I’m Back!
Okay, not that I’ve really gone anywhere, but with the last year of going back to school, I haven’t posted anything here about the books that I’ve been reading. So I thought I would pop in to give you a picture of what Asian authors I have been reading so far this year.
Manga
The Beast Player series by Nahoko Uehashi is nearly 20 years old now. This year it got a new look when the author partnered with artist Itoe Takemoto to create a manga version of the story. I have only read the first volume so far, but the story kept me riveted. I can’t wait to get my hands on the next installment of this story about a young child who sets out to find her dead mother’s nomadic tribe in the hopes of learning more about the beasts that her mother died taking care of.
Pass the Monster Meat, Milady! is a whimsical and romantic story by Chika Mizube. The art is fun and so is the story. Melphiera is a young woman with an unusual hobby. In a world beset by mythical beasts, she has found a use for their delicious carcasses. She cooks them up into tasty dishes whenever possible. Unfortunately, this hobby is frowned upon by the nobility, making it difficult for her to find a marriage match. Enter the Blood-Mad Duke of Galbraith who’s single-minded focus on monster killing has scared away all the eligible women in the kingdom. 5 Stars!
If you’ve been listening to the podcast this year, you will have heard me mention this one a couple of times. I’ve actually read the first two installments of Otherworldly Izakaya Nobu this year. This series takes place in a small, landlocked village in medieval Germany. Within this village, there is a little restaurant called Nobu which serves fresh fish and fruit no matter what the season, and uses glass mugs to serve ice cold beer. If you’re a fan of anime like Restaurant to Another World, or generally enjoy chill food dramas, this series will be right up your alley.
Science Fiction
Ocean’s Godori by Elaine U. Cho is for fans of the Firefly universe. Found family in space where Koreans basically won the space race. There are a number of different Asian cultures represented within the story which takes place centuries into the future where humanity has spread out across the universe and colonized many other planets. Main character Ocean Yoon is a descendant of the haenyeo and her mother still lives on Jeju diving with the other women there. There are a number of LGTBQIA+ characters in the story, and a couple of romances included in this high stakes story of murder, revenge, and colonization.
Fantasy
I think my last full book review for the Certified Noonas was for Ebony Gate by Julia Vee and Ken Bebelle. The second book in this trilogy, Blood Jade, was just released and it is just as good as the first book. Without giving too much away, Emiko is going through a lot of changes which originate in the first book. This story sees her growing into those changes through a trip back home to Tokyo for her brother’s graduation games. Part bloody mystery, part Hunger Games, part epic fantasy; this book is a wild ride. I enjoyed this book just as much as I did the first and I can’t wait to read the final installment next year. 5 Stars!
A Tempest of Tea by Hafsah Faizal is a magical heist story about colonization and vampires. Main character Arthie Casimir arrived in town many years ago as an orphan. Since then she has become a criminal who trades in secrets which she and her crew learn by running the most successful tea house in town. Part of their success comes from their illegal night trade where the tea house turns into a blood bar to service the vampires of the city. When her beloved tea house is threatened, Arthie and her crew hatch a plan to break into the Athereum, home of the vampire high society. The story is intense and super unique.
Another one of the reviews I did last year was for Tao Wong’s The Nameless Restaurant. Its sequel, Chaotic Aperitifs came out this year and was just as chill as the first book. I also delved into the parent series for these books, The Hidden Wishes series. I enjoyed this series which looks at the life of a gamer who unleashes an ancient djinn, and with her help begins to level up to one of the greatest mages in the modern world. I like the calm vibes of the Hidden Dishes series a bit more, but the action of the original series is a lot of fun.
Mystery
I love a good cozy mystery, and Arsenic and Adobo by Filipina author Mia P. Manansala is a good cozy mystery. The story follows Lila Macapagal as she tries to revive her family’s Filipino restaurant. Unfortunately, her terrible ex-boyfriend (turned local food critic) dies from poison right after she serves him dessert one day. Lila gangs together with the local aunties, her best friend, and the handsome new dentist in town, in order to find out who the real killer is and save her restaurant’s reputation. This is the first of five books in the Tita Rosie’s Kitchen Mystery Series. I haven’t got to the rest of them yet, but I am looking forward to it.
The third and final book in Gigi Pandian’s Secret Staircase Mystery series was released earlier this year. Last year I reviewed book two in this series, which was, in my opinion, the strongest of the three books. I did read the first book in this series, Under Lock and Skeleton Key, after reading The Raven’s Thief. The third outing, A Midnight Puzzle, felt a bit muddled as cozy mysteries go. There is a running mystery for the whole series, and it felt like that got a lot more attention than the murders specific to this story. That said, I still gave it a passing grade, and I think that the series as a whole was a pretty fun read.
Slice of Life
Korean author Hwang Bo-Reum hit it big internationally this year when their popular book Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop was translated for sale in many other languages, including English. I really, really enjoyed this mellow read. The characters and events in the story are realistic and believable. A young woman suffering from burnout at work and in life; divorces her husband, quits her job, and uses her savings to start a small bookshop and cafe. I will not be at all surprised to see this adapted into a drama at some point in the future. If you enjoy dramas like Twelve Nights or Would You Like a Cup of Coffee? then I think that you will love this book.
Well, that’s it for now. I’m still reading lots of Asian authors, so I’ll try to keep you all updated as the year progresses. Was this sort of list a good one for you? Should I do it again, or try to keep to shorter monthly posts? Did any of these books seem like ones you want to check out for yourself? What have you been reading this year so far? Let me know in the comments, or hit me up on our socials.
Natalia