Book Review: SWEET BEAN PASTE by Durian Sukegawa

Sweet Bean Paste by Durian Sukegawa

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


"I heard ...the moon whispering to me: I wanted you to see me. That's why I shine like this."

A dear friend gifted this to me for our book club's celebration of love in all its forms. And this book WAS about love, although not the romantic sort.

It was about the love of a sweet old lady for the most mundane things of life, the monotonous day-to-day repetitive tasks and chores that are part and parcel of existing.

It was about an ex-con's re-discovery of his self-respect.

It was about a leper colony, and how it is easier to change laws than men's hearts and attitudes towards Hansen's disease.

It was about the meaning of life. It challenged the notion that, for a life to have meaning, it needs to be useful.

Sukegawa's novel posits the theory that the meaning of life is to experience the universe, to appreciate the moon and be grateful for the wind. That for anything (even the universe!) to be said to truly EXIST, it needs to be experienced by another.

This book was a lovely experience!! I have a feeling I shall come back and re-read this when I suffer loss and failure (as we all must) in the future. It will comfort me and remind me that everything has meaning.

And oooooh, now I'm wondering where I can get my hands on some dorayaki in Manila. :'D



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Book Review: THE WINTER OF THE WITCH by Katherine Arden

The Winter of the Witch by Katherine Arden

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


"I have been running through the dark, trying to save all who have need of me. I have done good and I have done evil, but I am neither. I am only myself. You will not make me ashamed."

This book was exhausting to read!! But in a good way. It starts off immediately after the events of Book 2. No time to sit and pause for breath. It sweeps you up and takes you for a wild canter.

You know how it's a huge deal for a novel to feature one epic battle scene?
Well, this one has TWO.

I thought things would settle down after the first battle, but then I saw several chapters more to go. I doubted anything could top the first battle, but I was wrong. Ahahahaha.

This novel also featured one of the most beautiful love scenes I have ever read. It was so well done, there was nothing explicit, and yet it made my cold dead heart beat ever so faster because of the tenderness and emotions it evoked.

I also don't remember crying over the death of an animal as much as I did in this book!

And guys can we please appreciate the absolute marvel of a cover?!? One time where the cover matches the inside!

Worth paying extra, get the hardbound already! No regrets.



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Book Review: THE GIRL IN THE TOWER by Katherine Arden

The Girl in the Tower by Katherine Arden

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


“Every time you take one path, you must live with the memory of the other: of a life left unchosen. Decide as seems best, one course or the other; each way will have its bitter with its sweet.”

Book 2 of the Winternight Trilogy is storytelling at its finest! Now that we know the characters, we see them go through adventures so bizarre, with twists and turns in the plot that leave you gasping and crying out loud, because the world-building is over and we can finally just sit back and enjoy the wild Russian ride that is THE GIRL IN THE TOWER.

It is the same world, but grander and bigger, and oh so unpredictable. We are introduced to princes who are not princely, princesses who wish not to be princesses. There are mares who burn, and sisters who cast their own kin out into the snow. But always, we are with Vasya the Brave, the Tamer of Horses, whose bravery makes her a veritable Russian Mulan. She is one of the most fascinating heroines in fantasy literature!

What I love about Arden's work is that she makes us realize that things are not what they seem. That another world exists right beneath / beside the material one. This shadow world of hearth and house spirits, that coexists with Christianity, makes sense to us Filipinos. For we have our spirits, too.

Now if you'll excuse me, I will be in my room reading Book 3.



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Book Review: THE BEAR AND THE NIGHTINGALE by Katherine Arden

The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


“It is a cruel task, to frighten people in God’s name.”

Well no wonder I couldn't drag my sister away from this book, even for food and drink! :) It literally plucks you from your everyday existence and places you in 14th century Russia. And oh, a word of warning: don't read this book at night. The cover might seem very pretty and fairytale-ish, but trust me, some parts of this book are pure horror.

But what's a bit of horror compared with the delights of a well-written tale, with a strong female lead? It's about honor, service, and the dangers of zealotry and blind hatred in the guise of Christianity. The only reason I gave it four stars instead of five was because I found the pacing slow going in the first half of the book, but the second half more than made up for the necessary character development.

And I am so lucky that my sister bought books 2 and 3!!!



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Book Review: SPINNING SILVER by Naomi Novik

Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


"That much had lived in my heart all my life, a promise between me and my people, that my children would be Israel no matter where they lived... I wouldn't hold myself that cheap, to marry a man who'd love me less than everything else he had, even if what he had was a winter kingdom."

So my last book for 2018 was Naomi Novik's UPROOTED, and it seemed fitting that my first book for 2019 would be Naomi Novik's SPINNING SILVER.

It's like Game of Thrones meets Rumpelstiltskin meets Lord of the Rings and Little Red Riding Hood and Goldilocks! It's a mind-boggling tale with three heroines, at times working together, and at times seemingly fighting for opposite sides. A moneylender's daughter who can (at first, figuratively, then later on, literally) turn silver into gold, a daughter of a nobleman who is wed to a tsar with a demon living inside him, and a peasant girl whose golden heart makes her overcome evil within her own family... they are all queens in their own right. And I love how Novik takes care to describe her heroines as not beautiful. They distinguish themselves through acts of self-sacrifice and bravery, not by being pretty. Feminist writing for the win!!

YOU DON'T KNOW WHO TO ROOT FOR because Novik makes you love them all! I adore stories with strong female protagonists and am delighted with even just one, so having three in one story REALLY made my day!

I love how Novik merged her Jewish roots from her dad with the Polish roots of her mom. Part of the charm of the world-building is how Novik immerses you in different cultures living side-by-side. You see, hear, and feel the differences in settings and it's not every writer who can pull that off as well as she can.

I can't help but compare this one to UPROOTED, and I think SPINNING SILVER is less adult, more suitable for Y.A. audiences because the horror is less graphic, the intimacy less explicit. This is one book that's safe for school libraries to have in their collection, and one that I'd recommend ALL girls read!

I suppose, if I had read this book before or months after UPROOTED, I would have given 5 stars. The only reason I'm giving four stars is because UPROOTED had more romance in it, and hihihi I'm a romance reader at heart. If Goodreads had a 4.5 star rating, I'd give it that! :)



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Book Review: UPROOTED by Naomi Novik

Uprooted by Naomi Novik

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


"She'd remembered the wrong things, and forgotten too much. She'd remembered how to kill and how to hate, and she'd forgotten how to grow. All she'd been able to do in the end was lie down...not quite dreaming, not quite dead."

OHMYGOSH this is quite possibly the best book I've read this 2018! NO WONDER the person who recommended it to me was raving. I'M RAVING, TOO!! Well, perhaps it's only to be expected from a founder of AO3 (https://archiveofourown.org/), a fact that nearly blew my sister's mind when she was told :)

Don't be deceived by the fairy-tale cover. This is not for kids. This is serious reading, with a fairy-tale setting.

Take your standard ingredients: a woodcutter's daughter...the most powerful magician in the kingdom with your typical brooding Darcy vibe... a most evil corruption in the Woods... mix them all together and you have a story that defies description. The author's tale is WILD beyond imagining, I could not predict what would happen next! And at my age, that's VERY refreshing!

It's quite fitting to end 2018 with a book like this! Like the year that was, this novel was full of horrors written so simply and succintly, which adds to the shock of the terrifying imagery. Like the year about to die, the novel was full of love, the kind that steals up on one slowly and takes one's breath away. Like the year that will soon pass, UPROOTED has Truth as one of its most powerful spells. It is one of literature's great paradoxes that truth is told in its best examples, written in the guise of fiction. This novel's truth is that we live in a world where we cannot judge people's true nature based on appearances, that corruption can enter even the highest of strongholds, that all evil comes from a place of hurt and abuse, and that it will require great sacrifice to preserve the things that mean the most: our home, the place where we have planted our roots.

Many, many thanks to Honey and Elsie, who recommended this book! And hmmm... will you look at that... 10 hours to go before the New Year. Perhaps there's time to finish one more book? :D



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Knights and Ladies of Faith

The Martyrdom of Rizal, a mural by Carlos Botong V. Francisco

Today is Rizal Day, and it got me thinking about the challenge of demonstrating heroism in a country where to speak out publicly against injustice can get you fined, imprisoned, or even killed. Perhaps the Danish philosopher, Søren Kierkegaard, can offer an alternative and quieter form of heroism.

Kierkegaard wrote of the knight of faith, someone who slays the dragons within. Someone who tempers fiery passions with the constancy of devotion and virtue, who faces the mundane challenges of everyday living without giving in to the dragons of boredom and anxiety. We see these knights (and ladies) all around us, if we but look hard.

They are not showy nor loud. They focus on doing their assigned tasks well, whether it be cooking a meal for their family, or picking up their trash after seeing a movie. They are the backbone of the country, the quiet citizens who consider loyalty to country a civic virtue best demonstrated by voting, working hard, paying taxes in full and on time, and teaching others by their example to contribute to nation-building every day.

Heroism comes in many forms, and while Rizal died for his country, the challenge for us today is to live for and in it. It is easy to fall into despair, to give up and be swallowed by the negativity all around us, blaring from our television sets, written in capital letters on social media accounts. But let us remember that the evils we face today were present in Rizal's time, and HE did not give up. Neither should we. Let us train our eyes to look for the good, the acts of daily charity and grace  when strangers give up seats for others, or hold the door open for the elderly.

Let us salute the brave souls who come forward and challenge the powers-that-be in the open. But let us not forget that we, too, can fight in our own quiet way. The war for the soul of our country is far from over. We must march ever forward.