’s oceans aboard freight ships for centuries. Spanning over a hundred years, from the mid-nineteenth century to the end of the Second World War, and from the barren rocks of Newfoundland to the lush plantations of Samoa, from the roughest bars in Tasmania, to the frozen coasts of northern Russia, We, the Drowned spins a magnificent tale of love, war, and adventure, a tale of the men who go to sea and the women they leave behind.

Ships are wrecked at sea and blown up during wars, they are places of terror and violence, yet they continue to lure each generation of Marstal men away. Strong, resilient, women raise families alone and sometimes take history into their own hands. There are cannibals here, shrunken heads, prophetic dreams, forbidden passions, cowards, heroes, devastating tragedies, and miraculous survivals—everything that a town like Marstal has actually experienced, and that makes We, the Drowned an unforgettable novel, destined to take its place among the greatest seafaring literature.”

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The Midnight Witness

Voted Denmark's most popular novelist for the fourth time, Sara Blaedel is also a recipient of the Golden Laurel, Denmark's most prestigious literary award.

“Rookie homicide detective Louise Rick makes her debut in this thrilling #1 international bestseller that launched 3-million-copy bestselling writer Sara Blaedel's incredible career.

A young woman is found strangled in a park, and a male journalist has been killed in the backyard of the Royal Hotel in Copenhagen.

Detective Louise Rick is put on the case of the young girl, but very soon becomes entangled in solving the other homicide too when it turns out her best friend, journalist Camilla Lind, knew the murdered man. Louise tries to keep her friend from getting too involved, but Camilla's never been one to miss out on an interesting story. And this time, Camilla may have gone too far.

Emotionally riveting and filled with unexpected twists, The Midnight Witness is a tour-de-force from international phenomenon Sara Blaedel.”

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Snow Country

“Nobel Prize winner Yasunari Kawabata’s Snow Country is widely considered to be the writer’s masterpiece: a powerful tale of wasted love set amid the desolate beauty of western Japan.

At an isolated mountain hot spring, with snow blanketing every surface, Shimamura, a wealthy dilettante meets Komako, a lowly geisha. She gives herself to him fully and without remorse, despite knowing that their passion cannot last and that the affair can have only one outcome. In chronicling the course of this doomed romance, Kawabata has created a story for the ages—a stunning novel dense in implication and exalting in its sadness.”

(A special thank you to book club member, Elke Richelsen for the suggestion.)

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The Enceladus Mission

In the year 2031, a robot probe detects traces of biological activity on Enceladus, one of Saturn’s moons. This sensational discovery shows that there is indeed evidence of extraterrestrial life. Fifteen years later, a hurriedly built spacecraft sets out on the long journey to the ringed planet and its moon.

The international crew is not just facing a difficult 27 months—if the spacecraft manages to make it to Enceladus without incident, it must use a drill ship to penetrate the kilometer-thick sheet of ice that entombs the moon. If life does indeed exist on Enceladus, it could only be at the bottom of the salty, ice covered ocean, which formed billions of years ago.

However, shortly after takeoff disaster strikes the mission, and the chances of the crew making it to Enceladus, let alone back home, look grim.

From internationally best-selling hard science fiction author, Brandon Q. Morris comes a new novel for hard science fiction enthusiasts. As a physicist and space specialist, Morris describes the journey of the international expedition through the hostile vacuum of space, using the latest scientific findings and technology trends as his inspiration. This isn’t a What If book, this is a When Will book.

“A space odyssey that’s worth taking.” —Kirkus

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