Where a struggling college student reviews Asian books with Asian characters written by Asian authors
Jane Eyre, Pride and Prejudice, Frankenstein, Moby Dick, Wuthering Heights, War and Peace -- Chances are, you have heard of one or more of these classic works of Western literature. But if I were to list -- The Dream of the Red Chamber, Genji Monogatari, The Lotus Sutra, The Water Margin, Tale of Kieu -- … Continue reading Asian Classic of the Week #1: The Analects of Confucius
So I will confess, as someone who grew up consuming predominantly Eastern media, I have grown to become somewhat weary of books or movies set in Asia that are written by a non-Asian people because there is a tendency for folks to generalize the cultures of many Asian countries. Before writing this review, I had … Continue reading The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane by Lisa Lee [Book Review]
Flashback to the days when the Tokyo Ghoul opening song was blasted by every anime fan ever. It's a great song, but it got overplayed, like REALLY overplayed. By the time I heard it for the 100th time, I was ready for it to stop. When I was in high school, I had watched the … Continue reading Tokyo Ghoul Volumes 1-7 by Sui Ishida [Manga Review]
The Dovekeepers by Alice Hoffman is set during the First Jewish-Roman War (which lasted from 66AD-73AD). Although the story is about war and conquest, the novel focuses on the lives of four fascinating women and how they ended up at Masada. Now, the name Masada might ring a bell for some of you folks who … Continue reading The Dovekeepers by Alice Hoffman [Book Review]
The Paper Daughters of Chinatown by Heather B. Moore is a fictionalized account of the life of Donaldina Cameron, who worked at the Occidental Mission Home for Girls in San Francisco in the 19th century. But the special thing about this mission house is that they specialize in saving "paper daughters", which are young Chinese … Continue reading The Paper Daughters of Chinatown by Heather B. Moore [Book Review]
[Apologies in advance for not posting anything for like 4 months, but I'm back now!!!] Anyway, even though I haven't been posting any book reviews on this blog, I have still been keeping up with reading. This year I set a goal of reading about one book per week, so let's see how that goes! … Continue reading Farewell My Concubine by Lilian Lee [Book Review]
[WARNING: This review contains mild spoilers. Read at your own caution.] I'm honestly kind of mad at myself for waiting so long to pick up a book by Amy Tan because this book left me in tears. Kitchen God's Wife by Amy Tan is about a woman named Winnie Louie and her life back in … Continue reading Kitchen God’s Wife by Amy Tan [Book Review]
Last year Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan was adapted into a movie, and it was a HUGE hit, especially among Asian Americans. It's a fun roller coaster ride filled with wild antics of rich people and their absolute disdain for anyone less than them. Supposedly, it is a REALLY good film filled with a … Continue reading Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan [Book Review]
((internally screaming because this is my second time writing this review because the previous version went and disappeared on me)) Confessions is a novel by Kanae Minato that revolves around a teacher named Yuko Moriguchi and the death of her four-year-old daughter. The story starts off with Yuko Moriguchi giving her middle school class one … Continue reading Confessions by Kanae Minato [Book Review]
Written by Nguyen Du at the end of the Le Dynasty of Vietnam, Tale of Kieu is considered one of the most significant works of Vietnamese literature. It is an epic poem about the hardships of Kieu, a beautiful and talented woman who chooses familial duty over an oath of love. Tale of Kieu is … Continue reading Tale of Kieu by Nguyen Du [Book Review]
AZN Reviews 