Bi-Weekly Wrap Up (May Pt. 1)
Hello hello and welcome back to another installment of "books I've read recently". In the first two weeks of May, I read 5 solid books. Am I still behind on my reading challenge for the year? Yes. But it's fine. As you know, May is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, so this month I've been picking up a lot more books by Asian and Asian American authors. So without further ado, let's get to it.
The first book I completed in May was Whiteout Conditions by Tariq Shah
Rating: 🍪
This is a super short debut novel written by Asian American author, Tariq Shah. The story follows a young man named Ant, who at the beginning of the book is on his way back to his hometown to attend the funeral of an old friend's cousin, Ray.
To be completely honest, I'm not sure how to describe the plot of the book since not much really happens. The majority of the novel actually takes place in a car as Ant and his friend Vince, who is Ray's cousin, travel to Ray's funeral. Throughout the novel, we get flashbacks into Ant's life and insight into his relationships with various friends and family members. There is a scene with a grandparent that may or may not have almost brought a tear to my eye. Almost.
Each character is heavily fleshed out and I found myself seeing parts of people in my own life, in these characters. The most enjoyable part of the novel, from my perspective, was the relationship between Ant and his friend Vince. A large chunk of the book spends time in the car with both of them catching up and reminiscing about the past. Their relationship is very complex, but it was interesting to see how two individuals, after not having kept in touch for some time, could easily fall into a familiar rhythm. I will definitely be keeping my eye out for more stuff by Tariq Shah and in the meantime, I would highly recommend you read Whiteout Conditions.
Next, I finished Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
Rating : 🍪
Min Jin Lee is a Korean-American author and Pachinko is her second novel. The story follows a Korean woman named Sunja who, through a series of circumstances, ends up moving to Japan during the Japanese colonization of Korea. We then see how this decision influences and impacts the following generations of Sunja's family, as they continue to live in Japan during a time when Koreans were discriminated against.
The book was a LONG, solid family drama. I felt that the author really took the time to flesh out her characters and you really resonated with all of them, particularly Sunja, her sister-in-law Kyunghee, and her younger son Mozasu. The drama was intense. This was the first time I read a book exploring the relationship between Japan and Korea. The characterization was solid and the constant descriptions of Korean food were exquisite. Maybe the reason it took me so long to read was actually that I kept getting hungry while reading it. Would I recommend it? Yes. But just make sure you're not hungry while reading it.
After Pachinko, I got into the mystery/thriller mood, so I read a book that I had been eyeing for a while but really had no immediate plan of reading Mystic River by Dennis Lehane.
Rating: 🍦
I first saw that there existed a movie called "Mystic River" on Netflix, then I found out there was a book. So like the principled individual that I am, of course, I had to read the book first. And WOW did it blow my socks off. This is a new favorite book and a new favorite author.
Mystic River achieves the golden standard of slow-burn suspense. It is Intense, with a capital I. It's one of those books where there was a mystery, but you're too engaged with the current plot to think ahead about who did it. I went into this book not knowing anything and that was a good idea, so I want you to have the same experience. Just know that there are three friends, Jimmy, Sean, and Dave and they live in a small town. And there's a mystery. And you should 100% read it. Read it! Okay done.
The next book I finished was White Ivy by Susie Yang.
Rating: 🍦
Susie Yang is a Chinese-American author and White Ivy is what I would call, 'suspenseful, but not a mystery'. First let me start by saying, I am genuinely surprised that this is Susie Yang's first book because wow this was incredible. We follow a girl named Ivy Lin who is dark, restless, and obsessive. Raised by Chinese immigrant parents, Ivy constantly feels pressured and shut in by the expectations placed on her. Throughout the book, it's clear that Ivy idealizes the quintessential White American way of life, and idolizes WASP families. We follow Ivy as she infiltrates that way of life and does anything to remain a part of it.
I really loved Yang's writing and I thought her characterization of Ivy was amazing. I genuinely hated her and it was great. Ivy is a terribly unlikeable, yet super intriguing character. You can't help but be curious as to what she will do next. Ivy's family and friends were also amazingly fleshed out and the commentary on class, racism, identity, and the "American dream" was fabulous. 5/5 stars, would HIGHLY recommend.
The final book I read in the first half of May was Men Without Women by Haruki Murakami
Rating: 🍪
Haruki Murakami is a Japanese author and this was a collection of 7 fictional short stories focusing on relationships and love between men and women. While this was not my favorite Murakami (we all know that's Norweigian Wood) nor was it my favorite of his short story collections (my favorite is The Elephant Vanishes), this was great. Murakami is an incredibly talented writer and he didn't disappoint with this collection of stories. My favorites among the 7 were, "Yesterday", "An Independent Organ", and "Scherezade". "Yesterday" is told from the perspective of a man observing the relationship between his friend and his friend's girlfriend. "An Independent Organ" is told from the perspective of a man recounting the life of his commitment-phobic friend and "Scherezade" is told from the perspective of a lonely, isolated man in a physical relationship with a woman who tells him a story every time they meet.
Like much of Murakami's work, these stories were definitely a little 'weird' and or contained elements of absurdity and magical realism. If you're looking for a collection of short stories that are weird, quirky, and entertaining, I'd highly recommend Men Without Women by Haruki Murakami.
So there you have it, folks, the first five books I've read in May. Hope you're reading some entertaining, thought-provoking books as well. I'll be back with more books in a couple weeks! Until then, happy reading!
