Category: Penguin Random House SEA
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Mahmoud Alshaer & Mohammed Al-Zaqzooq (editors), Letters from Gaza: A Collection by the People; Unveiling Their Stories and Emotions from the Year That Has Been, Penguin Random House SEA,…
![[REVIEW] “A War, Many Cries, and a Long, Unkind Sleep: 𝐿𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝐺𝑎𝑧𝑎” by Kabir Deb](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/letters-from-gaza-a-collection-by-the-people-unveiling-their-stories-and-emotions-from-the-year-that-has-been-1.jpg?w=906)
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Editor’s note: In “Twist of Fate: When Writers Are Better Recognised for Their Images”, Thammika Songkaeo, author of Stamford Hospital (Penguin Random House SEA, 2025; reviewed in Cha), offers a thoughtful reflection on how contemporary publicity privileges appearance, exoticism, and…
![[EXCLUSIVE] “Twist of Fate: When Writers are Better Recognised for their Images” by Thammika Songkaeo](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/banner-size.jpg?w=1024)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Click HERE to read Thammika Songkaeo’s “Twist of Fate” Thammika Songkaeo, Stamford Hospital, Penguin Random House SEA, 2025. 256 pgs. Stamford Hospital explores the solitude inherent in urban…
![[REVIEW] “Thammika Songkaeo’s 𝑆𝑡𝑎𝑚𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑑 𝐻𝑜𝑠𝑝𝑖𝑡𝑎𝑙: Love and Loneliness in a Capitalist City” by Fathima M](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/thammika-songkaeo.jpg?w=977)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Dương Hướng (author), Quan Manh Ha and Charles Waugh (translators), No Man River, Penguin Random House SEA, 2025. 248 pgs. The recent publication of the English edition of Dương…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “No Human Being is Spared from Its Crimson Claws: Dương Hướng’s 𝑁𝑜 𝑀𝑎𝑛 𝑅𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑟” by Rebecca Maine](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/no-man-river-duong-huong-1.jpg?w=938)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on Tapestry of the Mind. Aneeta Sundararaj, Tapestry of the Mind and Other Stories, Penguin Random House SEA, 2024. 272 pgs. Aneeta Sundararaj’s Tapestry of the…
![[REVIEW] “A Powerful and Stimulating Collection: Aneeta Sundararaj’s 𝑇𝑎𝑝𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑀𝑖𝑛𝑑” by Namrata](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/tapestry-of-the-mind-and-other-stories-aneeta-sundararaj.jpg?w=977)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS San Lin Tun, Yangon Days: A Collection of Urban Short Stories, Penguin Random House SEA, 2024. 240 pgs. If the Yangon you used to think of as so full…
![[REVIEW] “Our Yangon: San Lin Tun’s 𝑌𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑜𝑛 𝐷𝑎𝑦𝑠” by Peixuan Xie](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/yangon-days-a-collection-of-urban-short-stories.jpg?w=977)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 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 Anh’s novels, replete as they are…
![[REVIEW] “A Daring and Unsettling Portrait: Ta Duy Anh’s 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑇𝑒𝑟𝑚𝑖𝑡𝑒 𝑄𝑢𝑒𝑒𝑛” by Mia Tompkins](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/the-termite-queen-copy.jpeg?w=625)
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[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Perhaps Misguided: Aneeta Sundararaj’s 𝑇𝑎𝑝𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑀𝑖𝑛𝑑” by Grace Najmulski
📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on Tapestry of the Mind. Aneeta Sundararaj, Tapestry of the Mind and Other Stories, Penguin Random House SEA, 2024. 272 pgs. Aneeta Sundararaj’s Tapestry of the…
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on Lockdown Lovers. Michael O’Sullivan, Lockdown Lovers, Penguin Random House SEA, 2021. 240 pgs. When Lockdown Lovers opens with “Hong Kong February–March, 2020”, we expect a flashback…
![[REVIEW] “Michael O’Sullivan’s 𝐿𝑜𝑐𝑘𝑑𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝐿𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑠: The Pandemic as Glocal” by Lucy Hamilton](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/lockdown-lovers_michael-osullivan.png?w=1024)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Lucy Hamilton, The Widening of Tolo Highway: A Hong Kong Story of Paranoia and Protest, Penguin Random House SEA, 2022. 236 pgs. When, one-third into a novel, you still…
![[REVIEW] “Hong Kong as Method: Lucy Hamilton’s 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑊𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑓 𝑇𝑜𝑙𝑜 𝐻𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑤𝑎𝑦” by Michael Tsang](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/the-widening-of-the-tolo-highway-1.jpg?w=426)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Malcolm Mejin, The Diary of a Rich Kid: Lost in Space, Penguin Random House SEA, 2023. 208 pgs. Malcolm Mejin’s The Diary of a Rich Kid: Lost in Space…
![[REVIEW] “Play Pretend: Malcolm Mejin’s 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐷𝑖𝑎𝑟𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑎 𝑅𝑖𝑐ℎ 𝐾𝑖𝑑” by Frances An](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/diary-of-a-rich-kid-lost-in-space-1.jpg?w=407)
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{Return to Cha Review of Books and Films.} Grace Chia, The Arches of Gerrard Street, Penguin Random House SEA, 2021. 268 pgs. It’s clear from the prologue alone that Grace Chia has prepared a complex and diverse diasporic world for…
![[REVIEW] “The Heterogeneity of the Vast Chinese Community: Grace Chia’s 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐴𝑟𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝐺𝑒𝑟𝑟𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝑆𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑡” by Queenie Au](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/the-arches-of-gerrard-street.png?w=1024)
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Click HERE to read Michael O’Sullivan’s reflection on writing Lockdown Lovers, written exclusively for Cha, and an excerpt from the novel. 📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on Lockdown Lovers. Michael O’Sullivan, Lockdown…
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