FICTION
1. STATE OF FEAR
by Michael Crichton
Avon
Reverse eco-terrorists create natural disasters to convince the public that global warming is real.
2. NIGHT FALL
by Nelson DeMille
Warner
A husband and wife who work for an anti-terrorism task force reopen the investigation into TWA Flight 800
3. WHITEOUT
by Ken Follett
Signet
In the middle of a Christmas Eve blizzard in Scotland, a canister filled with a deadly virus goes missing.
4. LIFE EXPECTANCY
by Dean Koontz
Bantam
A pastry chef must struggle all his life against a family of evil madmen.
5. NORTHERN LIGHTS
by Nora Roberts
Jove
In Lunacy, Alaska, the new chief of police finds romance and investigates a murder.
6. THE KITE RUNNER
by Khaled Hosseini
Riverhead
An Afghan-American returns to Kabul to learn how his
childhood friend fared under the Taliban.
7. LONDON BRIDGES
by James Patterson
Warner
The FBI agent Alex Cross
contends with two deadly
enemies: the Wolf and the Weasel.
8. WICKED
by Gregory Maguire
ReganBooks/HarperCollins
A little green-skinned girl grows up to become the Wicked Witch of the West; source of the Broadway musical.
9. TOM CLANCY'S SPLINTER CELL: OPERATION BARRACUDA
by David Michaels
Berkley
Further adventures of special operative Sam Fisher.
10. LIGHT ON SNOW
by Anita Shreve
Back Bay Books/Little, Brown
In the middle of a New England winter, a girl and her father come upon an abandoned baby.
11. MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA
by Arthur Golden
Vintage
A young woman in Kyoto has to reinvent herself after World War II begins.
12. FAMILY BLESSINGS
by Fern Michaels
Pocket Books
Even though her house was destroyed by a tornado, a
matriarch plans a holiday
reunion to help her family solve their problems.
NONFICTION
1. A MILLION LITTLE PIECES
by James Frey
Anchor
A memoir by a man who was an alcoholic for 10 years and a crack addict for three.
2. JARHEAD
by Anthony Swofford
Scribner/Pocket Books
A memoir of the 1991 Persian Gulf War by a former marine.
3. IN COLD BLOOD
by Truman Capote
Vintage
A savage murder in Kansas in 1959 and its consequences.
4. THE DEVIL IN THE WHITE CITY
by Erik Larson
Vintage
A great architect and a serial killer, linked by the Chicago World's Fair of 1893.
5. THE TIPPING POINT
by Malcolm Gladwell
Back Bay/Little, Brown
A journalist's study of social
epidemics, otherwise known as fads.
6. WHEN WILL JESUS BRING THE PORK CHOPS?
by George Carlin
Hyperion
Another volume of observations and opinions from the stand-up comedian.
7. MAGICAL THINKING
by Augusten Burroughs
Picador/St. Martin's Press
Life after rehab, from the
author of Running With Scissors.
8. READING LOLITA IN TEHRAN
by Azar Nafisi
Random House
A memoir of a female teacher's life in Iran, centered on a women's reading group she
organized.
9. GUNS, GERMS, AND STEEL
by Jared Diamond
Norton
An argument that Western dominance is a result of
geographical advantages.
10. CHRONICLES: Volume One
by Bob Dylan
Simon and Schuster
Recollections and observations from the singer-songwriter.
11. GREEN RIVER, RUNNING RED
by Ann Rule
Pocket Star
The story of the Green River killer, who murdered dozens of women in the Pacific Northwest before he was
captured in 2001.
12. NICKEL AND DIMED
by Barbara Ehrenreich
Metropolitan/Owl/Holt
A social critic reports on what it was like to become a member of the working poor.
13. THE END OF FAITH
by Sam Harris
Norton
The clash between reason and religion in the modern world.
In late October of 1873 the government of Japan decided against sending a military expedition to Korea to force that nation to open trade relations. Across the government supporters of the expedition resigned immediately. The spectacle of revolt by disaffected samurai began to loom over Japanese politics. In January of 1874 disaffected samurai attacked a senior minister in Tokyo. A month later, a group of pro-Korea expedition and anti-foreign elements from Saga prefecture in Kyushu revolted, driven in part by high food prices stemming from poor harvests. Their leader, according to Edward Drea’s classic Japan’s Imperial Army, was a samurai
The following three paragraphs are just some of what the local Chinese-language press is reporting on breathlessly and following every twist and turn with the eagerness of a soap opera fan. For many English-language readers, it probably comes across as incomprehensibly opaque, so bear with me briefly dear reader: To the surprise of many, former pop singer and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) ex-lawmaker Yu Tien (余天) of the Taiwan Normal Country Promotion Association (TNCPA) at the last minute dropped out of the running for committee chair of the DPP’s New Taipei City chapter, paving the way for DPP legislator Su
It’s hard to know where to begin with Mark Tovell’s Taiwan: Roads Above the Clouds. Having published a travelogue myself, as well as having contributed to several guidebooks, at first glance Tovell’s book appears to inhabit a middle ground — the kind of hard-to-sell nowheresville publishers detest. Leaf through the pages and you’ll find them suffuse with the purple prose best associated with travel literature: “When the sun is low on a warm, clear morning, and with the heat already rising, we stand at the riverside bike path leading south from Sanxia’s old cobble streets.” Hardly the stuff of your
Located down a sideroad in old Wanhua District (萬華區), Waley Art (水谷藝術) has an established reputation for curating some of the more provocative indie art exhibitions in Taipei. And this month is no exception. Beyond the innocuous facade of a shophouse, the full three stories of the gallery space (including the basement) have been taken over by photographs, installation videos and abstract images courtesy of two creatives who hail from the opposite ends of the earth, Taiwan’s Hsu Yi-ting (許懿婷) and Germany’s Benjamin Janzen. “In 2019, I had an art residency in Europe,” Hsu says. “I met Benjamin in the lobby