This was so well written and thought-provoking. I loved reading all of the different ways in which cultures from all over the world engage with death. I use the word engage because for some death isn‘t the end of a relationship; death transforms the way that they communicate with their loved ones. After having read this book, I feel kinda weird NOT having a thoughtful plan for my body after I die.

I hadn‘t read a compilation of short stories in a long time and I‘m not sure how I felt about this one. I somewhat understood the overall theme that linked these stories together. The only stories that stood out to and stayed with me were Manus (I wish that this was a book all on its own) and a few others.

This is hands down the book of year for me (tho admittedly I didn‘t get to read that much this year lol). This inter-generational saga is heart-wrenching. The prejudice, economic hardships, and interpersonal struggles that this family endures are plentiful. It‘s not a feel good read, but it‘s still something that everyone should indulge in if only to just become more aware of this time in history for Koreans in Japan.

Instagram kept bugging me about this book and pegged as it as a cross between Inuyasha and Kamisama Kiss (two of my favorite series) so I had to look into it. Not to trivialize the plot and characters but if you‘re a fan of the enemies-to-lovers trope, this is it.

Yoojin Grace Wuertz is a local author for me! Saw her speak at a BooksNJ panel, and liked her so much that I bought her book the same day. I had no idea about this time in SK history, and the story interested me enough to continue looking into it. It‘s a real page turner, I couldn‘t put it down!

One of the first sci-fi books I‘ve read in a long while, and it got me back into reading more in the genre. Luckily the second installment came out a few weeks later so I didn‘t have to suffer with the cliff hanger for too long!

Read this because of BTS. I love short stories, and the poignant yet open-ended nature of this “question” that the author proposed has definitely left me pondering a lot...