One of the undeniable pleasures of reading is the fact that it allows you to cross borders without leaving your couch. Such was my experience in the last month in which I read three books set in different Asian countries. Each of them showed me a part of a country I know little about in ways that were enriching and surprising.
- Morning Sun in Wuhan by Ying Chang Compestine was a delightful young adult novel about the ways that food brings people together. Thirteen-year-old Mei is grieving the loss of her mother as the novel opens. Her father, a doctor, is often absent. Her aunt, her mother’s sister, is absent due to an argument that happened at the funeral. Mei is left alone to play video games with some online friends. As the lockdown in 2020 closes her city, Mei begins cooking as a way to nourish herself and keep her mind off things. Soon, she volunteers at a restaurant near the hospital where her father works. Her food delivery brings her closer to residents of her city, including a lonely girl upstairs who plays piano. While this might sound kink of hokey, it is charmingly written (with real recipes) and Mei is a winning heroine.
- Love in the Big City by Sang Young Park is a story that is both familiar and foreign. Young is a recent college graduate living in Seoul, partying with his hetero life companion, Jaehee. When she uncharacteristically decided to get married, Young is on his own, longing for love but aware of his own limitations. While caring for his dying mother, memories of his first love haunt him. This is a melancholy story about the ups and downs of queer life. It is sexually frank and bittersweet. Between this and Parasite, South Korea has been surprising me quite a bit in the last few years.
3. Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa
This is another charming and offbeat story. After her boyfriend announces that he is marrying someone else, Takako moves into her uncle’s bookstore in Jimbocho, a Tokyo neighborhood with over 150 bookshops. At first, she is depressed and dislocated, sleeping more of the day. Slowly, though, she comes to life while getting to know her neighbors and beginning to enjoy reading for the first time. A lot of books about reading romanticize it, but this one simply shows the calming influence it can have on someone whose life is in turmoil.
I really enjoyed all three of these books and the worlds they opened up to me.
Books Smitten 