THE PIANO TEACHER, by Janice Y. K. Lee

Author's web page - see her biography, about the book, praise, a podcast, etc.

Penguin.com reading guide  It includes a conversation with Janice Y. K. Lee and discussion questions.

New York Times Book Review


From Goodreads:
Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers
Exotic Hong Kong takes center stage in this sumptuous novel, set in the 1940s and '50s. It's a city teeming with people, sights, sounds, and smells, and it's home to a group of foreign nationals who enjoy the good life among the local moneyed set, in a tight-knit social enclave distanced from the culture at large. Comfortable, clever, and even a bit dazzling, they revel in their fancy dinners and fun parties. But their sheltered lives take an abrupt turn after the Japanese occupation, and though their reactions are varied -- denial, resistance, submission -- the toll it takes on all is soon laid bare. 

Enter Claire Pendleton from London. Months after her husband is transferred to Hong Kong in 1951, she accepts a position as a piano teacher to the daughter of a wealthy couple, the Chens. Claire begins to see the appeal of the sweltering city and is soon taken in by the Chen's driver, the curiously underutilized Will Truesdale. A handsome charmer with a mysterious limp, Will appears to be the perfect companion for Claire, who's often left to her own devices. But a further examination leaves her with more questions than answers.

An intricately woven tale of lives changed by historical events, Lee's debut brings this hothouse flower of a city alive with passion, and imagines characters both unforgettable and tragic.
(Spring 2009 Selection)(

In ELLE - "a first class ticket to a disappearing Hong Kong."

In Reading Group Guides - discussion questions

Watch a short  video in   youtube.com

A Widow for a Year, by John Irving

From the New York Times on the web   See also the links at the top of the article.

From the author's page: John Irving  -  Read the links at the bottom right.

Reading Group Guides  - includes discussion questions.



CNN 

All Readers 

The Round House by Louise Erdrich

In the New York Times

Also in the New York Times

NPR - All Things Considered

In LitLovers.com

Harper Collins Publishers

RULES OF CIVILITY, BY Amor Towles

In the New York Times

LitLovers  covers brief information about the author, review and questions for discussion.

Amor Towles  - the author and book webpage.

CNN.com  - 'Rules of Civility' takes on loyalty and the choices we make

Film rights  - Lionsgate Acquires Film Rights To Amor Towles Bestseller ‘Rules Of Civility’

1421 The Year China Discovered America

Gavin Menzies' homepage

From the New York Times:

Good Bye, Columbus

Pacific Overtures

A new theory puts Chinese fleet ahead of Columbus

Another book by Menzies: 1434: The Year a Magnificent Chinese Fleet sailed to Italy and Ignited the Renaissance

History or entertainment?

From Publisher's Weekly

This is only the abstract of an article, Bogus Books, in Archaeology

Mad as a snake or a visionary?  in The Telegraph


The Myth of Menzies 

Did the Chinese beat Columbus to America?in How Stuff Works

A documentary has been made based on the book.  It can be seen here.

The Invisible Wall

From Random House - Book, author, praise and awards and reader's guide sections tabs.

Article in the New York Times.

Another in the NY Times: Successful at 96, writer has more to say 

LitLovers - Review, discussion questions

In Books on the Brain  Review of The Invisible Wall by Harry Bernstein

Compelling Stories: Jewish Lives Lived  

Author Harry Bernstein Dies  in USA Today

The Dream - book by Harry Bernstein, 2008

Cutting for Stone, by Abraham Verghese

Try the following links about the book:

New York Times

Reading Group Guides

Cutting for Stone, the movie  

NPR Book Club In March 2011

In the Washington Post

Verghese, the doctor, in TED

More Related videos in Random House web page




See also:

Haile Selassie  A biography.

Review:  Amazon Exclusive: John Irving Reviews Cutting for Stone 

John Irving has been nominated for a National Book Award three times--winning once, in 1980, for the novel The World According to Garp. In 1992, Irving was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in Stillwater, Oklahoma. In 2000, he won the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay for The Cider House Rules--a film with seven Academy Award nominations. Read his exclusive Amazon guest review of Cutting for Stone: 

That Abraham Verghese is a doctor and a writer is already established; the miracle of this novel is how organically the two are entwined. I’ve not read a novel wherein medicine, the practice of it, is made as germane to the storytelling process, to the overall narrative, as the author manages to make it happen here. The medical detail is stunning, but it never overwhelms the humane and narrative aspects of this moving and ambitious novel. This is a first-person narration where the first-person voice appears to disappear, but never entirely; only in the beginning are we aware that the voice addressing us is speaking from the womb! And what terrific characters--even the most minor players are given a full history. There is also a sense of great foreboding; by the midpoint of the story, one dreads what will further befall these characters. The foreshadowing is present in the chapter titles, too--‘The School of Suffering’ not least among them! Cutting for Stone is a remarkable achievement.--John Irving

(Photo © Maki Galimberti)