Friday 56 & #BookBeginnings: Frangipani Hotel / guiltless reading

For Book Beginnings:
"Here, con, I cut up a du du just for you."
"Oh no, Grandma, I --" "It's very ripe!" "Gra--" "And very good for you too!" "Grandma! You know I can't eat papaya. It makes my stomach hurt."

- p. 3 (ARC, page may change)

For Friday 56:

"You should find this exact same spot and take a picture of yourselves there!" Mrs. Tran said. And then she surprised her daughters and herself by bursting into tears on the spot. - p. 56 (ARC, page may change)

Synopsis: A self-assured and stunning collection by an astonishingly gifted new writer, these stories—based on traditional Vietnamese tales—are sure to appeal to fans of Karen Russell, Jennifer Egan, Colson Whitehead, George Saunders, and Téa Obrecht. The Frangipani Hotel blends the old world and the new with fantastical, chilling, and original explorations of the ghosts that continue to haunt us: those of the Vietnam War.

Hopefully you're not getting an overload of this book yet! But ghosts? Yep ... Vietnamese ghosts actually! I recently finished reading The Frangipani Hotel and even have a guest post by the author who wrangled these stories out of her grandmother.

Oh, AND if you're in the US, you can also put in your name to win a copy of this really interesting collection of short stories. Aww, come on, who can resist a good ghost story? :)

GIVEAWAY!