Free Online Reading The Moon in the Palace (The Empress of Bright Moon Duology) from Weina Dai Randel

There is no easy path for a woman aspiring to power

A concubine at the palace learns quickly that there are many ways to capture the Emperor's attention. Many paint their faces white and style their hair attractively, hoping to lure in the One Above All with their beauty. Some present him with fantastic gifts, such as jade pendants and scrolls of calligraphy, while others rely on their knowledge of seduction to draw his interest. But young Mei knows nothing of these womanly arts, yet she will give the Emperor a gift he can never forget.

Mei's intelligence and curiosity, the same traits that make her an outcast among the other concubines, impress the Emperor. But just as she is in a position to seduce the most powerful man in China, divided loyalties split the palace in two, culminating in a perilous battle that Mei can only hope to survive. 
In the breakthrough first volume in the Empress of Bright Moon duology, Weina Dai Randel paints a vibrant portrait of ancient China―where love, ambition, and loyalty can spell life or death―and the woman who came to rule it all. Read Online Book The Moon in the Palace (The Empress of Bright Moon Duology) from Weina Dai Randel Full Free

Review :

“Like fragile yet strong silk threads, Randel’s beautifully composed debut ensnares readers in the dynamic story of the young girl who would become Empress of the Bright Moon. Randel’s novel is an impressive tale of lethal court intrigue that is seductive and alluring. It is a story of one woman’s rise to power, but also of the relationships between the women of the palace. Readers will be transported by the colorful, fairy-tale-like story.”— RT Book Reviews, Top Pick, 4-1/2 stars
“The intrigue and machinations of the imperial court come to life under her hand, a vast and dangerous engine with each piece moving for its own reasons.” – Shelf Awareness, Starred Review for The Moon in the Palace

"A very successful and transporting novel that beautifully captures the sounds, smells and social mores of 7th-century China." -- Historical Novels Review, Editor's Choice  
"Lyrical and intriguing." -- Bobbi Dumas, Kirkus Reviews
“Mei gives life to this richly detailed novel. She is adventuresome, intelligent, hardworking and a risktaker.” –  The Dallas Morning News

"The real triumph of The Moon in the Palace is how Randel succeeds in showing court politics exclusively through female eyes, and how every decision and subsequent action, success, and failure are skillfully plotted like a chess match by the palace women... Magical." -- Washington Independent Book Review of Books
“Randel brilliantly evokes Mei’s many struggles in THE MOON IN THE PALACE. .. The author also makes the intricacies of the imperial court easily accessible to readers new to ancient China.”
– BookReporter

"The premise might be familiar from similar blockbusters such as Memoirs of a Geisha, but Randel knows how to exploit it for narrative tension... the novel explores intriguing feminist terrain."
– South China Morning Post

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Download Ebook: The Sympathizer: A Novel by Viet Thanh Nguyen

The winner of the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, compared by critics to the works of Graham Greene, Denis Johnson, and George Orwell, The Sympathizer is a blistering exploration of identity, politics, and America, wrought in electric prose. 

The narrator, a Vietnamese army captain, is a man of divided loyalties, a half-French, half-Vietnamese communist sleeper agent in America after the end of the Vietnam War. A powerful story of love and friendship, and a gripping espionage novel, The Sympathizer examines the legacy of the Vietnam War in literature, film, and the wars we fight today. Read Online Book The Sympathizer: A Novel by Viet Thanh Nguyen Full Free

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Praise for The Sympathizer:

Winner of the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
Winner of the 2016 Edgar Award for Best First Novel
Winner of the 2016 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction
Winner of the 2015 Center for Fiction First Novel Prize
Winner of the 2015-2016 Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature (Adult Fiction)
Winner of the 2016 California Book Award for First Fiction
Finalist for the 2016 PEN/Faulkner Award
Finalist for the 2016 PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize for Debut Fiction
Finalist for the 2016 Medici Book Club Prize
Finalist for the 2015 Los Angeles Times Book Prize (Mystery/Thriller)
Finalist for the 2016 ABA Indies Choice/E.B. White Read-Aloud Award (Book of the Year, Adult Fiction)
Named a Best Book of the Year on more than twenty lists, including the New York Times Book Review, Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post

“A layered immigrant tale told in the wry, confessional voice of a ‘man of two minds’—and two countries, Vietnam and the United States.”—Pulitzer Prize Citation

“[A] remarkable debut novel . . . [Nguyen] brings a distinctive perspective to the war and its aftermath. His book fills a void in the literature, giving voice to the previously voiceless . . . The nameless protagonist-narrator, a memorable character despite his anonymity, is an Americanized Vietnamese with a divided heart and mind. Nguyen’s skill in portraying this sort of ambivalent personality compares favorably with masters like Conrad, Greene, and le Carré. . . . Both thriller and social satire. . . . In its final chapters, The Sympathizer becomes an absurdist tour de force that might have been written by a Kafka or Genet.”—Philip Caputo, New York Times Book Review (cover review)

“This is more than a fresh perspective on a familiar subject. [The Sympathizer] is intelligent, relentlessly paced and savagely funny . . . The voice of the double-agent narrator, caustic yet disarmingly honest, etches itself on the memory.”—Wall Street Journal (WSJ’s Best Books of 2015) 

“Extraordinary . . . Surely a new classic of war fiction. . . . [Nguyen] has wrapped a cerebral thriller around a desperate expat story that confronts the existential dilemmas of our age. . . . Laced with insight on the ways nonwhite people are rendered invisible in the propaganda that passes for our pop culture. . . . I haven’t read anything since Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four that illustrates so palpably how a patient tyrant, unmoored from all humane constraint, can reduce a man’s mind to liquid.”—Washington Post

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Online Reading Before We Visit the Goddess: A Novel from Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

A beautiful, powerful new novel from the bestselling, award-winning author of Sister of My Heart andThe Mistress of Spices about three generations of mothers and daughters who must discover their greatest source of strength in one another—a masterful, brilliant tale of a family both united and torn apart by ambition and love.
The daughter of a poor baker in rural Bengal, India, Sabitri yearns to get an education, but her family’s situation means college is an impossible dream. Then an influential woman from Kolkata takes Sabitri under her wing, but her generosity soon proves dangerous after the girl makes a single, unforgiveable misstep. Years later, Sabitri’s own daughter, Bela, haunted by her mother’s choices, flees abroad with her political refugee lover—but the America she finds is vastly different from the country she’d imagined. As the marriage crumbles and Bela is forced to forge her own path, she unwittingly imprints her own child, Tara, with indelible lessons about freedom, heartbreak, and loyalty that will take a lifetime to unravel.

In her latest novel, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni explores the complex relationships between mothers and daughters, and the different kinds of love that bind us across generations. Before We Visit the Goddess captures the gorgeous complexity of these multi-generational and transcontinental bonds, sweeping across the twentieth century from the countryside of Bengal, India, to the streets of Houston, Texas—an extraordinary journey told through a sparkling symphony of voices. Read Online Book Before We Visit the Goddess: A Novel from Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni Full Free

Review :

“I will never forget Sabitri, Bela, and Tara: grandmother, mother, and daughter after my own heart. Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni cycles through generations of time, until we come to know our ancestresses—and the goddess. A lovely book.”
(Maxine Hong Kingston, author of I Love a Broad Margin to My Life)

“Tender, bittersweet, beautifully wrought tales about love and longing, exile and loneliness. I was reminded of the songs of separation sung by Bhojpuri women: Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni discovers new nuances in the ‘biraha’ that creeps into the lives of migrants.” (Amitav Ghosh, author of The Glass Palace)
“The always enchanting and enlightening Divakaruni spins another silken yet tensile saga about the lives of women in India and as immigrants in America…Divakaruni’s gracefully insightful, dazzlingly descriptive, and covertly stinging tale illuminates the opposition women must confront, generation by generation, as they seek both independence and connection." (Booklist (Starred Review))
“Richly drawn characters…a novel of quiet but deeply affecting moments.” (Kirkus Reviews)

"Three generations of headstrong Bengali women, their passions, secrets, regrets and mysteries, come to life through Divakaruni’s storytelling wizardry… Divakaruni brings us from the poor villages to the upper crust urban families, from India to Texas, to show how three courageous women struggle toward independence.” (BBC.com)

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Read Online Book The Yoga of Max’s Discontent: A Novel by Karan Bajaj

In this captivating and surprising novel of spiritual discovery—a No. 1 bestseller in India—a young American travels to India and finds himself tested physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

Max Pzoras is the poster child for the American Dream. The child of Greek immigrants who grew up in a dangerous New York housing project, he triumphed over his upbringing and became a successful Wall Street analyst. Yet on the frigid December night he’s involved in a violent street scuffle, Max begins to confront questions about suffering and mortality that have dogged him since his mother’s death.

His search takes him to the farthest reaches of India, where he encounters a mysterious night market, almost freezes to death on a hike up the Himalayas, and finds himself in an ashram in a drought-stricken village in South India. As Max seeks answers to questions that have bedeviled him—can yogis walk on water and live for 200 years without aging? Can a flesh-and-blood man ever achieve nirvana?—he struggles to overcome his skepticism and the pull of family tugging him home. In an ultimate bid for answers, he embarks on a dangerous solitary meditation in a freezing Himalayan cave, where his physical and spiritual endurance is put to its most extreme test.

By turns a gripping adventure story and a journey of tremendous inner transformation, The Yoga of Max's Discontent is a contemporary take on man's classic quest for transcendence. Read Online Book The Yoga of Max’s Discontent: A Novel by Karan Bajaj Full Free

Review :

Praise for The Yoga of Max's Discontent

“Upon finishing this novel, you will likely find yourself asking the big questions. You may also find yourself selling your possessions, dusting off your passport, quitting your job, and buying a one-way ticket to the end of the earth. Karan Bajaj has written a compelling adventure, with vivid settings, meaty themes, and a satisfying conclusion. ”—Jonathan Evison, author of The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving
“To the world, Max Pzoras is a winner—driven and successful. But the outward trappings of success can no longer hide his lack of inner grace. Max knows it, so he goes in search of his true purpose in India, where secrets are revealed and awe awaits. In elegant prose, with an energy that sustains and inspires, Karan Bajaj has written a novel to treasure. The characters and story he spins will leave you breathless, along with the knowledge that the spiritual journey of a lifetime begins with a single question.”—Adriana Trigiani, New York Times-bestselling author of The Shoemaker's Wife
“Karan Bajaj weaves a modern day epic you simply will not forget. He writes clean, simple prose that zips so fast you'll forget you're reading. He transcends his outlet and sends his creative heart directly into yours. Incredible.”—Neil Pasricha, New York Times-bestselling author of The Happiness Equation and The Book of Awesome
“In a literary market flooded with shallow yogic adventure stories both fact and fiction that promise little more than sensationalism or entertainment, here comes an important, authentic, believable, riveting account on the level of Hermann Hesse or Victor Frankl. This is a superbly written meditation on effort and grace, a do-or-die quest for spiritual transformation, a journey from darkness to light, and a psychological thriller, which strips away artifice in a relentless quest to discover meaning and shows us how the lotus can rise from the muck of a Bronx sewer to blossom calmly in the cool Himalayan moonlight.”—Sharon Gannon, co-author of Jivamukti Yoga 

“Filled with adventure and excitement. A quest for answers that bother all of us at some level.”—Times of India

“An instant bestseller. One man’s epic quest to merge with the universal oneness.”—India Today 

“A special story. Engaging, convincing, and highly readable. Keeps the readers engrossed till the very last page.”—The Statesman


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Read Online Book The Expatriates: A Novel by Janice Y. K. Lee

"Raise a glass: The first great book-club novel of 2016 has arrived.” —USA Today, 4/4 stars

“A female, funny Henry James in Asia, Janice Y. K. Lee is vividly good on the subject of Americans abroad.” —The New York Times Book Review“Sex and the City meets Lost in Translation.” —The Skimm

Janice Y. K. Lee’s New York Times bestselling debut, The Piano Teacher, was called “immensely satisfying” by People, “intensely readable” by O, The Oprah Magazine, and “a rare and exquisite story” by Elizabeth Gilbert. Now, in her long-awaited new novel, Lee explores with devastating poignancy the emotions, identities, and relationships of three very different American women living in the same small expat community in Hong Kong.

Mercy, a young Korean American and recent Columbia graduate, is adrift, undone by a terrible incident in her recent past. Hilary, a wealthy housewife, is haunted by her struggle to have a child, something she believes could save her foundering marriage. Meanwhile, Margaret, once a happily married mother of three, questions her maternal identity in the wake of a shattering loss. As each woman struggles with her own demons, their lives collide in ways that have irreversible consequences for them all. Atmospheric, moving, and utterly compelling, The Expatriates confirms Lee as an exceptional talent and one of our keenest observers of women’s inner lives. Read Online Book The Expatriates: A Novel by Janice Y. K. Lee Full Free

Review :

“Irresistible . . . Lee’s wizardry is her ability to whip drama, pathos and humor into a scrumptious page-turning blend. Raise a glass: The first great book-club novel of 2016 has arrived.”
—USA Today, 4/4 stars

“A female, funny Henry James in Asia, Janice Y. K. Lee is vividly good on the subject of Americans abroad. . . . [The Expatriates is] vibrant social satire: Inside these dark materials lies the sharpness of a comic novelist, and Lee’s eye for the nuance and clash of culture, class, race and sex is subtle and shrewd.” 
—New York Times Book Review
 
“Gorgeously wrought . . . The first must-read of 2016.” 
—Marie Claire

“Powerful [and] nuanced . . . poignant and compelling . . . The Expatriates moves with urgency, but also takes time to slowly reveal a complex story. Lee’s storytelling is intricate, precise and rich enough to keep the reader seduced until the end.”
—Seattle Times
“We found ourselves racing through this exotic, sexy, heartbreaking book. . . . We couldn’t wait to find out what happens to each of the women.” 
—Glamour 

“At turns illuminating, entertaining, cringe-inducing, piercing . . . With meticulous details and nuanced observations, Lee creates an exquisite novel of everyday lives in extraordinary circumstances. . . . How Lee’s triumvirate reacts, copes, and ventures forth (or not) proves to be a stupendous feat of magnetic, transporting storytelling. . . . Mark my words: The Expatriates will appear repeatedly on year-end award nominations and all the 'best of' compilations.”
—Christian Science Monitor
 
“An emotionally gripping page-turner.” 
—Elle


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