If you like reading books that take place in India and give you an understanding of India's history or culture, you'll find Age of Shiva a rewarding read. It follows the life of Meera, a young woman born into a traditional Muslim family in Bombay. The story begins in 1955, when India had just become an independent nation, and Meera is a young optimistic teen. After a series of quick but life-altering events, Meera finds herself married into a Hindu family, to a man she barely knows (and barely likes). The story follows Meera as she grows, gets to know her husband, bears a child, becomes a strong-minded woman, and finds her way in a country that is also struggling to find its way.

The writing is excellent, and the characters are created with depth and detail, but what I most like about this book is how much I learned about India while I was reading it. I learned about the conflict between India and Pakistan, the tense relationship between Muslims and Hindus, the role of women within the culture, and what life was like in India after independence. It's really an interesting book, and I just love acquiring knowledge of something new while at the same time being entertained by a story. ~Hilary

Hot off the presses is a jaw-droppingly adorable and philosophically astute new children's book, Zen Ties by Jon J. Muth. Muth is the author/illustrator of Zen Shorts and The Three Questions, two other gorgeous and thought-provoking books that are Queen Anne favorites.

This latest book brings back Zen Shorts' characters Stillwater, the gentle giant Zen panda, and his human friends, Karl, Addy and Michael. This time they are joined by Stillwater's little panda nephew, Koo, who speaks in haiku poems.

The story focuses on a gentle example of compassion and cooperation: By reaching out to an elderly neighbor, everyone is enriched. At first the children are frightened of Mrs. Whitaker because she doesn't seem to like youngsters, but when Stillwater brings the children and Koo to help out around the house, they get to know and appreciate one another. Stillwater's crew draws pictures and tidies up the house, and Mrs. Whitaker helps Michael study for the spelling bee he was dreading.

While I enjoyed the story, the illustrations were what originally made me pick up the book and what makes me smile every time I look at it. The watercolor and ink pictures are evocative, whimsical and contemplative. The endpapers alone, showing the big and little panda doing tai chi together, are worth the cost of the hardcover to me. Trust me, this book is seriously delightful without venturing even close to hurl-threatening cutesy. I have a feeling that even though it's so early in the calendar year, this will still be one of my top 10 picture books of 2008.~ Tegan

So many of us, I think, are fascinated by the secret worlds that can be revealed in novels. I was curious to read The Commoner mostly because I know very little about the Japanese Royal Family or what it might be like for a commoner to join its ranks. I wasn’t expecting to discover a book that goes beyond the novelty of an unfamiliar culture and becomes a great novel.

I was surprised, given the subject matter, at how often I truly felt like I didn’t want to put this book down. It is a quiet story about a woman who gives up a life to follow love. She becomes a Princess, and then Empress, of Japan; a woman ushered in to show both the Japanese and the world that the Empire is able to change after the defeat of World War II. The book is full of beautiful accounts of the countryside, of tennis matches, and ceremonies – none of these things would seem able to put me on the edge of my seat, and yet, I was there.

The only flaw is that I wanted to know some of the characters more, but the fact that the only characters that are fully revealed are the “commoners” heightened the atmosphere of the story. It is a very difficult task, I think, to tell a story about unexpressed feelings and missed opportunities without making the book feel like it is suffering from the lack of those same feelings and opportunities, but John Burnham Schwartz manages this beautifully. It is Haruko’s (the commoner of the title) first person narration that elevates this book to something really wonderful. ~Lillian