Currently Reading: Two Books at a Time

 

Currently reading

Japanese literature

Honeybees and Distant Thunder by Riku, Onda, translated by Philip Gabriel, May 2, 2023; Pegasus Books

Genre: Japanese literature, literary fiction, contemporary, music

Description: 

Three young people are rivals in a prominent piano competition in a town outside of Tokyo. They are child prodigy Aya, her childhood Mulfriend Maseru, and child prodigy Jin, plus a fourth perso - an older married man, Akashi. 

Beloved in Japan, Riku Onda immerses us in the world of music—from piano masterpieces to the buzz of bees and the rumble of thunder—which crescendos to a surprising ending in this rich and vibrant novel.

Multicultural interest, romance 

Jasmine and Jake Rock the Boat by Sonya Lalli, April 2023, Berkley, NetGalley

Genre: romance, set in Alaska and Seattle

Description:

Jasmine Randhawa is encouraged to sign up with her parents for an Alaskan cruise organized by their Indian group in Seattle, but finds out on the boat that the cruise is for seniors ages 50 and older. 

Stuck with her elders, she meets an old crush Jake who is with his father on the cruise. The two young people clash in the beginning, but I can see where this romance is heading! 

I am trying to limit my reading to only two books at a time!

What are you reading ? 

Memes:  The Sunday Post, It's Monday: What Are You Reading, Sunday Salon, and Stacking the Shelves 

March Publications 2025

 March 2025 Publications

Soft Burial by Fang Fang, translated by Michael Berry

Publication March 18, 2025; Columbia University Press, NetGalley

Genre: historical fiction, literary, mystery and thriller

I just love novels that involve amnesia in all its various manifestations. Readers on Goodreaders gave this one 4.30 stars. 

Description: Fang Fang’s Soft Burial begins with a mysterious, nameless protagonist. Decades earlier she was pulled out of a river in a state of near-death; upon regaining consciousness, she discovered that her entire memory had been erased. 

The narrative follows her journey through recovery as she takes a job as a housekeeper in the home of a powerful cadre, marries the doctor who saved her, and starts a family of her own. 

As the story unfolds, the protective cocoon of amnesia that her subconscious wove around her begins to give way, revealing glimpses of her previous life and the unspeakable trauma that she suffered.

By the same author and translator, The Running Flame has the same release date in March and the same publisher, Columbia University Press. I was approved to read the ARC by NetGalley.

Genre: literary fiction, adult fiction, women's fiction

Description: 

“She knew that if she didn’t say her piece, that flame would never be extinguished; even after death, it would continue raging.”

The Running Flame opens with its protagonist in prison awaiting execution, desperate to give an account of her life.  The novel draws loosely from interviews the author conducted with female death row inmates in a Chinese prison. Equal parts social critique and domestic horror, The Running Flame is a gripping, propulsive narrative that shines a light on the struggles of poor women in China’s countryside.

About the author: Fang Fang graduated from the Department of Chinese Language and Literature, Wuhan University in 1982. She has published nearly seventy novels, novellas and essay collections, in many different languages.

Stories from the Edge of the Sea by Andrew Lam, March 25, 2025; Red Hen Press, NetGalley 

At times humorous and ecstatic, other times poetic and elegiac, the fourteen pieces in Stories from the Edge of the Sea explore love and loss, lust and grief, longing and heartbreaks through the lives of Vietnamese immigrants and their children in California. 

Andrew Lam is a writer and an editor with the Pacific News Service, a short story writer, and, for 8 years, a commentator on National Public Radio’s “All Things Considered.” He co-founded New America Media, an association of over 2000 ethnic media organizations in America. Born in Saigon, Vietnam, Lam came to the U.S. at age eleven. He degrees are from San Francisco State University and UC Berkeley.

ARCs: Historical Romance and a Cat Cozy Mystery

 Historical romance/murder mystery

And Then There Was the One: 1930s England, an historical romance with a mystery. October 2025: Atria Books, NetGalley ARC

Amateur detective Georgiana and a London detective's secretary, Sebastian, set out to solve a murder in the Cotswolds. I think the cover and title drew me in to get this ARC.

Cat Cozy

Something Whiskered: July 29, 2025; Berkley, NetGalley

When will I ever get back to reading cozies, which used to fill all my reading hours? I have moved on from the genre, but some of the new books are so tempting, as is this book with a ready to pounce cat that looks like my neighbor's wild cats roaming our yard. 

Publication: July 29, 2025; Berkley, NetGalley

What are you reading these days? 

Memes:  The Sunday Post, It's Monday: What Are You Reading, Sunday Salon, and Stacking the Shelves 

From the Publisher: The Stalker by Paula Bomer, adult comedy

The Stalker by Paula Bomer, May 27, 2025; Soho Press

Genre: adult fiction, black comedy

Description: An Untalented Mr. Ripley, a Dumb American Psycho: A young man combines boundless self-confidence with perpetual failure and ineptitude as he tries to manipulate his way into a better life, preying on women in New York City in the early ’90s. Portrait of the sociopath as a young loser.

I found it interesting that 42% of Goodreads readers gave this novel five and four stars. I can't predict how I'll find it, but am going to give it a try, as I requested the book from the publisher for review/feature. 

You Call Yourself a Poem : Breakfast

 You Call Yourself a Poem

Wanting a room of one's own, 

And having it, yet

Still wanting company

At moments.

I sit and stare at the screen 

Fingers writing words at will.

Will it be called a poem? 

Still?

I think of having food this morning 

With pills to take 

And wonder what will keep me company.

Yogurt, hummus on toast, a sweet orange

Or another tv drama spoken in

Japanese, Korean, occasionally Chinese.

While I sip on English tea.

They can all make you laugh, or break your heart.

Breakfast. 

                                        - Gerry Young