fionaian's reviews
290 reviews

Too Young for Cancer: One Woman's Battle for a Diagnosis and a Fighting Chance by Katie Coleman

emotional hopeful informative medium-paced

3.0

Over the Influence by Joanna "JoJo" Levesque

emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

5.0

Swiped by L.M. Chilton

funny mysterious tense medium-paced

3.0

Permission to Come Home: Reclaiming Mental Health as Asian Americans by Jenny T. Wang

challenging hopeful informative reflective medium-paced

4.0

This is an excellent introduction to how Asian Americans can encourage mental health discussions and acknowledgement among their communities, especially with first-generation Asian immigrants. I enjoyed Jenny Wang's gentle approach to conduct productive discussions around mental health with immigrant parents, albeit some of the scripts she introduced are a little unrealistic/a little too formal for my taste/for my own family's communication style.

I Hope This Finds You Well by Natalie Sue

emotional funny hopeful medium-paced

5.0

This is one of my favorite books I've read so far this year. I am totally biased because it puts HR in a compassionate light. I felt the author Natalie Sue gave each character depth and meaning, even when it's easy to dislike them from the get-go. The protagonist Jolene is very flawed from the start, but she builds her character up after discovering dirt on all her coworkers. As a big fan of the show The Office (American version), the world of Supershops Inc. in this book is an accurate reflection of modern-day corporate America (or in this book's case, corporate Canada). I loved all the twists and turns that played out in the book, from her fake engagement to her coworker to the eventual friendship Jolene forms with her 12-year-old neighbor. The plot line had every part accounted for, cohesively connected, hilariously played out.

DallerGut Dream Department Store by Mi-Ye Lee 이미예

hopeful lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

3.0

This was another quick slice-of-life novella with heavy use of *magical realism*. I think the idea of a dream department store is cute; it reminds me of Pixar's Monsters Inc. where the monsters produce nightmares and screams from children in exchange for energy in the monsters' world. The dream store is less scary, though, as humans purchase their dreams and chooses what they want to appear in their slumber. A lot of the side stories didn't really make sense to me as it felt more like a collection of short stories set in the DallerGut Dream Department Store, without much cohesion between each story.

There's Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension by Hanif Abdurraqib

hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.0

Hanif Abdurraqib has a way with words, poetic and impactful. Each story he shares, whether they are the intermissions about various movies he watched growing up or connecting his East Columbus, OH, roots to the rising basketball players of the NBA, is beautifully connected. I appreciate his way of cluing the reader in, even if you are clueless about basketball like myself. I especially like how he challenges the reader to critically think who gets the right to deem someone great or not, and how that impacts their community at large.

Severance by Ling Ma

dark reflective tense medium-paced

3.0

The fact that this book was published before the COVID-19 lockdown is eerie as the setting is similar, except for the exaggerated zombie reality. I felt like several parts of the book were predictable, especially when cult leader Bob hyped up about "The Facility" only for it to be a mall from his childhood. The back-and-forth between Candace's past and present can be a bit blurry, especially the part where she talks to her deceased mother about running away from the cult. I did find it heartbreaking when Candace discovers that the taxi driver has lapsed into the shen fever, only because he was the last cab driver in Manhattan that really gave Candace any sense of hope. I did enjoy how Ling Ma compares and contrasts between New York and Chicago, although she clearly talks more about the grand landscape of NYC more. Knowing that she is a professor at UChicago now, I think this book was a way for her to bid adieu to NYC and plant Chicagoland as her home.

Uncle of the Year: & Other Debatable Triumphs by Andrew Rannells

funny lighthearted reflective fast-paced

4.0

I really enjoyed Andrew Rannells' first memoir, so I'm glad he released a second one. He's really lived a storied life, and I especially enjoyed how this book talks about his rise to stardom from The Book of Mormon on Broadway. A standout essay from this memoir is his Ricki Lake story (definitely worth a read). Uncle of the Year is a later essay in the book, but pretty solid as he reasoned why he does not want kids of his own. Another standout essay was Rannells' first meeting with Ryan Murphy. He had the guts to reject a Glee audition to discuss Murphy's other show idea around a gay couple and having kids via surrogacy. While the show was canceled after one season, Rannells still had the opportunity to pursue projects he truly believe in.

We'll Prescribe You a Cat by Syou Ishida

emotional lighthearted reflective medium-paced

3.0

Another quick slice-of-life novella with a dash of *magical realism* using cats as the cure-all for people's everyday anxieties and heartaches. I enjoyed how the vet/psychiatrist/therapist and the nurse/receptionist appeared throughout the book as other people (or maybe they were disguising as other people but it's never confirmed). It's even more strange when you discover that the clinic only appears when the person seeking it is ready to get the help they need. But the help is a cat--learning how to care for the animal and seeing how they help humans become more understanding and patient and caring.