Call number: DS740.4 B76125 2023
Title: Hubilie de lie bao: ba bai nian lai de Zhongguo yu shi jie
忽必烈的猎豹: 八百年来的中国与世界
Author: Timothy Brook; translated by Feng Yida 卜正民著, 冯亦达译

This book explores China’s history from a new angle. The author, Professor Timothy Brook, started the book from a Chinese rare map at UBC Library. He shows how China’s past can help us understand its present and future. The book narrates 13 fascinating stories from the Yuan Dynasty to the Republic of China, revealing the Chinese people’s interactions with the outside world. The stories feature the “Persian Blue Princess,” whom Kublai Khan chose for the Mongol throne; Korean envoys who ended up in China by accident; the Italian Jesuit missionaries who introduced Renaissance ideas; and the masses of European traders flocking to ports like Canton. The book has been translated into six languages, including this traditional Chinese one, published this year in Taiwan.

Call number: SB103 S8227 2020
Title: Ren wen cao mu: 16 zhong zhi wu de qi yuan, xun hua yu chong bai
人文草木: 16种植物的起源, 驯化与崇拜
Authors: Su Shengwen, Zhao Shuang 苏生文, 赵爽

This book is captivating plant history book. It narrates the historical transformations of 16 plants, focusing on their roles in China’s history. The story of each plant can be read separately. It is suitable as a fragmented reading book for understanding plants, that connect people and places. You can discover the global travels of a potato; find out how the “golden apple” from ancient Greek myth became real; and learn about the lost classical works through the “Rose Bible”. You can also explore the original worship of gourds in different ethnic groups. It has over 100 beautiful illustrations throughout the book.

Call number: PL872.5 U26 Y67 2022
Title: Yoru ni hoshi o hanatsu 夜に星を放つ
Author: Kubo Misumi 窪美澄

Yoru ni hoshi o hanatsu 夜に星を放つ, roughly translated as “Releasing the Stars into the Night,” is a jewel of a collection of medium-length stories. Comprising five narratives, each intricately woven through constellations in the zodiac, it delves into various stages and moments in life: falling in love and parting, birth and death, friendships, and estrangements. Every story is absorbing and engaging, but what’s truly breathtaking is the emotional depth of the characters revealed through short phrases and small gestures. This book earned the author, Kubo Misumi 窪美澄, the prestigious Naoki Shō 直木賞 award in 2022, hailed as a “beautiful and pure novel” by one of the selection committee members. In an interview at the time, Kubo mentioned that she had written the book during the Covid-19 pandemic, aiming to brighten people’s hearts. If you appreciate well-crafted short stories, this book will not disappoint and will lift your spirit through its sheer beauty.

Call number: PN6790 J33 G34 2020
Title: Bōizu ran za raiotto ボーイズ・ラン・ザ・ライオット
Author: Gaku Keito 学慶人

Bōizu Ran za Raiotto ボーイズ・ラン・ザ・ライオット is a wonderfully crafted manga series originally published in Shūkan Yangu Magajin 週刊ヤングマガジン, a popular weekly manga journal targeting the young adult, primarily male audience. This short series captivates readers with a wonderful ensemble cast of cool, odd, and beautiful characters. It chronicles the adventures and heartbreaks of a group of high school students on the margins of their school and extracurricular communities. The main character, Ryō, a young transgender man, along with his circle of hip and eccentric friends, finds creative outlet in the fashion business. Through this journey, the friends authentically grow into themselves. The author, Gaku Keito 学慶人, is a transgender man, who has been awarded the Young Category Prize of the Chiba Tetsuya Award, which commemorates renowned manga artist Chiba Tetsuya ちばてつや. The prize is for emerging manga creators, and Gaku’s impactful winning entry, Akarui (Bright), can be viewed online.

Call number: PN6790 K62 K8 2022
Title: Kŭ kil ro kal pa en: chŏlmŭn manhwaga t’ema tanp’yŏn jip
그 길로 갈 바엔: 젊은 만화가 테마 단편집
Author: 재활용 and four others

To deviate, to digress, to leave the expected path and go this way instead of that way—what does it mean, in the grand scheme of our lives? What will happen, to us or to society? Kŭ kil ro kal pa en 그 길로 갈 바엔 is a collection of themed short stories in graphic novel format, by new and upcoming artists. The given theme was “deviance/digression” and the title translates roughly to “Rather Than Going That Way”. There is a lighthearted school/romance comedy, a surreal/horror story, a dreamy introspective end-of-life tale, and more. One might dance with an alien; one might deliver oracles via eggs. Perhaps because these are newer artists, the material reflects a bold energy and original ideas, together with a less-processed feel. It is like sitting in your neighborhood café listening to live sessions by the best local bands.

Call number: QH541.13 C475 2022
Title: Tongne esŏ chayŏn ŭl kwanch’al hanŭn 9-kaji pangpŏp
동네에서 자연을 관찰하는 9가지 방법
Author: Ch’oe Sŏng-yong 최 성용

In our polished urban environment, what little nature there is has been artificially managed to such a degree that we couldn’t possibly find anything interesting to observe. Is it true? The author finds a scary-looking wasplike insect building its nest over the doorway of a barbershop and is suddenly struck by curiosity: what is that bug with the alarmingly narrow, bright yellow waist? What’s its name? Is the nest going to become a hive? Most importantly, does the insect sting? Finding the answers to these questions is the beginning of a six-year observation period in which the author, who used to travel across the country to watch birds and study trees, stays put in a smallish satellite city and documents the urban life that you can see from your sidewalk, but only if you keep your eyes open. This book is of course on the nature you can observe in Korea, but it will be a fun introduction to the kind of attitude a budding citizen scientist might have.

Call number: PK2098 S7 G6165 2007
Title: Godāna ਗੋਦਾਨ (in Panjabi)
Author: Premchand

“Godaan” refers to the donation of a cow in charity to absolve one of sin and receive divine blessing. Hori, a poor peasant who yearns to own a cow, finds himself strung up and bound by a series of dream-crushing events despite doing as much as possible to uphold his duty to his family. The honest man in Hori drowns under the hardships he unfairly faces. Premchand weaves a story of village politics, colonial landownership, and the burden of having a dream. Still, there is hope that Hori will fulfill his life’s desire of owning a cow. The question is: How far will he go in the struggle for survival and self-respect? This story will bring tears, it will bring laughter, but most of all, this story will remind you of the blessings of being human.

Call number: PR9499.3 G644 B55155 2022
Title: Āndhārī आंधारी (in Hindi)
Author: Namita Gokhale; translated by Prabhat Ranjan

The blind matriarch, Matangi-Ma, lives on the topmost floor of an old house where she hovers unseeingly over the lives of her family. One day, the world comes to a standstill, forcing Matangi-Ma’s long-time companion Lali, her three overprotective children, and her growing grandchildren to look inward at the lives they’re leading. Structured with the warp of memory and the weft of conjoined lives, the novel follows generations trying to break out of the stranglehold of the all-encompassing Indian family. Ebbing and flowing like the waves of a pandemic, the novel is a clear-eyed chronicle of the tragedies of India’s encounter with Covid-19, the cynicism and despair that accompanied it, and the resilience and strength of the human spirit. We are prompted to remember the true meaning of family, and the value it holds.