These are trying days. Days where you have to get up and remind yourself of your blessings before being bombarded with the latest hate-filled rage posts on social media or news of something all the same. Although our social justice leaders of the past have made significant contributions to the freedoms that we experience today, we still experience injustices at an alarming rate in communities with dense populations of people of color. In Jo Muse’s new novel, Mixed Blessings,

LIT SCENE: Thank you for your work Mr. Muse and allowing us to review it. After reading this and looking at your history in the world of multiculturalism and advertising we’re wondering what exactly sparked this idea. Can you give us more insight as to why you felt this book needed born into the world? JM: Of course. I have been fascinated by the differences in people starting at an early age. And over the years I learned to focus my curiosity on biology and science and in my

Think Dynasty set in locations like Singapore and Kuala Lumpur … but BIGGER … and you’ve got Kevin Kwan’s Crazy Rich Asians – a funny, dramatic, glamorous, yet culturally informative story of family and romance. Kwan uses his rich (literally and figuratively) cast of characters and their intersecting stories to explore the complicated relationships between immigrant parents and their American-born children, as well as different Asian cultures with each other. Inevitable dolla

The Far Shore is a gripping page-turner, one that will keep you up into the early hours of the morning, eagerly following Lilly’s journey in

Julia D. Robertson’s debut novel, Beyond The Screen Door (Regal Crest Publishing, September 30, 2016) chronicles Norah Lee’s haunting journey as her ability to connect with the supernatural comes to life. Norah’s struggle to speak to anyone after her encounter with those from the other side, her mother’s traumatic domestic violence journey and Norah and Joanne’s exploration of their feelings beyond friendship, makes for a gripping paranormal fiction story. Beginning in the su

“She watched him from the kitchen alcove as she washed dishes, a little bemused herself. Why, you could be acquainted with a person for years, thinking you knew them. Then suddenly they’d do something that showed you there were layers to them you hadn’t ever suspected.” From Before We Visit the Goddess I am a big fan of Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni. Her writing always has a lyrical yet familial sense and it’s because of this that I always pick up her latest work. I was surprise

​Masha'allah and Other Stories by Mariah Young "The foam thread clings to your hands like spiderwebs, thin and elusive as that thought in the dark..." ​ Masha’allah and Other Stories by Mariah K. Young is an award winning compilation of stories set in Oakland, California that has just been released this month. It was the winner of the James D. Houston Award for 2012 and lives up to its expectations. ​ I have to say first and foremost that I am not a fan of short story compila