What We Kept To Ourselves by Nancy Joo youn Kim

 

The book as a whole had my emotions all over the place for so many different reasons. It is not only focused on a stranger's identity, a failed dream and a history that had made so many men killed but also on a wife's emotions and how she feels as a human being.

Kim Jung Ho and his wife, Sunhee, were two refugees, children of war who had immigrated in the 70s from Korea. America was a promising country that could offer the adventure of a lifetime. But nearly two decades, Sunhee aka Sunny clearly couldn't handle the marriage anymore. Her loneliness, grief and the hours that she spent in another person's dream have clawed her sanity. She just left the house leaving also her two children.

No one wanted to talk about it until a body was found behind the loquat tree in Kim's yard and nearby lay a white envelope with the words 'Sunny Kim' on it. The death of Ronald James was like the point of bringing up old wounds. They believe that their mother's disappearance had something to do with RJ's death. It seems she had hidden some kind of secret from her family.

Overall, it's an emotionally gripping read for fans of the melodramatic genre with a slow-paced story. The novel is presented in alternating chapters that jump back and forth between periods of painstaking journey. 

4.5 ⭐️

Thanks to @definitelybooks #pansing for the review copy. Opinions are my own 💙 

*Available at all major bookstores in Singapore and Malaysia and their online stores

Holly by Stephen King

 

I have just finished reading this book! I have to admit, compared to King's other works, it may not be the most standout read, considering I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with the writing style and characters. At times, I even wondered if it was written by ghostwriters! But the last few chapters of this book alone were packed with raw emotion, more than most entire books. 

The story follows Penelope Dahl, who hires Holly Gibney to investigate her daughter's disappearance. Holly just inherited Finders Keepers, a private detective agency previously owned by Bill Hodges. Although Holly doesn't expect any breakthroughs, the similarities of location and belongings left behind seem to relate to another series of missing persons and human cannibalism was not at all on her mind. 

This slow-paced thriller even offers some realistic insights during the time of the coronavirus outbreak. Holly has appeared in several of King's previous works, but while reading this book, I didn't see her as a strong character and it was intentionally portrayed! 

Thanks to @definitelybooks #pansing for the review copy. Opinions are my own 💙 

*Available at all major bookstores in Singapore and Malaysia and their online stores

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#donereading #Holly by #StephenKing #igreads #igbooks #bookstagram #goodreads #bookrecommendations #bookreview #emabaca #definitelybooks #letsgetreading #malaysiamembaca 

The Fraud by Zadie Smith

 

Before starting to read this book, I considered doing some research on William Ainsworth. All in all, Ainsworth was a contemporary writer. He was a clean stylist and published 41 novels. His first success as a writer came with Rookwood in 1834 and Jack Sheppard, which did outsell the Oliver Twist. 

This novel is based on the life of William (1805-82) from the point of view of his cousin by marriage, Eliza Touchet. Her husband left her in poverty with William's household. It is written through time and anecdotes that struck her as significant moments and some meaningless from the outside literary world.

Eliza is incredibly brave, brilliant, loving, and kind. She gives a very fair and balanced view of the scandal that titillated Victorian England, The Tichborne Claimant cases. In 1852, Roger Charles Tichborne, heir to the Tichborne title, disappeared at sea. Twelve years later, Tom Castro, a large Cockney butcher from Wagga Wagga in outback Australia claimed to be him. But she was more obsessed with a formerly enslaved Jamaican man named Andrew Bogle, a key witness in the trial of the Tichborne Claimant. Zadie does very good work with the story of sympathetic characters, race, class and colonisation complexities.

Thanks to @times.reads and @putrifariza for the review copy. Opinions are my own 💙 

*Available at all major bookstores in Singapore and Malaysia and their online stores

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#donereading #TheFraud by #ZadieSmith #igreads #igbooks #bookstagram #goodreads #bookrecommendations #bookreview #emabaca #malaysiamembaca

The Turnglass by Gareth Rubin

 

In 1939, Ken Kourian went to a party at the house of Oliver Tooke, a wealthy young man who wanted to pursue life as a writer. They were immediately acquainted.

Oliver's life is not a bed of roses apparently. He died by suicide. Ken tried to think of a reason why Oliver might have done it. 

He had been thinking a lot about Oliver's new book, The Turnglass. He thinks Oliver left it as a sign in case something happened to him. He wanted Ken to let people know the truth if he couldn't himself. There are a lot of subtle messages in his book. 

The events in the book were based on what had happened to Oliver's grandfather almost sixty years earlier. He thinks those events were connected to what had happened to the family. His book took some unravelling about Turglass House which always had something corrupt and malign. 

His death was most likely linked to his mother's being in an asylum and his brother being abducted when they were small. It was why Oliver had spoken of the guilt a lot before he died. 

Oh my. The most underrated book I've read this year. This book is unique not only because of tete-beche. The plot and the author's writing are amazing. A story within a story is a captivating tale filled with mystery and mind-blowing endings. 5 ⭐️ !!

Thanks to @definitelybooks #pansing for the review copy. Opinions are my own 💙 

*Available at all major bookstores in Singapore and Malaysia and their online stores

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#donereading #TheTurnglass by #GarethRubin #igreads

#igbooks #bookstagram #goodreads #letsgetreading #definitelybooks #emabaca #malaysiamembaca #bookreview #bookrecommendations

Traitors Gate by Jeffrey Archer

 

Superintendent William Warwick is a part of the Crown Jewel's escort. Sword of State and Imperial State Crown would once again be worn by Her Majesty at the House of Lords on Queen's Speech for the State Opening of Parliament. 

There was an attempt to steal the Crown Jewels in 1671 but unfortunately, it didn't succeed. Miles Faulkner who has 4 years of fraud and returns to his shady business trying to seek revenge implies that Warwick is the next target.

Jeffrey Archer's writing of a British police procedural crime thriller is straightforward. The plot is linear and clear. My first impression of Warwick is that he is too perfect and almost boring for lack of flaws. It is very easy to become invested in the story from the first chapter of this latest William Warwick series.

Thanks to @times.reads and @putrifariza for the review copy. Opinions are my own 💙 

*Available at all major bookstores in Singapore and Malaysia and their online stores 

📚

#donereading #TraitorsGate by #JeffreyArcher #igbooks #igreads #emabaca #bookstagram #goodreads #letsgetreading #bookreview #malaysiamembaca

Cahokia Jazz by Francis Spufford

A body has been found on the Land Trust roof. Joseph Barrow and Phineas Drummond, a detective from Cahokia PD Murder Squad investigating the murder. But the body was put there to tell a story, deliberately someone's idea to create a chaos and crazy scheme.

The city of Cahokia is home to three major ethnic groups: native Americans (takouma), African Americans (taklousa) and European Americans (takata). The story of a city that is full of accidents, improbabilities, grand ambitions, tragedies, sudden changes and the slow march of time to wipe away native power and native property rights.

This historical crime novel is set circa 1922. It is a whimsical and imaginative tale that explores topics of organisations such as subversive networks, anarchists, race radicals, KKK, Class solidarity, the Church, ancient Aztecs and the Inca.

The book is definitely NOT about whodunnit but focuses particular attention on symbols and the inside story of distinctive of the ethnic. The author also expertly pulls all the threads together to provide a satisfying detective noir theme to tell history through a wider and more inclusive lens. My personal rating is 5 ⭐️

Thanks to @times.reads and @putrifariza for the review copy. Opinions are my own 💙

*Available at all major bookstores in Singapore and Malaysia and their online stores 

Geneva by Richard Armitage

Sarah Collier was a scientist who worked on a prototype gene therapy and just received a Nobel Prize. Not even 50 yet, she left everything and considering an early retirement. She starts to show symptoms of dementia and wants to keep things private until then. 

Her husband, Daniel urged her to attend an event on a new product that would be held in Geneva - brain implants. This product could be a lifeline, but it could also be a terrifying Pandora's box if it fell into the wrong hands before it was fully trialled. Only potential investors were in attendance. Unfortunately, the truth about her condition was exposed. She's losing her grip. 

I can honestly say, the author offers a window into the subtlety of dementia. This is how Sarah felt in the early stage, which affected her thinking, memory, reasoning, personality, mood and behaviour. Having a father with Alzheimer's has taken quite a toll on Sarah. But the truth is more shocking! 

Another imaginative and uniquely twisted story about betrayal and relationships, and how all is not always as it seems.

Thanks to @times.reads and @putrifariza for the review copy. Opinions are my own 💙 

*Available at all major bookstores in Singapore and Malaysia and their online stores