Genre: Books Can Heal “I don’t think it really matters whether you know a lot about books or not. That said, I don’t know that much myself. But I think what matters far more with a book is how it affects you.” ― Satoshi Yagisawa, Days at the Morisaki Bookshop To recover from this awful experience above, I needed something familiar and cozy, like a novel set in a bookstore. Days At the Morisaki Bookshop…
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Review: Ready Player One by Ernest Cline Genre: Scary Future Let me start with the disclaimer: I only read Ready Player One because I really enjoyed the movie. It imagines a futuristic world where the have-nots escape the drudgery of their existence by living in OASIS, a virtual cyberworld, where they can be anyone or anything. The possibilities are endless. And in this future world, somewhere in Ohio, in a tottering city of trailer parks,…
Finally read this overhyped book, and I have to admit I’m a little underwhelmed. It’s got a great combination of feminism and humor going for it—and really, which woman doesn’t relate to the injustice of being constantly ignored in favor of her male colleagues? The plot, in brief, follows the life of an up-and-coming scientist, Zott, who—after being horrifically sexually assaulted—is left without a job or prospects. She eventually finds her footing in a new…
American writer Michael J. Arlen explores his Armenian identity by making a trip to his ancestral homeland. As he grew up in New York and built a profession as a writer, he sees himself as American first and feels disconnected from his Armenian identity. His relationship with Armenia is as mysterious and confusing as his relationship with his first-generation immigrant father. On his trip, he hopes to find some answers. Passage to Ararat is set…
Review: All Systems Red by Martha Wells (Murderbot Diaries Series #1) Genre: Introverted Robots “And in their corner all they had was Murderbot, who just wanted everyone to shut up and leave it alone so it could watch the entertainment feed all day.” ― Martha Wells, All Systems Red The Muderbot Diaries is my 2024 sci-fi discovery. The Hugo-Nebula-Locus winning novella, All Systems Red introduces to our reluctant hero, an artificial construct that calls itself…
My pick for Bangladesh is going to be Lajja:Shame by Taslima Nasrin, a controversial but important novel. Nasrin’s Lajja outlines the religious anti-Hindu riots that follow in the wake of the notorious destruction of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya in 1992. While national borders might separate Bangladesh and India, the events thousands of miles away find common ground in communal violence. The narration centers on Duttas, a Hindu Bangladeshi family that must decide if they have…
