Vivian Wang from the Bookworm recommends the following best sellers to Beijing Today readers.
When China Rules the World: The End of the Western World and the Birth of a New Global Order
By Martin Jacques, 576pp, Penguin Press HC, $29.95
According to even the most conservative estimates, China will overtake the US as the world’s largest economy by 2027 and will ascend to the position of world economic leader by 200. In this far-reaching and original investigation, Martin Jacques offers provocative answers to some of the most pressing questions about the country’s growing place on the world stage.
Brooklyn: A Novel
By Colm Toibin, 262pp, Scribner, $25
Eilis Lacey has come of age in small-town Ireland in the years following World War II. Though skilled at bookkeeping, she cannot find a job because of the miserable Irish economy. When an Irish priest from Brooklyn offers to sponsor Lacey to America, she decides she must go, leaving her fragile mother and her charismatic sister behind.
Red Mandarin Dress: An Inspector Chen Novel
By Qiu Xiaolong, 320pp, Minotaur Books, $13.95
After 2006’sA Case of Two Cities, Qiu’s masterful fifth Inspector Chen ystery finds Shanghai terrorized by its first-ever serial killer. The murderer dresses his victims’ corpses in fancy red mandarin dresses before leaving them in public places. Inspector Chen Caoof the Shanghai Police Department has taken a step back from his professional life to pursue an advanced literature course instead of investigating a corruption case, but now he must return to active duty and help in the manhunt.
