Bookworm book listing

The Bookworm recommends the following bestsellers to Beijing Today readers.

Shieldwall

By Justin Hill, 416pp, Little Brown and Company, $40.5

The year is 1016 and England burns while the Viking armies blockade the great city of London. King Ethelred lies dying and the England he knows dies with him; the warring kingdoms of Mercia, Wessex and Northymbria tremble on the brink of great change. One man lives to bear witness to the upheaval: Godwin, barely out of boyhood and destined to become one of his country’s great warriors.

Jamrach’s Menagerie

By Carol Birch, 304pp, Doubleday, $25.95

It tells the story of a 19th-century street urchin named Jaffy Brown. Following an incident with an escaped tiger, Brown goes to work for Charles Jamrach, the famed importer of exotic animals, alongside Tim, a good but sometimes spitefully competitive boy. Thus begins a long, close friendship fraught with ambiguity and rivalry. Jamrach recruits the two boys to capture a fabled dragon during the course of a three-year whaling expedition.

The Man From Beijing

By Henning Mankell, 464pp, Vintage, $14

In the far north of Sweden a small, quiet village has been almost entirely wiped out by a mass murderer. The only clue left at the scene is a red ribbon. Among the victims are the grandparents of Judge Birgitta Roslin, who sets out to find the killer. Despite being brushed off by the police, Birgitta is determined to prove that the murders were not a random act of violence but are part of something far more dark and complex.

(By He Jianwei)

Bookworm book listing

The Bookworm recommends the following bestsellers to Beijing Today readers.

Decadence Mandchoue: The China Memoirs of Sir Edmund Trelawny Backhouse

Edited by Derek Sandhaus, 336pp, Earnshaw Books, $39.99

In 1898 a young Englishman walked into a homosexual brothel in Beijing and began a journey that he claims took him all the way to the bedchamber of imperial China’s last great ruler, the Empress Dowager Cixi. Published for the first time, the controversial memoirs of Sinologist Sir Edmund Backhouse provide a unique and shocking glimpse into the hidden world of China’s imperial palace, with its rampant corruption, grand conspiracies and uninhibited sexuality.

Life

By Keith Richards, 576pp, Back Bay Books, $16.99

This autobiography is about the guitarist, songwriter, singer and founding member of the Rolling Stones, Keith Richards, who tells his story of life in the crossfire hurricane: listening obsessively to Chuck Berry and Muddy Waters records, learning guitar and forming a band with Mick Jagger and Brian Jones, the Rolling Stones’ first fame and the notorious drug busts that led to his enduring image as an outlaw folk hero.

The Scramble for China: Foreign Devils in the Qing Empire, 1832-1914

By Robert Bickers, 512pp, Penguin Global, $45

In the early 19th century, China remained almost untouched by Britain and other European powers – ferocious laws forbade all foreign trade outside one tiny area of Canton and anyone teaching a European to speak Chinese was executed. New technology began to unbalance this relationship and foreigners gathered like wolves around the weakening Qing Empire.

(By He Jianwei)

Trends Lounge book listing

Located at The Place, Trends Lounge is a bookstore and cafe with a wide selection of books about international art, design and architecture.

Guy Bourdin: In Between

By Guy Bourdin, 272pp, Steidl, $58

This monograph reassembles many of the original editorial layouts as they were published in magazines such as French Vogue, British Vogue, and Harper’s Bazaar, offering a new and illuminating critical look at the process. It delves into Bourdin’s career, charting the course of his artistic development from the 1950s into the 1980s with more than 200 exceptional images.

Art Photography Now

By Susan Bright, 224pp, Aperture, $50

Not only are major international museums and galleries mounting blockbuster exhibitions, but art photographers are also being celebrated as contemporary masters and their work commands unprecedented prices. This collection presents the work of 76 of the most important and best-known art photographers, including Andreas Gursky, Thomas Struth, Cindy Sherman, Jeff Wall, Sophie Calle, Wolfgang Tillmans, Nan Goldin, Martin Parr, Allan Sekula, Boris Mikhailov, Inez van Lamsweerde and Sam Taylor-Wood.

Japanese Animation: From Painted Scrolls to Pokemon

By Brigette Koyama-Richard, 248pp, Flammarion, $49.95

A dominant force in its home country since the 1970s, Japanese animation has become a global phenomenon in recent years. But far from being a contemporary invention, anime draws on the same centuries-old artistic traditions that form the basis of manga. Widely disparaged when it first appeared in the West, today the real value of Japanese animation is recognized, and it has inspired international film directors. The author studies the evolution of Japanese animation through the centuries, retracing its history from painted scrolls to woodblock prints to animated films.

(By He Jianwei)

Timezone 8 book listing

Timezone 8 is a Hong Kong-based publisher, distributor and retailer of books on contemporary art, architecture, photography and design. This week, it recommends three new titles to Beijing Today readers.

Breaking Forecast
By Guo Xiaoyan and Jerome Sans, 226pp, Timezone 8, $35
The book offers a look at the future of contemporary art in China through the lens of eight artists, who collectively embody the vitality of China’s new generation: Cao Fei, Chu Yun, Liu Wei, Qiu Zhijie, Sun Yuan, Peng Yu, Yang Fudong and Zheng Guogu.

Who is Architecture: The 2009 Domus China Interviews
Edited by Brendan McGetrick, 144pp, Timezone 8 and Domus China, $28
Architecture is a collaborative art calling on the efforts of engineers, developers, plumbers and electricians. The production process must balance individual empowerment and general management to allow for meaningful dialogue between diverse professionals. The book explores these interactions through 10 interviews with professionals who contribute to architecture in various ways.

Wang Yin
By Carol Yinghua Lu, 136pp, Timezone 8, $40
This publication surveys the work of Chinese artist Wang Yin, born in 1964, during the period between 2003 and 2009. It endeavors to place Wang’s creations in the historical context of 20th-century Chinese painting, as well as broader shifts in modern culture. It also demonstrates the artist’s active engagement with the Western artistic canon from Vincent van Gogh and Georges Seurat to Edward Hopper and Andrew Wyeth.

(By He Jianwei)

Bookworm booklisting

Vivian Wang from the Bookworm recommends the following bestsellers to Beijing Today readers.

Racing While Black
By Leonard T. Miller and Andrew Simon, 320pp, Seven Stories Press, $24.95
The book talks about a few of the lessons learned by Leonard T. Miller during his decade and a half of running an auto racing program. Fueled by more than the desire to win, Miller made it his goal to create opportunities for black drivers in the vastly white, Southern world of National Association of Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR).

Shanghai’s Dancing World
By Andrew David Filed, 384pp, The Chinese University Press, $18.95
Drawing upon a unique and untapped reservoir of newspapers, magazines, novels, government documents, photographs and illustrations, this book traces the origin, pinnacle and ultimate demise of a commercial dance industry in Shanghai between the end of World War I and the early years of the People’s Republic of China.

Saving Levi
By Lisa Misraje Bentley, 176pp, Tynadale House Publishers, $13.99
Lisa and John Bentley went to China to build an orphanage in a village near Beijing. Soon after their arrival, a 6-week-old baby boy, with burns on 70 percent of his body, was found in a field and brought to them. It was just the beginning of Levi’s story. The book brings together the stries of believers and non-believers alike whom God used to save the life of a little boy.

(By He Jianwei)

CNPIEC Bookstore book listing

The China National Publication Import and Export Corporation’s (CNPIEC) bookstore recommends these new arrivals to Beijing Today readers.

You: Being Beautiful
By Michael F. Roizen and Mehmet C. Oz, 432pp, Free Press, 140 yuan
Most people think beauty revolves around lipstick, sweet eyes or skinny jeans ?what we can see in the mirror. But beauty is not some superficial pursuit, and it is not some random act for which you can thank or curse your ancestors. There are scientific standards to beauty. Beauty is purposeful, because it is how humans have historically communicated who we are to potential mates: it is about your health and happiness.

Not Another Bad Date
By Rachel Gibson, 384pp, Avon, 65 yuan
The author focuses on a familiar dilemma: how to end bad luck in love. At 35, successful novelist Adele Harris has had it with losers who make fun of her fat ass. She feels cursed ?and she was, by old rival Devon Hamilton Zemaitis, who stole Harris’ first love, football star Zach Zemaitis. When Devon dies following an accident, she must remove the curse tht is preventing Harris’ happiness so she can go to heaven.

Chill Factor
By Sandra Brown, 416pp, Pocket, 90 yuan
Cleary, North Carolina, is a sleepy mountain town ?the kind of place where criminal activity is usually limited to parking violations. Not so, lately. Four women have disappeared from Cleary over the past two years. And there is always a blue ribbon left near the spot where each was last seen. There are no bodies, no clues and no suspects. And now, another woman has disappeared without a trace.

(By He Jianwei)

Bookworm book listing

Vivian Wang from the Bookworm recommends the following bestsellers to Beijing Today readers.

Yu Li: Confessions of an Elevator Operator
By Jimmy Qi, 84pp, Make-Do Productions, $12.95

Yu Li is an inspector at a fake wine distillery in a small town in Hebei Province without any tall buildings. After he is fired for drinking the wine during inspections, Yu manages to land another job as an elevator operator in a luxury apartment building in far-off Beijing. The apartment building is home to New China’s winners: celebrities, the new rich and big-shot officials. Misadventures abound as Yu struggles to adjust to the confusion f city life and, above all, fights to subdue the “nuclear weapon” in his pant.

Mrs. West’s Hat
By Anthony Gorman and Helen Couchman, 84pp, Soloshow Publishing, $10.99

A thoughtful, quiet meditation on the life of Couchman’s grandmother, a remarkable lady and the owner of a number of extravagant hats.

Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species: A Graphic Adaptatio
By Michael Keller, illustrated by Nicolle Rager Fuller, 192pp, Rodale Books, $19.99

Author Michael Keller and illustrator Nicolle Rager Fuller introduce a new generation of readers to Darwin’s original text, including sections about his pioneering research, the public’s initial reception ohis book, his correspondence with other leading scientists, as well as recent breakthroughs in evolutionary theory. This riveting, beautifully rendered adaptation breathes new life into Darwin’s seminal and still-polariing work.

(By He Jianwei)

CNPIEC bookstore book listing

The China National Publication Import and Export Corporation’s (CNPIEC) bookstore recommends these new arrivals toBeijing Today readers.

How to Outsmart China: The Complete Guide to Successful Business in China
By Marcus Lee, 310pp, Hampton Court Holdings, $35.00
More than a theory, this is the most practical China business book on the market. It is a personal account from a foreigner who spent years working and living inside China, answering all possible questions you may have about doing business here.

Unseen
By Nancy Bush, 384pp, Zebra Books, $6.99
Bush pens an eerie suspense novel woven with a compelling romance and a touch of the supernatural. In rural Oregon, Gemma LaPorte wakes up in a hospital with a fragmented memory. Deputy Will Tanninger tells Gemma that she is a prime suspect in a hit-and-run that critically injured a child molester. As Gemma’s memories begin to return, she finds wriings she had made about brain function and wonders whether her concussion was the only reason for her amnesia.

The Alexandria Link: A Novel
By Steve Berry, 512pp, Ballantine Books, $9.99
Cotton Malone retired from the high-risk world of elite operatives for the US Justice Department to lead the low-key life of a rare-book dealer. But his quiet existence is shattered when he receives an anonymous email: “You have something I want. You’re the only person on Earth who knows where to find it. Go get it. You have 72 hours. If I don’t hear from you, you will be childless.” His horrified ex-wifnfirms that the threat is real: their teenage son has been kidnapped. When Malone’s Copenhagen bookshop is burned to the ground, it becomes brutally clear that those responsible will stop at nothing to get what they wan. And what they want is nothing less than the lost Library of Alexandria.

(By He Jianwei)

CNPIEC Bookstore book listing

The China National Publication Import and Export Corporation’s (CNPIEC) bookstore recommends these new arrivals toBeijing Today readers.

The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life
By Alice Schroeder, 832pp, Bantam, 245 yuan
This book recounts the life and times of one of the most respected men in the world, Warren Buffett. The legendary Omaha investor has never written a memoir, but now he has allowed one writer, Alice Schroeder, unprecedented access to explore directly with him and with those closest to him his work, opinions, struggles, triumphs, follies and wisdom. The result is this personally revealing and complete biography of the man known everywhere as “The Oracle of Omaha.”

The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog
By Bruce Perry and Maia Szalavitz, 288pp, Basic Books, 120 yuan
A world-renowned child psychiatrist takes us inside his pioneering work with trauma victims to offer a groundbreaking new perspective on how stress and violence affect children’s brains  and how they can be helped to heal. Child psychiatrist Bruce Perry has treated children faced with unimaginable horror: genocide survivors, witnesses, children raised in closets and cages, and victims of family violence. Here he tells their stories of trauma and transformation.

The Man Who Brought the Olympics to China
By Sun Hailin, 237pp, New World Press, 30 yuan
Zhang Boling is a well-known Chinese educator, and the president and creator of Nankai Schools. Zhang was not only one of the first to dream of participating in the Olympics, but was also one of the few who struggled to send out the message to the Chinese about the Olympic spirit.

(By He Jianwei)

CNPIEC Bookstore booklisting

The China National Publication Import and Export Corporation’s (CNPIEC) bookstore recommends these new arrivals to Beijing Today readers.

The Economic Naturalist: In Search of Explanations for Everyday Enigmas

By Robert H. Frank, 240pp, Basic Books, 112 yuan

The book employs basic economic principles to answer scores of intriguing questions from everyday life, and introduces key ideas such as the cost-benefit principle, the “no cash on the table” principle and the law of one price. This is as delightful and painless a way to learn fundamental economics as there is.

Chairs: Catalogue of The Delft Faculty of Architecture Collection

By Otakar Maicel, Sander Woertman and Charlotte van Wijk, 272pp, 010 Publishers, 220 yuan

This collection of 240 chairs reflects the development of chair design since the 17th century and includes both world famous designs and rarities. The entire collection is presented for the first time, accompanied by images, descriptions and analytical texts.

Jackson Pollock

By Leonhard Emmerling, 96pp, Taschen, 88 yuan

A tragic icon of Abstract Expressionism, Jackson Pollock (1912-1956) took influences from Picasso and Mexican surrealism and developed his own way of seeing, interpreting and expressing. Though his name inevitably conjures up images of the drip paintings for which he is most famous, this technique was only developed midway through his career. The progression from his earlier work to his final action paintings, a veritable revolution of painting as a concept, reveals the genius of this tortured artist whom many call the greatest modern American painter.

(By He Jianwei)