Celeste Ng's Blog, page 6
June 1, 2014
Huffington Post: 16 Great New Books to Read This Summer
The Huffington Post included Everything I Never Told You on its list of "16 Great New Books to Read This Summer" (alongside Emma Straub, Herman Koch, Dave Eggers, and many other writers I admire).
LA Times Summer Books Preview
The LA Times has included Everything I Never Told You in its Summer Books Preview, alongside books by Haruki Murakami, Sue Miller, Jennifer Weiner, and Megan Abbot.
May 28, 2014
Summer reading lists
May 21, 2014
Kirkus Review: "sucks you in like a strong current and holds you fast until its final secrets surface"
Here's what Kirkus had to say about Everything I Never Told You (thank you!):
Ng's nuanced debut novel begins with the death of a teenage girl and then uses the mysterious circumstances of her drowning as a springboard to dive into the troubled waters beneath the calm surface of her Chinese-American family.
When 16-year-old Lydia Lee fails to show up at breakfast one spring morning in 1977, and her body is later dragged from the lake in the Ohio college town where she and her biracial family don't quite fit in, her parents—blonde homemaker Marilyn and Chinese-American history professor James—older brother and younger sister get swept into the churning emotional conflicts and currents they've long sought to evade. What, or who, compelled Lydia—a promising student who could often be heard chatting happily on the phone; was doted on by her parents; and enjoyed an especially close relationship with her Harvard-bound brother, Nath—to slip away from home and venture out in a rowboat late at night when she had always been deathly afraid of water, refusing to learn to swim? The surprising answers lie deep beneath the surface, and Ng, whose stories have won awards including the Pushcart Prize, keeps an admirable grip on the narrative's many strands as she expertly explores and exposes the Lee family's secrets: the dreams that have given way to disappointment; the unspoken insecurities, betrayals and yearnings; the myriad ways the Lees have failed to understand one another and, perhaps, themselves. These long-hidden, quietly explosive truths, weighted by issues of race and gender, slowly bubble to the surface of Ng's sensitive, absorbing novel and reverberate long after its final page.
Ng's emotionally complex debut novel sucks you in like a strong current and holds you fast until its final secrets surface.
You can also read the full review online at Kirkus Reviews.
It's here it's here! First finished copy
The first finished copy of Everything I Never Told You just arrived on my doorstep, thanks to the wonderful Sofia Groopman. Here it is!
And look, it has my initials stamped on the cover! Thank you, Penguin Press, for making such a beautiful book.
May 18, 2014
Boston Globe "Summer Reading Selection"
Thank you, Boston Globe, for highlighting Everything I Never Told You as a summer reading selection! Click here for all their recommendations.
May 13, 2014
Everything I Never Told You is the Grub Street Book Club's June selection!
Grub Street, Boston's amazing independent writing center, has chosen Everything I Never Told You as its June book club selection! Although the novel will not be out until June 26, Grub and Penguin are partnering to bring members an advance preview.
Grub Street members can pick up advance reading copies (ARCs) and then join the book club for a discussion on June 19 from 6-8pm at Grub Street HQ in downtown Boston. A Grub Street instructor will lead a discussion on Everything I Never Told You for the first hour, and then I'll join the group for an informal Q&A about the novel.
Full details are available on Grub Street's website.
Thank you, Grub Street, for such amazing support! I'm looking forward to the discussion.
May 7, 2014
A Q&A with One Story
Every year, One Story magazine throws a "Debutante Ball" to honor its authors who've published their debut books that year, and this year I'm one of the debutantes! As part of the lead-up to the ball, One Story posts an interview with each of its "debs"--you can read mine on the One Story blog.
Don't miss the interviews with the other debutantes--James Scott, Rachel Cantor, Amelia Kahaney, David James Poissant, Ben Stroud, and Molly Antopol. And if you're in New York, come celebrate with us at the Debutante Ball on May 22--hurry, tickets are almost sold out!--and come hear all the debutantes read at Greenlight in Brooklyn on May 23.
Not in New York? Check my events page to see when I'll be in a city near you.
Maximum Shelf
I'm so excited that Everything I Never Told You is featured in this week's issue of Maximum Shelf (a newsletter put out by Shelf Awareness--a great website for readers and book-trade folk alike).
Click on through for a sneak peek of the book, a review, access to the book club kit, and a Q&A with me. And thank you to Jaclyn Fulwood and everyone at Shelf Awareness for this opportunity!
May 5, 2014
BookCon Panel: My First Novel
I'm very excited to be doing a panel at BookCon--the day of Book Expo America that is open to the public--on "My First Novel: Things I Wish Someone Had Told Me About Writing, Publishing and Promoting a Book." I'll be in conversation with Courtney Collins and Yelena Akhtiorskaya; Rachel Fershleiser, writer and Director of Literary Outreach at Tumblr, will moderate.
For more info, visit my events page.
