Black Water Sister | 
pickAncient gods, old grudges, family secrets & rivalries collide in this contemporary fantasy about a young woman who returns to Malaysia with her family only to find this fresh start isn‘t going to be so easy. Closeted, broke, & unsure of what she wants to do with her life, Jessamyn Teoh chalks up the voice she is hearing to stress but it isn‘t, it‘s her recently deceased grandmother who has a score to settle. A solid read.
Cool view from our home away from home as we do some renovating. The bright lights towards the back of the photo is Wrigley Field all bright and ready to go for opening day. Our neighborhood is a little more wild and wacky during baseball season but it‘s always fun. So today is opening day and a new book, one blurbed by Naomi Novik so it has that going for it.
pickJust finished listening to this #blameitonLitsy urban fantasy ghost story? It‘s hard to squeeze this one into a box. Jess has grown up in the USA , graduated from Harvard was living the American dream until her father falls ill and the family is forced to move back to Malaysia. Back to a new world of ghosts, gods and gangsters. Jess has secret , her parents have secrets and her Grandmother‘s ghost had secrets. #jumpstart2023 👍💚🐉
This is a really interesting story about a woman who moves back to Malaysia with her family. She struggles with staying in the closet, being a good daughter, looking for a job, and then being haunted by her grandmother.
Malaysia is vibrantly written and you get a really good sense of the characters turmoil about wanting to be a good daughter but also being herself. It is something a lot of people can relate too. And then ghosts and gods.
How did the saying go? Lord, grant me the confidence of a mediocre white man.
pickSO GOOD. Jess & her parents move back to Malaysia, and it's a lot: being a dutiful daughter, looking for a job, staying in the closet, & now she's being haunted by her grandmother's *extremely* determined ghost. If you are interested in Chinese-SEA ghost lore - or you think you might be (& why wouldn't you be? - it's so cool!) - I urge you to read it. Zen Cho makes her characters come alive in the best way (even when they are already dead).
#WyrdAndWonder day 8: undergods
…I have a lot of books that focus on dwindling or resurgent deities; Black Water Sister by Zen Cho gets my pick both for its many small gods and just for being a smart, funny delight of a book.
A good reading month!
Total books: 19
Pages: 4,297
Longest: A Marvellous Light (377)
Shortest: A Tiger Came to the Mountains (28)
BIPOC: 11
LGBTQ: 10
Women / NB: 18
Favorite(s): The Book Eaters, Cultish, and How Much of These Hills is Gold
pickAn excellent supernatural urban fantasy about a recent college grad moving back to Malaysia with her family only to start hearing voices. What she assumes is stress turns out to be the voice of her lage grandmother, Ah Ma. Now she's got to help seek revenge for an angry god her grandmother served as medium for, putting herself in the line of fire against some very dangerous people and spirits.
Planning to finish this book tonight and then get my first good night of sleep this week
"The first thing the ghost said to Jess was:
Does your mother know you're a pengkid?"
#FirstLineFridays @ShyBookOwl
pickAbsolutely brilliant book about family, gods, and ghosts. It was a little darker than I expected and it was a slow build but definitely worth the wait
It's my day off so I'm powering through my books and ignoring the large pile of laundry
Ovid is not impressed that I'm staying up late reading when I should be in bed cuddling him. Oops
pickBlack Water Sister kept me reading late into the night and pretty much every other chance I got.
Rooted in questions of identity (culture, religion, and sexual orientation all play a part) and grounded in present day Malaysia, this book brings ghosts and gods to life in a surprising and compelling way.
I absolutely recommend this one!
Sphinx isn't too sure about my latest book pick, but I'm enjoying it so far.
I think he just gets jealous when I get so wrapped up in a book that I forget to pay him what he considers enough attention.
pickA complex range of intersecting conflicts (generational, regional, racial, familial, etc.) but the author pulls it all together with expert ease. I liked the complicated characters that were both likable and loathsome, it really forced you to look at the situation to empathize with their perspective.
pickJuly book 7:
Really great! It melded the hustle of Asian aunties & conjunction of new+old money/influence/customs as present in Crazy Rich Asians while still allowing for the authenticity of ancient beliefs. Also, tbh, I got tired of the wealth porn in CRA, & found the ppl in BWS to be more human & interesting, esp the MC who navigates her queer+Asianness after newly immigrating to Malaysia from the US with her family #queer #readdiversebooks
I've enjoyed Zen Cho's writing before, so I got this more or less without knowing anything about it. I'm intrigued so far, though wondering how differently it hits if you know the Malaysian culture it's embedded in!
I was lucky enough to get some quality reading time at the park before the storm rolled in! 😃💕📚👍
Today consists of: fresh snacks from the farmer's market (yum! 🥐), kitty snuggles, and reading! Hope everyone is having a great weekend so far! 💕📚 #catsoflitsy #littenkitten #chaplin
pickThis was a fun contemporary fantasy, the Malaysian setting really felt like a breath of fresh air.
You can read a full review here: https://scepticalreading.com/2021/06/black-water-sister/
Another #FirstLineFridays @ShyBookOwl
"The first thing the ghost said to Jess was: Does your mother know you're a pengkid?"
pickThis is a story that wears a lot of faces. Coming of age, immigrant story, ghost story, thriller. It's full of Cho's funny, pacy, pugnacious style and Ah Ma is a real hoot. But it also goes to some dark places on homophobia, misogyny and violence against women. I loved it #bookspin @TheAromaofBooks
