
So many great books are out there and I have several that might just tickle your fancy. Come find out what I recommend this week and see if your next five-star read is on my list.
Continue readingSo many great books are out there and I have several that might just tickle your fancy. Come find out what I recommend this week and see if your next five-star read is on my list.
Continue readingClassic true crime suspense, teenage road trips, and witty magical banter are what I read this week. In other words, it is a crazy hodgepodge of genres and tropes that have no common thread, so hopefully there will be something in here for everyone. Come find out which book you might choose to start off 2023 in this week’s book review.
Continue readingIt is the end of 2022 and there have been so many amazing books this year! For the giveaway, I will choose some of the best novels from Asian authors to send out into the world. Come find out how you can win these books and be in the know about all my upcoming book reviews.
Continue readingI read a lot of variety this week and there is a little bit of something for everyone. Come check out my weekly recommendations and see what great books there are available to read.
Continue readingThis week’s book recommendations are full of romance — and one recommendation that is full of murder for those that want something less perky. Come check and see if any of these novels would click your interest.
Continue readingThis week I have recommendations ranging from Jinn and a Prince wandering the desert and searching for adventure to a romance writer becoming an accidental assassin for hire, and a Covid homebound millennial discovers the gentleman in the building across from her is a possible serial killer. Add in a newly discovered webtoon and there is a little bit of something for everyone. Come join me as I share all my favorite reads of the week!
Continue readingWe read the book Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao and were blown away. Come find out our favorite themes of the book and why you should check it out as soon as possible.
Continue readingLast year, I very excitedly reviewed The City Between, an urban fantasy series by Tasmanian author W.R. Gingell. At the time there were only five books available, but as we all know, a LOT can happen in a year. The highly-anticipated tenth and final book was released on December 31st. Want to know if I still love the series as much as I did a year ago? Read on to find out!
Continue readingI just finished reading the 1994 novel The Memory Police by Yoko Ogowa, and I feel things. Not sure if they are positive or negative feels, but they are there nonetheless. Come find out my thoughts and whether you should try this classic dystopian novel.
On an unnamed island, objects are disappearing: first hats, then ribbons, birds, roses. . . . Most of the inhabitants are oblivious to these changes, while those few able to recall the lost objects live in fear of the draconian Memory Police, who are committed to ensuring that what has disappeared remains forgotten. When a young writer discovers that her editor is in danger, she concocts a plan to hide him beneath her floorboards, and together they cling to her writing as the last way of preserving the past.
A warning about Marxist governments? A commentary on aging and our eventual death? The change of our world as new ways make old traditions and objects obsolete? What is this book about, and does it have to really mean anything specific, or can it be whatever the reader takes from it?
Without going into specifics, I will say that all of these thoughts crossed my mind as I read the novel. I know that this is not specifically what it was referring to since a lot of the more modern changes came after it was written, but consider the phone booth. It is something that no longer exists except in the memory of adults. When we die, it will be nothing but a distant item in old photographs or films. No actual phone booths will exist, and eventually, even the idea of a phone booth will be gone from the collective memory.
A more in-your-face theme of the novel is that of being forced into a state where the government controls the people’s minds and memories. Think of Russia and China, which outlawed certain aspects of their history, rewriting history in the ideals that they value and deleting those that don’t follow their political doctrine. The destruction of free speech and religion. The Memory Police is more or less a better and more in-depth description of what occurred in George Orwell’s 1984.
One of the things I liked most about this novel was how many different meanings you can find. It was fun to ponder the book’s events and how my thoughts changed as the events unfolded.
I would recommend this novel if you are looking for something deep. It isn’t going to leave you feeling perky at the end. But if you want something that might challenge your thoughts about life, then this is a good choice. You can find it on Amazon HERE (purchase it using this link to support the blog)!
Til the next novel,
Kmuse
Dramas With a Side of Kimchi
Have you ever come across a book that captivates you within the first two paragraphs, and KEEPS you captivated for FIVE MORE BOOKS?
Yeah, that rarely happens to me, too. But W.R. Gingell’s The City Between series managed it, and I have to tell you ALL about it! Read on to see why Between Jobs and the rest of the series is a perfect read for drama lovers.
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