Thank you BookSparks and Dr. Joan Sung for including me in the #WinterPopUp for Kinda Korean. This memoir published on February 25.
Synopsis:
For fans of Michelle Zauner’s Crying in H-Mart and Cathy Park Hong’s Minor Feelings comes a coming-of-age memoir about a daughter of immigrants discovering her Korean American identity while finding it in her heart to forgive her Tiger Mom.
In this courageous memoir of parental love, intergenerational trauma, and perseverance, Joan Sung breaks the generational silence that curses her family. By intentionally overcoming the stereotype that all Asians are quiet, Sung tells her stories of coming-of-age with a Tiger Mom who did not understand American society.
Torn between her two identities as a Korean woman and a first generation American, Sung bares her struggles in an honest and bare confessional. Sifting through her experiences with microaggressions to the over fetishization of Asian women, Sung connects the COVID pandemic with the decades of violence and racism experienced by Asian American communities.
Obidos, located about an hour north of Lisbon, Portugal has the UNESCO Creative City of literature designation. It’s a town of book shops and storytellers, wrapped up in a medieval walled town right out of a storybook.
We stayed at The Literary Man – a “book and cook” hotel just outside of the city walls. The entire place was filled with books. There was a small bookshelf in our room, and just outside our room was a large library with a fireplace, comfy reading chairs, and floor to ceiling bookshelves. (Admittedly, I wanted to rearrange the shelves so they were alphabetical, but Hubs stopped me.)
LER Devager (a popular bookshop to visit in Lisbon) has two locations here. The one is located in Sao Tiago Church near the entrance to the Obidos Castle. This spot is gorgeous, and you get a beautiful view of Obidos from the top of the entry stairs. The other is Livraria do Mercado in town, which sells books, as well as fresh produce and plants. LER does sell English language books, as well as books in many other languages (mostly Italian and Spanish).
Just outside the walls of the city is, Livraria Artes & Letras. Not only will you find a wide selection of used books here, but also original artwork (the artist’s studio is downstairs) and prints. If art isn’t your thing, you can purchase their artwork as notebooks, bookmarks, postcards, etc. Books here were mostly in Portuguese, and there was a box of 0.50€ books when we stopped in.
Also just outside the main gate to the city (and just down from Artes & Letras) is Silver Coast Volunteers Book Exchange. They are located on the second floor, (the stairs are behind a flowering bush) and have short hours as everyone there is a volunteer. Definitely worth planning ahead to fit this one on your itinerary. There are mostly English language books and volunteers who run it are mostly American ex-pats. The Book Exchange reminded me of a library/LFL – take what you want, bring them back when you’re done (or don’t). There was no charge for books and puzzles and any money they do bring in is used towards helping the Obidos region. We spent a while here chatting with the volunteer about Portugal, moving abroad, books, and more. This shop really made my heart warm and fuzzy – a community of people who are trying to help each other and the country they have adopted as their home.
I don’t even know where to start to describe Corny by Sabrina Cross. I went into this knowing it was going to be weird (I mean, sentient stuffy?), but I didn’t expect to fall in love with Candy as much as I did.
This was a fun read – finding true love, demons, FF love story, sentient crocheted stuffy. I’m looking forward to the next in the Yarn & Monsters series.
I was really looking forward to Deja Brew by Celestine Martin. I really enjoyed Watchful Thinking, the first in the Elemental Love series of stand-alones. In Deja Brew, Sirena is a kitchen witch whose powers are on the fritz. This was a super slow burn between Sirena and Gus.
I listened to Deja Brew as an audiobook and found this one to be just okay – definitely not one of my top reads of 2024, but a cute witchy read with lots of fall vibes.
I’ve had Pushin’ Cushions by Vera Valentine and Unfortunate Reads on my Kindle for a few months – I downloaded it just after Election Day in the US. It’s a political satire and I knew it would make me laugh. I’m glad I waited to read it until Inauguration Day – it was definitely brought some cheer on this otherwise dark day.
While this was short (only 44 pages) it was absolutely hilarious.
While I enjoyed The Red Woman and the White Bear, it did take me a while to get into this story; and it is not a unique enough story that it will stay with me for a long time without muddling into a mix of others like it.
Aisling is prophesied to be the chosen one who will turn the tides of war between the Seelie and Unseelie Courts but where everyone is morally grey.
This was a slow (slow) burn, shadow magic, enemies to lovers and a lovely debut fantasy romance from Fern A Ellis.
Thank you to the author and Book of Matches Media for the digital copy!
I almost DNF’d The Holiday Cottage – I had a hard time getting into the story in the beginning and didn’t really vibe with Imogen at first. But I knew Sarah Morgan never disappoints, so I kept with it and I’m glad I did.
This wound up being a very sweet holiday read with found family, cute animals and crazy kiddos. It definitely made me want to spend time in small towns for the holidays.
Thank you to Harlequin Trade Publishing and NetGalley for the ebook!
I truly enjoyed Tin – the first in the Faeries of Oz series by Candace Robinson and Amber R. Duell. This series takes place 10 years after Dorothy leaves Oz, and things have changed. Tin’s heart has returned to stone, Crow has not been seen around Oz, and Lion is on a mission to get Dorothy’s head.
There are new monsters from the original and all the favorites are back – but with some twists. It wouldn’t be a retelling without some twists, of course. I really liked that the Oz characters are fae, as opposed to Dorothy who’s human from Kansas. The ending especially makes me want to continue to read this series. Dorothy is definitely grown up in this series, although I did expect this book to be a little steamier.
Happy Monday! Welcome to Meet the Author Mondays, a series where we get to know the authors attending Rocky Mountain Readers Retreat 2025. Tickets are still available and include meals, yoga, two signing sessions and more! Head to this link to get your tickets. https://www.rmreaders.com
Today we’re getting to know Krista Sandor!
What Genre do you write? I write steamy romcoms and contemporary romance—nanny/boss, billionaires, small town grumpy. I love a juicy trope😍
What is your spirit animal? Spirit animal is a hummingbird (does that count?) I’m frantic and love sugar.
What your favorite holiday movie? While You Were Sleeping. GIVE ME A FOUND FAMILY like that
Do you make News Years Resolutions? I do not make resolutions. I listened to a Ted talk that said we rarely follow thru on goals we state and share aloud bc our brain gets the same satisfaction/reward by doing this and this often leads to us not following thru w the actual goal. THIS CHANGED MY LIFE for real. I keep my goals in my heart and only share when I’ve met it.
What are you currently reading? Currently doing an Abby Jimenez reread of Yours Truly. Jacob is my spirit MMC.
I’ve had Meet You in the Middle on my TBR for so long, and it felt like the right time to read it. I was looking for a sweet romcom, something during this political season that could help me think that maybe, just maybe things would be okay. That people might come together to do the right thing.
Well that hope didn’t work, but the book is adorable.
Enemies to lovers – he works for a Republican senator, she works for a Democrat. He’s everything she’s against and she doesn’t date “the enemy.”
Oh. My. Gosh. I could not put this down, it was so cute. And I loved the message that we are more than what the Party’s Politics are. We’re all nuanced – and love can happen to anyone.
Leann Reads Books 