Asian American Literary Awards

Here are some books that have recently won awards from the Asian American Writers Workshop.
2008 Winners
Mohsin Hamid The Reluctant Fundamentalist, Harcourt, 2007
Vijay Prashad The Darker Nations, New Press, 2007
Sun Yung Shin Skirt Full of Black, Coffee House Press, 2007
Ed Lin * This Is a Bust, Kaya Press, 2007

2007 Winners
Linh Dinh Borderless Bodies, Factory School, 2006
Amitav Ghosh Incendiary Circumstances: A Chronicle of the Turmoil of Our Times, Houghton Mifflin, 2006
Samrat Upadhyay The Royal Ghosts, Houghton Mifflin, 2006
Gene Yuen Yang* American Born Chinese, First Second Books, 2006

The 2009 Asian American Literary Awards will be announced later this year. Earlier awards are listed at
AAWW Awards

Mysteries in Foreign Lands

Need information on mystery novels set in other countries such as Europe, Asia, and Latin America? See Mysteries in Foreign Lands

Check out contemporary Japanese writer Murakami or a 1998 thriller by Wang Shuo of China.


See U.S. Regional Mysteries for books set in the various parts of the U.S.


Miami, It's Murder, with Cuban-American journalist-sleuth Britt Montero, by Edna Buchanan.

Uncatalogued by Julie Kaeworth is a booklover's mystery set in Dartmouth College.

Cuban-American mystery novels by Carolina Garcia-Aguilera

Havana Heat

The Lupe Solano Mystery novels include Bloody Waters (1996), A Miracle in Paradise (1999), Havana Heat (2000), and Bitter Sugar (2001).

She drinks mojitos the way other people drink coffee, wears Manolo Blahnik heels, and hangs with the community of elite Cuban exiles living in and around South Beach, Miami.

Lupe Solano is a private investigator, the main character in a series of mystery novels by Cuban-born, Florida-bred author Carolina Garcia-Aguilera.

In the novels, the avidly anti-Castro father of the P.I. keeps a boat ready to return to Cuba at a moment's notice, at the first sign of "Cuba Libre," something he spends his life waiting for.

On at least two occasions, Lupe uses his boat to sneak into Cuba, investigating lost or confiscated property, finding people, or recovering valuable artwork for her clients. Needless to say, her secret nighttime forays into Cuba provide some good suspense.

A Miracle in Paradise

Bitter Sugar

I found out about mojitos (a drink made with mint leaves, sugar, soda water, and rum) and the Cuban American community in Florida while reading these lively mysteries.

Bloody Waters

Spiced: A Pastry Chef's True Stories by Dalia Jurgensen, book review

There are two things I really liked about Spiced, (2009) a book about becoming a chef and working in restaurant kitchens.

First, the inside info of the goings-on in the off-limits areas of restaurants - the good, the bad, and the funny. And second, the mouth watering descriptions of foods, their preparation, and the unusual pastries and desserts concocted by pastry chefs in three star restaurants.

It was interesting to learn that many chefs work long hours for just average wages, without health insurance, and hit the burn out point often, having to change jobs or rotate the types of food prep they do.

Dalia Jurgensen left her routine job in publishing to attend pastry school and work in a succession of restaurants, preparing appetizers, pastries, main dishes, and finally pastries again. She doesn't have much time to socialize; her off hours are often spent with her coworkers after work, winding down in bars at midnight after the restaurant is closed. She has surprising and not-so-surprising romantic dalliances with various chefs.

What I missed in the book, however, was a stronger story thread that would link up her restaurant and chef experiences and show a progression to the place where she is now. We know that later in her career, she was reviewed by food critics from top newspapers, but this was not an achievement she dwelt on or showed as a high point or culmination of her hard work under various chefs. At least, that was not a strong impression.

The book thus seems to be a chronological account of her career without that main theme to carry it all the way through. Even the ending seems to be "more of the same."

Her unusual desserts in the pastry kitchen, however, sound finger-licking good! Some simpler recipes and a taste of what her book is about can be found at her website, My Spiced Life.

Book provided by the publisher, Putnam Adult, for my objective review.

Awards, Awards

Let's Be Friends Award
Yet another award, this one from Britt of A Book Habitue. Thanks, Britt.

"Blogs that received the Let’s Be Friends Award are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to eight bloggers."

Kudos to

Jenny Julian at Sunny Sweet Pea
PopInFresh at Popin's Lair
Nely at All About(n)
Mari at MariReads
Sally906 at Books and Musings from Downunder
JLS Hall at Joy's Blog
Lori at Lori's Book Den
Lisa at Books Ahoy

Check out these blogs!

More Awards

The Premio Dardos Award

This award is from Scattie of In My Head. Very neat! Thanks, Scattie!

"This award acknowledges the values that every blogger shows in his or her effort to transmit cultural, ethical, literary, and personal values every day.

The rules to follow are:
1) Accept the award, post it on your blog together with the name of the person who has granted the award and his or her blog link. 2) Pass the award to 15 other blogs that are worthy of this acknowledgment. Remember to contact the bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award."

I've passed the award on to
Ruby at The Ruby Canary
Mark David at Absorbed In Words
Fleur at Fleur Fisher Reads
Karen at Euro Crime

Congratulations!

Awards

Lemonade Stand Award

Many thanks to Stacy of Stacy's Bookblog for this award! It's much appreciated.

"Here are the rules:1) Put the Lemonade Award logo on your blog or post. 2) Nominate at least 10 blogs that show great attitude or gratitude. 3) Link to your nominees within your post. 4) Let the nominees know that they have received this award by commenting on their blog.5) Share the love and link to the person from whom you received your award."

I'm passing on the award to:
Barb at Exploring Nature
Kay at Kay's Book Shelf
Cathy at Booklady
Caspette at The Narrative Causality

Check out these cool blogs!