Welcome to Litsy!

Penang, 1939. The young Philip Hutton, half Chinese, half English, meets a Japanese man who will be his Aikido teacher, who shares tons of wisdom and who loves him unconditionally. Philip shows him his homeland and Tan Twan Eng is able to captivate Malaysia‘s smells, images and aromas masterfully. Then Japan invades Malaysia and the story becomes one about divided loyalties, betrayal, courage, cruelty and forgiveness. I loved it.

#WeeklyForecast 25/23

I am going to read two books that I‘ve been very much looking forward to. In fact I already started A Town Called Solace (my first Mary Lawson) and am enjoying it a lot. The tagged book is one I have such high expectations of after loving The Garden of Evening Mists that I have postponed reading it for a long time.

#gift #divinedecember @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @Eggs

#memorablegift #indeliblemoments @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @Eggs

A favourite of mine #rain #artfulaugust @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @Eggs

This is a book that is going to find a place in my list of favourites. The story is one of family, war, fate and regret and is set predominantly on the island of Penang which is a character in its own right. Multi faceted and moving I feel so silly it‘s been on my kindle for so long … loved it (and I am off and running for my #booked2022

First time on a train in nearly two years after flying visit to my parents … hoping to get into this one which is my #booked2022 weather choice. Enjoying so far

#falltreasures #over500pages @Eggs @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks
This is one of my favourite read from a favourite author! Hard to get into it at first but once I got the hang of it, it was a beautiful journey!

There comes a time when you read a book, so beautifully written, so genuinely moving, that makes everything else in life seem bland. THE GIFT OF RAIN by TAN TWAN ENG is that book. Mr. Eng wrote piercingly of the pain of terrible tragedy without veering into flimsiness. His in-depth immersive storytelling was inexplicably stunning; his imagery powerful. He did not seem to write to impress you; he wrote beyond you. 👏😊

Well, no rain here for weeks. Won‘t stop me from reading this book though! #myanmar #readtheworld #readingtheworld

Used bookstore haul!! Sir Betrothed and I decided to hit the bookstore to celebrate the new car. I found five brilliant sounding #OwnVoices Asian Literature novels and a beautiful edition of Northanger Abbey, which I‘ve never read but want to.

#koreanlit #chineselit #MalaysianLit #southasianlit #britishlit #bookhaul #litsygram

Finally getting around to reading the thank you gift I received from some of my students #thankfulteacher #neverendingreadinglist #lovetoread

Another book #setinsoutheastasia. This debut novel is set against the backdrop of the build-up to and aftermath of the Japanese occupation of Penang in Malaysia (then a British colony) during World War II. It was a longlist for the Man Booker Prize 2007. On my TBR shelf.
#aprilbookshowers

Tan Twan Eng is a talented writer, no doubt about this. But the main problem I have with the book is that it is too melodramatic. It's like watching a movie - a Chinese action movie at that. And towards the end, I kept thinking that Tan must have really hated his protagonist to put him through so much misery. Haha. But yeah, Phillip Hutton has the gift of rain - hope for some, pain and suffering for others.

Unlike Tan's other book, this book was rather slow to catch my attention. But now, with a quarter left to read, I am hooked.

Baby is sleeping, husband is away. Perfect time for some literary indulgence.

The books I brought for my trip. Any suggestions on which one to pick next? They all look so good!

This is one of the books I am reading for Book Riot's 2016 Read Harder Challenge.