Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982: A Novel

Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982: A Novel
Author :
Publisher : Liveright Publishing
Total Pages : 176
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9781631496714
ISBN-13 : 1631496719
Rating : 4/5 (14 Downloads)

Synopsis Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982: A Novel by : Cho Nam-Joo

A New York Times Editors Choice Selection A global sensation, Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 “has become...a touchstone for a conversation around feminism and gender” (Sarah Shin, Guardian). One of the most notable novels of the year, hailed by both critics and K-pop stars alike, Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 follows one woman’s psychic deterioration in the face of rampant misogyny. In a tidy apartment on the outskirts of Seoul, millennial “everywoman” Kim Jiyoung spends her days caring for her infant daughter. But strange symptoms appear: Jiyoung begins to impersonate the voices of other women, dead and alive. As she plunges deeper into this psychosis, her concerned husband sends her to a psychiatrist. Jiyoung narrates her story to this doctor—from her birth to parents who expected a son to elementary school teachers who policed girls’ outfits to male coworkers who installed hidden cameras in women’s restrooms. But can her psychiatrist cure her, or even discover what truly ails her? “A social treatise as well as a work of art” (Alexandra Alter, New York Times), Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 heralds the arrival of international powerhouse Cho Nam-Joo.

Please Look After Mom

Please Look After Mom
Author :
Publisher : Vintage
Total Pages : 238
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9780307595492
ISBN-13 : 0307595498
Rating : 4/5 (92 Downloads)

Synopsis Please Look After Mom by : Kyung-Sook Shin

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • WINNER OF THE MAN ASIAN LITERARY PRIZE • When sixty-nine-year-old So-nyo is separated from her husband among the crowds of the Seoul subway station, her family begins a desperate search to find her. Yet as long-held secrets and private sorrows begin to reveal themselves, they are forced to wonder: how well did they actually know the woman they called Mom? “A terrific novel that stayed with me long after I’d finished its final, haunting pages.” —Abraham Verghese, bestselling author of The Covenant of Water “A raw tribute to the mysteries of motherhood.” —The New York Times Book Review Told through the piercing voices and urgent perspectives of a daughter, son, husband, and mother, Please Look After Mom is at once an authentic picture of contemporary life in Korea and a universal story of family love. “A suspenseful, haunting, achingly lovely novel about the hidden lives, wishes, struggles and dreams of those we think we know best.” —The Seattle Times

Rewriting My Happily Ever After

Rewriting My Happily Ever After
Author :
Publisher :
Total Pages : 300
Release :
ISBN-10 : 173406319X
ISBN-13 : 9781734063196
Rating : 4/5 (9X Downloads)

Synopsis Rewriting My Happily Ever After by : Ranjani Rao

An uplifting story of gratitude and forgiveness that describes life after divorce and serves as proof that it is possible to rewrite your own happily-ever-after despite unexpected detours.

One Left

One Left
Author :
Publisher : University of Washington Press
Total Pages : 226
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9780295747675
ISBN-13 : 0295747676
Rating : 4/5 (75 Downloads)

Synopsis One Left by : Kim Soom

A powerful tale of trauma and endurance that transformed a nation’s understanding of Korean comfort women During the Pacific War, more than 200,000 Korean girls were forced into sexual servitude for Japanese soldiers. They lived in horrific conditions in “comfort stations” across Japanese-occupied territories. Barely 10 percent survived to return to Korea, where they lived as social outcasts. Since then, self-declared comfort women have come forward only to have their testimonies and calls for compensation largely denied by the Japanese government. Kim Soom tells the story of a woman who was kidnapped at the age of thirteen while gathering snails for her starving family. The horrors of her life as a sex slave follow her back to Korea, where she lives in isolation gripped by the fear that her past will be discovered. Yet, when she learns that the last known comfort woman is dying, she decides to tell her there will still be “one left” after her passing, and embarks on a painful journey. One Left is a provocative, extensively researched novel constructed from the testimonies of dozens of comfort women. The first Korean novel devoted to this subject, it rekindled conversations about comfort women as well as the violent legacies of Japanese colonialism. This first-ever English translation recovers the overlooked and disavowed stories of Korea’s most marginalized women.

The Toymakers

The Toymakers
Author :
Publisher : Random House
Total Pages : 422
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9781473582255
ISBN-13 : 1473582253
Rating : 4/5 (55 Downloads)

Synopsis The Toymakers by : Robert Dinsdale

An enchanting, magical novel set in a mysterious toyshop - perfect for fans of Erin Morgenstern's The Night Circus, Stephanie Garber's Caraval and Jessie Burton's The Miniaturist. The Christmas Emporium opens with the first sign of frost . . . It is 1917, and while war wages across Europe, in the heart of London, there is a place of hope and enchantment. The Emporium sells toys that capture the imagination of children and adults alike: patchwork dogs that seem alive, toy boxes that are bigger on the inside, soldiers that can fight battles of their own. Into this family business comes young Cathy Wray, running away from a shameful past. The Emporium takes her in, makes her one of its own. But Cathy is about to discover that the Emporium has secrets of its own . . . Complete your collection with Paris by Starlight, the next novel from the author of the The Toymakers, out now ***** 'This vivid, haunting novel is both vast and intimate. A wonderful and thought-provoking read.' KATHERINE ARDEN, author of The Warm Hands of Ghosts Engaging and enchanting . . . A fairytale for adults, with all the wonder – and terror – that that entails.' GUARDIAN 'There is magic at the heart of The Toymakers, a glittery inventiveness that shimmers through the dark corners of a story about love, war and sibling rivalry.' SUNDAY EXPRESS 'I was gripped, and thrilled, and touched, and above all I was completely swept into the magic of the book . . . Just astonishing' ADAM ROBERTS, author of Jack Glass 'Anyone who’s ever stepped inside a traditional toyshop and marvelled at the wonders on display will instantly be captivated by this book' CULTUREFLY

If I Had Your Face

If I Had Your Face
Author :
Publisher : Ballantine Books
Total Pages : 288
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9780593129470
ISBN-13 : 0593129474
Rating : 4/5 (70 Downloads)

Synopsis If I Had Your Face by : Frances Cha

A riveting debut novel set in contemporary Seoul, Korea, about four young women making their way in a world defined by impossible standards of beauty, after-hours room salons catering to wealthy men, ruthless social hierarchies, and K-pop mania “Powerful and provocative . . . a novel about female strength, spirit, resilience—and the solace that friendship can sometimes provide.”—The Washington Post NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY Time • NPR • Esquire • Bustle • BBC • New York Post • InStyle Kyuri is an achingly beautiful woman with a hard-won job at a Seoul “room salon,” an exclusive underground bar where she entertains businessmen while they drink. Though she prides herself on her cold, clear-eyed approach to life, an impulsive mistake threatens her livelihood. Kyuri’s roommate, Miho, is a talented artist who grew up in an orphanage but won a scholarship to study art in New York. Returning to Korea after college, she finds herself in a precarious relationship with the heir to one of the country’s biggest conglomerates. Down the hall in their building lives Ara, a hairstylist whose two preoccupations sustain her: an obsession with a boy-band pop star, and a best friend who is saving up for the extreme plastic surgery that she hopes will change her life. And Wonna, one floor below, is a newlywed trying to have a baby that she and her husband have no idea how they can afford to raise in Korea’s brutal economy. Together, their stories tell a gripping tale at once unfamiliar and unmistakably universal, in which their tentative friendships may turn out to be the thing that ultimately saves them.

The Good Son

The Good Son
Author :
Publisher : Penguin
Total Pages : 322
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9780525503743
ISBN-13 : 0525503749
Rating : 4/5 (43 Downloads)

Synopsis The Good Son by : You-Jeong Jeong

“Ingeniously twisted.” —Entertainment Weekly, “Must List” “Will leave even the most seasoned crime fiction readers guessing.” —CrimeReads "[Jeong] maintains suspense about her inhuman-seeming protagonist's fate until the bitter end.” —The Wall Street Journal Finalist for The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon’s “Summer Reads” Book Club The Talented Mr. Ripley meets The Bad Seed in this breathless, chilling psychological thriller by the #1 bestselling novelist known as “Korea's Stephen King” Who can you trust if you can't trust yourself? Early one morning, twenty-six-year-old Yu-jin wakes up to a strange metallic smell, and a phone call from his brother asking if everything's all right at home – he missed a call from their mother in the middle of the night. Yu-jin soon discovers her murdered body, lying in a pool of blood at the bottom of the stairs of their stylish Seoul duplex. He can't remember much about the night before; having suffered from seizures for most of his life, Yu-jin often has trouble with his memory. All he has is a faint impression of his mother calling his name. But was she calling for help? Or begging for her life? Thus begins Yu-jin's frantic three-day search to uncover what happened that night, and to finally learn the truth about himself and his family. A shocking and addictive psychological thriller, The Good Son explores the mysteries of mind and memory, and the twisted relationship between a mother and son, with incredible urgency. Named a Must-Read Book of the Summer by Elle, Entertainment Weekly, Vulture, Bustle, CrimeReads, Lit Hub, The Millions, Electric Literature, and Brit + Co

Diary of a Murderer

Diary of a Murderer
Author :
Publisher : Mariner Books
Total Pages : 211
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9781328545428
ISBN-13 : 1328545423
Rating : 4/5 (28 Downloads)

Synopsis Diary of a Murderer by : Young-ha Kim

From "one of South Korea's best and most worldly writers" (NPR): An electric collection that captivates and provokes in equal measure, exploring what it means to be on the edge--between life and death, good and evil

The Great Homecoming

The Great Homecoming
Author :
Publisher : Granta Books
Total Pages : 415
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9781846276576
ISBN-13 : 1846276578
Rating : 4/5 (76 Downloads)

Synopsis The Great Homecoming by : Anna Kim

1959, Seoul. Divided from his family by the violent tumult of the Korean civil war, Yunho arrives in South Korea's capital searching for his oldest friend. He finds him in the arms of Eve Moon, a dancer with many names who may be a refugee fleeing the communist North, or an American spy. Beguiled, Yunho falls desperately in love. But nothing in Seoul is what it seems. The city is crowded with double agents and soldiers, and wracked by protests and poverty, while across the border, Pyongyang grows more prosperous by the day. When a series of betrayals and a brutal crime drive the three friends into exile, Yunho finds himself caught in the riptide of history. Might a homecoming to North Korea be his only hope for salvation?

Self-Portrait with Russian Piano

Self-Portrait with Russian Piano
Author :
Publisher : Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Total Pages : 135
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9780374720278
ISBN-13 : 0374720274
Rating : 4/5 (78 Downloads)

Synopsis Self-Portrait with Russian Piano by : Wolf Wondratschek

A legendary literary figure who initiated a one-man Beat Generation in his native Germany, Wolf Wondratschek “is eccentric, monomaniacal, romantic—his texts are imbued with a wonderful, reckless nonchalance.”* Now, he tells a story of a man looking back on his life in an honest Portrait of the Artist as an Old Man. Vienna is an uncanny, magical, and sometimes brutally alienating city. The past lives on in the cafes where lost souls come to kill time and hash over the bygone glories of the twentieth century—or maybe just a recent love affair. Here, in one of these cafes, an anonymous narrator meets a strange character, “like someone out of a novel”: a decrepit old Russian named Suvorin. A Soviet pianist of international renown, Suvorin committed career suicide when he developed a violent distaste for the sound of applause. This eccentric gentleman—sometimes charming, sometimes sulky, sometimes disconcertingly frank—knows the end of his life is approaching, and allows himself to be convinced to tell his life story. Over a series of coffee dates, punctuated by confessions, anecdotes, and rages—and by the narrator’s schemes to keep his quarry talking—a strained friendship develops between the two men, and it soon becomes difficult to tell who is more dependent on whom. Rhapsodic and melancholic, with shades of Vladimir Nabokov, W. G. Sebald, Hans Keilson, and Thomas Bernhard, Wolf Wondratschek's Self-Portrait with Russian Piano is a literary sonata circling the eternal question of whether beauty, music, and passion are worth the sacrifices some people are compelled to make for them. “A romantic in a madhouse. To let Wondratschek’s voice be drowned in the babble of today’s literature would be a colossal mistake.” —*Patrick Süskind, international bestselling author of Perfume: The Story of a Murderer