Book Review: A Thread of Sky

Check out my review of Deanna Fei’s A Thread of Sky on the SideStreet Review website. This review may also be found in the newest (June 2010) issue of the magazine.

Though my review of A Thread of Sky is already quite enthusiastic as it is, I’d just like to take this blog post space to state exactly how much I liked this book in a more colloquial way:

Out of the 33 books that I’ve read to date this year, Fei’s novel is one of my favorite novels of them all. It is beautifully written and, to me, it was deeply touching. I am not exactly sure how to describe the chord that it resonated within me. Perhaps I found her novel so relevant because it was able to do what I have been trying to do with my own writing: tell a tale from the position of a distinctly female, Asian American writer.

When someone states the above – “female, Asian American” – a series of stereotypes arise. In my opinion, the female Asian American occupies a certain space in accordance to gender and race. Despite how progressive our society is, the label of “female” writing still often conjures up ideas of books that are distinctly feminist or emotional or descriptive in a certain gendered way.  Furthermore, the “American” perspective is often overpowered by the word “Asian” that precedes it – a word that connotes exoticism and alternative culture.

As a result of the above, even I myself am hesitant to refer books as “female, Asian American literature” because the description comes with so much baggage. Because of the terms’ connotations, assumptions about books that fall into this category can easily be made and, as a result, such books may be easily overlooked or dismissed.

Because we live in such a hybridized society, however, I don’t believe that its fair to lump books into one “female” or “Asian” or even “Asian American” experience. My own experience of being “female Asian American” and of knowing others of “my type” lends itself to stories of variety and difference rather than the generic stereotypes that attend the label.

A Thread of Sky struck a chord with me so strongly because it was capable of portraying the story of multiple Asian American women that could not be described as strictly “female” or “Asian” or “American”. I fell in love with the way Fei reflectively portrayed the hybrid life of Asian American women – lives that were lived in the in-between that results from being oneself and yet also being a “model stereotype” for others.

Anyways, I’m not too sure if any of the above made sense, but I suppose all I can say is: Read Deanna Fei’s novel. It is awesome.

And read my review too. It is not as awesome, I think, because it fails to say much of what I truly felt the novel did, but I wrote it, so read it, too! : )


NerdGirlPinups.com

This post is a tad bit overdue, but I recently started writing for NerdGirlPinups.com – an awesome site for girls who are nerds and proud of it. Currently you can find my profile posted online (along with a very pixelated, poor quality photo of me) and my first introductory post reviewing Gloom. If you haven’t guessed, my topic of expertise on the site involves books and traditional gaming. Once the site is up and running off of beta, I’ll be posting reviews on both subjects regularly as a continuation of my current work on MiaHerrera.com. Hope you enjoy! And don’t forget, if you’d like me to review a particular game or book, send me a comment or a message and I’ll check it out for you.

TCAF 2010

On Saturday I attended the Toronto Comics and Arts Festival for the first time as a media representative for C&G Monthly. The festival was an awesome glimpse into the world of comics, graphic novels, and small press/indie publications. The day started early with a Tims coffee, a walk around the block, and a printing of my C&G business cards (I am still very excited to have business cards haha).

It progressed with the opportunity for me to get a copy of Body World signed and personalized by its author, Dash Shaw.

After a few rounds around exhibitors’ tables, I headed over to The Pilot to catch the spotlight on Paul Pope and Dash Shaw. Mediated by Vancouver-based Inkstuds’ host Robin McConnell, the spotlight was a fascinating look at comic productions, processes, and the things that drive both men.

Shortly after, following another coffee and bout of round-the-block networking, I managed to catch a panel of cartoonists and game contributors discussing the relationship between comic books and video games – a perfect discussion for us C&G reps to sit in on.

Overall, TCAF was awesome. The library quickly filled up in the afternoon. It was amazing to see so many people gather together – people who were related only by an intense passion for what they did. There were plenty of people that I met and plenty of publishers that I encountered that I would definitely love to investigate in the future.

In the meantime, I’m enjoying my personalized copy of Body World and harbouring a secret (well, now a not-so-secret) school girl crush on Dash Shaw!

Though the Toronto Comics and Arts Festival is over for this year, it is an annual event and I strongly encourage any interested comic fans to check it out next year. Just for the record, if this is something you may be interested in, be sure to wear loose, comfortable clothing and walk-ready shoes (stilettos are strongly advised against, as well as sweaters that you are not willing to tie around your waist)!

Book Review: The Surrendered by Chang-Rae Lee

 

The Surrendered presents two people whose lives are unavoidably entangled after the Korean War. June Han, orphaned during the war, and Hector Brennan, an army man, come together after years of separation in a quest for some sense of closure or relief after the War’s attendant tragedy. Intertwined with the story of their present are the stories of their past and their haunting encounter with a woman named Sylvie Tanner, the minister’s wife from the Korean orphanage where they met.

The Surrendered is an intense read: it is mentally, emotionally, and sometimes even physically challenging. Lee does not shy away from the details that others cringe from. He tells stories of war and post-war life in a stark and carnal way that forces readers to see and feel what the characters see and feel.

Lee’s book is definitely for a more mature audience. Its words are sharp, biting, and to the point. He tells stories of love and war in equally tender detail. Though The Surrendered can sometimes be harsh, slow, and challenging, it opens a window into a period of time that most do not know enough about.

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For more information about this book, please visit the Penguin Canada website.
If you’re interested in purchasing a copy of this novel, please e-mail [email protected] .
A copy of this review may also be found on LiveInLimbo.com.

An advanced Reading Copy of this book was received from:
 &

Book Review: The Line by Olga Grushin

 

Good books tell good stories. Great books tell good stories well. The Line by Olga Grushin is a great book. Grushin’s story is simple in summary, but richly complex in execution.

 Set in Soviet Russia, a rumor begins to circulate that a famous exiled composer is returning to Moscow to conduct his last symphony. Tickets will be limited, and the line before the concert’s kiosk grows along with peoples’ anticipation. As time passes and seasons change, however, the kiosk remains closed and the line’s individuals begin forming unlikely friendships, recalling buried memories, and encountering unexpected experiences that teach them more about life, its frustrating appearance of futility, and its true beauty.

Though the premise of The Line is simple and its start is a bit slow, Grushin weaves a beautiful and enchanting tale. Her language is rich, her characters are startlingly human and recognizable, and the story slowly yet steadily grows into one that reveals the lushness of everyday life.

Available on April 6, 2010, Grushin’s book is definitely one to look forward to.

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For more information about this book, please visit the Penguin Canada website.
If you’re interested in purchasing a copy of this novel, please e-mail [email protected] .
A copy of this review may also be found on LiveInLimbo.com.

An advanced Reading Copy of this book was received from:
 &

LiL Article 11: Fired Up

Check out my new review of Fired Up by Jayne Ann Krentz on LiveInLimbo.com. I received a copy of the book late last month for Penguin Canada’s Books and Bloggers Network. I love receiving books in advance of their release date!

NB: If you’d like to purchase your very own copy of Fired Up, please comment below or e-mail [email protected]. As always, The Book Cart provides books for very reasonable prices!

52 Books 2009

Somewhere out there on the World Wide Web a challenge was created: read 52 books in 52 weeks. I decided 2009 would be the year I tracked my reading in weeks and pages. Below is a list of the books I read. Although I don’t have a review for each, I do have a few words to share on my year of reading.

# Title Author Pages
1 The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman Laurence Sterne 720
2 Watchmen Alan Moore 416
3 Epileptic David B 368
4 The Monk Matthew Lewis 496
5 Blood Meridian: Or the Evening Redness in the West Cormac McCarthy 352
6 What We Say Goes: Conversations on U.S. Politics Noam Chomsky 240
7 The Expedition of Humphry Clinker Tobias Smollett 375
8 Kindred Octavia Butler 287
9 The Crying of Lot 49 Thomas Pynchon 192
10 Fun Home: A Family Tagicomic Alison Bechdel 232
11 The Fate of the Artist Eddie Campbell 96
12 Black Hole Charles Burns 368
13 The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao Junot Diaz 352
14 Aporias Jacques Derrida 87
15 A Grief Observed C.S. Lewis 60
16 Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth Chris Ware 380
17 Northanger Abbey, Lady Susan, the Watsons and Sandition Jane Austen 432
18 Time: A Traveler’s Guide Clifford A. Pickover 304
19 The End of Faith Sam Harris 256
20 Tess of the d’Urbervilles Thomas Hardy 336
21 Wuthering Heights Emily Bronte 256
22 The Scarlet Letter Nathaniel Hawthorne 180
23 Girlosophy: The Breakup Survival Kit Anthea Paul 224
24 A Farewell to Arms Ernest Hemingway 485
25 Great Expectations Charles Dickens 514
26 Scott Pilgrim Volume 1: Scott Pilgrim’s Precious Little Life Bryan Lee O’Malley 168
27 Get Known Before the Book Deal Christina Katz 272
28 Scott Pilgrim Volume 2: Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World Bryan Lee O’Malley 200
29 Scott Pilgrim Volume 3: Scott Pilgrim & the Infinite Sadness Bryan Lee O’Malley 192
30 Scott Pilgrim Volume 4: Scott Pilgrim Gets It Together Bryan Lee O’Malley 216
31 Penguin Great Loves Cures For Love Stendhal 128
32 The 101 Habits of Highly Successful Novelists Andrew McAleer 240
33 Valmiki’s Daughter Shani Mootoo 398
34 Dear Diary Lesley Arfin 231
35 Lives of Girls and Women Alice Munro 256
36 The Time Traveler’s Wife Audrey Niffenegger 536
37 The History of Forgetting Lawrence Raab 112
38 Mediascapes: New Patterns in Canadian Communication Paul attallah; Leslie Shade 406
39 Bodily Harm Margaret Atwood 304
40 Wilderness Tips Margaret Atwood 242
41 Blue Like Jazz: Nonreligious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality Donald Miller 256
42 Lucid Dreaming and the Art of Dreaming Creatively Pamela Ball 390
43 Gwenhwyfar: The White Spirit Mercedes Lackey 400
44 The Dilbert Principle: A Cubicle’s-Eye View of Bosses, Meetings, Management Fads & Other Workplace Afflictions Scott Adams 336
45 The Five People You Meet in Heaven Mitch Albom 198
46 Oryx and Crake: A Novel Margaret Atwood 464
47 Mansfield Park Jane Austen 512
48 Persuasion Jane Austen 224
49 Hobby Games: The 100 Best James Lowder 400
50 The Spirit Sets Us Free: Catechist’s Guide Linda L. Gaupin 64
51 The Spirit Sets Us Free: Confirmation Preparation for Youth Linda Gaupin et al 96
52 The Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church   200
53 Pride and Prejudice Jane Austen 272
54 Manuscript: 1st Draft Friend 180
55 Sense and Sensibility Jane Austen 384
56 A Novel in a Year Louise Doughty 320
      16,605

While typing out the above list, I began recalling specific moments throughout the year. I remember reading C.S. Lewis after a friend passed away. I remember working as an extra on the Scott Pilgrim set and, shortly after, purchasing the series to read during my month-long traveling journey. I remember reading the 101 Habits of Highly Successful Novelists while waiting for my plane back to Toronto with Shani Mootoo after my first ever writer’s retreat, and then reading Shani’s book shortly after coming home. I remember reading Bodily Harm on the way to my cousin’s wedding in New Jersey, and Oryx and Crake during my first week of full-time work with Ganz. And so on and so forth.

After this challenge, I had a stronger understanding that it never really was about the numbers of books you read, but about what those books meant to you after you read them. It’s easy to forget a book (I can’t, for the life of me, remember what happened in Tess of the d’Urbervilles), but when you keep track of the books you’ve read, you more easily remember, not just the titles and stories consumed within the span of a year, but those stories within the context of your life.

The 52 book challenge transcribed, in excel format, the importance of reading in my life and the adventures reading offers. Just for fun, I included some tidbits about 2009’s reading below:

Hardest book: Tristram Shandy, for its sheer size and the knowledge/backstory required to understand it OR Pamela Ball’s Lucid Dreaming, because it was just so boring.
Most read author of 2009: Jane Austen. The older I get, the more tragic her stories seem to become.
<strongMost fun book: The Scott Pilgrim series offers a fun, light, and exciting read, especially if you live in the GTA! Check out my review for it here.
Perception-altering reads: Anything by Derrida. He’s difficult to understand at first, but wickedly fun once you start.
Notable reading: Blue Like Jazz was the first “religious” book I read in 2009. It offered a contemporary approach to Christianity and religious passion that I thought would appeal to me. Instead, I was seriously disappointed by its lack of substance (for lack of a better word). It pushed me to find the real meat of my faith, and led me to read various versions of the Catechism, which was highly rewarding and which I recommend to anyone interested in Catholicism.

Now, onto 52 more books in 2010. I’m looking forward to it and invite you to join me, too!

Christmas Treats

In the past week, I’ve started receiving a few early Christmas goodies. Of course, receiving gifts is not the point of Christmas, but they are awesome tokens to make a person feel remembered.

A big Thank You to the Canadian Cancer Society‘s Markham division for their continued attention to Relay Team Members and Captains alike throughout this holiday season. And a similar shout out of thanks to Penguin Canada‘s publicity department (and my contact point, @B_Kienapple, in particular) for the Penguin book, keychain and Moleskine. Your remembrances are greatly appreciated. Please accept my online shout out/referral as a token of holiday love as well : )