Paris Celestial by A. Y. Chao
In March, we saw the launch of A.Y. Chao’s Paris Celestial (published by Hodderscape), the stunning sequel to the # 1 Sunday Times Bestseller Shanghai Immortal. The launch was held at Lucy Wong cocktail bar, which has twice been the location of Story Feast’s Lunar New Year party. Alice dressed for the occasion in flowing hanfu-style robes and vampire teeth – which she had to try hard not to swallow!
She and her family hauled a giant photo backdrop of a picturesque Chinese canal scene for guests to take photos. There were steamed buns emblazoned with “Paris Celestial”, a competition for the best costume plenty of snacks.
Lucy Wong’s lanterns and elegant décor were further enhanced by Alice’s addition of more than a hundred red envelopes and twinkling fairy lights. Inside the red envelopes were blessings written in both Chinese and English, offering words of good fortune for guests to take home.
Guests also received a goodie bag, which included Chinese sweets, custom made stickers and a folded fan, which was particularly useful during the recent mini heatwaves!
The bookseller was Forbidden Planet.
Hyo and the Deep-Rooted Demon by Mina Ikemoto Ghosh
Mina’s launch for Hyo and the Deep-Rooted Demon, her second book with protagonist, Hyo, with highly illustrated with Manga style art, had a cover colour scheme of blue, black and gold which inspired the event’s dress code. Guests embraced this, arriving in a swathe of black dresses, blue jeans and azure cardigans.
The event was chilled, as was Mina.
The venue at Matcha Mochi Café had a comfortable and calm atmosphere, though this may have been compromised by Mina’s ‘cursed’ Colin the Caterpillar cake.
The Tube strike may have caused travel headaches, but it did little to dent attendance and spirits, though Mina’s parents first questions to guests were a worried: ‘How did you get here? Are you ok getting back home?’
The bookseller was Zoe, the owner of Juniper by the Sea, the UK’s first East and South East Asian bookshop.
Kamizen: Fortress of Lost Memories by William Yamaguchi Dobson
Will Dobson’s delightful audiobook The Fortress of Lost Memories was brought to life as a full-cast Audible Original audio production. This launch, held at the Tottenham Court Road Waterstones, was for his paperback book Kamizen: Fortress of Lost Memories with Scholastic.
Wendy Shakespeare, the managing editor for the book, said: “It was a fabulous evening. Will, your speech nearly had me crying! Your family must be so very proud of you – and one of the wittiest speeches I’ve ever witnessed! It’s been an honour working on your book.”
Waterstones was the official bookseller for the launch event.
The Matcha Maker’s Café by Lily Chen (Tania Tay)
May featured Tania Tay’s launch of her cosy, small-town romance at the gorgeous Mayfair Library.
Tania, writing as Lily Chen, launched The Matcha Maker’s Café (Pan Macmillan UK), with matcha flavoured cupcakes and cookies (all homemade), plus a selection of drinks.
The goodies went down a treat! However, the prosecco looked a little like pond water when the matcha flavouring was added but turned out to be rather good (according to some)!
From left to right: Tania Tay (author writing as Lily Chen), Ellah Mwale (book editor), Lindsey Spinks (cover illustrator) and Mei Mei McLeod (audiobook narrator).
Tania Tay’s book launch at the Mayfair Library for The Matcha Maker’s Café.
There was a brilliant reading from the distinctive voice and talent of Mei Mei McLeod, who is the narrator for the audiobook as well as Tania’s Spellcasters Series (Hachette Children’s Books) and A Y Chao’s Paris Celestial and Shanghai Immortal audiobooks.
Later at the after-party at a nearby pub, the Mayfair Library events organiser, Dr Anushka Tay, Tania’s daughter, announced that the book launch and reading had broken the records for highest attendance for the library’s events. Yay!
The bookseller was Sanchita Basu De Sarkar, the award-winning owner of Muswell Hill’s The Children's Bookshop.
The Rainshadow Orphans by Naomi Ishiguro
Naomi Ishiguro’s debut fantasy at the Piccadilly Waterstones, The Rainshadow Orphans (published by Simon and Schuster) also launched in May.
Naomi chatted with Samantha Shannon and Katherine Webber in a lively discussion about the fantasy genre, crime syndicates and cool introvert characters among other things.
The event featured complimentary iced matcha drinks and Waterstones served as the official bookseller. It was such fun to hang out with fellow ESEA writers at the book signing afterwards. Naomi’s parents chatted to attendees and Naomi’s father, Sir Kazuo Ishiguro, said he was ‘very pleased’ when I asked about Naomi following in his footsteps as a writer.
All in all, a brilliant round of book launches!
In summer, there will be plenty more! (Including A Flood of Memories by Nadia Mikail, Islands of Forgotten Daughters by Carla Montemayor and Chi Chi the Panda by Maisie Chan.)
What a lovely celebration!