New Release Notes 4/26/2022: New in Paperback
Things We Lost To The Water by Eric Nguyen
The Chosen and the Beautiful by Nghi Vo
Skinship by Yoon Choi
What a week it is for new paperbacks! Some of our favorite books of 2021 are now released in more approachable (and beach-friendly) formats. Whether it’s deep dramas, magical realism, or short stories, we got you covered.
“This is an elemental book, of water, for sure, but also of other elements of life, including love and loss. Vietnamese people know all about these elements, coming from a country whose entire length is bordered by a sea, and from a history saturated with loss. Love is one element that has enabled their survival, but sometimes at a cost. Eric Nguyen’s powerful novel ripples and gleams with the unpredictable flow and surge of love, which, like water, can drown us or sustain us. From a war to a hurricane, from an ocean to a flood, Things We Lost to the Water proves itself to be a novel that sustains us.”
—Viet Thanh Nguyen, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Sympathizer
For fans of Ocean Vueong, Eric Ngyuen’s tale of a family dealing with the understanding that the patriarch will not be making the journey with them from Vietnam is full of depth and raw emotion. Settling in New Orleans, the family tries to forge a new path as the boys try to find their identity, an absentee father and the memories of a country like ghosts haunting their present and prospective future. When Hurricane Katrina blasts through Louisiana, the family must come together like never before.
“I love it with the passion of a thousand burning hearts... Vo’s audacious amendments shift the register of “The Great Gatsby,” creating a story that galvanizes Fitzgerald’s classic and leaves a new one vibrating alongside... from the old bones of an American classic, Vo has conjured up something magically alive.” —The Washington Post
The only thing better than a classic novel is when you add magic, and turn one of the side characters into an LGTBQ+ heroine that can turn paper silhouettes to walking creatures.