Bookseller's Choice

Hello, I am Thu.

I have read a thousand books,

but I still love books.

Estranged sisters Jayne and June suddenly

become the only ones each can rely on. Choi

deftly shows vulnerability, what it takes to

accept someone into an area of trust, and the

responsibility of sharing emotional weight.

A companion piece to Strange Weather in

Tokyo where one recalls a story from their

childhood on a rainy day. It’s perfect.

What makes!Sanpaku!so special is the main

character, Marcine’s, connection to her late lola

and the lengths she takes to compensate for it

after her death. Realizing the space your loved

ones and their memories occupy in your heart. A

gorgeous and quirky coming-of-age graphic novel

that tackles love, family, and self-realization.!

Adorned in embroidered dragons and phoenixes and

draped with gold tassels, the Duck House is all the stuﬀ

of our Chinese takeout fantasies! More than that, it is

the Han family’s legacy—a place where veteran waiters

Nan and Ah-Jack have built their lives, and where the

next generation, Annie and Pat, work out their post-

pubescent awkwardness. In the midst of disaster, this

colorful cast of characters illustrate a rich and heartfelt

story about culture and how family can be deﬁned

outside of bloodlines.

This!is not quite your typical love story. A treat for

fans of Haruki Murakami’s love stories like

Norwegian Wood,!SWT!thoughtfully renders

humanism where Murakami’s other-worldly

characters miss. In addition, read it for the vivid

Tokyo cityscape and drool-worthy Japanese

meals.

Kwon achieves the impossible by bridging

the spectrum faith and belief in this alluring

novel about three!strangers from troubled

pasts who become tangled with a religious

cult with secret ties to North Korea.!

An energetic and wholesome Young

Adult novel about a teen that

dreams of becoming a successful

body positive Korean pop star

against all odds.

What do we know about the unnamed narrator in

Weike Wang’s!Chemistry? She has roughly a year to

ﬁnishing her Ph.D. in chemistry (and fulﬁlling her

parents dreams), her boyfriend Eric proposed (twice),

but all she can think is how she’s not up to the task.

Hilarious, smart, penetrating, and poignant, Wang’s

narrator is brilliant albeit lacking in social skills whose

relentless and polarizing sensibilities makes her the

greatest unsung hero.

For 18 years, ﬂuorescent lighting, beeps and

chimes, ebb and ﬂow, and even the food of the

convenience store courses through Keiko’s

veins. The convenience store provides for her

and it’s the life she knows. But when this life

clashes with her family’s wishes for her to meet

society’s standards, she is resigned to conform.

An entertaining and refreshing critique on the

pressures of society.

Memorial!is!about a gay couple, Benson, a

day care worker!and Mike, a chef, whose

relationship has reached a place!between

comfort and complacency. This is a

reassuring debut with rhythmic prose and

an air of unresolved positivity that

percolates hope throughout the story.

The main character thinks she's an alien, but

that's not the only twist. Not even close.

This sensuous and weird little book sees our

world through iridescent, ﬁsh-eyed goggles,

and our social constructs as inscrutable

ciphers. Absorbing and other worldly.

A beautiful story about two

neighbored widows in a small, rural

town who develop a friendship in

spite of their loneliness and an

opportunity to seize happiness.

Part Japanese ghost story and a young boy’s

reconciliation and catharsis from unspeakable

brutality. 10 year old Takeru casts a pure lens to

heartless and dark places from his memories. In

this eerie and breathtaking novel, the reader’s

path teeters on the verge of peace and anguish.

How often do we get to grow along with and spend

the greater part of our lives with another person?

Would creating and nurturing something together

help us anticipate and strengthen our bonds? Can

loss and change deﬁne relationships? The

Ensemble!aﬀords us a rare opportunity to witness

bonds that surpass time and what deﬁnes and

strengthens them through the lives of the Van Ness

String Quartet.

What I love about this enigmatic story

collection is how each ending leaves your

consciousness teetering between hope

and ambivalence without forcing your

hand. Each story is a delicate and

precious gem.

Morayo Da Silva is an elderly woman living in

San Francisco who is making the rounds to

celebrate her birthday. She falls down, and

while nothing serious happens, her

rehabilitation becomes a reﬂection of a

brilliant and imperfectly radiant life.

A retelling of Liberia’s past that combines

history, magic, and myth from the

perspectives of the invincible June Dey,

the stealthy Norman Aragon, and the

indestructible Gbessa.

Gifty is a young, Black scientist who studies

the brain to understand her brother Nana, a

gifted athlete lost to addiction. An intimate

story that draws on the relationship between

immigrant children and parents, mental

health, and grief. Gyasi’s writing is a wealth

that enriches my soul with every word.

icture books aren’t just for kids.

I’m not a minimalist by any

means, but I think less is more

when it comes to words and

expressions. These books will resonate

to anyone with a heart. In other words,

they are magical.

A grumpy old man and a boy with his

frog jacket cross paths on a rainy

day. A silly reminder to lighten up and

splash in all the puddles.

A grandson and grandfather ﬁnd a

way to bond in a world with no

words. The messaging and

illustrations in this book are equally

gorgeous!

A mother and daughter’s beloved

ritual is almost ruined until they

realize that the best part of every

Saturday is being together.

My boyfriend is the space freak and I

asked him why he loves space. He

said, “because it makes you wonder.”

We both love Curiosity because it

gives this symbolic machine a soul.

This tiny book is poetry about the

colorful world around us and how

that vibrancy feeds our energy.

love cooking. I love the toil of

challenging recipes, the lush history

behind a beloved dish, experimenting

with new ingredients, and single use

appliances. For the most part, the

cookbooks you’ll see at our store steer

towards the accessible and delicious.

Here are a few of my favorites which are

balanced in practicality and adventure: