After a really long time, we’re back in my ‘World of Genji’ series, where I attempt to learn more about Heian Japan and not have my head explode as I read academic texts about the time period. This book, Chinese Literary Forms in Heian Japan, was really interesting as it explored Sinitic verse (aka when… Read More Book Review: Chinese Literary Forms in Heian Japan by Brian Steininger
After some pretty good experiences with other Alison Weir books, I was pretty confident in buying more of her biographies. I’ve read a bit about Isabella of France from Helen Castor’s book, She-Wolves, so I was excited to delve into the life of this fascinating woman. Born to a royal line, French Princess Isabella is… Read More Book Review: Queen Isabella by Alison Weir
This is another one of my BookXcess books and I got it mainly because the idea of a history of neighbours sounded intriguing, even if it was about the idea of neighbours in England. Cheek By Jowl is a history of neighbourhoods and the idea of “neighbours” from thirteenth century to present day England. It… Read More Book Review: Cheek by Jowl by Emily Cockayne
Despite the fact that I bought the book (the word “Jane Austen” was in the title, it’s inevitable), I approached it with some trepidation. I love Austen but I’m not sure how she fits into an advice column – and what if the author attempts to mimic Austen’s style? Thankfully, the book doesn’t go so… Read More Book Review: Jane Austen’s Guide to Modern Life Dilemmas by Rebecca Smith
Personally, I thought the tagline of this book was interesting. I know that Plato is a philosopher, but Winnie the Pooh? (it was about the Tao of Pooh) I figured that it couldn’t hurt to learn more about philosophy, so I took the plunge and book this book. To put the cart before the horse,… Read More Book Review: A Brief Guide to Philosophical Classics by James M. Russell
I bought this book purely because of the price and because it said “Jane Austen” somewhere on the title (when faced with cheap books, I am not the most discerning of buyers). Thankfully, I ended up enjoying this, and I think this will be a book that I return to in the future. The Genius… Read More Book Review: The Genius of Jane Austen by Paula Byrne
It’s always interesting when a part of Japanese culture (that isn’t anime or manga) becomes really popular across the world. When I was job hunting in my last year of university, I heard the term “やりがい (yarigai)” so many times! And as it turns out, yarigai (which can be translated as “the motivation to work”… Read More Book Review: The Little Book of Ikigai by Ken Mogi
File this one under: “Books I’m reading for the non-fiction writing course I’m taking.” So in my effort to learn more about how to write nonfiction well (the end-goal being to write my grandmother’s biography), I’m reading more. I started with two Singapore memoirs (Son of Singapore) and biographies (Tall Order), and now, The Orchid… Read More Book Review: The Orchid Thief by Susan Orlean
At first glance, Here She Is doesn’t sound like something I would read or request from NetGalley, given that it’s about the history of the beauty pagent, something that I’ve not been involved in nor follow. But, I do like reading about histories of obscure subjects, I was intrigued by the idea of using a… Read More Book Review: Here She Is by Hilary Levey Friedman
I am terribly late to the hype (as usual), but I finally read Tall Order, the biography of Goh Chok Tong. Goh Chok Tong is the second prime minister of Singapore and Tall Order is supposed to be the first volume in a two volume series. Since this is Volume One, Tall Order doesn’t try… Read More Book Review: Tall Order by Peh Shing Huei