Author: Rosie | Little Bird Book Blog

Rosie | Little Bird Book Blog2 Comments

Book Haul – July 2020

My July 2020 book haul!

Every month since April, I decided to treat myself to a selection of books as I’m getting through my TBR pile relatively quickly this year! So, I don’t feel quite as guilty adding to my bookshelf. After reading Circe by Madeline Miller, you will see there is a bit of a theme amongst some of the books…

I can’t wait to get stuck into these! Keep an eye out on my reviews in the coming weeks. Have you read any of these novels? Let me know what you thought of them!

Rosie | Little Bird Book Blog4 Comments

Pachinko by Min Jin Lee

Publisher: Apollo
Publication Date: 13/03/2020 (reissue)
Length: 552 pages
Genre: Historical fiction | Asian Literature

CW: suicide

In the early 1900s, teenaged Sunja, the adored daughter of a crippled fisherman, falls for a wealthy stranger at the seashore near her home in Korea. He promises her the world, but when she discovers she is pregnant — and that her lover is married — she refuses to be bought. Instead, she accepts an offer of marriage from a gentle, sickly minister passing through on his way to Japan. But her decision to abandon her home, and to reject her son’s powerful father, sets off a dramatic saga that will echo down through the generations.

GoodReads

Review

This year, as you will soon see from the coming reviews that I post, I have been on a kick of reading Japanese and Korean fiction. So, naturally, this book seemed like a perfect one to get stuck into and get stuck into it I did!

Although the novel spans four generation and covers several decades, many of which being some of the most important in the 20th Century, the novel flew by. The pacing was excellent, each change in setting or year was clearly identified at the beginning of the chapter so you were always aware of how much time had passed. The transition from year to year and character to character flowed so naturally. When the protagonists shifted from Sunja, to her sons, to her grandson, I was barely aware of it because it was done seamlessly. It felt right to have the shifts happen when they did as you have built a relationship with the characters from their lives as told by the previous protagonists.

This was also achieved through how Lee depicted each of the characters. You could tell that not only is she a talented writer but she really understands the people that she was portraying. There were several times where the characters just felt like real people and I became so invested in their lives because of this. Sunja is so admirable, I certainly wouldn’t have been as strong as her. I would have immediately caved and lived as Hansu’s kept woman. I was also fascinated by her sons Noa and Mozasu, seeing how they can be raised in the same situations but turn out so different (or so it seems at first).

Whilst this is a work of fiction, it isn’t difficult to believe that there were many Korean families that experienced hardships like this in Japan. Who most likely still face some similar hardships now. Min Jin Lee does a superb job of weaving history into the novel without it dominating the novel or the characters. You are aware of the wars going on, however they are not the sole focus and you see the events through how the family develops and reacts.

I could talk about this book for hours, as it’s one of my favourite novels that I read this year and potentially in general. However, I will restrain myself before this post becomes too long, and simply urge you to pick this book up for yourself!

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Rosie | Little Bird Book Blog2 Comments

Hello everyone, welcome to Little Bird Book Blog!

It’s been a very long time since I have dipped my toes into the book blogging world and I’m very excited to come back! Once upon a time I ran a book blog for a few years starting when I was doing my A-Levels, I was reading a lot for school and outside it that I just wanted to share all of my thoughts (even if I was just shouting them into the void at first!).

The blog continued into my years studying English Literature at university, even if I didn’t keep up with any kind of regular posting schedule. However, after university I was in a huge slump: I was totally burnt out on reading books after having to power through four in a week (even if I didn’t like them) every week, and job hunting was draining. The thought of picking up a book and reviewing it became overwhelming and the blog became dormant.

Once I got a job I thought the commute would be the perfect time to get some reading in, like it was when I was on my placement year. However, I’d forgotten how long it took me to adjust to the 9-5 lifestyle in London on my placement year and so my to read list continued to pile up. I read a couple of books here and there, mostly on holiday or, if there were problems with my trains and I ended up having to sit on the District line for well over an hour.

This year I resolved to travel more (which hasn’t quite worked out) and read more. Back in February I attended a Japanese Literature event at the British Library where authors and their translators spoke in depth about their works which excited me and I came away with nearly all of the books on sale (which made the journey home on a crowded, delayed, Central line train even more fun).

One of the books I picked up was Penguin Highway by Tomihiko Morimi and little Aoyama inspired me to start writing again. I was fascinated with the way the boy took notes about everything and it made me want to start journalling again. I now have three journals on the go and it was my reading journal that convinced me to start a book blog again. After reading 44 books this year so far, I feel like I have recovered from my book burnout and rediscovered my lifelong passion and enthusiasm for reading.

Okay, so I know this was long winded but I hope you stick around for more of my reviews and ramblings! I know this is going to be tough starting out again, and there may be times that I feel overwhelmed with blogging, but I think I’m in a better place for it now, and I’m determined for it to continue.

~ Rosie