Book Review: The Island of Sea Women by Lisa See In The Island of Sea Women by Lisa See, the author delivers a powerful, emotionally layered novel that immerses readers in the extraordinary world of the haenyeo — the female divers of Jeju Island, Korea. Spanning decades of friendship, war, loss, and reconciliation, this is Read More
Category: fiction
Lady Tan’s Circle of Women by Lisa See
Book Review: Lady Tan’s Circle of Women by Lisa See In Lady Tan’s Circle of Women by Lisa See, the author returns to the rich terrain of historical China to tell a deeply moving story about female friendship, resilience, and the pursuit of purpose in a world bound by rigid expectations. Inspired by the true Read More
Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa
Book Review: Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa is a quiet, comforting novel that celebrates the healing power of books, the solace of solitude, and the unexpected connections that can bring us back to life. Yagisawa’s story is simple on the surface, but its emotional Read More
The Valley of Amazement by Amy Tan
Book Review: The Valley of Amazement by Amy Tan The Valley of Amazement by Amy Tan revisits familiar themes of mother-daughter bonds, cultural identity, and the enduring scars of separation, but on an epic, sweeping scale. Spanning over forty years and two continents, this novel is as much a saga of survival as it is a Read More
Saving Fish from Drowning by Amy Tan
Book Review: Saving Fish from Drowning by Amy Tan Saving Fish from Drowning by Amy Tan takes a sharp turn from her usual mother-daughter themes to explore cultural misunderstanding, Western privilege, and the line between truth and illusion — all through the lens of dark comedy and surreal adventure. The novel follows a group of American Read More
The Bonesetter’s Daughter by Amy Tan
Book Review: The Bonesetter’s Daughter by Amy Tan The Bonesetter’s Daughter by Amy Tan is a beautifully layered novel about memory, identity, and the complicated love between mothers and daughters. Tan once again proves her mastery in weaving past and present, myth and memory, into a poignant story that resonates across generations. The novel follows Read More
The Kitchen God’s Wife by Amy Tan
Book Review: The Kitchen God’s Wife by Amy Tan The Kitchen God’s Wife by Amy Tan is a powerful and emotionally layered novel that explores the hidden histories mothers carry and the complicated bonds they share with their daughters. At its heart, this is a story about survival, secrets, and the enduring strength of women Read More
The Hundred Secret Senses by Amy Tan
Book Review: The Hundred Secret Senses by Amy Tan In The Hundred Secret Senses by Amy Tan, the author once again delves into the complexities of cultural identity, family bonds, and the invisible threads that connect past and present. With this novel, she moves beyond the dualities of East and West to explore the realms Read More
The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
Book Review: The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan is a deeply moving and intricately woven novel that explores the ties between mothers and daughters, tradition and change, memory and identity. Through the voices of four Chinese American daughters and their immigrant mothers, Tan crafts a poignant portrait Read More
The Full Moon Coffee Shop by Mai Mochizuki
Book Review: The Full Moon Coffee Shop by Mai Mochizuki The Full Moon Coffee Shop by Mai Mochizuki is a gentle, whimsical escape into a world where the everyday and the otherworldly blend as smoothly as cream into coffee. Mochizuki invites readers into a quiet Kyoto café that opens only on nights of the full Read More