Category: Cha Review of Books and Films
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “Hearing the Pandemic: Sound, State, and Care in Christina Schwenkel’s Sonic Socialism” by Hantian Zhang Christina Schwenkel. Sonic Socialism: Crisis and Care in Pandemic Hanoi, University of California Press, 2025.…
![[REVIEW] “Hearing the Pandemic: Sound, State, and Care in Christina Schwenkel’s 𝑆𝑜𝑛𝑖𝑐 𝑆𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑠𝑚” by Hantian Zhang](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/sonic-socialism-crisis-and-care-in-pandemic-hanoi-university-of-california-press-.jpg)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [ESSAY] “Kore-eda Does Not Direct Life and Death” by Laurehl Onyx B. Cabiles Hirokazu Kore-eda (director). After Life, 1998. 112 min. Every time I say that I am from Carmen, people…
![[ESSAY] “Kore-eda Does Not Direct Life and Death” by Laurehl Onyx B. Cabiles](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/after-life-directed-by-hirokazu-kore-eda.jpg)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “Many Hong Kongs: Xu Xi’s Horizon Hong Kong” by Rebekah Chan Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on Horizon Hong Kong. Xu Xi. Horizon Hong Kong: Selected Stories, Gaudy Boy, 2026. 288…
![[REVIEW] “Many Hong Kongs: Xu Xi’s 𝐻𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑧𝑜𝑛 𝐻𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝐾𝑜𝑛𝑔” by Rebekah Chan](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/horizonhongkong122925.webp)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “How beautiful will be the feet, of the one who comes to announce my death to me”: Patrick Holland’s Oblivion as “inchoate place on the shores of Oblivion and Mnemosyne” by Jason S…
![[REVIEW] “How beautiful will be the feet, of the one who comes to announce my death to me”: Patrick Holland’s 𝑂𝑏𝑙𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑜𝑛 as “inchoate place on the shores of Oblivion and Mnemosyne” by Jason S Polley](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/patrick-hollands-oblivion.jpg)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “Never Finish Making Refuge: Mai-Linh Hong’s Continental Drift” by Anna Nguyen Click HERE to read all entrieson Continental Drift. Mai-Linh Hong. Continental Drift, Trio House Press, 2026. 108 pgs. There…
![[REVIEW] “Never Finish Making Refuge: Mai-Linh Hong’s 𝐶𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝐷𝑟𝑖𝑓𝑡” by Anna Nguyen](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/mai-linh-hong.-continental-drift.webp)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “River of Time: Maitreyee B. Chowdhury’s I Walk Instead” by Mani Rao Maitreyee B. Chowdhury. I Walk Instead, Red River Press, 2026. Maitreyee B Chowdhury’s fifth book I Walk Instead…
![[REVIEW] “River of Time: Maitreyee B. Chowdhury’s 𝐼 𝑊𝑎𝑙𝑘 𝐼𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑎𝑑” by Mani Rao](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/maitreyee-b.-chowdhury.-i-walk-instead-red-river-press-2026.jpg)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “The Forbidden Desires of Women: Salma’s The Dark Hours of the Night” by Fathima M Salma (author), GJV Prasad (translator). The Dark Hours of the Night, Simon & Schuster, 2025.…
![[REVIEW] “The Forbidden Desires of Women: Salma’s 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐷𝑎𝑟𝑘 𝐻𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑁𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡” by Fathima M](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/the-dark-hours-of-the-night-by-salma-.-translated-by-gjv-prasad.jpg)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [ESSAY] “Into the Heart of Darkness in Rudraneil Sengupta’s The Beast Within and Nilanjana S. Roy’s Black River” by Rituparna Mukherjee 🌸 Rudraneil Sengupta. The Beast Within, Context, 2025. 352 pgs.🌸…
![[ESSAY] “Into the Heart of Darkness in Rudraneil Sengupta’s 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐵𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑡 𝑊𝑖𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛 and Nilanjana S. Roy’s 𝐵𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑘 𝑅𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑟” by Rituparna Mukherjee](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/rudraneil-sengupta.-the-beast-within-context-2025.-352-pgs.-nilanjana-s.-roy.-black-river-pushkin-vertigo-2024.-368-pgs.png)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “The Weight of a Family Name: Mimi Kwa’s House of Kwa” by Hilda Wong Mimi Kwa. House of Kwa, ABC Books, 2021. 368 pgs. 「家家有本難念的經」: “Every family has a scripture…
![[REVIEW] “The Weight of a Family Name: Mimi Kwa’s 𝐻𝑜𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝐾𝑤𝑎” by Hilda Wong](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/house-of-kwa.webp)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “The Colonial Gaze at the Dinner Table: Yáng Shuāng-zǐ’s Taiwan Travelogue” by Jennifer Eagleton Yáng Shuāng-zǐ (author), Lin King (translator). Taiwan Travelogue, Graywolf Press, 2024. 320 pgs. Taiwan Travelogue, winner…
![[REVIEW] “The Colonial Gaze at the Dinner Table: Yáng Shuāng-zǐ’s 𝑇𝑎𝑖𝑤𝑎𝑛 𝑇𝑟𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑔𝑢𝑒” by Jennifer Eagleton](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/yang-shuang-zi-author-lin-king-translator.-taiwan-travelogue-.jpg)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “How Jhumpa Lahiri’s Interpreter of Maladies Makes Ordinary Moments Unforgettable” by Abhinav Tulachan Jhumpa Lahiri. Interpreter of Maladies, Houghton Mifflin, 1999. 198 pgs. You will find no shortage of stories…
![[REVIEW] “How Jhumpa Lahiri’s 𝐼𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑀𝑎𝑙𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑒𝑠 Makes Ordinary Moments Unforgettable” by Abhinav Tulachan](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/interpreter-of-maladies.-jhumpa-lahiri.-houghton-mifflin-1999-p.-page-number-1.jpg)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “Loss, Survival, and Hope: Yuyutsu Sharma’s In God’s Messy Workplace” by Arun Budhathoki Yuyutsu Sharma. In God’s Messy Workplace: New Poems, Nirala Publications, 2026. 110 pgs. The COVID-19 pandemic generated…
![[REVIEW] “Loss, Survival, and Hope: Yuyutsu Sharma’s 𝐼𝑛 𝐺𝑜𝑑’𝑠 𝑀𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑦 𝑊𝑜𝑟𝑘𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑒” by Arun Budhathoki](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/in-gods-messy-workplace-new-poems-by-yuyutsu-sharma-author-.jpg)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [ESSAY] “Finding My Own Silent Friends: From the Botanical Garden to Hong Kong’s Streets” by Jennifer Eagleton Click HERE to read all entries in Chaon SILENT FRIEND. Ildikó Enyedi (director), Silent…
![[ESSAY] “Finding My Own Silent Friends: From the Botanical Garden to Hong Kong’s Streets” by Jennifer Eagleton](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/screenshot-2026-06-02-at-10.42.17.png)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [ESSAY] “What Lingers: On Babitha Marina Justin’s The Way Madmen Smell” by Ankush Banerjee Babitha Marina Justin. The Way Madmen Smell, Red River Press, 2026. 149 pgs. Noted Trivandrum-based academic, poet,…
![[ESSAY] “What Lingers: On Babitha Marina Justin’s 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑊𝑎𝑦 𝑀𝑎𝑑𝑚𝑒𝑛 𝑆𝑚𝑒𝑙𝑙” by Ankush Banerjee](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/the-way-madmen-smell-by-babitha-marina-justin-.jpg)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “Between the Rabbit and the Not-Rabbit: Yoo Heekyung’s Surrealism in Winter Night Rabbit Worries” by San Kwon Yoo Heekyung (author), Stine An (translator). Winter Night Rabbit Worries, Ugly Duckling Press,…
![[REVIEW] “Between the Rabbit and the Not-Rabbit: Yoo Heekyung’s Surrealism in 𝑊𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑁𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑅𝑎𝑏𝑏𝑖𝑡 𝑊𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑠” by San Kwon](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/winter-night-rabbit-worries-1.jpg)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “The Taste of Loneliness: On Joseph Hsu’s Little Big Women” by Ray Singh Joseph Chen-Chieh Hsu (director). Little Big Women (孤味), 2020. 124 min. East Asian cinema has always possessed…
![[REVIEW] “The Taste of Loneliness: On Joseph Hsu’s 𝐿𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑙𝑒 𝐵𝑖𝑔 𝑊𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑛” by Ray Singh](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/89348295_2924687147593664_9140641139848642560_o.jpg)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [ESSAY] “A Landmark in Environmental Science: Ma Tianjie’s In Search of Green China“ by Laurence Westwood Ma Tianjie. In Search of Green China, Polity Books, 2025. 272 pgs. Beginning in the…
![[ESSAY] “A Landmark in Environmental Science: Ma Tianjie’s 𝐼𝑛 𝑆𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑐ℎ 𝑜𝑓 𝐺𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝐶ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑎” by Laurence Westwood](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/in-search-of-green-china-tianjie-ma-livres.jpg)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “We Are Ugly but We Have the Words: Tammy Lai-Ming Ho’s Love Poetry” by Jonathan Han Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on If I Do Not Reply. Tammy Lai-Ming Ho, If I…
![[REVIEW] “We Are Ugly but We Have the Words: Tammy Lai-Ming Ho’s Love Poetry” by Jonathan Han](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/if-i-do-not-reply_tammy-ho.jpg)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [ESSAY] “Simmering, Steaming, Spilling: On Hongwei Bao’s Queer Playtext Hot Pot” by Ronny Chan Click HERE to read all entries in Chaon Hot Pot. Hongwei Bao. Hot Pot, Poetic Edge Publishers, 2026. 112 pgs. “To…
![[ESSAY] “Simmering, Steaming, Spilling: On Hongwei Bao’s Queer Playtext 𝐻𝑜𝑡 𝑃𝑜𝑡” by Ronny Chan](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/hongwei-bao.-hot-pot-poetic-edge-publishers-2026.-112-pgs.png)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “Now and Now and Now and Now: Abyssal Form in Yiyun Li’s Things in Nature Merely Grow” by Ronny Chan Yiyun Li. Things in Nature Merely Grow, Farrar, Straus and…
![[REVIEW] “Now and Now and Now and Now: Abyssal Form in Yiyun Li’s 𝑇ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑁𝑎𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑀𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑦 𝐺𝑟𝑜𝑤” by Ronny Chan](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/things-in-nature-merely-grow-by-yiyun-li-farrar-straus-and-giroux-2025.jpg)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “Bodies and Landscapes in Flux: Displacement, Placemaking, and Agency in Mai-Linh Hong’s Continental Drift” by Shui-yin Sharon Yam Click HERE to read all entrieson Continental Drift. Mai-Linh Hong. Continental Drift,…
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “One Script, Many Languages: The Journey of Chinese Writing Across Asia” by Gabriel Corsetti Zev Handel. Chinese Characters across Asia: How the Chinese Script Came to Write Japanese, Korean, and…
![[REVIEW] “One Script, Many Languages: The Journey of Chinese Writing Across Asia” by Gabriel Corsetti](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/chinese-characters-across-asia-how-the-chinese-script-came-to-write-japanese-korean-and-vietnamese-1.jpg)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “Pot Noodles and Power: Junko Takase’s May You Have Delicious Meals” by Anna Nguyen Junko Takase (author), Morgan Giles (translator). May You Have Delicious Meals, Penguin Random House, 2025. 133…
![[REVIEW] “Pot Noodles and Power: Junko Takase’s 𝑀𝑎𝑦 𝑌𝑜𝑢 𝐻𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝐷𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑜𝑢𝑠 𝑀𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑠” by Anna Nguyen](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/the-politics-of-the-packed-lunch-junko-takases-may-you-have-delicious-meals.jpg)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “The Silence Between Metaphors: Ildikó Enyedi’s Silent Friend” by Anna Nguyen Click HERE to read all entries in Chaon SILENT FRIEND. Ildikó Enyedi (director), Silent Friend, 2026. 147 min. In…
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “Every Puddle a Reflection: On Dorothy Tse’s City Like Water” by Jennifer Eagleton Click HERE to read all entries in Chaon City Like Water. Dorothy Tse (author), Natascha Bruce (translator). City Like Water, Graywolf…
![[REVIEW] “Every Puddle a Reflection: On Dorothy Tse’s 𝐶𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝐿𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑊𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟” by Jennifer Eagleton](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/city-like-water-dorothy-tse-cha-an-asian-literary-journal.jpg)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “A Riddle Wrapped in a Mystery: On Angie Kim’s Happiness Falls” by Raymond K. Nakamura Angie Kim, Happiness Falls, Hogarth Press, 2023. 336 pgs. The novel Happiness Falls by Korean-American…
![[REVIEW] “A Riddle Wrapped in a Mystery: On Angie Kim’s 𝐻𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝐹𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑠” by Raymond K. Nakamura](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/happiness-falls-by-korean-american-writer-angie-kim-.jpg)
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FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [ESSAY] “Yi-Ling Liu’s Portrait of China’s Digital Dissidents in The Wall Dancers” by Johanna M. Costigan Yi-Ling Liu. The Wall Dancers: Searching for Freedom and Connection on the Chinese Internet, Knopf, 2026,…
![[ESSAY] “Yi-Ling Liu’s Portrait of China’s Digital Dissidents in 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑊𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝐷𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑟𝑠” by Johanna M. Costigan](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/wall-dancers.jpg)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “No Useless Poems: Tsering Woeser’s Greater Tibet” by Angus Stewart Tsering Woeser (author), edited and translated by Fiona Sze-Lorrain with Dechen Pemba. Ocean, as Much as Rain: Stories, Lyrical Prose, and…
![[REVIEW] “No Useless Poems: Tsering Woeser’s Greater Tibet” by Angus Stewart](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/ocean-as-much-as-rain-stories-lyrical-prose-and-poems-from-tibet.jpg)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “Family, Failure, and Historical Memory in Sagisawa Megumu’s The Running Boy and Other Stories” by James Kin Pong Au Sagisawa Megumu (author), Tyran Grillo (translator). The Running Boy and Other…
![[REVIEW] “Family, Failure, and Historical Memory in Sagisawa Megumu’s 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑅𝑢𝑛𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝐵𝑜𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑂𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑆𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑠” by James Au Kin-Pong](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/cornellpress.cornell.edubook9781501749896the-running-boy-and-other-stories.jpg)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [ESSAY] “The Forgotten Chapter of Indian History: A Study of Abbas Panakkal’s Hindu Amir of Muslims” by Kabir Deb Abbas Panakkal, Hindu Amir of Muslims: Indigenized Islam from the Indian Ocean…
![[ESSAY] “The Forgotten Chapter of Indian History: A Study of Abbas Panakkal’s 𝐻𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑢 𝐴𝑚𝑖𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑀𝑢𝑠𝑙𝑖𝑚𝑠” by Kabir Deb](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/hindu-amir-of-muslims-indigenized-islam-from-the-indian-ocean-littoral-of-malabar-bloomsbury-academic.jpg)