Category: Tsundoku: Book, Movie, & TV Reviews

When I was a little Gilly, my Ma got roped into a Reader’s Digest Condensed Books subscription. This novel appeared in vol. 217 in 1995 when I was 12. I didn’t have the luxury of attending the library often as a child. Going to the library was a treat because…

As a millennial – and every generation after – it’s near impossible to have a straight talk about our finances. We didn’t get much training, and we’ve been hit by one life-changing event after another. It feels like they’re happening every day. So what are we to do? Amin makes…

The reviewer shares their experience with Christopher Moore’s novels, particularly “A Dirty Job” and “You Suck: A Love Story.” They appreciate Moore’s irreverent tone, relatable characters, and seamless world-building in a fantastical San Francisco. The novels are engaging, embrace absurdity, and don’t require prior knowledge of earlier books in the series.

I bestowed Ray Bradbury with the honorary title of being the grandfather of my literary aesthetic: cinematic absurdism. I found an essay (an interview, really) in this book where he states “All my stories are cinematic. … I may be the most cinematic novelist in the country today. All of…

Happy Lunar New Year, one and all. May the Year of the Tiger bless you and your family this year. In celebration of this event, I’m sharing a review of the books Unbound Feet: A Social History of Chinese Women in San Francisco by Judy Yung and A Larger Memory:…

I thought the book was well-written, but I wasn’t impressed by the pace of its events. I get that this was a fictional telling of a real woman’s life, presented as such from the beginning. However, it was hard for me to keep the details straight. I couldn’t quite place…

The author reflects on their fascination with stories about families and finds a connection in Shirley Jackson’s “Let Me Tell You.” Despite coming from a military family, the author identifies with universal family dynamics depicted in Jackson’s work, appreciating how mundane family life influences her writing. They enjoyed the book’s insight into Jackson’s creative process.

The novel was published in 1920, in the 1870s, in New York society. It’s fascinating how one look, one casual phrase, could destroy a person’s entire reputation. I think that’s still true, but we can start over somewhere else and, for the most part, bounce back. If someone is ruined…