Reviews and Comments

I think this is a pretty run of the Mill cozy book in terms of writing, but something that I think is a little bit different than the other cozy books I've read recently is that there were less stories and also that the main story of the book is actually inspired and partially based on something that really happened.

I think a lot of these books stick with a similar formula of having a kind of base location and then different characters come in every chapter and there's a little bit of connectedness, but they can also just be read as completely separate stories. This book is the same, but instead of having four or five different stories, it only has three. Not only are there only three, but they aren't really balanced in length at all. The first story takes up like half the book and then the second one is about 2/3 that length and then the last one is pretty short.

It was almost comforting in a way actually though that there were less stories, though that does make it more difficult to get through one in a short period of time when it comes to the first story.

Overall a solid cozy book, but I think a bit sadder than some of the others that I've read. There are several instances of child abuse described in the latter half of the book, so just be warned.

Oxford Soju Club by Jinwoo Park is a book I've had my eye on since the author initially announced it, so I was absolutely leaping with joy when I was approved for an arc on NetGalley. I love reading books by translators and I love reading books from small Canadian presses that do interesting work, so it's a complete win all around for me honestly. And it's even more of a win because I really liked the book!

The book is set up as a kind of spy thriller that takes place in Oxford, and the story plays out primarily between three different perspectives: a North Korean, a South Korean, and a Korean American. There are some other characters, but most of the story revolves around them.

You can more or less get all of this information from the book synopsis, but what I wasn't expecting was for the book to actually shift point of view throughout the novel. I'm not really sure why I didn't expect this given the emphasis on the importance of the different perspectives and what I've heard the author mention about the book on social media, but it was an extremely welcome surprise. I absolutely love stories that do perspective changes.

It doesn't do just perspective shifts though—time jumps around as well. This is another feature of fiction that I really enjoy and I think it works really well for this story. Between the perspective and time shifts and the present tense narration, I found this novel really easy to become completely absorbed in. I didn't find the narrative intense, which I think many people reading a thriller would expect, but I think the story manages to thrill in a sense in a slow and contemplative way.

Things happen quickly, but because of the shifting perspectives and time, these events simultaneously feel like they're moving the speed of molasses. It's a good thing in this case. You know the characters as they know themselves and see how they evolve and move forward even as you're flying back in time. And this is perfect for a novel that I think is about identity and finding your place in the world because of and despite of the people around you. It's a powerful message.

And I don't think that you need to be Korean to understand or relate to that message. I know it head home for me and my life experience is vastly different than any of the characters in the novel or even the author.

Oxford Soju Club heartwarming and hopeful tragedy of a novel and I hope so many people enjoy it as much as I did.

I'm back again with another review from a book I got on NetGalley! This book kind of feels like a change in pace from what I've reviewed in the past. I think it may be the first one I've done this year that's SF? Either way, it was really interesting to change it up—even if I do read a lot of SF in my free time. Anyway.

This book is by an author named An Yu. She was born and raised in Beijing. I've never read her work before or and I hadn't heard of her before I requested this book, but I am really glad that I picked it up even though it wasn't my favourite thing. In a way, I think that I'll actually grow to like it more as I get further away from the reading experience. I'll admit that I like when that happens. Books that can be chewed on are great.

I said the book is SF, and it is, but I would also call it speculative literary fiction. There's not a lot of action or extensive character and plot development. My explanation may not be good, but I think that's the overall tone. In fact, I found myself reminded of I Who Have Never Known Men (with the help of a friend). It has a similar uncanny eeriness and an underlying mystery for you to think about as you move forward with the characters.

If you're looking for clear cut answers and world building that clearly establishes the rules of the setting, then this isn't the book for you. But if you're interested in a book that doesn't give you the answers and allows things to happen without necessarily giving a resolution or explanation, then I do think it's worth reading. Unlike that book though, Sunbirth has multiple characters and even shifts time and character perspective throughout the novel—something I absolutely love in fiction.

It was just so interesting reading about characters in an apocalyptic setting in a town that seems that it's disconnected from the whole world. Is there even a world outside of this town? What about the sun? Why is it disappearing and what's all this weird mysterious stuff that's going on? I'm not sure that any of those questions are answered, but that makes it all the more interesting to think about.

This may not have been my favourite book, but it is making me think and just writing this review has made me respect and appreciate it as a story all the more. I definitely want to read more from the author.

Life feels like it's been absolutely off the charts lately. Some of that is, of course, because of what's going on globally in politics. But on the other side, is that I've simply been rather unwell since the middle of May. So even though I got the arc for this book from NetGalley many months ago, it's come down to the wire when it comes to actually reading it and getting out my review. But maybe that was actually for the best? Somehow it feels like it was exactly the right time to read this absolutely incredible story by Tashan Mehta.

Mad Sisters of Esi starts by talking about how time and stories are circular rather than linear, and I think that both within the world of the novel and in real life, that this is true. While I do think that the sometimes mundane nature of modern life in a globally connected place space and time may feel linear, it's my view that time is certainly far more circular than most of us have the power to contemplate.

But the fact that we often perceive our time as incredibly linear is what I think lends this story some of its power. We travel through the black sea alongside all of the numerous characters that take shape within the narrative. We are also looking for our sister. We are also looking for the whale of babel. And while we go on that journey together with these characters, much like the characters, time loops around over and over again. We jump forward and backward and sideways in both directions. The reading experience is incredible and I'm not sure that I was expecting to feel this level of catharsis by the time I reached the end.

I love stories that play with character perspective and time in interesting ways, and Mad Sisters of Esi does those things. The author has crafted a situation actually where there isn't even really an end. Because even for us, with the time that we process as linear, death isn't just an end—for some people, it's not an end at all—it's also a beginning.

What an absolutely wonderful novel. I highly recommend it. I am in absolute awe.

This book was incredibly frustrating from start to finish. I actually kind of regret that I spent time reading the whole thing.

The author repeats themselves constantly without really saying anything of substance, they tried to pack five bajillion topics into what is supposed to be an introductory book, and at the end of the book they openedly admit that one of their key goals of the book was to list what research still needed to be done--very clearly not something for somebody learning about the topic for the first time at all. The author actually recommends completely different book as an introduction to the topic at the end of the book.

And that doesn't even get into how many times the author tried to explain Japanese terms with English words...to the presumably Japanese reading audience.

I didn't read this book to learn about the topic to begin with, so that's fine on my end, but the fact that there's going to be somebody who picks up this book to try to learn about being asexual or being aromantic and that they're going to just get a bunch of English jargon and research from North American and European scholars with an author telling them that there just needs to be more research done, is upsetting.

I have a hard time even recommending this book for the use that I had for it, which was simply to learn more about terminology in Japanese. Bleck.

I was a bit caught off guard at first by the difference in style between this book and the first one--I think this is mostly down to a difference in translator though. Both are constructed of short stories, but there is an ongoing narrative happening behind the scenes. And I'll be honest, I'm not sure that I was actually expecting for both books to be as connected as they were and I'm glad that the recommended reading order has been changed from the order that these two books originally published.

Anyway, I wasn't expecting to like this book as much as the first one, but then the last two stories absolutely blew my mind. Not only that, but pro-choice in a high fantasy book that was originally published in the '90s? I will take that forever!

Read this book! It's awesome! I've already prepared the first book in the saga to read!

This book covered a lot of things I've never heard of before, which is exactly what I was hoping for. Unfortunately, I think this book really relies on the images that are included and I listened to it.

The author references a supplementary PDF, and maybe that exists in my file somewhere, but I listen to audiobooks while I commute, which means that I definitely can't be looking at dozens of pictures as I listen to the author explain things that I have no knowledge about. The fact that there is a supplementary PDF is good, but I didn't have access to it, so that sucked for me.

I must admit that I also wasn't that partial to the way the book was structured anyway. So even though there were a lot of small tidbits that I was really interested to learn about, I couldn't really focus or keep up with anything that the author was talking about. Part of this was because I couldn't visualize the things that I didn't have pictures for, but part of it was just that I didn't really understand him.

I know the beginnings of a lot of things I want to look more into now though, so that's good at least.

This book was really interesting because it's a compilation of several lectures that the author did. I listened to the book and I feel like that's a good choice for this one because of its origins as a set of it in-person lectures.

It was really interesting to me how he focused on ideas of othering. But it wasn't just about the more common kinds of othering that we think of when it comes to race or ethnicity. He also talked about the othering that happens within yourself and knowing or not knowing yourself.

I haven't read any of his novels or his memoir, but the way he talked about those books and referenced them throughout the lectures, it's clear that they also follow a similar vein of being othered in different kinds of ways. And I think the most interesting part is that in the author's mind, it doesn't seem like being and Other does necessarily something that's bad. society can induce negative consequences from these positions, but at the same time the problem isn't that you are an Other, it's that you're being treated poorly for it. I think these are ideas that I would like to explore a lot more, so it seems like I'm probably going to pick up his novels and his memoir! And perhaps read some of the authors that he brought up throughout the lectures.

Overall a really thought provoking an interesting read.