Mems collecting water-lilies, bargaining for tropical birds, feasting on turtle steaks, visiting a coffee plantation and nearly fainting at the first encounter with durian.

A penniless American traveller lands a gig as the ragtime pianist of a waterfront saloon and begins a journey filled with drunken sailors, bar fights and late-night chop-suey suppers.

A tuan discovers his cook has included tiger meat in his curry. Sampan boys race down the Singapore River. A gang robs dhobies and make off with shirts and petticoats.

A gun on Fort Canning signals morning call. A long walk on country roads is followed by lolling about the bungalow verandah. At 9 o’clock, breakfast is served. And so begins the day in the life of the colonial gentleman.

The easy and indulgent life of established colonials shown in full swing.

Old Singapore provides a vivid description of the social and cultural aspects of the city, culled from the impressions left behind by travelers in the region in the early years of the settlement. Founded by Sir Stamford Raffles in 1819, Singapore confirmed British control of the Malayan peninsula. Drawing on the impressions of a century of visitors and over 40 contemporary illustrations, this is an interesting sketch of the planning and construction of Singapore, and its development into a thriving port. In addition to recalling its major landmarks and places of interest, there are details of Singapore's peoples, whose customs, trades, and lifestyles gave the city-state its unique atmosphere.

Four loosely linked realistic novels from “one of Britain’s most accomplished and versatile writers” (The Guardian). A Hugo and Nebula Award–winning science fiction writer, British novelist Brian W. Aldiss also regularly “returned to earth with distinction,” penning realistic works, including the Squire Quartet (The New York Times). Comprised of “loosely interconnected novels following many characters through a twenty-first century landscape of insidious new technology and international political turmoil” (Booklist), here is the complete series from this “ambitious and gifted writer” (The Guardian). Life in the West: Thomas C. Squire, creator of the hit documentary series Frankenstein Among the Arts, one-time secret agent, and founder of the Society for Popular Aesthetics, is attending an international media symposium in Sicily. It is here that he becomes involved with the lovely but calculating Selina Ajdina. Alongside the drama of the conference is the story of Squire’s private life—the tale of his infidelity, the horrifying circumstances surrounding his father’s death, and the threatened future of his ancestral home in England. “[A] novel of ideas that is also eminently readable . . . a virtuoso performance.” —Publishers Weekly Forgotten Life: Analyst Clement Winters is trying to write a biography of his recently deceased older brother, Joseph. Through the writings Joseph left behind—letters, diaries, notes, and confessions—Clement realizes how vastly his perception of his sibling differs from reality. As Clement tries to make sense of Joseph’s life, he uncovers dark corners of his family history and even his own existence. “A realistic novel . . . imaginative richness . . . [a] many-layered venture into the extraordinariness of ordinary lives.” —The New York Times Remembrance Day: When four people are killed by a terrorist bombing in a small British seaside hotel, an American academic examines the details of the victims’ lives and histories to find the relationship between them and their fate. “Aldiss discovers fresh and arresting nuances in the dichotomy between blind chance and predestination in human affairs . . . original, disturbing, and memorable.” —Kirkus Reviews Somewhere East of Life: Architectural historian Roy Burnell has been tasked with traveling the globe and listing architectural gems in danger of being destroyed. But when Burnell is in Budapest, ten years of his memory, including his sexual experiences, are stolen. In this near future, where thieves sell memories on the black market, Burnell tries to resume his life, while also searching for the “bullet” that will restore his memory. “Intelligent, funny, and hopeful in spite of itself.” —Kirkus Reviews