The Paper Menagerie by Ken Liu – At times emotional, at times heart-rendering, and at times horrifying, this book is Asian-inspired SFF at its best

Summary:

With his debut novel, The Grace of Kings, taking the literary world by storm, Ken Liu now shares his finest short fiction in The Paper Menagerie. This mesmerizing collection features all of Ken’s award-winning and award-finalist stories, including: “The Man Who Ended History: A Documentary” (Finalist for the Hugo, Nebula, and Theodore Sturgeon Awards), “Mono No Aware” (Hugo Award winner), “The Waves” (Nebula Award finalist), “The Bookmaking Habits of Select Species” (Nebula and Sturgeon award finalists), “All the Flavors” (Nebula award finalist), “The Litigation Master and the Monkey King” (Nebula Award finalist), and the most awarded story in the genre’s history, “The Paper Menagerie” (The only story to win the Hugo, Nebula, and World Fantasy awards).

My review:

It took me months to read The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories. Not because it was a bore – in fact, far from it. The Paper Menagerie is one of the most affecting books I have ever had the pleasure of reading. Some of the stories hit me so close to home that I had to take long breaks, but it didn’t change how much I loved this short story collection.

The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories is a collection of short stories that explore a plethora of unique and fascinating ideas. Some were speculative fiction, some were fantasy, some had elements of magical realism, but the best part was that most of the stories had Asian protagonists and were centered on Asian mythology and philosophy. There’s something so powerful and validating about reading something that feels important and familiar to me. In that sense, reading The Paper Menagerie was a personal and emotional experience; I have a feeling that, for years to come, The Paper Menagerie will be a book that I hold very close to me.

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Book Recs: Books For Your Discoursing Heart

Hello friends! I hope you all are reading some fantastic and lovely books, and are had a great weekend. It’s the third Monday of the month, which means that it’s Book Recs day!

On the third Monday of every month, I share some Book Recommendations that pertain to a theme! I’ll tell you all a little bit about the book, what I liked about them (because I always only recommend books I have read and liked!), and give you all the links so you can add them to your list of books to read.

I have some exciting books to share with you all today, some of which you have probably heard me pipe up about, so here I am, reminding you all to read these amazing books.

Today’s theme is books for your discoursing heart. This theme is a little close to my own heart, because I absolutely love critical discourse in virtue of my sociology degree.

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid – I expected light and fluffy; instead I got profound and emotional

Summary:

Evelyn Hugo is finally ready to tell the truth about her glamorous and scandalous life. But when she chooses unknown magazine reporter Monique Grant for the job, no one in the journalism community is more astounded than Monique herself. Why her? Why now?

Monique is not exactly on top of the world. Her husband, David, has left her, and her career has stagnated. Regardless of why Evelyn has chosen her to write her biography, Monique is determined to use this opportunity to jumpstart her career.

Summoned to Evelyn’s Upper East Side apartment, Monique listens as Evelyn unfurls her story: from making her way to Los Angeles in the 1950s to her decision to leave show business in the late 80s, and, of course, the seven husbands along the way. As Evelyn’s life unfolds through the decades—revealing a ruthless ambition, an unexpected friendship, and a great forbidden love—Monique begins to feel a very a real connection to the actress. But as Evelyn’s story catches up with the present, it becomes clear that her life intersects with Monique’s own in tragic and irreversible ways.

My review: 

I have loved every single book written by Taylor Jenkins Reid: I adored Maybe in Another Life and Forever, Interrupted, and One True Loves and After I Do were superb as well. Whilst her previous books explored the lives of ordinary everyday women and the mundane but significant turning points in their lives, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo dives into the extraordinary, grand, and tumultuous life of infamous bombshell classic actress, Evelyn Hugo. Indeed, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo was significantly different to her other books, but what I did not expect was that I would come to love The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo so, so much. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo is Reid’s best book yet.

Not If I See You First by Eric Lindstrom – Powerfully explores the duality of blindness and perception

Summary:

Parker Grant doesn’t need 20/20 vision to see right through you. That’s why she created the Rules: Don’t treat her any differently just because she’s blind, and never take advantage. There will be no second chances. Just ask Scott Kilpatrick, the boy who broke her heart.

When Scott suddenly reappears in her life after being gone for years, Parker knows there’s only one way to react—shun him so hard it hurts. She has enough on her mind already, like trying out for the track team (that’s right, her eyes don’t work but her legs still do), doling out tough-love advice to her painfully naive classmates, and giving herself gold stars for every day she hasn’t cried since her dad’s death three months ago. But avoiding her past quickly proves impossible, and the more Parker learns about what really happened—both with Scott, and her dad—the more she starts to question if things are always as they seem. Maybe, just maybe, some Rules are meant to be broken.

My review:

This book is not about blindness. This book is about a girl who is blind.

Though the differences between the two above may seem minute, it is an important distinction to make. If you approach this book with the former, you will probably be disappointed. Conversely, if you approach this book with the latter, you may enjoy it as much as I did.

Always and Forever, Lara Jean by Jenny Han – The ending that fans of the series deserved

Summary:

Lara Jean is having the best senior year a girl could ever hope for. She is head over heels in love with her boyfriend, Peter; her dad’s finally getting remarried to their next door neighbor, Ms. Rothschild; and Margot’s coming home for the summer just in time for the wedding.

But change is looming on the horizon. And while Lara Jean is having fun and keeping busy helping plan her father’s wedding, she can’t ignore the big life decisions she has to make. Most pressingly, where she wants to go to college and what that means for her relationship with Peter. She watched her sister Margot go through these growing pains. Now Lara Jean’s the one who’ll be graduating high school and leaving for college and leaving her family—and possibly the boy she loves—behind.

When your heart and your head are saying two different things, which one should you listen to?

My review:

I knew, the first time this book made me cry, that this would be best installment in the trilogy. By the end, I was dead-certain: Always and Forever, Lara Jean was my favourite and, I’d wager to argue, the best book in the trilogy. I loved it immensely.