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Book shopping!

Not sure how this one escaped my radar in 2022, but I just read about it the other day and then read all the wonderful Litsy reviews and just had to have it.

Grabbed #18 in the Dragon Masters series for my 8 year old - anyone else's kids love this series? He's whipping through them, and we can't keep them on the shelves at the library! #RaisingReaders

I fell into a serious reading slump...years of nothing finished, I think; I just finished this beautiful book!! I got a little lost sometimes timeline-wise, but wow, I fell in love with the characters and the way the world felt alive around them. My favorite quote: "I came to the realization that life was merely the forward motion of going from one's first hospital room to one's last." Def recommend!

This is a fantastic, wild ride of a story about a gay man making his way through life in Seoul. There‘s loneliness, heartbreak, the search for connection & meaningful friendships, the challenge of caring for an aging parent, infatuation & maybe, but maybe not, real love, & the joy of being alive in the moment. Raw, brutally honest, & more than a little funny, I really enjoyed this one. Also Anton Hur‘s translation is excellent.

Next…

I liked this one, honest, nuanced and poetic.
It felt real and touching.
Also great translation, keeping some of the Korean expressions for atmosphere but not expecting too much of the reader. I knew my K-drama habit would come in handy at some point🤭🇰🇷

Got over my audio book slump and now I am all ears for this mesmerising story of a young man's struggles to find his place in the world🐰

Book mail 🤪📖

a story specifically about the queer scene in Seoul, and broadly about looking for love in the wrong places. Told in a series of vignettes, Park‘s story took me into an unfamiliar world, all while presenting me with interactions and feelings that resonated in their universality. In the end it wasn‘t necessarily the ‘love‘ that really captured me, instead the moments of missed connection and feeling unseen in even the most intimate of spaces.

Young is trying to find love in Soul. He has some longer relationships and some really short ones. Trying to find the right man is not easy in a society that doesn‘t acknowledge that gays exists and that includes his own mother.

I must admit that I‘m sad about this not making it to the Man Booker International shortlist.

I so enjoyed the writing style in this.

#BookSpin April
@TheAromaofBooks

I love when I have a good feeling about a book going into it & it proves to be true. This book is exuberant & messy even while being deeply rooted in protagonist Young's trials & tribulations with love, sex, his creative calling, & caring for his ill mother who's devoutly religious & against his sexuality. The tone is irreverent, witty, & funny, but the book morphs into something deeply moving & tender by the end. I really enjoyed it.

Seoul‘s queer scene, finding love in the big city, finding place in the world, taking care of sick mother … those are all big and small problems of Park Young, narrator of the story. He tells us his story in the light mood, humour, but always with the hint of some darker undertones. Interesting and charming.
#InternationalBookerPrize2022

Young is a queer millennial in Seoul, where there‘s still a culture of shame about openly gay relationships. For Young writing is the way to give meaning to life. With humor and melancholy he writes about his job, the care for his dying mother, friendship and sex. And then there‘s love and letting go. The love for Gyu-ho can only be told in stories.

There‘s much more to this book than blurb and cover do imply. #internationalBookerPrize2022

I‘m really enjoying this short novel of a young gay South Korean man dealing with life, friends, family, relationships…

It started just plain fun, before becoming surprisingly sad/touching. Plus a fair amount of ‘They said/did WHAT?‘

#WeeklyForecast 13/22

Another Africa read and a book from the International Booker longlist. Also a Tokyo noir, that should do it for this week! But first I have to finish my current #ReadingAfrica2022 read, Allah is not Obliged.

Another week dedicated to the International Booker longlist, only six more … I‘m going to start today Love in the Big City by Sang Young Park. #weeklyforecast

LOVE IN THE BIG CITY is a funny and thoughtful story about Young, a gay Korean student who lives in Seoul. The narrative flits back and forth between present and past. If you‘re looking for a plot-driven book, this isn‘t exactly it. It‘s maybe more like an exploration of a queer man‘s life in Seoul. Nightlife. College. His mother‘s illness. His relationships. All its vibrant highs and heartbreaking lows.

Not sure my posts are of much interest seeing I can‘t review until after the BookTube Prize 1st round is complete at the end of March but here is my 2nd completed book out of 6.

#Booktube

Waiting for the kids‘ tennis class to finish. It‘s been bright enough for me to read longer in the car these days. Reading this translated book and listening to Map Of The Soul: 7.

Book + noodle soup. I was excited for LOVE IN THE BIG CITY, but I‘m underwhelmed as of page 100. It strikes me as one of those novels where an ordinary person does ordinary things in ordinary ways. I want books in that vein to make the ordinary feel extraordinary—and for me, this ain‘t it. 😔

💙 Current Read: Love in the Big City

💙 Last blue book read: The Beadworkers

💙 A book with blue in the title on your TBR: Blue Bear Woman

#WeekendReads

I‘ve been reading a lot of translated fiction from Asia this year. Not sure what about it appeals to me. The quietness, the slice-of-life quality maybe. This has been one of my favorites. About a gay man living in Seoul and the many people whose paths cross with his. It‘s lovely and sad and just wonderful. Out in Nov in the States.