500 Words From Jame DiBiasio

500 Words From...is a series of guest posts from Asia-based, locally-published authors, in which they talk about their latest books. Here Jame DiBiasio, an American financial journalist and crime writer now living in Hong Kong, discusses Cowgirl X, the second in his series of Val Benson thrillers – Val is a feisty female amateur sleuth, and she made her debut in Gaijin Cowgirl. The series is published by Crime Wave Press, in Hong Kong.

Q & A: Merryn Glover

Merryn Glover’s debut novel A House Called Askival was released in paperback in May.

Set in the hill-station of Mussoorie in north India, A House Called Askival is the story of three generations of American missionaries caught up in the political and personal turmoil of religious conflict.  Spanning Partition to the present day, it looks at India's bigger events through the lens of one family and is, at heart, the story of a father and daughter seeking peace - with each other and with their past.

This Week in Asian Review of Books

See the Asian Review of Books for ever-interesting discussion. Here is a list of its newest reviews, excerpts, letters, essays, and round ups:

Sixty Four Chance Pieces: A Book of Changes by Will Buckingham reviewed by Jonathan Chatwin
Specimen: Stories by Irina Kovalyova reviewed by Peter Gordon
Outside reading: links to essays, articles, interviews 
China Rich Girlfriend by Kevin Kwan reviewed by Rosie Milne
Great Game East: India, China, and the Struggle for Asia’s Most Volatile Frontier by Bertil Lintner reviewed by Francis P Sempa
Let One Hundred Voices Speak: How the Internet is Transforming China and Changing Everything by Liz Carter reviewed by Simone van Nieuwenhuizen

The Sunday Post

A rojak* of items that caught my eye this week…

Just Quickly...

Click here for my review of China Rich Girlfriend, by Kevin Kwan, for Asian Review of Books.

Hong Kong Gothic / Edmund Price

In March, the Hong Kong Writers Circle (HKWC) launched Hong Kong Gothic, the tenth of its annual anthologies of members’ writing. Edmund Price, the lead editor, gives more details.

Just Quickly...

This is not of specifically Asian interest, but you may want to see a piece I wrote for the UK Telegraph on expat themed summer reads. Click here.