The Island of Sea Women by Lisa See
The sea is better than a mother. You can love your mother, and she still might leave you. You can love or hate the sea, but it will always be there. Forever. The sea has been the center of her life. It has nurtured her and stolen from her, but it has never left. We took a vacation to South Korea and our first stop was Jeju for a 4-day thru-hike. This is the perfect book to read on an airplane to Jeju. Mi-ja and […]
Three Tigers, One Mountain by Michael Booth
CBR15Bingo: Guide (purports to be a guide to the relationship between China, Japan, and South Korea, and how to fix it) This is a DNF for me but I did read most of it out loud to my mom in a rage, so I feel qualified to write a review. I hated this book and think it’s completely biased and under-researched, and the fact that he is selling this book as a qualified insider type look into the relationship between these three countries is borderline […]
Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner
“Mom’s afraid you two will fight if you come,” my father admitted later. “She knows she has to put all her focus into getting better.” I assumed the seven years I’d lived away from home had healed the wounds between us, that the strain built up in my teenage years had been forgotten. Now we were closer than ever, but my father’s admission revealed there were memories of which my mother could not let go.” ― Michelle Zauner, Crying in H Mart “Sweet braised black […]
There is No Shrimp … And Other Lies My Mother Told Me (UFO Catcher Ken Presents) by Kenny Loui
Is this book by Kenny Loui perfect? No, but it is freaking entertaining and fun. The title (There is No Shrimp … And Other Lies My Mother Told Me (UFO Catcher Ken Presents) ) tells you everything you need to know (though sometimes his mother’s lies are less malice and more “age appropriate” explanations, having a tease (at her son’s expense) and/or herself uncomfortable explaining the situation). These lies range from the downright silly (why are all of her photographs in black an white? Because […]
The Sense of Wonder by Matthew Salesses
Read as part of CBR15Bingo: Oceania. The writer is of Korean descent, the two POV characters are of Korean descent, and the book is about the experience of Korean-Americans and Koreans in diaspora. I was in New York for Linsanity. Not a fan of the Knicks but it was an out-of-body experience at the time. You were glued to your tv every night and every night for almost two weeks, it delivered. Even my father-in-law — a lifelong Knicks Hater — was inclined to root […]
Banned Book Club by Kim Hyun Sook
Banned Book Club is an interesting book. At first, I was not sure I liked or understood it. Yet, once I got deeper into it, I realized what was going on. I did wonder if this was based on anyone’s experiences, or a general look at the time. It is both. It is based on Kim Hyun Sook’s experiences and several experiences of others pulled into one story to protect those involved. Ko Hyung-Ju and Ryan Estrada due their parts to bring this graphic novel […]
