Ferry Tale reviews + a video update!

My new book, a love story set in Hong Kong, has been out for one week. Thank you to everyone who grabbed a copy! The reviews are starting to come in, and I wanted to share some of my favorite excerpts:

“A fun, fizzy story that takes readers from the smoggy ferry decks to the spectacular harbor views of the InterContinental Hotel’s Lobby Lounge. Young’s fondness for her adopted home of Hong Kong comes through on every page of this cheerful and charming romance . . . as effervescent as champagne.” –Maura Cunningham

“Young evokes the vibrancy and sense of possibility in her adopted home Hong Kong. Her characters are each cast with their own unique mix of endearing qualities and weaknesses. Through alternating viewpoints, you’ll barrack for Katrina and Sam as they tackle their demons and learn more about themselves and each other in the process. Ferry Tale is an enjoyably sweet and classy romance – set in the digital age, but not lost in it.” – Booklover Book Reviews

Get the book on Kindle here, or buy the paperback!

I'll be reading from Ferry Tale at a love-themed event at Aesop on Hollywood Road on February 24th. Come along if you can!

In the meantime, I've also posted a video update about my ongoing writing journey. It has been 18 months since I quit my day job! Check out the update here:

Adventures On the Air

This month I had a chance to appear on RTHK, the English radio station in Hong Kong. In the first program, State of the Art with Reenita Malhotra Hora, I talk about balancing writing for two different pen names and about my personal journey in Hong Kong. I also got to share three of my favorite songs!

Listen to State of the Art here

On the other program, Morning Brew with Phil Whelan, I talked about my Hong Kong travel memoir, Year of Fire Dragons, and had some very interesting conversations with Phil about writing, Hong Kong, and even homeschooling!

Listen to Morning Brew here

I just finished a new memoir piece about growing up in a homeschooling family. I'm having some people read it and give me some feedback and then I hope to tell you all about!

The Art of Escalator Jumping

Cover by James at GoOnWrite.com

As promised, here is the novel I formatted and uploaded to Amazon in front of a live audience last night. The talk was a great success. I hope that today there are a few extra empowered writers around Hong Kong.

This is my first novel, which I wrote last spring to get over my fear of fiction. I'm quite proud of the writing, but it's too short and too niche to submit to a traditional publisher (unless love stories on escalators become a thing). Here it is for $2.99 if you want to read it.

THE ART OF ESCALATOR JUMPING

A chance encounter on the Mid-levels Escalator in Hong Kong tips a young woman into an unexpected romance…

Octavia Chan is a reserved Eurasian woman who has a hard time standing up to her mother. Joan is driven, controlling and—for a 26-year-old back under her mother’s roof—incredibly frustrating. Octavia has recently returned to Hong Kong to reconnect with her mother when she meets Cal, an impulsive American with enthusiasm to burn.

The Escalator brings Cal and Octavia together like a mechanical sprite.

Then Joan’s tight control begins to unravel. Rather than working for a better relationship with her mother, Octavia finds herself fighting for Joan’s sanity. Enlisting the aid of a tough psychologist-turned-lawyer, a Hong Kong socialite, and a helper with a secret, Octavia must use her own kind of strength to help her mother.

But a storm is brewing in Hong Kong, and Joan has a secret too.

NOTHING GAINED by Phillip Y. Kim

THE GIST:

The drowning of a prominent investment banker in Hong Kong forces his wife to investigate a complex weave of lies, greed, and intrigue behind the scenes of the Asian financial sector.

THE VERDICT:

This debut thriller from a Hong Kong banker-turned-author gets deep into the seedy side of the finance industry in Asia. Kim draws on his experience at banks like Lehman Brothers and Morgan Stanley to create a story rooted in the post-financial crisis investment world. Jason Donahue is a star banker at a boutique firm. After he drowns during a midnight swim gone wrong, hints of disturbingly risky investments and corruption begin to surface. His wife Cheryl must delve into a world that is more dangerous than she realizes to figure out just what was behind her gilded lifestyle. When her children are threatened, she becomes desperate to learn the truth, even though she may not like what she finds.

Kim's novel explores what it means to do business in Asia. One memorable Western character tries to browbeat his way through deals like he would in New York or Las Vegas. Others understand that you have to play by certain rules and participate in unspoken rituals in order to build trust. Kim's intimate understanding of these unspoken rules sets this novel apart from other tales of corrupt finance types. There is an air of moral ambiguity that pervades the story. Although a few characters end up feeling stereotypically evil, others demonstrate surprising complexity.

Hong Kong in this story is fast-paced and glitzy. Kim takes readers from the luxury apartments of Repulse Bay to the bars of Lan Kwai Fong and over on the ferry to the karaoke brothels of Macau. He creates a vivid picture of a specific side of the city that is actually very real. I see hints of this world everyday, but this novel provides a peek into the back rooms and business deals of an elite sector of Hong Kong society. Even the most scrupulous characters must be willing to compromise their integrity in order to survive.

THE LINK:

Phillip Y. Kim blogs at Asia's One Percent.

THE COST:

I received a review copy of this book courtesy of Penguin China.

THE QUESTION:

Do you think it is possible to be extremely financially successful while always making ethical choices? Do you think that is different if you are in Hong Kong vs. New York vs. London vs. Singapore, etc.?

WOOL by Hugh Howey

THE GIST:

Humanity has survived an apocalypse in an underground silo, but they don't know what's really going on above the surface.

THE VERDICT:

Hugh Howey's Wool has gotten a lot of attention lately, which it deserves. I recently recommended this book to my sister as the best page-turner I've read in a long time. In the five-part Omnibus edition (it was originally released as serial e-novellas) we are introduced to the silo, an underground tower where a large community survives after an apocalypse they know little (or nothing) about. Although their lives are closely regulated, a few people notice suspicious coincidences and embark on investigations that prove to be dangerous - and even deadly.

The novellas take place chronologically with intersecting characters and story lines. Each main character shares a common desire to learn the truth, though their motivations are varied and personal. The relationships between the characters are complex and often moving, even as they are dealing with issues that turn out to be much bigger than themselves. The silo itself is a fascinating place, divided into over a hundred levels and connected by a massive central staircase (there is no elevator). Everyone wears coveralls corresponding with their jobs, creating factions and identities within the larger community. It's a fresh take on a post-apocalyptic scenario that will likely appeal to people who are not necessarily hardcore sci-fi fans.

The writing style is both economical and vivid. Howey uses carefully placed details to evoke an entire world without wasting words. The inhabitants of the silo have a unique vocabulary that adds authenticity to their world. Howey tackles some big ideas through the voices of his characters, making Wool more than just a good story. He poses philosophical questions throughout the narrative that keep you reading and dig into your mind long after you turn off your Kindle.

THE LINK:

Hugh Howey's website

THE COST:

The Wool Omnibus (1-5) is $3.99 for the Kindle edition. I would have happily paid that just for the first story.

THE QUESTION:

What makes you unable to put down a book? Do you think a good novel must pose deeper questions about the human condition or is it enough for it to be engaging to the last page?

THE POISONWOOD BIBLE by Barbara Kingsolver

 THE GIST:

A missionary family in the Congo discovers that they are ill-prepared for their work, and for the impact that Africa will have on them.

THE VERDICT:

This is one of those rare novels that is dense and lyrical, and yet impossible to put down. It follows the journey of a Southern Baptist family to the depths of the Congo in 1959, where they are forever changed. Told primarily through the voices of the four daughters, with occasional, heart-breaking input from the mother, it is about being swept away in something bigger and darker and more beautiful than you could have predicted.

The father is a hard-nosed, obsessively passionate, violent man who refuses to be flexible and understand the needs and culture of the jungle village. He pits himself against Africa in the name of God's work, and his wife and daughters become the collateral damage. Meanwhile, they are affected by the people, the attitudes towards life and death, and the very atmosphere of the Congo. Spanning one intense year and then a lifetime of repercussions, the story unfolds through sickness, war, and abuse, and explores the complicated ways people are able to live with themselves.

Kingsolver's use of imagery, particular religious imagery, to weave her story is masterful. She molds language into five distinct voices, each providing a poetic and sometimes tortured perspective on the lives of women who find themselves, at least at first, in a place where they don't belong. Even the words are distinct for each character, with one making up words at will and another using them backwards, forwards, and sideways. The story is worth reading for the creation and evolution of those voices if nothing else. Beneath the language, we see the changes that take place in young women who have their entire worldviews shattered and rebuilt around them.

THE LINK:

Barbara Kingsolver's website

THE COST:

I bought the e-book for a couple of dollars when it was the Kindle Daily Deal. It's currently $8.24.

THE QUESTION:

According to Leah and Adah, Rachel does not change at her core throughout the whole of her life. Arguably, Nathan also does not change. Do you think this is true and/or possible given their personalities?

7 DAYS AND COUNTING by Suvi Lampila

THE GIST:

Two strangers meet, possibly for the first time. Then the countdown begins.

THE VERDICT:

7 Days and Counting is my friend Suvi Lampila's debut novel. I wrote about her book launch last month, and this week she officially released the e-book edition. Her novel features an experimental structure and a thought-provoking ending. The events of the seven days are told first from the perspective of the woman, backwards, and then from the perspective of the man, forwards. The structure plays with one's perceptions and twists traditional plot conventions. Suvi proves that a story can have a satisfying climax and plenty of tension, even when you more or less know what happens "next". She goes far beyond the common practice of putting a scene from the end of the story at the beginning, and reveals surprises with each day.

There's always a danger when reviewing a friend's book that you will be too kind. However, I can honestly say that 7 Days and Counting is an extraordinarily clever piece of writing. It's short, not much longer than a novella, but it packs quite a punch. I finished reading it several weeks ago, but I'm still going over the final scenes in my mind and trying to decide how to interpret the ending. It's a book that forces you to think, and you could easily read it a second time and view it a totally different way. Part of Suvi's inspiration comes from pictures, like the one featured on the cover, that look like completely different things to different people.

Suvi's writing is precise and intelligent. She uses clean descriptions and clever dialogue to slowly reveal the lives of her characters. You get the sense that she always knows what her characters, even the  minor ones, are doing when they are not in the scene. She plays with the idea that there is usually more to people's actions than meets the eye, and human relationships are never simple. This is a book that's worth at least one read, and probably two.

THE LINK:

Suvi Lampila's website

THE COST:

$4.50 for the Kindle edition

THE QUESTION:

What other books with a non-traditional structure have you read? Did they work?

SHIP BREAKER by Paolo Bacigalupi

THE GIST:

A young boy works on a salvaging crew on a post-apocalyptic Gulf Coast until he discovers an unusual shipwreck.

THE VERDICT:

Ship Breaker, a young adult post-apocalyptic adventure novel, was part of my self-imposed homework reading during Nanowrimo. Set in a futuristic wasteland, Ship Breaker is the tale of a boy named Nailer who crawls through the wreckage of old tankers looking for scrap metal, wire and oil to sell. He lives on a beach full of territorial ship-breaking crews and desperate, impoverished people. Nailer discovers a wrecked yacht that introduces him to a class of wealthy, warring merchants and a world outside his rough beach home.

Nailer's adventures take him beyond the beach to a drowned New Orleans and onto the high seas. His world is gritty and dangerous. There is no clear explanation for why the country has become the way it is, or if the country as an institution still exists. The story deals with issues of class and inequality through the eyes of a boy who is the lowest of the low, showing mere glimpses of the powerful. Friendship, family and loyalty are what is most important to these characters, and they do whatever they can to help each other survive in a difficult world.

It was refreshing to read a YA book that focuses on friendships rather than romance. There is plenty of action, and the plot clips along at a quick pace, though it founders a bit in the end. Ship Breaker is worth reading just for the world-building in the opening scenes. Bacigalupi's use of metallic, dirty language to create the right atmosphere for the blasted beach is seriously impressive. The reader can feel the grit and danger through the vocabulary. The vivid scenes and stylish dialogue make this a quick, memorable read.

THE LINK:

Paolo Bacigalupi's website

THE COST:

$8 for the Kindle edition

THE QUESTION:

A Clockwork Orange is a famous example of a book that uses a unique, stylish vocabulary to create the setting. Can you think of any others that do this?

SKINNY: A NOVEL by Diana Spechler

THE GIST:

A young woman works at a weight-loss camp in an effort to connect with a sister she didn't know about until her father died.

THE VERDICT:

Gray is a 26-year-old woman who has spent the year since her father's death binge eating. Somehow, she has only gained 15 pounds, but she feels consumed by self-loathing and a hunger that is not about food. She decides to spend a summer working at a weight-loss camp for kids, despite not particularly liking children. While there, she hopes to weasel into the affections of a girl who may be her father's love child. At the camp, her "daddy issues" run rampant and she quickly becomes anorexic with the encouragement of a bone-headed PE teacher.

Self-destructive women do not usually appeal to me as characters. By self-destructive, I don't mean Gray's struggle with eating disorders, which could have made for an interesting premise. The way she treats all the people in her life is horrible and selfish, and I found her quite frustrating. There was a Q&A at the end of the Kindle version of the book in which the author talks about how she intentionally created an unlikeable protagonist. It makes for an interesting read, but it doesn't work for me personally. In fact, most of the characters are unlikeable. The only exception is a girl called Spider, but she leaves less than halfway through the book.

Spechler's descriptions of hunger and eating are powerful, and she goes to great lengths to show Gray's guilt and desperation. The prose is often visceral and evocative. However, her actual response to the various eating disorders in the story is not particularly enlightening. The resolution was unsatisfying, and it felt like a missed opportunity to explore the kinds of hunger that are not really about food by tacking on a stilted, guilty ending. This is a book I might recommend for the strong writing alone, but I'm afraid I didn't enjoy reading it.

THE LINK:

Diana Spechler's website

THE COST:

$7.99 for the Kindle edition, though I bought it when it was on sale

THE QUESTION:

Have you read a book you really liked with an unlikeable protagonist? What made it enjoyable/worth reading?

THE CASUAL VACANCY by J. K. Rowling

THE GIST:

A small town battles through rivalries, resentments and a myriad of secrets under the guise of a parish council election.

THE VERDICT:

The town of Pagford is an insular community dominated by "old guard" middle-class residents who have lived there for generations. The Fields, a neighborhood of low-income housing within its borders, seems to be the only thing disrupting the comfort of the little hamlet. But Pagford and its residents are anything but idyllic. Wrapped up in secrets, discontent and agendas in their personal lives, they fight over whether to cut loose the projects and force out a clinic for heroin addicts. When the chief advocate for the Fields dies suddenly, the various townspeople use the election for his replacement to maneuver for revenge, power and absolution. With stakes that get higher at every turn, especially for a fiery 16-year-old girl who lives in the Fields, this novel is full of the gray areas and conflicts that make up modern life.

The Casual Vacancy strikes me as a brave novel. It does not shy away from tough issues in the face of its guaranteed-to-be-huge audience. Characters struggle with abuse, adultery, mental illness, addiction, rape, depression and more. At times it feels like the author had a checklist of all the difficult, sad, adult things a person could experience and included all of them. The interpersonal conflicts are universal and revealing, but the novel also addresses the social situation in Britain quite directly. Class, addiction and welfare feature prominently; I likely don't have a full grasp of how these topics are typically treated in the UK, but Rowling was not terribly sympathetic toward her middle-class characters. Nevertheless, I felt that the novel was insightful, daring and thought-provoking, albeit rather sad.

As a first generation Harry Potter fan (got the first two books for my 11th birthday), I was predisposed to like JK Rowling's first foray into the non-HP book world. Although the mood and themes of The Casual Vacancy were entirely different, I recognized Rowling's ability to engage readers from the first page and keep them wrapped up in a world that might seem inconsequential from the outside. The thing that struck me most about Rowling as a writer was her ability to create vivid, believable characters. After growing so used to her HP characters, it was interesting to see her breathing life into entirely new ones. The people in this novel are flawed, nuanced and sometimes even despicable, and no one comes out of the story looking like a hero. Even so, Rowling's writing style is as engaging as ever, and there was an exciting feeling of experimentation about the book. It goes without saying that this isn't a story for kids, but if you grew up with JK Rowling and are eager to tackle some of the painful, difficult parts of the world through her lens, then I highly recommend The Casual Vacancy.

THE LINK:

JK Rowling's author website

THE COST:

The Kindle edition is a shocking $17.99, so I decided to buy the physical copy (which was imported and significantly more expensive, but at least I can lend it to people).

THE QUESTION:

Do you think Rowling went overboard in making this novel "too adult"? What do you think about there being no true "hero" character in this novel?

WHITE OLEANDER by Janet Fitch

THE GIST:

A young girl must deal with the repercussions when her beautiful, terrible mother murders her lover.

THE VERDICT:

Astrid and Ingrid Magnussen are not like other people, at least that's what Ingrid teaches her daughter. She is a magnetic, sometimes ethereal poet who glides through life with cold elegance. Astrid worships her mother and watches her wield power over men who mean nothing to her. When an unremarkable man loves and then leaves her, Astrid watches Ingrid plot and carry out a crime that is both dispassionate and desperate. She finds herself in the foster care system, shuffled between households, mothers and worlds, constantly in thrall to her mother's dangerous influence.

WHITE OLEANDER is viciously lyrical, exploring the pain of growing up in the foster system through unapologetic poetry. I read this novel before summer started, but the descriptions of Ingrid's cold, psychological power have stayed with me. The novel is set in southern California and explores the dry, unglamorous parts of the region with desolate honesty. Some might find the prose overdone, but I appreciated the way the author lingered over the descriptions and images, allowing them to sink and settle.

The language is what makes this novel worth reading, but the characters are also complex, flawed and fascinating. It is not a happy novel, but the relationships and people are fiercely vivid. I'm currently working on a novel, and I've learned a lot from Janet Fitch's model while developing my characters. Ingrid is an extreme character, and the author is not afraid to make her powerful, dangerous and beautiful. I have a tendency to make everyone pretty reasonable, but reading WHITE OLEANDER has challenged me to stretch beyond that and work on creating characters who are truly memorable.

THE LINK:

Janet Fitch's blog

THE COST:

$9.99 for the Kindle edition

THE QUESTION:

What character has stuck with you the longest after reading their story? What book did you remember for the language rather than the plot?

Olympics Beat: 50 Days until London 2012

Beijing International Airport

There are just 50 days left until the London Olympics, and I can't wait. I'm a bit obsessed with the Olympics, enough to write an e-book about my experiences at the 2008 Beijing Games. The mounting excitement reminds me of the hype leading up to Beijing while the city was in the midst of making major infrastructure improvements. 

The Water Cube Aquatic Center

There were world-class sporting venues and new subway lines, but the most notable feature of Olympics Beijing was the absence of the city's legendary traffic.

Pearl Market sans traffic

I'm sure the streets look different today, but I'm having fun looking back on that singular moment. In the run-up to the London Games, I'll be sharing more of my Olympics pictures. You can check out my writing website, ShannonYoungWriter.com, for additional photos.

My mini travel memoir, The Olympics Beat: A Spectator's Memoir of Beijing, is available from Amazon and Barnes & Noble for $0.99.

THREE QUESTIONS by Meagan Adele Lopez

THE GIST:

An aspiring actress conducts an epistolary romance with an Englishman she met in Vegas while in the midst of a quarter-life crisis.

THE VERDICT:

This is a fun love story about Adele and Guy, an American girl and a British guy, who meet in Las Vegas and decide to exchange letters to get to know each other from afar. They answer three questions about themselves in each letter, and we get to see the dreams, quirks, and frustrations of realistic characters as their relationship grows. This is also the story of Adele's quarter-life crisis. She's 25 and unsure whether it's time to give up her dreams of being a Hollywood actress. Through the narrative and letters, we see the confusion and joy of being in your 20s and realizing you have no idea what you actually want to do with your life.

As the veteran of a long distance relationship with a British guy (we lived in different countries for 3 1/2 years), it's easy for me to relate to this story. I recognized the uncertainty about whether you'll still get along after a long absence, the anticipation of each email, and the fear that the distance will keep you apart indefinitely. Adele's uncertainty over her future is also something I can relate to because the aforementioned relationship has led to my life taking a very different path than I expected. Adele's concerns are believable and she presents them with a mixture of humor, drama, and solemnity that seems typical of someone our age. For these reasons, I would recommend this book to my fellow 20-somethings (I know there are a lot of you who read this blog).

The details of this story match the author's life very closely. She clearly knows what it's like to be an aspiring actress, attend an arts school, live in Paris and LA, and be in a long distance relationship with a Brit she met in Vegas. She went so far as to name the main character (also a part-Cuban girl from Baltimore) after herself. Unfortunately, I didn't feel that the ending matched the honesty of the book, either in tone or content. It felt like a Nicholas Sparks ending tacked on for effect. I would have liked the story to end the way her own life has ended, the way a real person's story goes after a quarter-life crisis. In my opinion, the lessons Adele learns throughout the story would be more powerful without the twist, though it certainly isn't a reason not to read the book.

THE LINK:

Meagan Adele Lopez's website

THE COST:

I paid $2.99 for the Kindle edition.

THE QUESTION:

If you are a 20-something, do you feel you are experiencing a quarter-life crisis? If you're a bit older, how have things turned out differently for you than you expected?

THE BOOK THIEF by Markus Zusak

THE GIST:

Death narrates the tale of a German girl during World War II. She likes to steal books.

THE VERDICT:

This story is a love letter to words in content as well as form. The main character arrives in an unassuming German town unable to read, and throughout the story she discovers the dignity and passion that the written word can provide. The usual World War II themes are present in this book, but the connections that develop between people through the act of reading are particularly powerful. Language can save and destroy, and the author explores this theme with poetry and compassion.

The narrative is not strictly linear, and it took me a little while to get into the book. Using Death as a narrator seems gimmicky at first, but the character actually provides a take on the tragic events of the period that is both poignant and refreshing. He insists on giving away details about the ending from the very beginning, so the reader's focus is on the souls of the characters, not on the plot points. The ending still managed to bring me to tears right in the middle of the MTR.

This story is special because of the language. Zusak has a gift for playing with words in a loving, surprising manner. The unexpected metaphors and sophisticated anthropomorphisms force you to pay attention to Zusak's imagery. He does have a tendency to overuse sentence fragments and odd, capitalized declarations. I know this is intended to emphasize powerful statements and images, but reading too many of these punctuated moments can be exhausting. They start to lose their impact. Overall, the real power of Zusak's language comes from the joy of invention and play that comes out in the writing.

THE LINK:

The UK website for this book is quite snazzy.

THE COST:

$9.99 for the Kindle edition

THE QUESTION:

When is a time when you've seen reading bring people together? Are there other writers you enjoy who use unconventional forms or narrative techniques?

A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE SERIES by George R. R. Martin

THE GIST:

An epic fantasy series in which politics and characters are more important than magic and dragons (although that stuff is there too).

THE VERDICT:

Game of Thrones is the reason there haven't been as many reviews as usual on this blog lately. I don't like posting about individual installments in series, but this is a hefty collection of 900-page books to get through. Now that I'm finished with the series, I can let you know what I thought and then give my brain-space back to other books. This is a consuming, addictive story because you just don't know what will happen. Good and evil are not clear-cut, the body count is high, and the plot is delightfully unpredictable. Also, the HBO adaptation of the first book is awesome, if you haven't seen it.

At face value, the Song of Ice and Fire series, popularly referred to as Game of Thrones, is a typical epic fantasy set in a world that is vaguely like Medieval Europe. I like this type of book, but usually relegate it to guilty-pleasure reading. However, Martin's epic is so clever and involved because he doesn't allow the typical patterns of this genre to limit his story. This can be infuriating when he is killing your favorite people, but it definitely kept me reading. The politics are complex and messy, and this is probably the most realistic fantasy series I've ever read.

This book benefits from non-stop action and surprisingly complicated relationships. The characters have histories, grudges, and desires that are not easy to nail down, just like in real life. I was impressed when some obvious villains turned into nuanced, sympathetic characters. On the other hand, I just don't like Jon Snow, who is one of the primary players in the story. Unfortunately, the series feels uneven at times. There are so many characters to keep up with that the sections about the ones I'm less interested in tended to drag. I'm also worried that there is no end in sight. Martin could wrap everything up in one more book, or he could write half a dozen more. Still, I know I'll be reading all of them.

THE LINK:

George R. R. Martin's website

THE COST:

I borrowed some of the books in this series in paperback form and read some of them on my fiance's iPad. Most of the Kindle editions are $8.99.

THE QUESTION:

What's your guilty pleasure reading?

PS. If you are a regular reader of this blog, please take the reader survey on last week's bookspotting post. Thank you!

THE WORLD OF SUZIE WONG by Richard Mason

THE GIST:

A picturesque romance develops between a Hong Kong prostitute and a British painter.

THE VERDICT:

The World of Suzie Wong, also a film, is a well-known Hong Kong love story, but this is the first time I've read it. It is about a British painter who moves into a waterfront hotel, where rooms are normally rented by the hour, hoping to capture real, colorful Hong Kong life. He spends time in the hotel bar painting and getting to know the working girls when they aren't busy picking up sailors. He develops a friendship with Suzie Wong, a lively Shanghainese girl with a unique outlook on the world.

The book shifts between romanticizing the lives of the prostitutes and bringing the reader back to the reality of their situation. This feels authentic because Robert is experiencing this shifting perspective as he gets to know the girls. He refrains from judgment, except when he's talking about the other Westerners in Hong Kong. Mason captures the complicated, intersecting relationships between Westerners and locals in a setting that is both glamorous and very grim.

The writing style is rich with descriptions, and reveals the unique vibrancy of post-war Hong Kong. This book discusses mature themes in a frank, but not overly gratuitous manner. It certainly wouldn't qualify as erotica, but I wouldn't recommend it to my mom :). The characters are the strong point of this novel. Each one is flawed and authentic. Mason has created vivid and enduring personalities that stick with you beyond the last page.

THE COST:

I bought the new paperback edition at Swindon Book Co. The Kindle edition is $9.99.

THE QUESTION:

What is the first novel or film you think of when you think of Hong Kong? Have you seen the film version of this book?

THE ANATOMY OF A DISAPPEARANCE by Hisham Matar

London, Christmas 2010

THE GIST:

A boy and his stepmother must come to terms with the disappearance of his father and the truth about his past.

THE VERDICT:

A few years ago I was a summer intern for a literary agency in London. In the midst of reading the slush pile and going to the post office, I had the good fortune to meet a few of the agency's authors. One of them was the brilliant, inspiring and kind Hisham Matar. His debut novel In the Country of Men was shortlisted for the Booker prize in 2006 and it was in the process of being translated into 28 languages. Hisham said some lovely things about my own writing (I had written a manuscript report for an author friend of his), invited me to lunch along with the agents at his new writing studio, and even got me a book for my birthday (What is Britishness?, in case you were wondering).

All this is to say that I am not exactly in a position to write an unbiased review, but Hisham is a masterful writer in addition to being a singularly lovely person. His second novel, like his first, deals with a Libyan father's forced disappearance and the repercussions for his son and his young wife. The boy, who is at the cusp of manhood, is in love with his stepmother, and they are just close enough in age to make the sudden absence of his father fraught with sexual tension in addition to the obvious distress. The characters are flawed and philosophical, and their story unfolds like a dream as they try to grasp the reality of their hijacked lives.

Hisham is skilled at zeroing in on the most subtle, intricate details. His descriptions and similes are so minute that other comparisons seem clumsy. He writes about the tiniest indents in someone's skin, the flutter of sound almost at the edge of consciousness, and the barest subtleties of expression that speak volumes about the characters. This is the kind of writing that makes you pay closer attention to the tiny nuances in the world around you, and that makes you desperately want to be a better writer.

THE LINK:

A review from The Guardian with more details about the disappearance of Hisham's own father.

THE COST:

$10.99 for the Kindle edition

THE QUESTION:

Who is a writer that has inspired you, either through their writing or through a personal acquaintance?

RESULTS NOT TYPICAL by Catherine Ryan Howard

THE GIST:

A plus-size office worker at an evil weight loss company becomes embroiled in corporate drama when their next big product disappears.

THE VERDICT:

Slimmit is a profit-obsessed weight loss company more interested in pushing their products and supplements than promoting a healthy lifestyle. Emmy is a believable protagonist who feels crippled by self-loathing and refuses to take any risks until she loses The Weight. She gets mixed up with vapid, half-starved "slimming specialists," an evil wannabe CEO, and a slightly chubby B-list celebrity.

This is a fun novel with surprisingly complex characters. Each one is flawed, interesting and sympathetic in their own way. The toxic relationships between people with long histories form the core of the novel. Their interactions are funny and sometimes extreme, and they give vivacity to the complex plot. I particularly enjoyed the expertly handled public meltdown scenes throughout the story.

Catherine Ryan Howard's writing style is like her blog: chatty, entertaining and unapologetic. Each time I thought the plot or characters might spin out of control, she brought them back together in a clever web of strained connections and thwarted ambitions. This is a page-turning novel that makes a great subway read.

THE LINK:

Catherine Ryan Howard: I like to read Catherine's blog. You should check it out.

THE COST:

$0.99 for the Kindle edition

THE QUESTION:

Are you more interested in plot-driven or character-driven novels?

THE NIGHT CIRCUS by Erin Morgenstern

THE GIST:

Two magicians use a unique circus as a venue for a grand competition.

THE VERDICT:

THE NIGHT CIRCUS is a rare book, the kind that transports you to another world and keeps you completely engaged from start to finish. Erin Morgenstern's tale of a circus is rich, enchanting and refreshingly unique.

The tale follows the students of two master illusionists who are pitted against each other within the boundaries of a turn-of-the-century circus. Not fully understanding the nature of the competition, they build wonders for the visitors and mesmerize a generation of circus-goers. The characters are expertly drawn, and Morgenstern develops the complicated relationships with genuine passion.

Morgenstern's prose is pure magic. She slowly builds the dream world of the circus using language that is evocative and elegant. This is the kind of book that does not come along very often, and I implore you to read it if you haven't done so already.

THE LINK:

Erin Morgenstern's website

THE COST:

$12.99 for the Kindle edition

THE QUESTION:

What was the last book you read that stood out as something uncommonly special?

PRIDE AND PREJUDICE AND ZOMBIES by Seth Grahame-Smith and Jane Austen

THE GIST:

Pride and Prejudice... but with zombies.

THE VERDICT:

I wanted to like this book more than I actually did. I enjoy reworkings of classic tales, but in this case I felt that the execution was not as good as it could have been. The core of the problem was that, despite there being a zomie infestation to counter, the zombies didn't add any real tension to the plot. I found I was more interested in watching how the relationships between the characters developed than in seeing how they fought the undead. The additions to the story were clever and funny at times, but they didn't impress me the way I hoped they would.

The zombie presence is already an established fact when the story begins. All five of the Bennet girls trained to fight zombies in China and are "skilled in the deadly arts." They have no trouble vanquishing the unmentionables who lurch out of the woods and attack carriages every once in a while. I think the book would have been more interesting if the zombie infestation was new, or if they had to learn the fighting skills on their own or if there were some weaknesses to overcome. Instead, Elizabeth simply cuts down zombies when she sees them, Jane kills zombies, but is as nice as ever, and Kitty and Lydia are just as silly despite their intensive training.

The author does a nice job of maintaining Austen's voice as much as possible. Almost all of the original words are still in the story, and the additions fit in seamlessly. Her story is as compelling as ever, and it is fun to read it with fresh eyes. There's a hilarious set of discussion questions at the end that left me with a better impression of the book as a whole. I appreciated the humor and irreverence, but this is a book that I probably wouldn't bother to read again.

THE LINK:

Seth Grahame-Smith's website

THE COST:

I paid $0.99 for the Kindle edition

THE QUESTION:

What is your favorite retelling of a classic (book or movie)?