The Scent of Burnt Flowers by Blitz Bazawule

The Scent of Burnt Flowers follows a couple, Melvin and Bernadette, fleeing the United States after a tragic accident leaves them in trouble with the FBI. Disguising themselves, they head to Ghana to seek the help of Melvin’s old friend, who is the country’s president. Taking place during the civil rights movement in America, The Scent of Burnt Flowers intersects civil rights and the history and mythology of postcolonial West Africa. Blitz Bazawule creates an epic tale full of political intrigue, magical encounters, and forbidden romance.

(Look out for the new adaptation of The Color Purple as a movie-musical directed by Blitz!)

Purchase a copy here.

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Learning Korean: Recipes for Home Cooking by Peter Serpico

Peter Serpico, a contributor to my cookbook A Place At the Table, has released his first cookbook. In Learning Korean: Recipes for Home Cooking, the James Beard Award-winning chef interprets the popular Asian cuisine for the everyday eater. Born in Seoul, Serpico was adopted by an American family in Maryland. Growing up, he wasn’t exposed to Korean food and was introduced to the cuisine by his wife’s family. Serpico brings a “kind of Korean” spirit to the hundred home cooking recipes featured in his book.

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Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi

From the author of the award-winning novel Homegoing, comes a moving portrait of a family of Ghanaian immigrants facing addiction and grief. Yaa Gyasi writes about Gifty, a PhD candidate in neuroscience, who is studying reward-seeking behavior and attempting to find the scientific basis for the suffering she’s seen in her family. In searching for meaning behind their loss, she finds herself questioning the evangelical church she was raised in and longing for her childhood faith.

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The Night Came With Many Stars by Simon Van Booy

The Night Came with Many Stars, a novel by Simon Van Booy, tells the story of a family spanning generations. It starts with Carol, whose father bet her in a game of cards and lost. The novel continues with Carol’s grandson and weaves together an intergenerational tale that reveals how wonderful and connected life can be.

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The Medieval Cookbook by Maggie Black

This cookbook takes readers on a journey through the Middle Ages with its collection of medieval recipes coupled with a social history of the time. Over the course of fifty recipes drawn from the earliest English cookbooks of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, you will be transported back in time.

A fun cookbook for English classics like meat pies and chutneys.

Purchase a copy here.

 

Victory City by Salman Rushdie

In Salman Rushdie’s latest novel, a nine-year-old girl, Pampa Kampana, has a divine encounter where she becomes the vessel for a goddess who tells her she will be instrumental in the rise of a great city called Bisnaga (victory city). Over the next 250 years, Pampa Kampana’s life becomes interwoven with Bisnaga’s, as she works to create a city where women are given equal agency in a patriarchal world. Victory City is a testament to the power of storytelling and an epic saga of love, adventure, and myth.

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The East Indian by Brinda Charry

Brinda Charry’s debut novel, inspired by a historical figure, tells the story of the first native of the Indian subcontinent, Tony, to arrive in Colonial America. Tony finds himself on the streets of Jamestown, Virginia, where he and his fellow indentured servants must work at the tobacco plantations. As he adjusts to his new environment, Tony finds companionship and envisions a post-servitude life for himself as a physician’s assistant. Tony’s coming-of-age tale is full of humor and tragedy, giving an authentic voice to an otherwise unknown historical figure.

A great beach read!

A Disappearance In Fiji by Nilima Rao

Nilima Rao’s debut mystery novel, taking place in 1914, tells the story of Akal Singh, a former police officer from Hong Kong who has been sent to Fiji as punishment for a professional mistake. Longing to go back to Hong Kong, Singh jumps at the opportunity to redeem himself by investigating the supposed kidnapping of an indentured Indian woman from a sugarcane plantation. He soon finds himself discovering the realities of indentured servitude and British colonial racism, as he realizes there is more to this case than meets the eye.

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*Book covers courtesy of Amazon and Penguin Random House.

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