ambershelf's reviews
1295 reviews

At 3 a.m. in New Delhi, a speeding Mercedes jumps the curb, killing five people. It seems to be an open-and-shut case. The driver Ajay is drunk, except Ajay is not merely a driver but a servant for the most influential family in India, and the car is registered to a powerful politician.

AGE OF VICE is part crime thriller and part family saga that follows three characters from different socioeconomic statuses yet whose lives are tightly intertwined. From the start, Kapoor's fast-paced and gripping style captivated my attention, and I was compelled to finish this book in two days! While it can be read purely as a mystery, the lustrous writing about the lives of the three main characters struggling in their own ways to find meaning and belonging in modern India is a rare gem not often seen in the thriller genre.

Additionally, Kapoor's observations of the westernization of India during the Millenium are profoundly insightful and encourage me to think about the balance between modernizing for economic advancements and preserving one's rich cultural heritage.

Through alternating POVs, Kapoor brilliantly depicts what it means to be free, how we fall prey to our vices, and the means we have to survive an ever-changing world. AGE OF VICE is the first in a trilogy, and I can't wait for the sequels!

Thank you to Riverhead Books for the free gifted copy.

The celestial emperor is strong, but family is stronger.

After leaving town for a decade, Li Jiaqi returns to Jinan to care for her ailing grandfather. As she reunites with her childhood friend Cheng Gong, the duo discover how much they have in common and how they are unwittingly connected through their families’ pasts. Growing up in dysfunctional families with absent fathers, Jiaqi and Cheng Gong are both drawn to the tumultuous history of the Chinese Cultural Revolution that defines their grandparents’ generation. With a duo POV and lyrical prose, Zhang beautifully examines recent Chinese history with a unique voice and reconciles buried pasts with fresh perspectives.

Cocoon rests between hopeful and depressing. For a book that tackles the intricacies of history and how the pasts define us, intentional or not, I relish the disconcerting feeling after reading Cocoon. Grief and trauma are rarely resolved, and while they don’t represent the lives of those affected, the long-lasting effects are undeniable. As such, it is especially heartbreaking to witness how abandonment experienced by Jiaqi and Cheng Gong drives them to chase after ghosts of the past to the point of obsession. The insatiable want for the past also results in the duo’s inability to accept love in front of them.

The first half of Cocoon moves slower, and it takes some concentration to connect the dots between Jiaqi and Cheng Gong’s stories. The second half has a faster narration as the readers get close to revealing the mystery that occurred 50 years ago. Cocoon is a great companion read for A Map for the Missing as both books examine the aftermaths of the Cultural Revolution and its enduring consequences on family dynamics. At its core, Cocoon investigates our tendencies to repeat history and asks the readers, do we have the strength to break through past curses and find the courage to love again?

Thank you to NetGalley for the eARC.

As a young neurosurgeon finishing his residency, Paul Kalanithi had a bright future until his stage 4 lung cancer diagnosis at 36. Faced with this terminal disease, Kalanithi reviews his journey from a young student fascinated by literature to a neurosurgeon leveraging his training to provide the best patient care, and finally, to being a patient himself and making peace with his mortality. When Breath Becomes Air is an exquisite memoir that chronicles Kalanithi's transformation, bravery, and legacy.

I read When Breath Becomes Air for a book club at work; it is truly a life-altering experience. For one thing, Kalanithi's profound reflection on the meaning of life and his unflinching view of death is one that I've never dwelled on but moved me to tears. I was also deeply moved by his dedication to providing care as a doctor; when surgeries and residency training are taking so much from him, Kalanithi's devotion to medicine is refreshing compared to most resident friends I hear from.

As someone who works in the cancer biotech industry, When Breath Becomes Air provides a different angle of understanding my work and its influence. At my work book club, we discussed the impacts of Kalanithi's book on how we view our jobs. One common theme is to be more forgiving of our scientific failures and not to lose sight of the final goal to help patients when science doesn't work out. For this, I am grateful for the chance to read When Breath Becomes Air.

Paul Kalanithi passed away while writing When Breath Becomes Air, and his wife Lucy completed the book with her epilogue. Personally, the epilogue is what broke me. Lucy's way of remembering Paul is something I hope I have the bravery to carry with me when my loved ones pass away. When Breath Becomes Air is a glorious celebration of life and a courageous search for our purpose.

After working for the Museum, a secret network of assassins, for forty years, Billie and her three colleagues are treated to an all-expenses-paid vacation to celebrate their retirement. Curiously, the four ladies discover they are targeted by one of their own on the cruise ship. To make it out alive, Billie and her besties must transform from prey to hunter and turn against the Museum, even if they have given their entire youth to the organization, even if their skills are no longer appreciated, even if they are sixty years old.

Killers of a Certain Age is a fun, fast-paced, and light-hearted read that features not one but FOUR older women. While the plot is somewhat predictable, reading stories about a different age group is such a refreshing and fun experience. Contrary to James Bond, the four assassins don't use their superhuman strength, fancy technology, or sex appeal to complete their mission of terminating the Museum. Constantly underestimated due to their age, Billie and her friends use this to their advantage throughout the book.

Raybourn incorporates how older women are treated brilliantly with humor; like when people assume they're technologically challenged, speak to them in a patronizing voice, or just straight up ignore them. While ageism, especially against women, is widespread in our society, Killers of a Certain Age offers an entertaining perspective and delightful experience that will have the readers rooting for Billie and her colleagues.

The Way Spring Arrives and Other Stories is a collection of science fiction and fantasy short stories translated from Chinese and a couple of essays translated by translators. It is an assortment of stories inspired by Chinese history, ancient Gods and mythology, and technological advancements. The book is written, edited, and translated by a female and nonbinary team. There are around 20 stories, and each has its quirks. Here are a couple that stood out to me.

What Does the Fox Say brilliantly explores novel writing using artificial intelligence and expands upon the nuances of humans and machines in art. Fun fact, the author's first novel is published in Nature. How cool is that!

The Restaurant at the End of the Universe: Tai-Chi Mashed Taro merges time travel/multiverse with Chinese cooking and literature. It is a beautiful and imaginative short story about being a fool: losing yourself entirely in something you love.

The Futures of Genders in Chinese Science Fiction is a thought-provoking essay on the history of sci-fi in China and the rise of writers of marginalized genders. The author reflects on performative activism from cis-male writers assuming a female voice in the early days and, unfortunately, that which propagates modern sci-fi, such as the wildly successful The Three-Body Problem Trilogy. This assay encourages the readers to think not just about the protagonists but also the voices behind them.

A Brief History of Beinakan Disasters as Told in a Sinitic Language reminds me of The Three-Body Problem but told from the alien's perspective. The story involves aliens, space colonization to save one's dying planet, and introspection of humanity through the lens of a Beinakan.

I highly recommend this book to those looking to read more diversely, especially in the usually cis-white-male-dominated SSF genre!

Set in 1828, during a cholera outbreak in Canton, orphan Robin Swift is brought to London by a linguistic professor. He studies Latin, Greek, Chinese, and English in preparation for his eventual enrollment in Oxford's Royal Institute of Translation, also known as Babel. The prestigious institute employs translators who apply silver-working, the art of leveraging different meanings between translated languages to manifest magic. Silver-working at Babel has enabled the expansion of the British Empire and continues to support the Crown's quest for colonization through language. While Robin happily immerses himself in this academic utopia dedicated to pursuing knowledge, Britain is waging war with China over opium and silver. Robin and his cohort must reckon with their roles in Babel, for an act of translation is always an act of betrayal.

Babel is the most unique, original, and thought-provoking book I've ever read. There are so many things to love about Babel that you could write another book about it. I'll focus on a couple that really stood out to me.

Kuang brilliantly explores the complexities of minorities and the harmful assumption that all marginalized experience the same discrimination. Robin's class consists of a diverse cohort, a half-Chinese man, an Indian man, a Haitian-French black woman, and an English white woman. The differences in their upbringings allow the readers to glimpse how racism, colorism, and sexism differentially affect each character, influencing their interpretation of the British Empire and their actions toward anti-colonialism.

Importantly, Kuang's nuanced but paramount illustration of these divergent viewpoints doesn't point the finger at a specific population. Rather, it explores our blindspots and complicity in our inactions. And this is the part that breaks my heart into a million pieces.

As an academic institute, one would imagine Babel scholars solely focusing on their research instead of getting involved in politics. Here, Kuang encourages the readers to think deeply about the validity of "academia as a non-political and neutral institution." It's clearly not the case when Robin and his classmates, primarily non-British POCs, are requested to use their language skills to benefit the British Empire and further asked to be thankful for this "once-in-a-lifetime opportunity." In Babel, and perhaps in the modern day, academia and elite education is yet another form of erasure and subjugation in many ways.

There are so many other themes explored in Babel. I particularly enjoyed the passages on what entails a revolution: scholars with their political debates, the working class and their first-hand experience, monetary incentives, and most importantly, whether violence is necessary to topple a well-established empire. It's chilling how the injustice portrayed in Babel, a story set in 19th century Oxford, is still prevalent today.

Finally, I adore Babel's world-building, especially around silver-working rules. It's extremely well thought out and makes sense to me. Not everyone cares if the magic makes sense in fantasies, but reading something intricately designed with mechanisms that leverage different languages and etymology requires tremendous research. And I am in awe of Kuang's brilliance and efforts in writing this masterpiece.

At its core, Babel asks the question: when standing up for injustice requires sacrifice, what path will you take?

Babel is a phenomenal work that examines critical social issues in a profoundly humane and methodical way. This book will stay with me forever, and I encourage you to pick Babel up and start reading it today.

After marrying widowed surgeon Tom Baxter for a year, Heather, Tom, and their two teenage children travel to Australia for a family vacation. Compounding a work vacation and jet lag, the kids are over their new mom soon after arrival. When they discover Dutch Island, a remote and private island without wifi or phone reception, the Baxters convince the residents to ferry them across. Unfortunately, after a terrible accident and separation from Tom, Heather and the kids are forced to fend for themselves. At 24 and barely an adult, Heather must use her wit to bring her family back, even though the kids don't trust her, and their pursuers underestimate her.

I listened to The Island on audiobook, and it was terrific! The plot is fast-paced, with lots of tension and suspense, and I love the descriptions of the scenery on Dutch Island. Heather starts as an underdog in the book but slowly progresses into this influential figure as the story unravels, and it's a thrill to read. As someone squeamish, there are a lot of descriptions that are a bit much for me, and I got too scared sometimes I had to take a break

Oh William is the third book in a series about writer Lucy Barton's life but can be read as a stand-alone novel too. Narrated by Lucy, she reflects on her marriage with her ex-husband William and the myriad relationships with others around her, her daughters, mother-in-law, and current husband. When William invites Lucy to join him in investigating a family secret, she gains further insights into William's family history and how that hidden past connects to her.

Oh William's fascinating narration reminds me of the voice in Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982, both somewhat distanced. But where Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 cites data to create that narrative style, Lucy's is a bit more scatter-brain. Like she's talking to a friend and remembering little things here and there to break up the flow of the story. I enjoyed reading about Lucy's musings on the complexity of human connections and her reflections on how the past is sometimes inescapable and shapes us regardless. Strout expertly explores the idea of human intricacies and how we will never fully understand those around us, even our closest families.

While Oh William explores many unique themes, I couldn't fully connect to Lucy or William's characters. I constantly feel like an outsider reading their stories instead of experiencing them with the protagonists. Perhaps the narrative style keeps me from feeling immersed in the story. I had high hopes going into Oh William since it's shortlisted for The Booker Prize; I was a bit let down. There's nothing wrong with this book, but it just isn't what I thought it would be.

Bliss Montage is a collection of eight short stories examining our humanity when fantasy threatens to overtake reality. With brilliant writing and unique prose, Ling Ma explores love, friendship, connection, culture, motherhood, and much more through various Asian woman protagonists.

Bliss Montage reminds me of Murakami Haruki's work; it resonates differently every time you read it. People with various perspectives will likely take away diverse lessons as well. The stories I understand are so touching, not in a cry-my-eyes-out way, but in a wow-that's-deep-only-Ma-has-the-brilliance-to-write-like-this way. My favorites are Los Angeles, G, and Returning. In particular, G describes a seemingly harmless friendship between two Asian immigrants and their young adulthood built around a drug that makes you invisible. Not to give anything away, but the story is just so unexpected I reread this one. On the other hand, I'm a bit embarrassed to say I didn't fully grasp Yeti Lovemaking and Office Hours