The Conspiracies of the Empire: A Judge Dee Investigation

The Conspiracies of the Empire: A Judge Dee Investigation by Qiu Xiaolong
The Conspiracies of the Empire is a detective story featuring the legendary Tang Dynasty Chinese detective Judge Dee Renjie. Written in 2024 by Chinese American mystery writer Qiu Xiaolong, The Conspiracies of the Empire tells about Judge Dee's search for the missing poet Luo Binwang whom the Empress Wu asks Judge Dee to find. The poet had written "A Call to Arms" a poem very critical of the Empress and an influential document of a failed uprising. Luo either died or disappeared in the final failed battle of the uprising and the Empress wants Dee to find out what happened to Luo.
Dee Renjie was a Tang Dynasty politician born in 630 about whom an 18th century Ming Dynasty author wrote a mystery novel that was discovered and translated from the Chinese in the early 20th century by Robert van Gulik, a Dutch orientalist. Van Gulik and others have since written other novels featuring Judge Dee. The Shadow of the Empire is the first of two such novels written by Qiu Xiaolong. There are also Judge Dee TV series, movies and a video game.
This volume includes an appendix of poems from some of China’s finest Tang dynasty poets, newly translated by the author, who is an award-wining poet and critic in his own right.

A Cardinal Sin

A Cardinal Sin by Eugene Sue

Eugene Sue's A Cardinal Sin, translation of Les Sept Péchés capitaux--L'avarice, was translated by Alexina Loranger and published in 1892 by W. B. Conkey Company in Chicago. This book is sometimes called Avarice: The Millionaires. My copy is part of The Perfect Library's Works of Eugène Sue, a collection of 31 his works.
The story revolves around Mariette, a young girl facing poverty and hardship as she tries to care for her ailing godmother while dreaming of a life filled with love and happiness. The opening portion introduces Mariette as she visits a public scribe to have a letter written to her beloved Louis. She is unaware that the scribe is Louis' miserly father who tries to derail their relationship because he wants Louis to marry another woman for her father's money.
In 1829 Eugene Sue's father's death left him with a sizable fortune. Sue was strongly affected by the socialist ideas of his day and this novel explores how wealth can be shared and used to alleviate the suffering of the poor and working class, a theme common to many of his works. This book is one title in Sue's series Les Sept pêchés capitaux (The 7 Deadly Sins written between 1847 and 1849.

The Shadow of the Empire

The Shadow of the Empire by Qiu Xiaolong

The Shadow of the Empire is a detective story featuring the legendary Tang Dynasty Chinese detective Judge Dee Renjie. Written in 2021 by Chinese American mystery writer Qiu Xiaolong, The Shadow of the Empire is about a murder case involving a famous poetess and courtesan Xuanji who is accused of killing her maidservant and burying her in the back of the nunnery where she lives. Her simple confession, retrieved by torture, seems to be fabricated and may be a cover up. Judge Dee is asked to look into the real story behind the murder without raising any suspicion. He tells people he is gathering information to publish a book of Xuanji's poetry and that is the reason for his interest.
Di Renjie was a Tang Dynasty politician born in 630 about whom an 18th century Ming Dynasty author wrote a mystery novel that was discovered and translated from the Chinese in the early 20th century by Robert van Gulik, a Dutch orientalist. Van Gulik and others have since written other novels featuring Judge Dee. The Shadow of the Empire is the first of two such novels written by Qiu Xiaolong. There are also Judge Dee TV series, movies and a video game.

Pride & Prejudice

Pride & Prejudice by Nancy Butler & Hugo Petrus

Pride & Prejudice adapted from the novel by Jane Austen is a Marvel Comics graphic novel version written by Nancy Butler and illustrated by Hugo Petrus. This is a very enjoyable version with great period illustrations and a very readable dialog.

American Born Chinese

American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang

This graphic novel relates the difficulties Jin Wang, an American born child of Chinese immigrant parents, faces in a majority White cultural environment - a public school. Alongside Jin's story the author portrays a Chinese tale of the thousand year old monkey king who wants to take a place in Heaven with the immortal gods but is not allowed no matter how hard he tries.

Hanging Mary: A Reimagining of Lincoln's Assassination

Hanging Mary: A Reimagining of Lincoln's Assassination by Susan Higginbotham

After John Wilkes Booth assassinated President Abraham Licoln, Mary Surratt, who owned a boarding house in Washington, was arrested as one of the members of the conspiracy. After a military trial she was found guilty, and was the first woman to be hanged by the federal government. This book takes a sympathetic look at the events surrounding the assassination from Mary Surratt's point of view. Staying true to the historical facts as revealed in the court testamony, the author builds Mary's story of the events leading up to the assassination and the resulting investigation, trial, and death that followed.

Wake: The Hidden History of Women-Led Slave Revolts

Wake: The Hidden History of Women-Led Slave Revolts by Rebecca Hall

Dr. Rebecca Hall, the granddaughter of slaves, is a historian and is sensitive to the legacy of slavery that still surrounds us. Her research on women-led slave revolts is brought to life for the non-academic reader in graphic novel form describing her pioneering historical research into the women who took part in and led slave revolts. She also shares the obstacles she faced doing her research in the wake of the institutionalized racism of our society.

Heartthrob Vol. 1: Never Going Back Again

Heartthrob Vol. 1: Never Going Back Again by Christopher Sebela, Robert Wilson IV, & Nick Filardi

This graphic novel tells the story of a young woman born with a weak heart, leading a sheltered life and waiting for a heart transplant that will give her maybe five years of normal life at most before it too wears out. When she gets the transplant the donor's name and situation are kept secret but she begins to believe he was a master thief and his heart comes with more than just renewed health.

Before Dorothy

Before Dorothy by Hazel Gaynor

In the Wizard of Oz genre Dorothy Gale lives with her Aunt Em and Uncle Henry on their farm in Kansas. Not much else is known about her life before her visit to Oz via a tornado. Hazel Gaynor provides a back story with this book about Emily Gale, her two sisters, and her life in Chicago before she met Henry Gale and moved to Kansas. When Emily's sister Ann and her husband John Gale die their orphan daughter Dorothy is taken in by Emily and Henry. Set in Roaring 20's Chicago and 1930s Dustbowl Kansas, we learn about their life on the prairie which is filled with foreshadowings of Dorothy's time in Oz.
As a long time Oz fan this book was a joy for me to read, and would be good for anyone who knows about Dorothy and Oz.

Ali and Ramazan

Ali and Ramazan by Perihan Mağden

Perihan Mağden is a Turkish writer born in 1960 in Istanbul. Her latest novel Ali and Ramazan was published in 2010 in Turkish and has been available in English since 2012. tells the story of two teenager gay boys, one shy and withdrawn, the other outgoing and popular, who are drawn to each other, forming an intense friendship in a male-dominated, materialistic, and oppressive situation. when they turn 18, they're released onto Istanbul's mean streets. Life is difficult for them, and all they have is their intense devotion to each other.