Books and Bag: Tiger

Books and Bag
doing some dreaming
a designer bag and books to fill it
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Happy Year of the Tiger!
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Bestiary
by K-Ming Chang
Magical Realism, LGBTQ, Taiwan | Published: 2020 | Goodreads

Three generations of Taiwanese American women are haunted by the myths of their homeland in this spellbinding, visceral debut about one family's queer desires, violent impulses, and buried secrets.

One evening, Mother tells Daughter a story about a tiger spirit who lived in a woman’s body. She was called Hu Gu Po, and she hungered to eat children, especially their toes. Soon afterwards, Daughter awakes with a tiger tail. And more mysterious events follow: Holes in the backyard spit up letters penned by her grandmother; a visiting aunt arrives with snakes in her belly; a brother tests the possibility of flight. All the while, Daughter is falling for Ben, a neighborhood girl with strange powers of her own. As the two young lovers translate the grandmother’s letters, Daughter begins to understand that each woman in her family embodies a myth–and that she will have to bring her family’s secrets to light in order to change their destiny.

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When You Trap a Tiger
by Tae Keller
Fantasy, Middle Grade, Korea | Published: 2020 | Goodreads

Some stories refuse to stay bottled up...

When Lily and her family move in with her sick grandmother, a magical tiger straight out of her halmoni's Korean folktales arrives, prompting Lily to unravel a secret family history. Long, long ago, Halmoni stole something from the tigers. Now, the tigers want it back. And when one of those tigers offers Lily a deal--return what Halmoni stole in exchange for Halmoni's health--Lily is tempted to accept. But deals with tigers are never what they seem! With the help of her sister and her new friend Ricky, Lily must find her voice... and the courage to face a tiger.

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* image source: bag -Gucci

Koreadathon

Koreadathon
March 7-13 (details)
Hosted by @bookswithchloe and @itsmonicakim
a week long celebration of korean stories

GROUP READ:

Winter in Sokcho
by Elisa Shua Dusapin
translated by Aneesa Higgins
Contemporary, France, Korea | Published: 2020 | Goodreads
It’s winter in Sokcho, a tourist town on the border between South and North Korea. The cold slows everything down. Bodies are red and raw, the fish turn venomous, beyond the beach guns point out from the North’s watchtowers. A young French Korean woman works as a receptionist in a tired guesthouse. One evening, an unexpected guest arrives: a French cartoonist determined to find inspiration in this desolate landscape.

The two form an uneasy relationship. When she agrees to accompany him on trips to discover an ‘authentic’ Korea, they visit snowy mountaintops and dramatic waterfalls, and cross into North Korea. But he takes no interest in the Sokcho she knows – the gaudy neon lights, the scars of war, the fish market where her mother works. As she’s pulled into his vision and taken in by his drawings, she strikes upon a way to finally be seen.

READ:

Beasts of A Little Land
by Juhea Kim
Historical, Korea | Published: 2022 | Goodreads | my rating: 5
An epic story of love, war, and redemption set against the backdrop of the Korean independence movement, following the intertwined fates of a young girl sold to a courtesan school and the penniless son of a hunter.

In 1917, deep in the snowy mountains of occupied Korea, an impoverished local hunter on the brink of starvation saves a young Japanese officer from an attacking tiger. In an instant, their fates are connected—and from this encounter unfolds a saga that spans half a century.

In the aftermath, a young girl named Jade is sold by her family to Miss Silver’s courtesan school, an act of desperation that will cement her place in the lowest social status. When she befriends an orphan boy named JungHo, who scrapes together a living begging on the streets of Seoul, they form a deep friendship. As they come of age, JungHo is swept up in the revolutionary fight for independence, and Jade becomes a sought-after performer with a new romantic prospect of noble birth. Soon Jade must decide whether she will risk everything for the one who would do the same for her.

From the perfumed chambers of a courtesan school in Pyongyang to the glamorous cafes of a modernizing Seoul and the boreal forests of Manchuria, where battles rage, Juhea Kim’s unforgettable characters forge their own destinies as they wager their nation’s. Immersive and elegant, Beasts of a Little Land unveils a world where friends become enemies, enemies become saviors, heroes are persecuted, and beasts take many shapes.

My Holiday in North Korea:
The Funniest/Worst Place on Earth
by Wendy E. Simmons
Memoir, Travel, North Korea | Goodreads | my rating : 4
Most people want out of North Korea. Wendy Simmons wanted in.

In My Holiday in North Korea: The Funniest/Worst Place on Earth, Wendy shares a glimpse of North Korea as it’s never been seen before. Even though it’s the scariest place on Earth, somehow Wendy forgot to check her sense of humor at the border.

But Wendy’s initial amusement and bewilderment soon turned to frustration and growing paranoia. Before long, she learned the essential conundrum of “tourism” in North Korea: Travel is truly a love affair. But, just like love, it’s a two-way street. And North Korea deprives you of all this. They want you to fall in love with the singular vision of the country they’re willing to show you and nothing more.

Through poignant, laugh-out-loud essays and 92 color photographs of North Korea rarely published, Wendy chronicles one of the strangest vacations ever. Along the way, she bares all while undergoing an inner journey as convoluted as the country itself.

READ: audiobook

The Silence of Bones
by June Hur
Historical, Mystery, YA, Korea | Published: 2020 | Goodreads | my rating: 4

I have a mouth, but I mustn't speak;
Ears, but I mustn't hear;
Eyes, but I mustn't see.

1800, Joseon (Korea). Homesick and orphaned sixteen-year-old Seol is living out the ancient curse: “May you live in interesting times.” Indentured to the police bureau, she’s been tasked with assisting a well-respected young inspector with the investigation into the politically charged murder of a noblewoman.

As they delve deeper into the dead woman's secrets, Seol forms an unlikely bond of friendship with the inspector. But her loyalty is tested when he becomes the prime suspect, and Seol may be the only one capable of discovering what truly happened on the night of the murder.

But in a land where silence and obedience are valued above all else, curiosity can be deadly.

READ: Manhwa (Korean webtoon)

Bastard
by Carnby Kim
illustrated by Youngchan Hwang
Horror | Published: 2015 | Goodreads
WATCH:

All of Us Are Dead (2022)
Original title: Jigeum Uri Hakgyoneun
TV, season 1
Stars: Ji-hu Park, Chan-Young Yoon, Yi-Hyun Cho
Action, Drama, Fantasy, Zombie, Korea | imdb
It was a normal school day for the students of a Korean high school-until a student returns from the school's science lab, infected by an unknown virus. As the infection spreads out of school and throughout the peninsula, the Military desperately interrogates the psychotic science teacher who started it all, while his students struggle to survive until help arrives.

LISTEN: the latest from BTS, Butter (here)

EAT:

Honey Butter Chips
and barley tea with
Yolk by Mary H.K. Choi
YA, Mental Health, Korean American | Published: 2021 | Goodreads

Lovely Books and Things - 3.6.22

Lovely Books and Things
My Weekly Books and Films Update

Linking up with:
Sunday Post (details)
Mailbox Monday (details)
Sunday Salon (here)

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HAPPY THINGS:

1. Livestream Paris tours on Heygo (here)
2. 100,000 Free Tulips at Union Square
3. Lawn ornaments - huge skeleton with Valentine's day theme on Divisadero Street

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Library: audiobook

The Silence of Bones
by June Hur
Historical, Mystery, YA, Korea | Published: 2020 | Goodreads
for Koreadathon (here)

Library:

The Easy Life in Kamusari
by Shion Miura
translated by Juliet Winters Carpenter
YA, Contemporary, Japan | Published: 2021 (first 2009) | Goodreads
Freebies: from Free Little Library

The Forgotten Affairs of Youth
by Alexander McCall Smith
Mystery, Scotland, Philosophy | Published: 2011 | Goodreads
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Virtual Author event: hosted by SFPL
See archive of this (here)

What My Bones Know:
A Memoir of Healing from Complex Trauma
by Stephanie Foo
Memoir, Mental Health | Published: 2022 | Goodreads
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AND watched: theatre

Cyrano (2021)
Director: Joe Wright
Writer: Erica Schmidt
Based on play: Edmond Rostand
Stars: Peter Dinklage, Haley Bennett, Kelvin Harrison Jr.
Drama, Musical, Romance | imdb | my rating: 5
romance that pierces the soul
Too self-conscious to woo Roxanne himself, wordsmith Cyrano de Bergerac helps young Christian nab her heart through love letters.

AND watched: virtual theatre

The Eyes of Tammy Faye (2021)
Director: Michael Showalter
Based on documentry by: Fenton Bailey, Randy Barbato, Abe Sylvia
Stars: Jessica Chastain, Andrew Garfield
Biography, Drama, Romance | imdb | my rating: 5
ahhh, for the love and happy
An intimate look at the extraordinary rise, fall and redemption of televangelist Tammy Faye Bakker.

AND watched: Mostly British Film Festival (details)

Phantom of the Open (2021)
Director: Craig Roberts
Screenplay: Simon Farnaby
Based on book: Scott Murray
Stars: Mark Rylance, Sally Hawkins
Comedy, Drama, Sport, UK | imdb | my rating: 5
fun and inspiring
Maurice Flitcroft, a dreamer and unrelenting optimist, managed to gain entry to The British Open Golf Championship Qualifying in 1976 and subsequently shot the worst round in Open history, becoming a folk hero in the process.

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* comment and TELL me what you have acquired for your shelves recently

Thanks for stopping by :-)

March: Women's History Month

*-* CELEBRATE Women's History *-*

READ:

My Holiday in North Korea:
The Funniest/Worst Place on Earth
by Wendy E. Simmons
Memoir, Travel, North Korea | Goodreads
WATCH:

Miss Marx (2020)
Director/Writer: Susanna Nicchiarelli
Stars: Romola Garai, Patrick Kennedy
Biography | imdb
Bright, intelligent, passionate and free, Eleanor is Karl Marx's youngest daughter. Among the first women to link the themes of feminism and socialism, she takes part in the workers' battles and fights for women's rights and the abolition of child labor. In 1883 she meets Edward Aveling and her life is crushed by a passionate but tragic love story.

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* header image source: (sheknows article) - 31 Empowering Ways to Celebrate Women’s History Month

Winner for February

Here is the winner for giveaway that
ended February 28, 2022
during the Blogoversary Giveaway (here)

Thanks to all contestants!
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Eat Pretty Live Well:
A Guided Journal for Nourishing Beauty, Inside and Out
by Jolene Hart
Diary | Published: 2016 | Goodreads
Winner: Emma from Words and Peace

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* I will email winner for mailing address within a week.
Winner, feel free to contact me with your info if you don't get my email
or if you are just too darn excited and want to let me know -- like NOW ;-D

* contest policy

* if not this time, maybe next time