Review: My Enemy's Cherry Tree

My Enemy's Cherry Tree by Ting-Kuo Wang
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

An interesting, melancholic book, discussing loss, love, betrayal, poverty, etc. These are probably the reasons why it reminded me somewhat of contemporary Korean fiction. 

Regardless, the story was excellent, although the parts about Baixiu were probably over my head. I read the author took a 25-year hiatus from writing because of his father-in-law. I look forward to more books by him. 

View all my reviews

Review: Mars: Stories

Mars: Stories by Asja Bakić
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

My first foray into Contemporary Bosnian Fiction (although she writes in Croatian?), and it did not disappoint.

My favorites were probably:

Abby (a woman wakes up with no memory, and not sure if she can trust her husband)

Asja 5.0 (a woman and her clone want to escape her boyfriend. Also, this is the author's name)

The Talus of Madame Liken (a serial killer is confused by a killing happening in his territory)

Passions  (about a woman trying to figure out the author of a short story collection, only to be told it's her, but is it really?)

Heading West (about immigrants, but with a twist)

View all my reviews

Review: The Taipei Chinese PEN—A Quarterly Journal of Contemporary Chinese Literature from Taiwan《中華民國筆會英文季刊─台灣文譯》 Autumn/2019 - No.190

The Taipei Chinese PEN—A Quarterly Journal of Contemporary Chinese Literature from Taiwan《中華民國筆會英文季刊─台灣文譯》 Autumn/2019 - No.190 by Taipei Chinese PEN
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Another interesting collection. 

My favorite stories:

Landing Pad, by Ruei Chung (Zhong Minrui on Goodreads)

Portrait of a Son, by Inca Pan (who apparently published under the penname Chuan Bei Mu／川貝母). This started off seeming a tad obvious but became progressively eerie

View all my reviews

Review: The Informer

The Informer by Akimitsu Takagi
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I think I enjoyed this more than the first one I read by this author (The Tattoo Murder Case). Excellent book with an excellent mystery; original and I did not see the ending coming.

View all my reviews

Review: Stephen Fry's Edwardian Secrets

Stephen Fry's Edwardian Secrets by NOT A BOOK
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

An excellent follow-up to Stephen Fry's Victorian Secrets. I admit I came into this knowing next to nothing about the Edwardian era (I haven't even watched Downton Abbey), but I still found it all fascinating. Highly recommended. 

View all my reviews

Review: The Taipei Chinese PEN—A Quarterly Journal of Contemporary Chinese Literature from Taiwan《中華民國筆會英文季刊─台灣文譯》 夏季號/2021 - No. 197

The Taipei Chinese PEN—A Quarterly Journal of Contemporary Chinese Literature from Taiwan《中華民國筆會英文季刊─台灣文譯》 夏季號/2021 - No. 197 by Taipei Chinese PEN
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Another interesting issue, with poetry, short stories, and a feature of Paul Chiang, an artist in Taidong. 

My favorite short stories:

Wandering among small mountains, by Ko Yu-fen

Marriage Proposal, by Chung Ling (Hundred-Dollar Bills wasn't bad either, by the same author)

The Forbidden, by Chang Yuan

View all my reviews

Review: Against Interpretation and Other Essays

Against Interpretation and Other Essays by Susan Sontag
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I admit that many of these essays were on people and/or works I had never heard of. Having said that, I found the ones on Cesare Pavese and Ionesco quite interesting (the one on Ionesco was scathing), as well as those dealing with Sartre and Camus.

Interesting to learn about Happenings, and Assemblages, since I had never heard of them before. Also interesting were the notes on Camp Style (especially considered how the term is used these days in the UK). The essay on Science fiction was extremely thorough, but I can't say I found it all that interesting, except possibly that Sci-fi movies were pretty much all disaster movies.

Still, Sontag was obviously extremely observant and intelligent. I doubt we have anyone quite like her around today. 

All essays date from the 1960s.

View all my reviews

Review: The Housekeeper and the Professor

The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yōko Ogawa
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I never thought a book that delves so much into mathematics and (outdated) Japanese baseball would retain my attention so easily. In fact, not only did it keep me involved in the story, but I really hope some of the math sticks with me, since it was explained in a way that made sense, and it was able to convey some of the beauty mathematicians seem to see in math. 

If you want an original and charming book to read then this is it. 

View all my reviews

Review: The Business Blockchain: Promise, Practice, and Application of the Next Internet Technology

The Business Blockchain: Promise, Practice, and Application of the Next Internet Technology by William Mougayar
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Dated, but pretty good in terms of foundational information. The target market here is businesses who might be persuaded to add blockchain technology to whatever they do, but it is obviously too generalized, since the use of blockchain would differ immensely from business to business. 

If you are wondering if/how to use blockchain in your business, feel free to read this, then use what you learned to find something that discusses what you need more in depth. 

View all my reviews