Category: 2023 Books
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๐ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Kawika Guillermo, Nimrods: A Fake-Punk Self-Hurt Anti-Memoir, Duke University Press, 2023. 240 pgs. Fuck โem all. Squares on bothsides. I am the only completeman in the industry.โBurroughs, Naked Lunch…
![[REVIEW] โ ‘________________________’: Rererecapitulating Kawika Guillermoโs Devastatingly Wondrous ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ : ๐ด ๐น๐๐๐-๐๐ข๐๐ ๐๐๐๐-๐ป๐ข๐๐ก ๐ด๐๐ก๐-๐๐๐๐๐๐” by Jason S Polley](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/kawika-guillermo-devastating-nimrods-a-fake-punk-self-hurt-anti-memoir-.jpg?w=1024)
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๐ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Niloufar-Lily Soltani, Zulaikha, Inanna Publications, 2023. 332 pgs. If there is a single word that can encapsulate the novel Zulaikha, it is beautyโa beauty that transcends the physical…
![[REVIEW] โBeauty and Strength in Niloufar-Lily Soltaniโs ๐๐ข๐๐๐๐โ๐โ by Fathima M](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/in-niloufar-lily-soltanis-zulaikha.jpg?w=1000)
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๐ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on Afterlives. Satoru Hashimoto, Afterlives of Letters: The Transnational Origins of Modern Literature in China, Japan, and Korea, Columbia University Press,…
![[REVIEW] โBetween Rupture and Continuity: Charting Anachronistic Literary Modernity in Satoru Hashimotoโs ๐ด๐๐ก๐๐๐๐๐ฃ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ฟ๐๐ก๐ก๐๐๐ โ by Charlie Ng](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/afterlives-of-letters-the-transnational-origins-of-modern-literature-in-china-japan-and-korea.jpg?w=1000)
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๐ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Derek Currie, When โJesusโ Came to Hong Kong: The Remarkable Story of the First European Football Star in Asia, Blacksmith Books, 2023. 404 pgs. This is my second…
![[REVIEW] โJesusโ Pub Tales: Derek Currieโs ๐โ๐๐ โ๐ฝ๐๐ ๐ข๐ โ ๐ถ๐๐๐ ๐ก๐ ๐ป๐๐๐ ๐พ๐๐๐โ by Mario Rustan](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/when-jesus-came-to-hong-kong.jpg?w=962)
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๐ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Anru Lee, Haunted Modernities: Gender, Memory and Placemaking in Post-industrial Taiwan, University of Hawaiโi Press, 2023. 246 pgs. Anru Lee first learned of the 25 Maiden Ladiesโ Tomb…
![[REVIEW] โFrom Spirits to Statues: Commemorating Women Workers in Anru Leeโs ๐ป๐๐ข๐๐ก๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ก๐๐๐ โ by Elsa Mathews](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/haunted-modernities-gender-memory-and-placemaking-in-postindustrial-taiwan.jpg?w=994)
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๐ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Robin Visser, Questioning Borders: Ecoliteratures of China and Taiwan, Columbia University Press, 2023. 352 pgs. In recent years, the escalating global urgency surrounding ecological crises has prompted renewed…
![[REVIEW] โRelational Ecologies and the Displacement of Borders: Reading Visser’s Sinophone Environmental Imaginaryโ by Sonalika Chaturvedi](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/questioning-borders-ecoliteratures-of-china-and-taiwan-columbia-university-press.jpg?w=1000)
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๐ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on Cho Nam-joo. Cho Nam-Joo (author), Jamie Chang (translator), Saha: A Novel, Liveright, 2023. 161 pgs. Cho Nam-Jooโs Saha: A Novel (ใ์ฌํ๋งจ์ ใ, 2019) presents a dystopian…
![[REVIEW] โNarrating the Margins of the Future: Cho Nam-Jooโs ๐๐โ๐โ by James Au Kin-Pong](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/cho-nam-joos-saha.jpg?w=789)
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๐ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Rob Noble, Octopus: The Pioneering Story of the Worldโs First Contactless Payment Card, Blacksmith Books, 2023, 396 pgs. As a resident of a city bereft of a…
![[REVIEW] โThe Almost Everything CardโRob Nobleโs ๐๐๐ก๐๐๐ข๐ : ๐โ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ก๐๐๐ฆ ๐๐ ๐กโ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐โ๐ ๐น๐๐๐ ๐ก ๐ถ๐๐๐ก๐๐๐ก๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐ฆ๐๐๐๐ก ๐ถ๐๐๐โ by Mario Rustan](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/octopus-the-pioneering-story-of-the-worlds-first-contactless-payment-card-1.jpg?w=896)
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๐ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Clickย HERE to readย all entries inย Chaย onย A Woman Burnt. Imayam (author), GJV Prasad (translator), A Woman Burnt, Simon and Schuster India, 2023. 336 pgs. We step into a new worldโotherwise inaccessibleโevery…
![[REVIEW] “A Tale of Love and Abuse: Imayam’s ๐ด ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ต๐ข๐๐๐ก” by Fathima M](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/a-woman-burnt-1.jpg?w=952)
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๐ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS ๐ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Kang Hwagil (author), Clare Richards (translator), Another Person, Pushkin Press, 2023. 302 pgs. When her boyfriend chokes her for the fifth time since their office romance began, Kim…
![[REVIEW] “Unmasking Toxic Cultures: Kang Hwagil’s ๐ด๐๐๐กโ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐” by John Teoh](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/another-person-78-reviews-authors-hwa-gil-kang-author-clare-richards-translator.jpg?w=950)
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๐ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Marcus Fedder, My Shanghai Neighbours, Black Spring Press, 2023. 130 pgs. Having spent four years living in a Shanghai lane between 2012 and 2016 (when I left China), I…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] โResurrecting Longtang Memories: Marcus Fedderโs ๐๐ฆ ๐โ๐๐๐โ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐โ๐๐๐ข๐๐ โ by S.C. Gordon](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/my-shanghai-neighbours-1.jpg?w=985)
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๐RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on Listen. Chan Kwan Ee Tom, Listen, Atmosphere Press, 2023. In monochrome, a fallen beast is manipulated by puppet strings that ensnare a hand. Upon closer inspection,…
![[REVIEW] “What Did I Hope to Hear?: A Review of Chan Kwan Ee Tom’s ๐ฟ๐๐ ๐ก๐๐” by Lian-Hee Wee](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/listen_chan-kwan-ee-tom.jpg?w=1024)
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่ถ FIRST IMPRESSIONS ่ถ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] โBeyond Stereotypes: Ronald Weitzerโs Sex Tourism in Thailandโ by Akin Jeje Ronald Weitzer, Sex Tourism in Thailand: Inside Asiaโs Premier Erotic Playground, New York University Press, 2023. 337 pgs. Ronald…
![[REVIEW] โBeyond Stereotypes: Ronald Weitzerโs ๐๐๐ฅ ๐๐๐ข๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐ ๐โ๐๐๐๐๐๐โ by Akin Jejeย ย](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/sex-tourism-in-thailand-inside-asias-premier-erotic-playground-1.jpg?w=1000)
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๐ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Daryl Lim Wei Jie, Hamid Roslan, Melizarani T. Selva, and William Tham (editors), The Second Link: An Anthology of Malaysian and Singaporean Writing, Marshall Cavendish Editions, 2023. 320 pgs.…
![[REVIEW] “Reunion Dinner: ๐โ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ฟ๐๐๐ Serves Up A Careful Feast” by Theophilus Kwek](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/the-second-link-an-anthology-of-malaysian-and-singaporean-writing.png?w=892)
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๐ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Jenny Xie, Holding Pattern, Riverhead Books, 2023. 288 pgs. Jenny Xieโs novel Holding Pattern follows 28-year-old Kathleen Cheng as she returns home to Oakland, California, where she is roped…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] โThe Science of Intimacy: Jenny Xieโs ๐ป๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ก๐ก๐๐๐โ by Anna Chung](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/holding-pattern-riverhead-books-1.jpg?w=993)
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Editor’s note: Read an excerpt from Lydia Kwa’s A Dream Wants Waking HERE. Lydia Kwa, A Dream Wants Waking, Buckrider Books, 2023. 226 pgs. In my latest novel A Dream Wants Waking (Buckrider Books, 2023), excerpted here, there is a…
![[EXCLUSIVE] “Alternative Intelligence: On Brains, Being and the Nonhuman” by Lydia Kwa](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/a-dream-wants-waking-lydia-kwa.jpg?w=1000)
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Editor’s note: Read Lydia Kwa’s essay “Alternative Intelligence: On Brains, Being and the Nonhuman” HERE. Lydia Kwa, A Dream Wants Waking, Buckrider Books, 2023. 226 pgs. Dr. Wen sits down at her desk and checks her messages, monitors the electrolyte levels…
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๐ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Thomas William Whyke and Melissa Shani Brown (authors), Queering Gender, Sexuality, and Becoming-Human in Qing Dynasty Zhiguai: Querying the Strange Tales, Palgrave Macmillan, 2023. 246 pgs. The title of this…
![[REVIEW] โBetween Queering and Querying: Thomas William Whykeย and Melissa Shani Brownโs ๐๐ข๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐บ๐๐๐๐๐, ๐๐๐ฅ๐ข๐๐๐๐ก๐ฆ, ๐๐๐ ๐ต๐๐๐๐๐๐๐-๐ป๐ข๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ท๐ฆ๐๐๐ ๐ก๐ฆ ๐โ๐๐๐ข๐๐โ by Jonathan Ferguson](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/queering-gender-sexuality-and-becoming-human-in-qing-dynasty-zhiguai-querying-the-strange-tales-1.jpg?w=827)
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๐ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Yao-Chang Chen (author), Pao-Fang Hsu, Ian Maxwell, and Tung-Jung Chen (translators), Puppet Flower: A Novel of 1867 Formosa. Columbia University Press, 2023, 298 pgs. The American servicemen are in…
![[REVIEW] โSend in the Marines: Yao-Chang Chenโs ๐๐ข๐๐๐๐ก ๐น๐๐๐ค๐๐โby Jeff Tompkins](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/puppet-flower-a-novel-of-1867-formosa.jpg?w=972)
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๐ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on Mao Suit. Antonia Finnane, How to Make a Mao Suit: Clothing the People of Communist China, 1949โ1976, Cambridge University Press, 2023. 386 pgs. I have used…
![[REVIEW] “Impeccably Written: Antonia Finnane’sย ๐ป๐๐ค ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ข๐๐ก” by Paul Bevan](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/how-to-make-a-mao-suit-clothing-the-people-of-communist-china.jpg?w=1000)
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๐ย RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐ย RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Ta Duy Anh (author), Quan Manh Ha and Charles Waugh (translators), The Termite Queen, Penguin Random House SEA, 2023. 256 pgs. Ta Duy Anhโs novels, replete as they are…
![[REVIEW] “A Daring and Unsettling Portrait: Ta Duy Anh’s ๐โ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ก๐ ๐๐ข๐๐๐” by Mia Tompkins](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/the-termite-queen-copy.jpeg?w=625)
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๐ย RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐ย RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Angela Hui, Takeaway: Stories from a Childhood Behind the Counter,ย Orion Books, 2023. 352 pgs. Evocative and painstakingly honest, Angela Huiโs memoir Takeaway centres on the everyday lives of Chinese…
![[REVIEW] “Acknowledging the Everyday Spaces of Working-class Chinese Migrants: Angela Hui’s ๐๐๐๐๐๐ค๐๐ฆ” by Jennifer Wong](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/takeaway-stories-from-a-childhood-behind-the-counter.jpg?w=978)
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๐ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Qian Guo, Food Cultures of China: Recipes, Cultures and Issues, Bloomsbury, 2023. 272 pgs. The first thing that struck me about Qian Guoโs encyclopaedic undertaking in this book, was…
![[REVIEW] โAn Encyclopaedic Undertaking: Qian Guoโs ๐น๐๐๐ ๐ถ๐ข๐๐ก๐ข๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ถโ๐๐๐โ by Ceri Hwi-Li Holloway](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/food-cultures-of-china.jpg?w=994)
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๐ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Clickย HERE to readย all entries inย Chaย onย Mao Suit. Antonia Finnane, How to Make a Mao Suit: Clothing the People of Communist China, 1949โ1976, Cambridge University Press, 2023. 386 pgs. Here is…
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๐ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Osamu Dazai (author), Sam Bett (translator), The Flowers of Buffoonery, New Directions, 2023. 63 pgs. The Flowers of Buffoonery (ใ้ๅใฎ่ฏใ/ Dลke no Hana), an early work by Osamu Dazai…
![[REVIEW] โConstructing a Performative Self: Osamu Dazai’s ๐โ๐ ๐น๐๐๐ค๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ต๐ข๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ฆโ by James Kin Pong Au](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/the-flowers-of-buffoonery.jpg?w=778)
Cha 