Food, drama, guilt, cross-cultural and cross-generational gaps – there is a lot to digest here. This book is a good example of writing as therapy. The author went through some serious challenges in their life, and I think by writing this book they’ll be able to move on.

The author gets it all out there – not only the delicious foods and happy times, she doesn’t shy away from the ugly scenes. She is dealing with her mother’s premature death, in front of the reader, with herself laid bare.

But I didn’t come for the drama, I came for the food, and there is a lot of good writing, especially about Korean food. She does a great job describing the dishes that they eat, with the Korean name so that you can do your own research on finding it in a restaurant or making it yourself. There are other foods in here besides Korean – but I got the most out of the Korean ones.

We eat a lot of Korean food at home and out at restaurants, but I find that I know the Japanese name for the dishes rather than the Korean one, so this book helped to clarify certain things for me.

The writing is done in a clean writing style that is easy to read, and focuses on giving a clear view of what is happening, rather than being floral or poetic. I wasn’t a big fan of the structure, being non-linear and sometimes a little confusing. But it is a relatively short book and worth the effort to follow.

Next I am reading How to Tell a Story by Meg Bowles et al.

Oof – this was a tough one to read. An awkward balance of educational and depressing, the book chronicles the damage done by profit-focused private equity firms in a bid to deliver the most value to their shareholders and more importantly their executives.

The whole reason I picked up this book was because I didn’t really know much about the world of finance, especially private equity firms, junk bonds and hedge funds. There is a lot of depth in this book, explaining with extensive statistics how these firms took a very unethical approach to making profit, rather than improving the companies that they acquired.

In a book full of startling episodes, perhaps the most painful to read was the section on how private equity got into healthcare. The whole healthcare system in the USA already seems like a bloated mess and adding these piranas to the mix resulted on the blood bath you’d expect.

While educational and full of statistics to back up their assertions, it sometimes got a little too hung up in details of cases from years ago – almost like it was still litigating even though the companies and people affected had long since passed.

And I realize the name of the book sort of tells you what to expect but I still felt sometimes like there must be another side to some of the events described. The writer often gave the company representative a chance to respond, but they had canned PR-speak answers. The book was balanced in terms of content but I thought the tone of the author was a little shrill sometimes. Describing these atrocities in a level-headed tone may make it easier for more people to acknowledge.

In Japan companies are held to the fire in terms of considering the social good of the nation and the local community in their financial dealings. This book was a reminder that some people out there don’t think that way.

Next I am reading Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner.

I believe that this is the last multi-country travel book I have read by Paul Theroux. I had been saving it for later – like a nice bottle of wine pushed to the back of the cellar. Recently the time felt right, so I bought the book and just finished reading it.

It has all the typical stuff you’d expect in his adventures – beautiful writing, the captured moments of travel, being snarky to people that have been snarky to him. Despite the majority of the book taking place on his kayak there are also other modes of transport – a train, a cruise ship, and some short airplane rides when necessary.

This book was written at a time when he was separated from his wife (they would divorce soon) and so he had a wide open schedule and was at a loss for what to do. It seemed like he sort of fell into this trip and ended writing a book about it.

I like epic journeys – this was one of them. Starting in New Zealand and ending in Hawaii, he covers a lot of south Oceania, taking notes along the way. Rather than being restricted by train schedules the kayak and the tent lend him tremendous freedom, along with his open schedule. He can take the time he wants, wherever he feels like it, and it is hard not to itch with envy while reading about it.

The timeframe of his trip was just as the Iraq war started, and so the world was quite different then. I was surprised to see how much the Japanese are reviled in this book as they were still in their bubble economy and buying out things all over the world, much the same as the Chinese are doing these days.

The author spends a lot of time making fun of people that no doubt deserve it, celebrities and normal people alike. Often I’ve seen people criticize his books for being too hard on other people, and after reading this book I can see how it may be a warranted criticism. For the reader it can be good entertainment, but it reads a little like the writer has kind of set it up – and I wonder how accurate his take was on each of the situations.

I really enjoyed this book – and I’m sure I’ll come back to it again in the future. There is only one other travel book by Theroux that I haven’t read – his travels around England – but I fear it won’t be as good as his others. There is only one way to find out.

Next I am reading These Are The Plunderers by Gretchen Morgenson.

This is a great idea for a twist on the series killer stalker story – this time the series killer has access to a time machine.

Full of interesting characters and very natural dialogue, it is easy to identify with each person, even the psychotic (and mysteriously motivated) killer. Visiting different eras in time and seeing how Chicago has changed (or is in the process of changing) was really cool.

I’m still not sure I could understand “the rules” of the time travel device, and for me at least I think that is important. Other books involving time travel are quite clear as it helps set the expectations of the reader and we can understand why something happens or doesn’t happen. The rules in this book are mentioned briefly in passing but I’d have liked more.

Also I thought the book sort of abruptly ended – I had expected there to be a lot more to the culmination of so many crossing time lines. The way things ended seemed like a lost opportunity. Stalker becomes the prey, for example. Suddenly the victim has a chance to go back in time and make some changes – what would they be? It is a deep reservoir of possibilities, but it felt like the author chose the simplest one.

But I enjoyed the book, and will be on the lookout for future books that do time travel well.

Next I am reading The Happy Isles of Oceania by Paul Theroux.

This book was a story written in sort of the same way as the Game of Thrones series, with a cleaner and friendlier feel and written with more female-centric roles. Despite the length of this book it moves quickly through the story, with plenty of palace intrigue, underdogs coming out on top, and adventurous journeys.

I liked the story, and the characters were written well although a little simple. The bad guys are a pretty one-dimensional, given to twirling their mustaches and monologuing at the heroes to explain the backstory. Sometimes it felt a little campy but overall it moved along fast enough that it didn’t bother me too much.

There are a lot of cultures introduced in this book, but they are helpfully modeled after similar cultures back here in reality, so that makes it easier. I liked the scope of the book – but it did make me feel like things were rushed when I wanted to know more about the wide world the writer has created.

One thing that stuck out for me was the author’s habit of giving a paragraph to the wardrobe of the characters when they show up at some event, and a paragraph to the food when they are eating somewhere. The paragraph was always about the same length and it felt like they finished the book and then went back and added it in to fill out the content a little. It just didn’t feel natural to me.

There was a lot of potential here, but in the end I found it a good story that could have been handled better. Still, for a simple adventure it was worth the reading time.

Next I am reading The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes.

The second time around reading this book was just as good as the first time. Despite knowing in advance, it was a pleasure watching the author lay out the clues and patiently develop this world despite the confusion it may cause the reader.

There were a lot of hints that I completely missed the first time reading, and this time I could concentrate on the beauty of the world (and the House).

Next I am reading The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon.

This book is the last in the series of three, and just as enjoyable as the previous two. This book has the rather large burden of wrapping up all the loose ends and storylines from the whole series – kind of like the last season of a very popular drama on TV.

In this the author succeeds, and we get answers to every question we might have had – people get what was coming to them, and I found it very satisfying.

Again the writing is excellent, and since it is in the first person it moves along quickly with very things happening elsewhere – we are seeing events play out directly. The writer continues to write excellent action sequences, and this book has a few less than others but still some are pretty epic.

Which brings me to really my only criticism of the book (and the series) – it took a long time to get to where we are now in the story, and I’m not sure it was worth the long ride. I can’t go into why this is without spoiling the story, but to me it felt a little like these big battles that we spent so many pages and chapters on before amounted to very little by the end of the series.

Because I read the books as they came out, with a year or so in between them, I did find myself struggling to remember some of the characters – and despite the reference materials included in the books it really broke my rhythm to stop and look up who that person was who just got killed.

It isn’t the fault of the author, of course, but I’d recommend anyone reading this series to go straight through without too much time in between volumes. I think you’ll find that it is a series that is definitely worth your time.

Next I am re-reading Piranesi by Susanna Clarke.

This was a book that made the conscious choice to be unusual – and I like books that are weird, as long as the weirdness has a point.

It tells a strange story about someone who we might call “God”. How do they come about their powers? Are there any other gods out there? Who do they have to step over to take the job?

This book does a good job of answering all these questions, in a roundabout and convoluted way. It takes some trust on the part of the reader to start understanding where the book is going. I guess that trust was rewarded, but after the culmination of the main struggle the story continues in a way that I thought was not really necessary.

It was funny – the writer is gifted with the ability to make characters likable and interesting, and there is a mixture of popular culture and brand names that I guess are included to set a time and place. Once you kind of understand what is happening it is fun to read the interactions between these characters.

But the ending of the book and the overall idea of what the author was trying accomplish left me confused. Kind of like a pilot making a successful emergency landing, but ending up at the wrong airport.

Next I am reading The Traitor by Anthony Ryan.

How did I end up reading this book? Sometimes titles end up on my reading list, and by the time I get around to them I have no idea where they came from. This is one of those books – and after reading it I’m not sure if I got any benefit at all from it.

The basic idea is interesting, I guess. The book describes what happens when a bored psychiatrist resolves to leave all decisions to the roll of a die. He is hoping to break out of his routines and allow some other “minority voices” have a chance at directing his life.

It was thought-provoking, but it also seemed to be more than a little provoking in general. Written in 1971 there is a lot of content here that probably wouldn’t fly in a modern novel, and a lot of graphic sex – to the point of obsession.

Maybe because of the age of the book and the changes in society a lot of what I think were attempts at comedy didn’t really work for me. After a while it felt like most of the plot was just a way to end up in crazy sexual situations, and to titillate rather than provide any meaningful message.

Of course there is something going on in the undercurrents – commentary on religion, psychiatry, and moral responsibility. But buried as it was underneath the lurid stories and silly situations, I’m not sure it was worth exploring.

Next I am reading The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins.

I really enjoyed this book, a sort of wish-fulfillment fantasy that has its heart in the right place. The book seems inspired by Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, with a little bit of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire mixed in.

Truly this is a great example of a book written with structure and balance – there is no extra fat to cut and it accomplishes its purpose with minimal digressions. The characters are likable and safe – no big shocks when somebody is different than what you expected (I’m looking at you, Gene Wilder!)

You would think that a book like this would be cozy and warm, but there is plenty of background that comes up during the story that is plenty sad enough to counterbalance all the happiness and sunshine. Thanks to this sort of light/dark balance the book feels less saccharine and more wholesome. It was a pleasure to read.

Next I am reading The Dice Man by Luke Rhinehart.

I always like reading a good mystery – and this one was quite satisfying. The pacing of the story, the mysteries that kept coming up, and even a murder-mystery party – all of these kept me reading.

The book had plenty of twists, which I won’t go into here but I will say that unlike some other mysteries that I’ve read lately I didn’t see them coming.

Some parts of the book I felt had been done before – getting a little tricky with timelines and hiding characters you’ve met before by changing their name… these are tricks that only work when you are reading the story rather than seeing it, and I’m still not sure if they are fair tools to use on a reader.

The summation of the story made everything clear in the end, although I did feel like this book helped me determine just where my limit for believability really was. Just a little bit farther and I might have been less inclined to recommend the book.

Next I am reading The Wishing Game by Meg Shaffer.

A fascinating true crime book on one of the most prolific art thieves in history – and surprisingly the events in this book happened relatively recently.

First, the book is written really well. The writer is careful to keep himself out of it and put you right there as a sort of invisible witness to what happened. You feel the thrill and the risk, and even the surge of relief at escaping without being caught.

Thanks to the access that the writer had to most of the people involved, including the main art thief himself, the story is well-researched and full of interesting cross links and background info. It is no surprise that it took ten years to assemble this work.

I really enjoyed this book, probably because I enjoy heist stories/movies so much. Because this one takes place in contemporary Europe it feels a little more tangible, and reminds the reader that similar things could be happening right now, right where you live.

This book is why I prefer reading in long form – you can appreciate the attention to detail and the setup of the story. It is just something you’d never experience reading online clips or Wikipedia articles. Extremely well-done.

Next I am reading The Perfect Guests by Emma Rous.

This was a fast-paced novella that maybe was a bit too ambitious for the time it took to tell the story.

The science fiction backstory seemed pretty interesting to me, but a lot of the background and history is sort of skipped over to concentrate on the scary events happening at the moment.

Because of this the whole story felt rushed to me, and the characters often didn’t have much of a connection with each other. Shouldn’t there be a lot more history between them after living together on a spaceship for most of their lives?

Occasionally the characters made odd choices, and it felt like these choices were to serve the plot rather than them doing what normal logical people would do.

I think this would have been much better as a full-length novel, but for whatever reason it has been sanded down to a quick story that didn’t really do much for me. It was good for what it was, though: a quick sci-fi read.

Next I am reading The Art Thief by Michael Finkel.

Written in the vein of a scientific research survey, the book is not really about if art is good for the brain, but rather why it is good for the brain. When I started the book I expected some discussion on this but rather the authors have already moved on to the point of “here are the benefits that art with confer”.

Since they have already decided that art is good for the brain, all the scientific papers and results that they cite support this, and there are no sources of dissent.

It seemed to me that a lot of the programs, systems and strategies introduced in this book have some sort of direct connection with the authors themselves, which may or may not be a good thing depending on how strictly you are judging the contents.

But really, even if the premise of this book is wrong, what is the worst that could happen? You get more culture/art/dance/music in your life – it is hard to imagine that being a bad thing.

So although the writing is a little woo-woo they do make a convincing case for adding some art into one’s routine lifestyle. I especially was interested in the writing about children’s play and learning styles and leveraging these into strategies for adults.

Next I am reading The Scourge Between Stars by Ness Brown.