I wish I liked this book more than I did. I liked it. But I wish I liked it more. One thing about memoirs is that they have to a reason why you should read them. Some are so well written that they deserve to be read just for that reason, but most need to bring something more to the table. This could be a … Continue reading Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner
I suppose I’m like most Americans in that I know little of Korea’s history. We know the war, at least the version of it we saw on television’s M*A*S*H, and the Korean miracle–the economic powerhouse South Korea has become. But anything in between, certainly the dark chapters many South Korean’s would like to keep buried, we don’t know. This has begun to rapidly change lately, … Continue reading Human Acts by Han Kang
What makes a book a classic? Lionel Shriver was a guest on my favorite BBC program A Good Read. You can listen to the program here. It was the dullest episode of my favorite program ever. Knowing something of what Ms. Shriver is like in person, I almost didn’t listen, but I thought I’d be open-minded, give it a try. The conceit of A Good … Continue reading Sunday Rant and Ramble: Lionel Shriver Makes me Mad; A New Cat Arrives; Tournament of Books Results
I’m going to stick to my guns here, enforce my long time rule for selecting the top ten list which is “Do I want to read this book again someday?” The answer must be yes to qualify. Which means there are many books that I loved reading that will not make the list. Lots of books are great books, great reads, but not something I’ll … Continue reading Top Ten Favorite Reads for 2016.
It’s not often that a book affects me as profoundly as Kyun-sook Shin’s award-winning novel Please Look After Mom did. As much as I read, books should do this to me more often. I’m still haunted by this story, by its characters, especially by its missing character, a week after reading it. I’ve passed it along to a good friend who has read the first section and … Continue reading Please Look After Mom by Kyun-sook Shin
May Contain Spoilers 