Category: Cha Review of Books and Films
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] βThe Courage to Dream and Defy: Review of Jeffrey Wasserstromβs The Milk Tea Allianceβ by Shui-yin Sharon Yam ClickΒ HERE to readΒ all entries inΒ ChaΒ onΒ The Milk Tea Alliance. Jeffrey Wasserstrom, The Milk…
![[REVIEW] βThe Courage to Dream and Defy: Review of Jeffrey Wasserstromβs πβπ ππππ πππ π΄πππππππβ by Shui-yin Sharon Yam](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/the-milk-tea-alliance-inside-asias-struggle-against-autocracy-and-beijing.jpg?w=1000)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπRETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Weike Wang, Joan Is Okay, Penguin Random House, 2022. 224 pgs. Joan is Okay, the sophomore novel by Weike Wang, opens with the line: βWhen I think about…
![[REVIEW] βThe Telos of Toil: Reading Weike Wang’s π½πππ ππ ππππ¦ Through Labour and Identityβ by Tiffany Troy](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/weike-wang-joan-is-okay.png?w=1024)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπRETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Gilda Cordero-Fernando, The Last Full Moon: Lessons on My Life, University of the Philippines Press and GCF Books, 2005. 250 pgs. “I don’t want to be boring ever.”βChappell…
![[REVIEW] βGrandmothered! A Filipina Gen Z’s Critique of Gilda Cordero-Fernando’s πβπ πΏππ π‘ πΉπ’ππ ππππβ by Janelle Tanguin](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/gilda-cordero-fernando-the-last-full-moon-lessons-of-my-life.jpg?w=1024)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπRETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on In the Mood for Love. Wong Kar-wai (director), In the Mood for Love, 2000. 98 min. Some films are simply like thatβfrom the moment you…
![[REVIEW] “πΌπ π‘βπ ππππ πππ πΏππ£π at 25: Wong Kar-wai’s Cinematic Language of Longing” by G.A. Gowtham](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/in-the-mood-for-love-wong-kar-wai-2020-4k-red-ds-os-195-_blur.webp?w=1024)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπRETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Alex John Catanese, Buddha in the Marketplace: The Commodification of Buddhist Objects in Tibet, University of Virginia Press, 2019. 334 pgs. The phenomenon of religious commodification across diverse…
![[REVIEW] “Commodifying the Sacred: Alex John Catanese’s π΅π’ππβπ ππ π‘βπ ππππππ‘πππππ” by Palden GyalΒ](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/buddha-copy.jpg?w=1024)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπRETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Mandira Chakraborty, Firefly Games, Sambhavna Prakashan, 2025. 217 pgs. The world we inhabit today is a curious interplay between misinformation and an overwhelming excess of informationβone click or…
![[REVIEW] βMandira Chakrabortyβs πΉππππππ¦ πΊππππ : Stories of Light and Shadowβ by Sayan Aich](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/mandira-chakraborty-firefly-games.jpg?w=1000)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπRETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Nobuhiro Doi (director), Hanamizuki, 2010. 128 min. Water plays a significant role in the work of many filmmakers. One might, for instance, recall the rainwater and silvery puddles…
![[REVIEW] “The Measure of Love in Nobuhiro Doi’s π»ππππππ§π’ππ” by Anders KΓΈlle](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/hanamizuki-e3838fe3838ae3839fe382bae382ad.png?w=1024)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπRETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Anru Lee, Haunted Modernities: Gender, Memory and Placemaking in Post-industrial Taiwan, University of Hawaiβi Press, 2023. 246 pgs. Anru Lee first learned of the 25 Maiden Ladiesβ Tomb…
![[REVIEW] βFrom Spirits to Statues: Commemorating Women Workers in Anru Leeβs π»ππ’ππ‘ππ ππππππππ‘πππ β 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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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Han Kang (author), e. yaewon and Paige Aniyah Morris (translators), We do Not Part, Hogarth, 2025. 272 pgs. Kyungha struggles to sleep or eat, suffers from persistent…
![[REVIEW] βThe Persistance of Memory: Han Kangβs ππ π·π πππ‘ ππππ‘β by Jennifer Eagleton](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/https-www.penguinrandomhouse.combooks718535we-do-not-part-by-han-kang-translated-by-e-yaewon-and-paige-aniyah-morris.png?w=1024)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπRETURN 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] βRelational Ecologies and the Displacement of Borders: Reading Visser’s Sinophone Environmental Imaginaryβ 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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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] βAdam Mars-Jonesβs Box Hill: A Bold Celebration of Queer Love and Desireβ by Hongwei Bao ClickΒ HERE to readΒ all entries inΒ ChaΒ onΒ Pillion & Box Hill. Adam Mars-Jones, Box Hill, Fitzcarraldo Editions, 2020.…
![[REVIEW] βAdam Mars-Jonesβs π΅ππ₯ π»πππ: A Bold Celebration of Queer Love and Desireβ by Hongwei Bao](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/box-hill.jpg?w=779)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Nicholas de Villiers, Cruisy, Sleepy, Melancholy: Sexual Disorientation in the Films of Tsai Ming-liang, The University of Minnesota Press, 2022. 216 pgs. As one of the most celebrated Chinese-language…
![[REVIEW] “Feeling QueerβNicholas de Villiersβs πΆππ’ππ π¦, ππππππ¦, ππππππβπππ¦: πππ₯π’ππ π·ππ ππππππ‘ππ‘πππ ππ π‘βπ πΉππππ ππ ππ ππ ππππ-πππππ” by Haley Agcaoili B.](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/cruisy-sleepy-melancholy-sexual-disorientation-in-the-films-of-tsai-ming-liang.jpg?w=971)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Mike Sakas (director), City of Shells: Our Forgotten Oyster Reefs, 2025. 66 min. As Robin Wall Kimmerer reminds us, we cannot restore our relationships with nature without also engaging…
![[REVIEW] βRe-story-ation of the Hong Kong Oyster: πΆππ‘π¦ ππ πβππππ β by Tim Pit Hok Yau](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/mike-sakas-director-city-of-shells-2025.png?w=1024)
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] βNarrative Reclamation: Nguyα» n Phan QuαΊΏ Mai’s The Mountains Singβ by Zalman S. Davis Nguyα» n Phan QuαΊΏ Mai, The Mountains Sing, Algonquin Books, 2021. 368 pgs. Nguyα» n Phan QuαΊΏ Maiβs The…
![[REVIEW] βNarrative Reclamation: Nguyα»
n Phan QuαΊΏ Mai’s πβπ πππ’ππ‘ππππ ππππβ by Zalman S. Davis](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/the-mountains-sing-hardcover-e28093-march-17-2020-by-nguyen-phan-que-mai.jpg?w=996)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Anna Qu, Made in China: A Memoir of Love and Labor, Catapult, 2021. 224 pgs. Made in China is a sensitive, thoughtful exploration of the inextricable ties between labour,…
![[REVIEW] βNegotiating Love and Labour in Anna Quβs ππππ ππ πΆβπππβ by Fion Tse](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/made-in-china-anna-qu.jpg?w=993)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Shuchi Talati (director), Girls Will Be Girls, 2024. 118 min. Female sexuality has long remained one of the most stringently policed and anxiously mediated territories. The erotic interiority of…
![[REVIEW] βShuchi Talatiβs πΊππππ ππππ π΅π πΊππππ : A Stirring, Sublime Portrait of Becomingβ by Ananya Singh](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/girls-will-be-girls-2.webp?w=780)
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [ESSAY] βA Harrowing Future of Waste in Chen Qiufanβs Waste Tideβ by Loritta Chan Chen Qiufan (author), Ken Liu (translator), Waste Tide, Tor Books, 2019. 352 pgs. They call us “the…
![[ESSAY] βA Harrowing Future of Waste in Chen Qiufanβs πππ π‘π ππππβ by Loritta Chan](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/chen-qiufan-author-ken-liu-translator-waste-tide.jpg?w=798)
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] βSamrat Upadhyay’s Mad Country: To Adapt and Thrive in the Chaosβ by Abhinav Tulachan Samrat Upadhyay, Mad Country, Soho Press, 2017. 304 pgs. Abhinav Tulachan’s copy of Mad Country Following…
![[REVIEW] βSamrat Upadhyay’s πππ πΆππ’ππ‘ππ¦: To Adapt and Thrive in the Chaosβ by Abhinav Tulachan](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/samrat-upadhyay-mad-country-1.jpg?w=1000)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Asako Yuzuki (author), Polly Barton (translator), Butter: A Novel of Food and Murder, Fourth Estate, 2024. 464 pgs. Butter is inspired by the true story of a…
![[REVIEW] βAsako Yuzukiβs π΅π’π‘π‘ππ: Tasting the Essential Selfβ by Jennifer Eagleton](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/butter-a-novel-of-food-and-murder-1.jpg?w=985)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Rob Noble, Octopus: The Pioneering Story of the Worldβs First Contactless Payment Card, Blacksmith Books, 2023, 396 pgs. As a resident of a city bereft of a…
![[REVIEW] βThe Almost Everything CardβRob Nobleβs πππ‘πππ’π : πβπ ππππππππππ ππ‘πππ¦ ππ π‘βπ πππππβπ πΉπππ π‘ πΆπππ‘πππ‘πππ π πππ¦ππππ‘ πΆπππβ 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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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS ClickΒ HERE to readΒ all entries inΒ ChaΒ onΒ Ezra Pound’s Chinese Friends. Zhaoming Qian (editor), Ezra Poundβs Chinese Friends: Stories in Letters, Oxford University Press. 2008. 272 pgs. A fascination with…
![[REVIEW] βEzra Pound’s Chinese Character: What Did the Great Modernist Author Really Know About Confucius in the Original?β by Kerry Brown](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/ezra-pounds-chinese-friends-stories-in-letters.jpg?w=637)
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πΒ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπΒ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Hideko Abe, Queer Japanese: Gender and Sexual Identities through Linguistic Practices, Palgrave Macmillan, 2010. 199 pgs. Queer Japanese: Gender and Sexual Identities through Linguistic Practices offers readers a glimpse…
![[REVIEW] βSpeaking in Queer Tongues: Language, Identity, and Everyday Resistance in Hideko Abe’s ππ’πππ π½ππππππ πβ by Jane McBride](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/queer-japanese-gender-and-sexual-identities-through-linguist-practices-1.jpg?w=827)
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] βThe Making of An Unlikely Maritime SuperpowerβJack Weatherfordβs Emperor of the Seas: Kublai Khan and the Making of Chinaβ by Ryan Ho Kilpatrick Jack Weatherford, Emperor of the Seas: Kublai…
![[REVIEW] βThe Making of An Unlikely Maritime SuperpowerβJack Weatherfordβs πΈππππππ ππ π‘βπ ππππ : πΎπ’ππππ πΎβππ πππ π‘βπ ππππππ ππ πΆβπππβ by Ryan Ho Kilpatrick](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/emperor-of-the-seas-kublai-khan-and-the-making-of-china-1.jpg?w=963)
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “Uncovering the Truths of the Toleration-Regulation RegimeβPark Jeong-mi’s The State’s Sexuality: Prostitution and Postcolonial Nation Building in South Korea” by Jack Greenberg Park Jeong-mi, The Stateβs Sexuality: Prostitution and Postcolonial…
![[REVIEW] “Uncovering the Truths of the Toleration-Regulation RegimeβPark Jeong-mi’s πβπ ππ‘ππ‘πβπ πππ₯π’ππππ‘π¦: ππππ π‘ππ‘π’π‘πππ πππ πππ π‘ππππππππ πππ‘πππ π΅π’ππππππ ππ πππ’π‘β πΎππππ” by Jack Greenberg](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/https-www.ucpress.edubooksthe-states-sexualitypaper-1.jpg?w=1000)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Matthew Wong Foreman, Sunset at Lion Rock, Proverse Press, 2024. 288 pgs. ………Iβve no strength left to stop the contradiction………My heart is tired and my eyes blurry you know………βLeslie…
![[REVIEW] “Keep the Aspidistra Flying, Among Many, Many Other Things: Matthew Wong Foremanβs ππ’ππ ππ‘ ππ‘ πΏπππ π
πππ” by Jason S Polley](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/matthew-wong-foreman-sunset-at-lion-rock-1.jpg?w=962)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Bong Joon-ho (director), Mickey 17, 2025. 137 min. Header image Β© bartos. Bong Joon-hoβs Mickey 17 is at once an existential tragedy and a darkly comic spectacleβa sci-fi epic…
![[REVIEW] “Dying for a Living: Bong Joon-ho’s ππππππ¦ 17 and the Horror of Being Replaceable” by Ananya Singh](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/c2a9marclafon-mickey17-rectangle.jpg?w=1024)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS For Gab Angeles, who lent me the book. Natsume SΕseki (author), Meredith McKinney (translator), Kokoro, Penguin Classics, 2010. 256 pgs. Kokoro is the final novel written by Natsume SΕseki.…
![[EXCLUSIVE] βThe Virtue of Melancholy: Reading Natsume SΕsekiβs πΎπππππβ by Ramzzi FariΓ±as](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/kokoro.png?w=1024)
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] βA Shifting, Unstable World: Can Xueβs I Live in the Slumsβ by Zalman S. Davis Can Xue (author), Karen Gernant and Chen Zeping (translators), I Live in the Slums, Yale…
![[REVIEW] βA Shifting, Unstable World: Can Xueβs πΌ πΏππ£π ππ π‘βπ πππ’ππ β by Zalman S. Davis](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/i-live-in-the-slums-1.jpg?w=968)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Xiaofei Tian (editor), Reading Du Fu: Nine Views, Hong Kong University Press, 2020. 200 pgs. The idea for Reading Du Fu: Nine Views grew out of a two-day conference…
![[REVIEW] “Interrogative Reflections: Nine Views of Reading Du Fu” by Marsha McDonald](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/xiaofei-tian-editor-reading-du-fu-nine-views-1.jpg?w=1024)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on Hiroko Oyamada. Hiroko Oyamada (author), David Boyd (translator), The Factory, New Directions, 2019. 128 pgs. Hiroko Oyamadaβs The Factory weaves…
![[REVIEW] βA Senseless Menagerie: Hiroko Oyamadaβs πβπ πΉπππ‘πππ¦β by Tyran Grillo](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/the-factory.png?w=562)
Cha 