General Fiction

  • General Fiction,  In English

    Pearl City: Stories from Japan and Elsewhere by Simon Rowe

    Pearl City: Stories from Japan and Elsewhere is an eclectic collection of short stories. The author, Simon Rowe, has clearly put in an immense amount of effort to ensure that everything about the stories is varied. From Japan, Hong Kong, and Southeast Asia, to Australia and New Zealand, readers are kept on their toes with the different locales presented. That variety extends to the stories and themes themselves too. Each story is easily able to stand on its own. There isn’t a single story in the collection that relies on another. Not only that, but the actual content remains unique for each individual story too. There are historical stories and…

  • The Color of the Sky is the Shape of the Heart cover
    General Fiction,  In English

    The Color of the Sky is the Shape of the Heart by Chesil

    The Color of the Sky is the Shape of the Heart by Chesil and translated by Takami Nieda seems like a coming-of-age story. It some ways it is. However, more dominantly, it is a story about the anger and trauma of a young Zainichi Korean girl named Ginny Park. The term “Zainichi Korean” refers to the Koreans and their descendants who originally came to Japan before 1945. Their history is wrought with discrimination and hardships – many of which continue to this day. This is important to note when reading this book. Ginny’s hardships and the trauma she faces are not unique. Rather, hers is a story of many who…

  • General Fiction,  In English

    The Magic Strings of Frankie Presto by Mitch Albom

    The Magic Strings of Frankie Presto is one of those books you aren’t looking for – instead you pick it up randomly at the bookstore and just happen to take it home. That being said, the author, Mitch Albom, is probably familiar to many. He wrote the popular book Tuesdays with Morrie. The books differ in their genres, non-fiction vs. magical realism, but the tones remain similar. There is a beginning, there is growth, and then there is the emotional ending. No one ever said that Mitch Albom couldn’t write a book to pull at the heartstrings. However, in the case of The Magic Strings of Frankie Presto, this is…