#seven great chinese tragic love stories

[jesseisreading]

~~Long book post!~~

2022 Reading!

Hello! I usually make this post in the New Year, but I don’t think I’ll finish Hyperion by Dan Simmons or The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova in the next couple days so I’ll go ahead. Plus, I hope it helps folks find some ideas for their 2023 reading.

Usually I just post the list in chronological order (and I’ll still have that below, so you can see the arc of my reading for the year), but I’ll try to put a little more order and commentary for some of the titles. Feel free to discuss, give recommendations, debate, etc!

Visual Fiction

Dracula, Motherf*cker!

This one was really vibrant with gorgeous art and a fun take that felt fresh, but it was just too short to really be enjoyable. Quick pulpy fun, I guess.

All of the initial run of The Sandman:

I’d need a separate post for to really talk about this story, but yes. Some of the best fiction I’ve ever read. The whole of Dream’s arc (or at least what we get to see 😉) always felt both epic and microscopic at the same time. All the steps of such a grand journey to such a powerful panel. It, and the results thereof, brought me to tears. I had to sit with it for awhile, and it’s a weight I still feel. Like Dune, it might become yearly reading for me.

Saga volumes 1-4

Also a really fantastic story. Bright, cohesive, and brilliantly imagined. Royal TVs. Brutal war. Romance novelists. Wrestling moms and magic father-in-laws! Saga’s creators Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples have created something really special. It’s one of my favorites, and I can’t wait to dive back in. It’s also really exciting that their hiatus is over, and the story will continue.

The Sandman: Endless Nights

Yes, a brilliant but at times intense anthology with seven different artists giving life to separate pieces about each of the Endless (Delirium and Despair were hard to process with the former kind of sending me into a spiral). Won’t say much more other than that reading it at the sorta half way point was a happy accident. I had enough of a grasp on the world and the Endless to appreciate it, but there was still so much I didn’t know. Does show big spoiler without clarity though.

The Sandman: Overture

Once again, obscenely beautiful and a little tragic and I don’t fully know what to say. If someone reads this first (it was published 2014, long after the original run), I’d love to hear your perspective after finishing the main run.

Science Fiction

Foundation

More interesting than engrossing, this was still a neat read. I enjoyed the short story structure and all the world building, but it mostly felt like the beginning moves of a chess or MTG game where it all gets set up. Will eventually get back to this series so I can see where it goes.

All Systems Red & Artificial Condition (books one and two of The Murderbot Diaries)

These were both fantastic! Main character is a quick wit and immediately likable (and powerfully relatable for some). I think my favorite part of these books is that not only are they great for long time sci-fi fans, but they are also great for those don’t typically dive into sci fi. They are quick reads (I read them in 2-3 hours each), and the first book sets up a great mystery. I also feel like these books are great way to step outside of ourselves and get a third person perspective on our humanselves.

The Iron Widow

A really fun romp that blends Chinese history and folklore with big mech beat ‘em up science fiction. On one level, it’s a story about gender dynamics, oppression, and the nature of power. On another, it’s dragon ball z fighter furry self insert gundam fan fiction. High key recommended as a fun vacation/beach read.

‘Youth’ Literature

The Small Spaces Quartet

Nominally aimed at middle schoolers, this four part ghost story is just as brilliant as the author’s Winternight Trilogy and can be enjoyed just as much by adults (especially those who can still remember the trial and tribulations that come with that strange transitional period we like to call ‘Middle School’)

When You Reach Me

Another book that is nominally aimed at kids but *needs* to be read by adults, it had a profundity to it that I will be occasionally revisiting in the years to come. I guess, if it’s about anything, it’s about consequence and quantum mechanics and all these beautiful concurrent moments that our lives stretch across. Beautiful story and structure.

A Wrinkle in Time, A Wind in the Door, and A Swiftly Tilting Planet (1-3 of the Time Quartet, or as I like to call it: the Charles Wallace Cycle)

I’m not smart enough or articulate enough to quickly breakdown for this post why I love these books or how important they or why you should read them. These books touched my core and reminded me of some lessons that are particularly relevant after the last few years. It’s never easy, and a lot of times it may be downright scary, but as long we try and don’t give in, maybe good really does triumph in the end.

Fantasy

The Divine Cities Trilogy and The Founders Trilogy by Robert Jackson Bennett

More selections that I just really can’t say enough good things about. I don’t know if I’m just getting softer as I near my 30s or if professionally doing theatre for young audiences has changed/expanded my capacities to feel, but these books (like a lot of titles this year) really touched. They cover a lot of ground without ever feeling dense or preachy. If I had to be concise, the books are about the effects of power on the large and small with Divine Cities focusing on the legacies of war and imperial oppression and Founders on capitalism and the results of an extreme klepto/plutocratic system. They can be tough reads, especially City of Blades with it’s exploration of trauma, but they’re important. RBJ’s worldbuilding and sense of increasing stakes are top notch. The end of The Founder’s Trilogy had me quietly weeping in public.

The Wee Free Men

Only my third exposure to Pratchett’s prose, and he really is one of the funniest and smartest writers this language has ever been blessed with.

Gallant

Another swing and a home run from V. E. Schwab. This was a beautiful ghost story with a fascinating protagonist and probably a good starting place for Schwab’s older aimed works before visiting something a little darker like Shades of Magic or Villains (really dark)

Etc.

Circe

Revisited this one, because the first time around it really didn’t strike any cords for me. I originally meant to do a deep/slow dive into the text but then had to speed up so I could get to When You Reach Me. This time around it had a much stronger impact, and I was able to see the world anew through a set of eyes that were very different than my own.

Authority

Book two of The Southern Reach Trilogy, I’m still having weird dreams because of this one and the preceding text (Annihilation). Reading it quite literally gave me headaches. Not for the faint of heart. Very good but read at your own risk. Still haven’t been able to finish the final book, Acceptance, and I will unfortunately probably have to start back at book one to finish the series.

Smoke and Mirrors

Not my top favorite of Gaiman’s short fiction collections, but it does have some of my favorite stories if his. I hadn’t visited this collection since I first experienced Neil Gaiman right after my high school graduation, nearly a decade ago. Charming and horrifying, it begs the question: what are we hiding and what illusions are we presenting?

The Maidens

A promising set up with an ultimately disappointing execution and ending. Finished but did not enjoy. 2/10, will probably get rid of my copy to have more room on my fiction shelves.

Things Read in 2022:

*indicates first time

1. *The Maidens by Alex Michaelides

2. *Dracula, Motherf*cker! by Campi and Henderson

3. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L’Engle

4. *Gallant by V. E. Schwab

5. *Authority by Jeff Vandermeer

6. SAGA volume one

7. SAGA Volume Two

8. *Saga volume Three

9. *Saga volume Four

10. Ranger Musky and the Mysterious Beast

11. *The Sandman: Book 2 by Neil Gaiman and co.

12. City of Stairs by Robert Jackson Bennet

13. *City of Blades by Robert Jackson Bennet

14. *City of Miracles by Robert Jackson Bennet

15. *Amelia Earhart by Katherine Mills Schultz

16. *The Sandman: Endless Nights by Neil Gaiman and co.

17. The Sandman: Book 1

18. The Sandman: Book 2

19. *The Sandman: Book 3

20. *Goldilocks and the Three Bears by Jean Pierce

21. *Inside Out by Kathryn Chase Bryer & Natasha Holmes

22. Miss Fancy by G. Riley Mills

23. *The Sandman: Book 4 by Neil Gaiman

24. *The Foundation by Isaac Asimov

25. Small Spaces by Katherine Arden

26. *Dead Voices by Katherine Arden

27. *Dark Waters by Katherine Arden

28. *Empty Smiles by Katherine Arden

29. Smoke and Mirrors by Neil Gaiman

30. *Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao

31. *The Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett

32. *All Systems Red by Martha Wells

33. Circe by Madeline Miller

34. *When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead

35. A Wind in the Door by Madeline L’Engle

36. *A Swiftly Tilting Planet by Madeline L’Engle

37. *Sandman: Overtures by Neil Gaiman and co.

38. Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennet

39. *Shorefall by Robert Jackson Bennet

40. *Locklands by Robert Jackson Bennett

41. *The Children on the Hill by Jennifer McMahon

42. *Artificial Condition by Martha Wells

#reading #2022 reads #2022 reading challenge #reads #books #i love books #new year #booksbooksbooks #fantasy #fantasy books #books i love #new year reading

[thebooksaidthat]

5 Contemporary Book Recommendations with WLW relationships!

As promised, this is my list of 5 book recs with FF centered relationships! They’re in no particular order and I hope it’ll motivate you to read some good queer works of art! 

1. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid Link to book: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32620332-the-seven-husbands-of-evelyn-hugo

Synopsis: Aging and reclusive Hollywood movie icon Evelyn Hugo is finally ready to tell the truth about her glamorous and scandalous life. When she chooses unknown magazine reporter Monique Grant for the job, no one in the journalism community is more astounded than Monique herself. Why her? Why now? Monique is not exactly on top of the world. Her husband, David, has left her, and her career has stagnated. Regardless of why Evelyn has chosen her to write her biography, Monique is determined to use this opportunity to jumpstart her career. Summoned to Evelyn’s Upper East Side apartment, Monique listens as Evelyn unfurls her story: from making her way to Los Angeles in the 1950s to her decision to leave show business in the late 80s, and, of course, the seven husbands along the way. As Evelyn’s life unfolds—revealing a ruthless ambition, an unexpected friendship, and a great forbidden love—Monique begins to feel a very a real connection to the actress. But as Evelyn’s story catches up with the present, it becomes clear that her life intersects with Monique’s own in tragic and irreversible ways. --> I read this a few months ago and I remembered myself just putting my Kindle down onto the bed and looked into my imaginary camera man’s face thinking about the ending. I loved everything about this book, the friendship, the romance and the style of writing tied them up nicely. Also, apparently there’s going to be a TV series coming soon in the future so yes I’m 110% confident I’ll be crying with a bag of chips at the end too ;’) Seriously though, do yourself a favor and read this! 2. The Falling in Love Montage by Ciara Smyth Link to book: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/53066661-the-falling-in-love-montage

Synopsis: Saoirse doesn’t believe in love at first sight or happy endings. If they were real, her mother would still be able to remember her name and not in a care home with early onset dementia. A condition that Saoirse may one day turn out to have inherited. So she’s not looking for a relationship. She doesn’t see the point in igniting any romantic sparks if she’s bound to burn out. But after a chance encounter at an end-of-term house party, Saoirse is about to break her own rules. For a girl with one blue freckle, an irresistible sense of mischief, and a passion for rom-coms. Unbothered by Saoirse’s no-relationships rulebook, Ruby proposes a loophole: They don’t need true love to have one summer of fun, complete with every cliché, rom-com montage-worthy date they can dream up—and a binding agreement to end their romance come fall. It would be the perfect plan, if they weren’t forgetting one thing about the Falling in Love Montage: when it’s over, the characters actually fall in love… for real. --> The Falling in Love Montage is one of favorite FF books because I couldn’t not relate myself with the main character, Saoirse. I loved her humor throughout the book. She came off a little strong at first and it did seem like she was annoying but there’s a reason why she’s so sarcastic and cynical and I loved that the book wasn’t all 100% about the romance (although that is one of the best parts of it). I binged this within two days and I was fairly satisfied at the end and I can’t not recommend this enough for those who want to read a happy queer romance book! ALSO I LOVE THE COVER SO MUCH 3. The Weight of the Stars by K. Ancrum Link to book: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36952571-the-weight-of-the-stars

Synopsis: Ryann Bird dreams of traveling across the stars. But a career in space isn’t an option for a girl who lives in a trailer park on the wrong side of town. So Ryann becomes her circumstances and settles for acting out and skipping school to hang out with her delinquent friends. One day she meets Alexandria: a furious loner who spurns Ryann’s offer of friendship. After a horrific accident leaves Alexandria with a broken arm, the two misfits are brought together despite themselves—and Ryann learns her secret: Alexandria’s mother is an astronaut who volunteered for a one-way trip to the edge of the solar system. Every night without fail, Alexandria waits to catch radio signals from her mother. And its up to Ryann to lift her onto the roof day after day until the silence between them grows into friendship, and eventually something more . . . In K. Ancrum’s signature poetic style, this slow-burn romance will have you savoring every page. --> The Weight of The Stars is mostly a quiet read, and when they say slow-burn, they really mean it. I loved this one a lot even thought it’s mostly a character-driven type of book. This is sort of an enemies-to-lovers type of book, though it went fairly quickly from enemies to friends. This book feels like something you should read slowly, just to savor it all and process everything on the pages.  4. Her Name in The Sky by Kelly Quindlen Link to book: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20886492-her-name-in-the-sky

Synopsis: Hannah wants to spend her senior year of high school going to football games and Mardi Gras parties with her tight-knit group of friends. The last thing she wants is to fall in love with a girl--especially when that girl is her best friend, Baker. Hannah knows she should like Wally, the kind, earnest boy who asks her to prom. She should cheer on her friend Clay when he asks Baker to be his girlfriend. She should follow the rules of her conservative Louisiana community--the rules that have been ingrained in her since she was a child. But Hannah longs to be with Baker, who cooks macaroni and cheese with Hannah late at night, who believes in the magic of books as much as Hannah does, and who challenges Hannah to be the best version of herself. And Baker might want to be with Hannah, too--if both girls can embrace that world-shaking, yet wondrous, possibility.  --> Her Name in The Sky is a beautiful coming age story between two girls in a conservative town. I did find this one slightly harder to read because I usually stray away from books like these but I think it’s good to pick something up like this from time to time. Don’t be scared away though because this has a good and happy ending to it. 5. Something to Talk About by Meryl Wilsner Link to book: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/52915426-something-to-talk-about

Synopsis: A showrunner and her assistant give the world something to talk about when they accidentally fuel a ridiculous rumor in this debut romance. Hollywood powerhouse Jo is photographed making her assistant Emma laugh on the red carpet, and just like that, the tabloids declare them a couple. The so-called scandal couldn't come at a worse time--threatening Emma's promotion and Jo's new movie. As the gossip spreads, it starts to affect all areas of their lives. Paparazzi are following them outside the office, coworkers are treating them differently, and a "source" is feeding information to the media. But their only comment is "no comment". With the launch of Jo's film project fast approaching, the two women begin to spend even more time together, getting along famously. Emma seems to have a sixth sense for knowing what Jo needs. And Jo, known for being aloof and outwardly cold, opens up to Emma in a way neither of them expects. They begin to realize the rumor might not be so off base after all...but is acting on the spark between them worth fanning the gossip flames? --> Another queer rom-com heading your way with this final rec! This was a fun and cute read about the romance between Jo, who is a Chinese Hollywood star and her assistant, Emma. I read this in a book slump and I loved it, its sort of a fake-dating trope like book and I’ve never read something like this outside of fanfiction so it was an enjoyable experience all the way! Also, when the author described Jo at one of the red carpets with her dress with pockets, my mind automatically imagined Gemma Chan from Crazy Rich Asians as her.

#september 2020 #book recommendations #queer fiction #wlw #lgbtq #sapphic books #pride 2020 #the seven husbands of evelyn hugo #taylor jenkins reid #the falling in love montage #ciara symth #romantic comedies #historical fiction #contemporary #fiction #literature #the weight of the stars #k. ancrum #science fiction #romance #poc characters #poc authors #female authors #her name in the sky #kelly quindlen #religion #christianity #something to talk about #meryl wilsner #fake dating trope

[dramapic]

MASTERLIST

I update this list everytime I watch and review a show. 

Disclaimer: These reviews are subjective and only reflect my opinions. There are no drama on that list that I’ve turned off and all are worthy of a watch. 

Recs welcome!

#1 Crash landing on you 

(사랑의 불시착)

Grade: A++

Genre: Modern, Star-Crossed lovers

Episodes: 16

Happy Ending: Yes

Watched on: Netflix (FR)

Son Ye-jin (who plays Yoon Se-ri) and Hyun Bin (Ri Jeong-hyeok) have amazing chemistry and every episode plays out like the chapters of an excellent fanfiction. Classic romantic tropes, humour, angst, action, CLOY has it all. Moreover, if you’ve never watched a Kdrama in your life, CLOY is a great starting point—not only will it introduce you to Korean culture but also to popular tropes and codes of the genre.

#2 Rookie historian Goo Hae-ryung 

(신입사관 구해령)

Grade: A++

Genre: Historical, Age gap

Episodes: 20

Happy Ending: Yes

Watched on: Netflix (FR)

Delightful from end to end, with lots of humour and an engaging story. The romance between Goo Hae-ryung and himbo-prince Dowon will make your heart go soft, especially if you’re into reverse gender dynamics (she’s older and kisses him first *le gasp*)

#3 Memories of the Alhambra 

(알함브라 궁전의 추억)

Grade: B+

Genre: Modern; Sci-fi; Fantasy

Episodes: 16

Happy Ending: No

Watched on: Netflix (FR)

Intriguing premise, great cast and tons of special effects but the romance between Jin-woo (Hyun Bin) and Hee-joo (Park Shin-hye) won't go down in history. On top of that, the ending is a bit wishy-washy in that annoying “maybe there’s more to come” kind of way. Give us a clear cut ending, damnit!

#4 Good doctor 

(굿 닥터)

Grade: B- 

Genre: Modern, Medical drama

Episodes: 20

Happy Ending: Yes

Watched on: Netflix (FR)

Good heart but the writing is really clumsy at times and the hospital politics don’t make an awful lot of sense. On the bright side, Joo Won is great in the role of Park Si-on.

Note: I haven’t watched the American remake so can’t compare. 

#5 My love from the star/ You from the stars

(별에서 온 그대)

Grade: A

Genre: Modern, Sci-fi, fantasy, Star-Crossed lovers

Episodes: 21

Happy Ending: Yes-ish

Watched on: Netflix (FR)

Jun Ji-hyun is absolutely stellar in the role of Cheon Seong-yi, a ditzy Hallyu* star whose career is going south while Kim Soo-hyun plays the emotionally closed-off alien to perfection. Lots of pinning, a dose of angst mixed with a pinch of wacky humor. 

*Hallyu means “Korean wave” in Chinese and refers to the popularity and spreading of Korean pop-culture outside of Korea. 

#6 Hwarang The Poet Warrior Youth 

(화랑)

Grade: B

Genre: Historical, Coming of age, fake siblings who catch feels

Episodes: 20

Happy Ending: Yes

Watched on: Netflix (FR)

Cute boys and interesting lore rooted in true facts (the bone rank system and the real Hwarang, the “Flowering Knights” of the Silla kingdom) but the story drags. I guess I expected more bromance and frolicking and less angst. Lastly, the main girl starts off quirky and fun but they quickly transform her into a sobbing mess which becomes real annoying real fast. 

#7 Love in the Moonlight / Moonlight Drawn by Clouds (구르미 그린 달빛)

Grade: A 

Genre: Historical, Romance, Coming of age, Posing as the opposite sex

Episodes: 18

Happy Ending: Yes

Watched on: Netflix (FR)

A classic tale of a girl raised as a boy who ends up in a situation where she needs to do her best to not blow her cover while catching feels (As someone raised on Versailles no bara and Ribbon no Kishi, it remains one of my favourite tropes)

Sweet romance and good characters. The fact that Crown prince Lee Yeong doesn't turn emo when he starts developing feelings for Eunuch Ra-on before discovering she's a girl is the cherry on top of the cake. 

#8 Something in the rain

(밥 잘 사주는 예쁜 누나)

Grade: C 

Genre: Modern

Episodes: 16

Happy Ending: Yes, but it still doesn't make you happy

Watched on: Netflix (FR)

Wasted potential! 

Great start but the characterization falls apart quickly and you end up wondering why the main characters keep sabotaging their lives. By the end, despite their reunion, you're left with the impression they've learned nothing and that their relationship is doomed to fall apart. 

On top of it all, watching Jin-ah fight sexism in the workplace and gaining nothing is depressing af (I don’t need realism in my escapism, thank you very much).

Too bad because Son Ye-jin and Jung Hae-in look really good together and the acting is top-notch. My advice is to watch the first 8 episodes then make up your own ending in your head.

#9 Moon embracing the sun 

(해를 품은 달)

Grade: B+

Genre: Historical,Star-Crossed lovers

Episodes: 22

Happy Ending: Yes

Watched on: Netflix (FR)

A traditional historical drama with all the tropes that go with the genre + a hint of esoterism.

If you love ill-fated relationships, tragic love triangle, evil queens, and amnesia, this is the show for you. Beware, the interrogation/torture scenes are rather brutal. 

#10 My sassy girl 

(엽기적인 그녀)

Grade: B- 

Genre: Historical, Rom-Com

Episodes: 16

Happy Ending: Yes

Watched on: Netflix (FR)

Cute and lighthearted but easily forgettable. Still worth a watch thanks to Joo Won & Oh Yeon-seo's chemistry. 

#11 Coffee Prince 

(커피프린스 1호점)

Grade: A 

Genre: Modern, Posing as the opposite sex

Episodes: 16

Happy Ending: Yes

Watched on: Netflix (FR)

Solid story, great cast but be ready for a lot of bickering. 

Yoon Eun-hye is a precious bean who manages to sell the story of Eun-chan, a struggling androgynous working-class girl who mistakenly gets hired by a rich guy to play his boyfriend, then becomes his employee, then falls for him while not correcting his assumptions about her gender. Opposite her, Gong Yoo (from Train to Busan fame) is 🥰🥰🥰

Sidenote: Despite Han-kyul's struggle to accept his feelings for Eun-chan, homosexuality isn't treated as a joke or a shameful thing. The one time he goes seek “medical help”, the doctor is depicted as an old, clueless idiot. And honestly, the story would work too if Eun-chan was a guy. 

#12 My girlfriend is a Gumiho/My girlfriend is a Nine-tailed fox 

(내 여자친구는 구미호)

Grade: B+

Genre: Modern; Fantasy

Episodes: 16

Happy Ending: Yes

Watched on: Viki - Available on Netflix (FR) too

Campy and goofy. It does look a bit dated (it’s from 2010) and the story is a little predictable but Lee Seung-gi as Cha Dae-woong, an aspiring action film actor and Shin Min-ah as “Gu Mi-ho” the nine-tailed fox looking for a mate are super cute. The show is also a good introduction to Korean folklore.

#13 Goblin / Guardian: The Lonely and Great God / The Lonely and Great God – Goblin 

(쓸쓸하고 찬란하神 – 도깨비)

Grade: A+ 

Genre:  Modern, Historical, Fantasy, bromance

Episodes: 16

Happy Ending: Yes-ish

Watched on: Viki 

Unpopular opinion but since I’m not into older guys, I wasn’t invested in the romance between Bride and Goblin until late in the series. I loved everything else though. The show has such a unique tone and atmosphere. It goes from super serious to goofy in no time. The cinematography is gorgeous (especially the historical sets) and you'll cry your eyes out.

#14 Healer 

(힐러)

Grade: A 

Genre:  Modern

Episodes: 20

Happy Ending: Yes

If you're into toll broody guys and fearless smoll girls, you’ll love Healer. The story is great, the characters are great and the way Jung-hu (played by Ji Chang-wook) and Ji-an (Park Min-young) are horny for each other is peak drama! *chef kiss*

#15 Kangchi the beginning/Gu family book 

(구가의 서)

Grade: B- 

Genre: Historical, Fantasy

Episodes:

Happy Ending: No

Watched on: Netflix (FR)

Engaging coming of age story of a half-human half-gumiho looking for his place in this world. If it wasn't for the wishy-washy ending it could have been the perfect mix of action fantasy and romance. 

Special mention for Dam Yeo-wool (played by Suzie Bae) who is a female character who's allowed to be a bit of everything at the same time (strong, kick-ass, funny, cute, romantic) 

#16 Queen for seven days 

(7일의 왕비)

Grade: A 

Genre:  Historical, Romance, Villainous crush

Episodes: 20

Happy Ending: No

Watched on: Netflix (FR)

With that title don’t expect a HEA but there are plenty of sweet moments along the way to make you appreciate the journey. 

Chae-kyung loves the Prince and the Prince loves Chae-kyung but the King wants to kill the Prince and Chae-kyung is loyal to the King but the King is a tyrant and everyone wants the Prince to take his throne. On top of that the King wants Chae-kyung. Big mess. Lots of feels.

The story is (very) loosely based on real-life Queen Dangyeong, which makes it even more poignant. I cried my eyes out at the end because I’m a big softy.   

#17 Korean Odyssey

(화유기)

Grade: A-

Genre: Modern, Fantasy

Episodes: 20

Happy Ending: Kinda

Watched on: Netflix (FR)

The show (very loosely based on Journey to the West) has its faults including the wishy-washy ending and the fact that Jin Seon-mi/Sam-jang starts off as a doormat but I ended up liking the relationship developing between the assholish Monkey god and the naive human girl more than I expected.

The side characters are compelling, and the banter and bickering between the deities work really well. If you grew up with Dragon ball, you’ll have a blast trying to match-up the Japanese and Korean names of everyone without looking up Wikipedia.

Lastly, not something I imagined saying after seeing him in Gumiho and Gu family book but Lee Seung-gi as Son Oh-gong = BDE *fans herself* 🥵

#18 Strong Girl Bong-soon 

(힘쎈여자 도봉순)

Grade: A- 

Genre:  Modern, Super-Heroine

Episodes: 16

Happy Ending: Yes

Watched on: Netflix (FR)

Trigger warning: Graphic depiction of violence against women

A++ super-heroine story, bad side characters 

First, every girl should aspire to find a Min-hyuk in their life. Someone who'll love them because of their strength, and support them unconditionally. Someone who won't ask them to change or pretend to be somebody else.

Second, western media should learn that a super-heroine can HAVE IT ALL—the superpowers AND the love AND the family. 

My only complaint with the show (and that's why I gave A- instead of A++) is the inclusion of many cringy side characters/situations that spoiled my overall enjoyment (see the caricatural flamboyant gay co-worker, Bong-soon’s mom hitting her dad, the mobsters...)

#19 The K2 

(더 케이투)

Grade: B- 

Genre: Modern, Political

Episodes: 16

Happy Ending: Yes

Watched on: Netflix (FR)

The romance is bad and the political story far-fetched but Ji Chang-wook is 🔥🔥PEAK HOTTIE🔥🔥

That being said, I didn’t completely dislike the political intrigue and it was interesting to see the good guy working for the villains (sort of). 

#20 Weightlifting fairy Kim Bok-joo 

(역도요정 김복주)

Grade: A+ 

Genre:  Modern, Coming of age

Episodes: 16

Happy Ending: Yes

Watched on: Netflix (FR)

Uplifting coming of age story and super sweet romance. Bok-joo (Lee Sung-kyung) & Joon-hyung (Nam Joo-hyuk) are precious children on top of being cutie-patooties. Bok-joo’s insecurities hit hard, especially if you’ve ever been outside the norm of beauty standards.

I liked how the show normalizes therapy and taking care of your mental health.

In one word…

SWAG! 

#21 The scholar who walks the night 

(밤을 걷는 선비)

Grade: B 

Genre:  Historical, Fantasy, Vampire, posing as the opposite sex

Episodes: 20

Happy Ending: Yes

Watched on: Netflix (FR)

Guilty pleasure. 

Don’t ask me about the details of the main storyline, I’ve already forgotten most of it. Sometimes all you need is a show where a hundred-something years old good vampire with a sad backstory and the main girl who is thirsty for the good vampire are fighting a sexy evil vampire. 

PS: Did I mention the sexy evil vampire?

#22 Romance is a bonus book 

(로맨스는 별책부록)

Grade: A+ 

Genre: Modern, Friends to lovers

Episodes: 16

Happy Ending: Yes

Watched on: Netflix (FR)

Imagine reading a relaxing book under a cozy blanket while sipping hot cocoa. That’s how that series made me feel. 

Everything is sweet and soft from the characters' fluffy jumpers to the soft palette of color used for the sets. People make books and love books. There’s a mystery but no unnecessary angst. If you need a break from everything, jump in that ship. 

#23 Hotel Del Luna 

(호텔 델루나)

Grade: A- 

Genre: Modern  

Episodes: 16

Happy Ending: Sorta

Watched on: Viki - Available on Netflix (FR) too

Interesting world-building and a good cast of side characters but the romance lacks a bit of oomph. 

On the + side, the hotel sets are gorgeous and Man-wol's wardrobe is to kill for.

#24 Suspicious Partner 

(수상한 파트너)

Grade: A- 

Genre: Modern, Star-crossed lovers in an office

Episodes: 20

Happy Ending: Yes

Watched on: Netflix (FR)

Toll serious who hates criminal falls for smoll weirdo falsely accused of murder. A must watch for anyone in search of a quirky romance.

#25 Touch your heart 

(진심이 닿다)

Grade: A 

Genre: Modern  

Episodes: 16

Happy Ending: Yes

Watched on: Viki

Tooth rotting sweetness. The series is just a pretext to watch two good looking people (Lee Dong-wook and Yoo In-na) being nice and awkward around each other. What do you need more? 0

Note: If you watched Goblin you can also pretend it's a spin-off series about the reincarnations of Grim Reaper and Sunny. 💡

#26 Because this is my first life 

(이번 생은 처음이라)

Grade: A 

Genre: Modern, Fake marriage

Episodes: 16

Happy Ending: Yes

Watched on: Netflix (FR)

The Fake Marriage AU you’re looking for, mixed with slices of modern, messy, complicated life. 

The main storyline revolves around Ji-ho an assistant drama screenwriter who struggles to find her place within the patriarchal structure of Korean society, and Se-hee, a socially incompetent computer designer who only cares for his cat and his mortgage. The way they end up in a fake marriage as well as the development of their relationship feels organic and doesn’t rely too heavily on comedy like it’s often the case with that trope.

The show also follows the stories of Ji-ho’s friends, Su-ji and Ho-rang who have different aspirations in life—Su-ji’s goal is to become CEO while Ho-rang only cares about becoming a housewife. I loved that the show makes a point to not pit women against each other and advocate living your life the way YOU want rather than trying to follow societal expectations of what love, work and marriage should look like. 

Also they have the cutest cat.

#27 What's wrong with Secretary Kim? 

(김비서가 왜 그럴까 )

Grade: A- 

Genre: Modern  

Episodes: 16

Happy Ending: Yes

Watched on: Viki

I wish Secretary Kim had more agency in certain situations but the romance develops well and the horny moments are caliente 🥵🔥 

#28 Where your eyes linger 

(너의 시선이 머무는 곳에)

Grade: A++ 

Genre: Modern, BL, Coming of age, Friends to lovers

Episodes: 8

Happy Ending: Yes

Watched on: Viki

Bite-size BL gem to devour in one sitting. 

Stellar acting from the two leads and the balance between fluff and angst is just right. There's no graphic violence that sometimes plagues yaoi and BL and the story is believable. I got emo remembering my first love. 

#29 Live up to your name 

(명불허전)

Grade: A- 

Genre: Modern, Historical, Time travel, Star-crossed lovers

Episodes: 16

Happy Ending: Yes

Watched on: Netflix (FR)

Trigger warning for graphic depiction of violence

Big surprise. I was looking for a cheesy comedy but it was actually a thoughtful story about humanism. I even teared up a little. 

Trigger warning for needles. They do some pretty impressive procedures with those acupuncture needles. 

#30 W - Two Worlds Apart 

(더블유)

Grade: A 

Genre: Modern  

Episodes: 16

Happy Ending: Yes

Watched on: Netflix (FR)

Imaginary men > Real men, especially when they're played by Lee Jong-suk. Nuf’ said.

Imaginary men > Real men, especially when they're played by Lee Jong-suk.

The silly premise hides a solid story that keeps you on your toes and I was suprised by the rollercoaster of emotions I went through.

“Option 3″

“That’s 4 fingers”

#31 Life 

(라이프)

Grade: C 

Genre: Modern

Episodes: 16

Happy Ending: Kinda

Watched on: Netflix (FR)

Unless you want to learn how fucked up the private health sector is becoming in Korea, there's not much to gain watching this show. 

The story starts off well though. The problem is that by the middle of the series the writers have dropped the main mystery (the circumstances surrounding the death of the director) to deliver an exposé on the political machinations of big corporations, and then shoehorn an explanation at the last minute (“it was all but a misunderstanding”). Very underwhelming.

The relationship between the two brothers played by Lee Dong-wook and Lee Kyu-hyung is the only bright spot.

#32 Pinocchio 

(피노키오)

Grade: A- 

Genre: Modern, Fake family members who catch feels

Episodes: 20

Happy Ending: Yes

Watched on: Netflix (FR)

On paper, the story sounds a little crazy but it all comes together nicely.

Lee Jong-suk and Park Shin-hye have great chemistry and deliver a stellar performance as “uncle” and “niece” (not related by blood) who can’t fight the romantic feelings they harbor for one another. The main storyline has enough twists to keep you entertained and surprised. 

My only complaint is that it drags a little. 16 episodes would have been enough. 

#33 My Holo Love 

(나 홀로 그대)

Grade: A 

Genre: Modern, Sci-fi

Episodes: 12

Happy Ending: Yes

Watched on: Netflix (FR)

Fake men > Real men 

Imagine a Black Mirror episode about a love triangle between a woman suffering from face blindness, an emotionally supportive AI boyfriend and the disenchanted creator of said AI, minus the nihilism. *chef kiss*

#34 Legend of the blue sea 

(푸른 바다의 전설)

Grade: B++ 

Genre: Modern, Fantasy, Fairy tale, Star-crossed lovers

Episodes: 20

Happy Ending: Yes

Watched on: Viki

Park Ji-eu (the writer) read the little mermaid and decided to give her a happy ending. Great chemistry between Lee Min-ho and Jun Ji-hyun but the spark is missing for me. 

The antics of modern-day mermaid Shim Cheong are a little predictable and Joon-jae needs to be less of a control freak at times but the story remains enjoyable. I was pleasantly surprised to see Shim Cheong’s character grow, making the power imbalance between the clueless mermaid and the con-artist less pronounced by the end of the series. 

The side characters are interesting but underused, and I wish Tae-oh was more developed. On the other hand, the Joseon area sets and costumes are absolutely gorgeous (Don’t tell anyone but Joseon!Lee Min-ho is hotter than Modern!Lee Min-ho 🥵)

#35 Tale of Arang / Arang and the Magistrate 

(아랑사또전)

Grade: B 

Genre: Historical, Fantasy,

Episodes: 20

Happy Ending: Yes

Watched on: Netflix (FR)

One word: Campy.

Interesting lore but the pacing is a little off—there’s a lot of back and forth between the characters and the locations and the love triangle doesn't add much. 

#36 My ID is Gangnam Beauty / Gangnam Beauty  

(내 아이디는 강남미인)

Grade: A+ 

Genre: Modern, Coming of age

Episodes: 16

Happy Ending: Yes

Watched on: Netflix (FR)

If you’ve ever been bullied for your looks, you’re gonna bawl your eyes out. 

The show does a great job of calling out the unhealthy beauty standards imposed on Korean women but the topic is universal enough for the story to resonate with everyone. I love that you never see Mi-rae’s old face because it’s not our perception of her lack of beauty that matters but the fact she suffers greatly. Don’t you hate in western shows when they take a beautiful actress, give her a pair of glasses or a fat suit and call her ugly, making sure the audience feels shittier about themselves? Here, the writers concentrate on Mi-rae’s transformation and her coping with the consequences of her decision to do plastic surgery. 

It’s also not a revenge fantasy where the ugly duckling suddenly becomes the most popular girl at school. Being a “Gangnam beauty” leads to a new form of suffering. 

Romance-wise, it’s the slowest burn of slow burns because Mi-rae and Do Kyung-seok are the most socially awkward beans on the planet. I love them, Your Honor. 

#37 Tale of Nokdu 

(조선로코-녹두전)

Grade: A

Genre: Historical, Posing as the opposite sex

Episodes: 32 x 30mns

Happy Ending: Yes

Watched on: Viki - Now available on Netflix (FR)

Fun and lighthearted all the way through.

The story of a guy who puts on a dress to investigate a village of widows could have gone very wrong but it was well handled. It’s refreshing to see the classic trope of posing as the opposite sex reversed and Jang Dong-yoon is never cringy when he’s pretending to be Lady Kim Nok-soon.

#38 Bride of Habaek / Bride of the Water God

(하백의 신부 2017)

Grade: B

Genre: Modern, Fantasy

Episodes: 16

Happy Ending: Yes

Watched on: Netflix (FR)

Content warning: Crime against fashion

Promising premise and lore (I'm interested in reading the original comics now) but the writing fails to deliver an epic romance and a cathartic ending. Moreover, the sets lack imagination (or money?) and in the end I failed to ever feel immersed in a fantasy world.

The unfortunate consequence of the clumsy writing is that the male characters who are meant to be arrogant/confident Gods (Habaek and By-ryeom) sound like they're negging their love interests more than wooing them, and the relationship between Mu-ra and By-ryeom particularly irked me.

#39 Strangers from Hell / Hell is other people 

(타인은 지옥이다) 

Grade: A+

Genre: Modern, Psychological Thriller

Episodes: 10

Happy Ending: Spoiler

Watched on: Netflix (FR)

Content warning: Violence 

What a departure from everything else in that list! Absolutely worth a watch if you enjoy thrillers and shows like Hannibal. If psychological horror isn’t your cup of tea though, you might give it a pass. 

The storyline and the characters are a little cliché (it goes with the genre) but the cinematography and photography are fantastic. You can notice how the pension becomes more and more sinister throughout the series via the use of dark greens and browns and pale yellows, as opposed to the mundanity and coldness of the city (greys, and cold blues).

Last but not least, the acting is top-tiers. Im Siwan does a great job at portraying Jong-woo, an aspiring crime novelist who slowly loses his marbles but the true revelation for me is Lee Dong-wook. After seeing him so many times in roles where he plays awkward yet charming men who can barely express emotions, I was intrigued to see him take on the role of a serial killer, and holy cow, he's the perfect mix of sinister and alluring. Towards the end of the series, his character Moon-jo acts like a black-hole whenever he appears in a scene—a towering, dark presence who sucks the light out of the room (If he carries any of that darkness in the upcoming Tale of Gumiho, it’s gonna be *chef kiss*).

#40 Empress Ki 

(기황후)

Grade: A

Genre: Historical, posing as the opposite sex

Episodes: 51

Happy Ending: From a certain point of view

Watched on: Netflix (FR)

Trigger warning for violence against women (not graphic but implied)

51 episodes.

Fifty.One.Episodes.

That's a lot of episodes considering the story starts with the ending. 

Did I enjoy this show? Yes, very much so. Do I think it's for everyone? Nope. 

You'll enjoy Empress Ki if you're into old-school historical sagas or you wished Game of thrones had no gratuitous nudity and violence. If you’re looking for an historically accurate biography of the real empress Ki though, then look away because Empress Ki is basically a lengthy fanfiction trying to justify how the Goryeo native Seung-nyang married the wimpy Emperor of the Yuan dynasty whilst trying to portray her as loyal to her motherland and to her first love, the Crown Prince of Goryeo. 

Personally, I didn’t care for the love triangle formed by Seung-nyang (Ha Ji-won), Wang-yoo (Joo Jin-mo) and Toghon Temür (Ji Chang-wook) but I liked the politics and the backstabbing. Also, contrary to GoT, the bad guys get their comeuppance at the end so it makes watching the side characters die less painful.

#41 Meow, the secret boy / Welcome 

(어서와)

Grade: B-

Genre: Modern, Modern fantasy

Episodes: 24 x 35mns 

Happy Ending: I guess

Watched on: Viki

How do I put it? It's not *terribad* but it's not *good* either. 

I was super on board with the concept—if Lee Seung-gi can bang a nine-tailed fox in My girlfriend is a gumiho, I have zero issues with Sol ah, our heroine, falling in love with Hong-jo the cat-person after being dumped for no reason by Jae-sun her boyfriend—but it didn’t exactly develop that way, and as soon as they explained why Jae-sun had broken up with Sol-ah, the writers lost me because I like when things happen for a reason. 

#42 Clean with a passion for now 

(일단 뜨겁게 청소하라!!)

Grade: A-

Genre: Modern, Rom-Com

Episodes: 16 

Happy Ending: Yes

Watched on: Netflix (FR)

Super zany and tropey but that’s why it works so well. The only reason I’m giving it a minus is because it’s trying to be woke but in the end there’s still a lot of unsolicited grabbing and some iffy remarks/pick-up lines said by every male characters (IRL that’s the kind of story that ends up with a restraining order and a lawsuit for sexual harassment).

#43 Mystic pop-up bar 

(쌍갑포차)

Grade: A

Genre: Modern, Fantasy

Episodes: 12

Happy Ending: Yes

Watched on: Netflix (FR)

Trigger warning: Heavy themes (miscarriage, pregnancy, loss of a child, death of loved ones)

You know how the meme goes... Sometimes a family is a hot-tempered bar owner, a cursed kid and an ex-Afterlife-Police officer with a secret past. 

It took me a few episodes to get into it, but once the characters were established it became really enjoyable. 

The tone of the series leans toward wacky but the core of the story is actually pretty dark if you look into it. Every grudge they solve for their “clients” gives a clue about Wol-joo’s personal story and by the last episode I was crying my eyes out.

Last but not least, Wol-joo’s collection of modernized hanboks is *chef kiss*

#44 My secret Terrius 

(내 뒤에 테리우스)

Grade: A

Genre: Modern, Action, Comedy, Bromance

Episodes: 16

Happy Ending: Yes

Watched on: Netflix (FR)

An enjoyable action drama to watch with your family or your significant other.

Koreans prove that you can write a story about a black ops agent on the run who becomes a childminder without reeking of toxic masculinity. Contrary to American comedies where the manly-man-hero working undercover is incompetent and believes that working with children is a woman’s job and a waste of his manly-man talents until he has an epiphany of some sorts, Kim Bon (played by So Ji-sub) never once expresses discomfort to the idea of looking after two kids. In spite of his sober demeanor, he’s a caring and attentive person from the start and watching him gradually becoming a part of this spunky family while investigating a national security threat made my heart go awww.

Opposite him, fearless and resourceful mom Go Ae-rin (played Jung In-sun) brings a lot of energy, and the twins are absolutely adorable.

#45 Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo

(달의 연인 - 보보경심 려)

Grade: A--

Genre: Historical  

Episodes: 16

Happy Ending: No

Watched on: Random streaming site

Don’t get attached—Moon Lovers is the missing link between Empress Ki and Boys over flowers, but with a sad ending.

I did binge watch the series but there are some frustrating aspects to it that prevented me from giving a perfect score, notably the fact that Wang So remains possessive and demanding with Hae Soo throughout the years—for instance “You’re my person” is a romantic statement until it evolves into “You can never leave me.”

The other problem of the series is that Lee Ji-eun (UI) does cute and goofy really well, but she doesn’t have the emotional range needed to portray a character who goes through many heartbreaks and betrayals. As a result, Hae Soo appears a little fickle in her infatuations with the princes.  

That being said if you’re a sucker for tragic romance and you believe that power corrupts even the purest of love, you’ll have a blast.

#46 Forest 

(포레스트)

Grade: B++

Genre: Modern, Romance

Episodes: 16

Happy Ending: Yes

Watched on: Viki

UST in the woods (Dat first kiss 🥵🥵🥵)

The characters and the story are a little cliché but who doesn’t love a story where the protagonists are clearly attracted to each other but can’t act on their desires because their moral values are opposite?

*slams fist*

San Hyeok is your typical heartless businessman who refuses to confront his childhood trauma, and Yeong Jae is a surgeon who suffers from panic attacks and cares too much about other people. They’re both good looking and fate brings them to a remote village in the middle of the forest where they have to share a house. Really, I wonder what’s gonna happen?

#47 100 Days My Prince / Hundred days husband

(백일의 낭군님)

Grade: B+

Genre: Historical

Episodes: 16

Happy Ending: Yes

Watched on: Viki 

Trigger warning: Important character death.

Cute and charming but also very annoying at times. Obviously, the story is tropey af (fake marriage doubled with amnesia, you can’t really beat that) but it also includes elements I’ve never seen in any other dramas like the fact that the Crown Princess is pregnant with another man’s child (le gasp!). The things that annoy me the most were the unnecessary flip-flopping of the heroine towards the end of the show for the sake of creating artificial drama (just let them be together FFS!) and the fact that the male characters take a lot of decisions for Yeon Hong-shim.

Romance wise, Do Kyung-soo and Nam Ji-hyun are really cute together but in the end I found myself more interested in the political intrigue and the side characters than the main romance because slow burn has its limit. In essence, it’s the perfect drama to watch with your conservative family because whilst the main couple is living under the same roof and is technically married they don’t get frisky. 

#48 I Am Not A Robot (로봇이 아니야)

Grade: A++

Genre: Modern

Episodes: 16

Happy Ending: Yes

Watched on: Netflix (FR)

Angsty with a good pay-off.

With a premise like that, things could have gone wrong really quickly but the writers managed to write a story that isn’t a man wanting to fuck a robot because real women are scary so big kudos for them. Seeing Min-kyu celebrating his Roomba’s birthday because he has no other friends will instantly melt your heart and from that point on you’ll cheer for his recovery. The show has the right amount of angst without becoming a mess and they handle the big reveal very well, making sure to show how hurt both Min-kyu and Ji-ah are by the situation, without making you doubt that they can find each other again. The other strong point of the show is that it’s not just about romance, it’s also about friendship and learning to let other people in your life. 

The acting is incredible to the point that by the end I wondered if Yoo Seung-ho and Chae Soo-bin were making out in front of my salad or if I was still watching the characters Min-kyu and Ji-ah being lovey dovey. 

#49 Sungkyunkwan Scandal (성균관 스캔들)

Grade: A

Genre: Historical, Posing as the opposite gender

Episodes: 20

Happy Ending: Yes

Watched on: Viki

Hana zakari no kimi tachi he with gats.

This show checks so many boxes when it comes to my favourite tropes story-wise and character-wise that I instantly fell in love with it. It might feel a little dated for a younger audience and it definitely suffers from the second male lead syndrome (who wants unseasoned boiled chicken when there are not just one but two juicy rotisserie chickens on the table next to you?!) but it’s still very much enjoyable. Also, they don’t shy away from using the word “homosexuality” and having one of the second lead confessing to having romantic feelings for his friend (I’ll take any scrap of bi-representation, okay?)

#50 It’s Okay to not be okay  (사이코지만 괜찮아)

Grade: A 

Genre: Modern

Episodes: 16

Happy Ending: Yes

Watched on: Netflix (FR)

Found family. 

In spite of one ridiculous plot twist (that I was aware of when I started the show) this show has made me feel all the feelz. The three main actors all did a phenomenal job portraying their characters in all their complexity and fragility and I ended up crying so many cathartic tears in the second to last & the last episodes.The relationship between Sang-tae and Gang-tae is one of the best sibling relationships I’ve seen on-screen in a long time while the romance between Moon-yeong and Gang-tae blends perfectly elements of comedy and melodrama. Mental illness isn’t treated as something to be ashamed of, whilst showing that you can grow and recover from trauma and finding your own happiness.

PSA from my boyfriend, who dropped the show before the end: 

The plot twist is so stupid that it takes away from the rest of the series. In my opinion it negated the positive portrayal of mental illness built up until then. They completely lost me.

^ We discussed a lot about it which is why I wanted to share his POV to balance my own review.

#51 coming soon

#k-drama #kdrama

[thefeastandthefast]

Finally done with this garbage.

*insert “IT’S DONE” Frodo gif here*

Of course it remains hot garbage all the way to the end. I’ll be honest, I skimmed through the last two episodes posted on YouTube because I just needed it to be over so I could reclaim brain space. So forgive me if I miss anything. 

WARNING, SUPER LONG RANT UNDER CUT.

Of course there’s no satisfactory closure for any of the relationships that were built in the first quarter of the show. Maoze and Danshu never get a final scene together. I didn’t expect there to be one, since her character development had long ossified into Song Dynasty Stepford Wife. Maoze, too, remains completely devoted to the emperor to the end. I’m actually surprised that I wasn't more upset about the lack of resolution for my Straw Hat babies. But then again, I lost interest in what they’d do with drama!Danshu twenty episodes ago. 

He’er seems to have forgiven the emperor for all the suffering he put her and her daughter through. The last thing she says is that she has finally succeeded in accompanying her 6th Prince for an entire long lifetime. Doesn’t matter that she was ready to kill herself to defend Huirou just a couple episodes ago. What is character development?

Huirou’s trauma is so great that she has permanently broken with reality and regressed back into her childhood memories. He’er is relieved of this, because it means Huirou can live in her head in a happier time. 

And before we’re shown all that, we get a scene where shitstain emperor gets to explain once more to Huirou why she’s at fault for everyone’s misery and why the stability of the empire is in danger because of her willfulness. She agrees to part from Huaiji forever, for the greater good. This is filmed and presented to us as a touching father-daughter heart to heart and not as the implicitly threatening psychological abuse that it is. Throughout the conversation, he defends Sima Guang as a true patriot who just cares about the people and their needs, though that asshole has been the megaphone of Neo-Confucian hyperconservatism this whole time, shouting for Huaiji’s head and for Huirou to be punished and thrown back into her torture chamber marriage. Yet another entry in the list of shitty powerful men who are absolved of the pain and suffering they cause without remorse, as long as they’ve got a platform and big mouths to spew enough words out to convince themselves and other powerful men of their moral superiority.

And the last we see of Huaiji, is him making an obeisance to the emperor’s memory. I’d wondered why the show added in the storyline of Huaiji’s brother, when Huaiji barely had any scenes or lines to express the pain of losing his family and future or his feelings about finding his roots again. There was only one scene, as far as I can remember. The purpose of writing Huaiji’s family backstory wasn’t to give more dimension to Huaiji’s character. No, It was actually to make the emperor more sympathetic and so that he could heroically be the instrument for the brothers’ eventual reunion in the end. 

So Zhao Zhen gets to die beloved by all the women he destroyed and lauded by all who once questioned and criticized him. He gets to die in Danshu’s arms as she sobs “take me with you”. The last words on the screen are ones that celebrate his legacy as a benevolent ruler, taken from the Yuan Dynasty-era History of Song.

Let’s be honest, this drama is Chinese history used as political propaganda the entire way through. Because there are splashes of period-accurate detail (like the “three white makeup” and all the Song literati cameos), it gives the entire drama an air of legitimacy and lures you into thinking that they took their research seriously. But really the period detail is just a nice, glossy coat obscuring the insidious bones of this revisionist monstrosity. And the last two episodes really peel away that coat to reveal the machinery underneath. 

If I’m generous, I’ll say that the accuracy of some characterizations in this drama is highly suspect, but I suppose still debatable. Writing an Empress Cao who steadfastly and quietly loved Zhao Zhen despite his historically well-documented, decades-long suspicion of her... like, FINE, even if I think it’s illogical, sexist, bad writing, one can argue it’s fair game for creative license, given the inherently uncertain task of knowing the true feelings and motivations of people living a thousand years ago. 

But then you have something like the fallout of Huirou’s marriage, Zhao Zhen’s role in that sad business, and Li Wei’s later actions, which just completely and merrily skips away from actual historical fact and leaves the most telling details of her tragic end untold. Because to depict the actual events would make Zhao Zhen and Li Wei indefensible. 

Given that China is currently in the midst of an extremely concerning rise in Han nationalism, where Chinese traditional culture (everything from philosophy to art to clothing to music) is being co-opted and reframed to entrench narratives of Han superiority, it’s a problem when this Song Dynasty alternate history is presented as truth. It used to be that anything to do with Chinese traditional culture was suspect and would be in danger of destruction, especially during the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976). But now this destruction is a little bit more subtle. Instead of just straight-up smashing Song Dynasty tombs, just dismantle and reconfigurate them piece by piece to create a little shrine for the current ruling party. To tell this story about the struggles of governance from the perspective of the head of the ruling elite during one of the wealthiest times of imperial Chinese history- I just don't believe that was a decision made purely for creative license.  

It’s a perfectly valid stance not to care how history is interpreted as long as it’s good entertainment. I’m certainly not one to let historical inaccuracy keep me from enjoying my period films and TV shows (to a degree, lol). But I also find my experience of historical fiction more illuminating and enjoyable when I try to parse out what’s supported by evidence and what isn’t. So I can try to understand the reasons behind a writer’s decisions for excluding stuff that’s supported and including stuff that isn’t. Because how and what elements of the past are used in popular fiction matter, and they shape our attitudes on so much more than just entertainment.  

So, to end my last long-ass rant about this horrible drama that’s eaten up so much of my time and energy, I’m gonna pour one out for the historical figures who got short shrifted: 

For the historical Empress Cao, who made it through Renzong’s reign without losing her throne, even though Renzong tried and failed several times to depose her. Who promoted highly Zhang Maoze soon after Renzong’s death despite the protests of Sima Guang and didn’t go down without a fight when they wanted her to retire as regent.   

For the historical Consort Miao, who plotted with Consort Yu to try to bring down Li Wei and begged Renzong to execute Li Wei with poisoned wine, all to get her daughter out of the marriage.

For the historical Princess Fukang, who was finally allowed a divorce in early 1062, after attempting suicide multiple times. Who was then forced by Renzong to remarry Li Wei less than a year later. Who died at the age of 33 in a household with people who hated and abused her. The extent of that abuse was discovered by her nephew Emperor Shenzong after she died when he showed up for the funeral. He wept in front of his ministers describing the treatment she had received from Li Wei for the last seven years of her life: she had not been given adequate food, clothing, or medical care. Her body and bedding was infested with lice and she had burn scars on her face from trying to light her own coals. I think it’s important to acknowledge just how much this benevolent father of hers failed her after everything, even after she probably thought she had escaped, even if the show won’t.   

#serenade of peaceful joy #held in the lonely castle #清平乐 #cdrama #chinese history #period drama #historical drama #my commentary

[blackhatclubblog]

Top Ten Shows with #s in the titles

Because there are many ways to divide dramas, and this is one. XD The K2 Oh, yes, let's start with the one that should have been so much cooler. What should have been the core of the story: is it possible for a good, if terribly broken (kudos to the show for portraying PTSD), man to save a bad, and equally broken, woman with the power of his friendship? Unfortunately, they thought a ridiculous lot of action, a few good actors, and the potential for awesome could save an 11th hour gutting of the best parts of the drama in favor of an absolutely idiotic (and entirely inappropriate) loveline with a actress who could not hold her own against the other leads. It did not work. I will say the action scenes are still fun and the OST is one I still enjoy, though. Right along with the glorious speculation on what could have been. XD 7th Grade Civil Servant ...'k, and this was a DNF. It was a stupid, slapstick spy comedy that even fans of such (of which I am not one) did not enjoy. I was hoping, because it had Joo Won in, but...no. I could barely make it through the beginning. Two Weeks Okay, I liked this one. It is a drama not really for children or the undiscerning...but a good story in multiple ways. It’s one of those incredible redemption stories that I adored but that which is slightly harder to recommend to everyone indiscriminately. Basically, the MC made a terrible choice in attempting to protect someone he loved, and his life was destroyed. When the story starts, he is in a very bad place, and the story doesn't shy away from the depths to which he has sunk. When his ex-girlfriend finds him and tells him that she actually had the baby he demanded she abort, and that baby is now a young girl dying of leukemia who needs him donate stem cells...his life takes a different turn. Watching him fight step by step to believe that he can change, that he can become the person those he loves need so desperately, and come to a full understanding of what exactly he has done in the past...it's incredible. {There is a scene where he ends up helping a stranger deliver her baby, and the moment it truly hits him what he almost forced his girlfriend to do and that he might never have met his daughter if his girlfriend had followed through...gah.} This ^ scene, sure, might lose a few points for why is a man on the run from the police and the bad guys helping a random lady deliver a baby of all things? and is this too on the nose in forcing him to make up for not supporting his own family when he should have done so? But it all depends on how you feel about symbolism. XD Also, I just discovered, doing my usual fruitless search for a good MV of Two Weeks, that Japan has also done a version, which stars Miura Haruma. Which A) brb, watching that now, and B) that leads directly into: 5 Minutes to Tomorrow A man enters the twisting reality of a highly concerning pair of twin sisters...which one died and which one came home as his wife?  This also counts as a DNF, I guess, because I have tried to watch this movie 2-3 times and fallen asleep promptly every time, which is not a great recommendation for any kind of murder mystery. To be fair, the Chinese or Japanese movies I have watched have been few and far between. All of the latter, however have been the fault of the following drama: Bloody Monday 1-2 This is totally cheating and I really don't care. There are rare Korean or Japanese shows with seasons, so I'm utilizing that unique aspect. XD Anyway, it's been a while since I watched it, but I highlight it for 2 reasons: Miura Haruma and Sato Takeru.   Okay, just kidding. But I keep checking out and then dropping Japanese films and shows in hopes of one or the other of these two will be in another show as brilliantly addicting as this one. So far, Sato Takeru is the only one who has managed it. What made Bloody Monday so good? Plotting, pacing, characters. It is a j-drama/dorama, so be warned that compared to the k-dramas I tend to watch it is a little more graphic in terms of language, death, clothing choices, subject matter...but if you're looking for a fight-the-terrorist-save-the-world story utilizing a genius hacker and his best friends and a brilliantly charismatic villain..this is it. The villain subconsciously inspired a decent amount of my Contract to Time Travel character Ja-Il - his intelligence, his charisma, his relationship with his siblings...but one of the main reasons I love it is that the MC is so resoundingly true. When it comes down to saving his country or betraying his principles, what choice will he make? Tactically he may be stupid, but he's still practically a child, and the strength of his convictions matters to me. Also, I loved that season 2 did not pick up with everyone the same. It showed how people were hurt, how people were changed, how people grew up, from season 1. It hurt, but it felt real. Queen for Seven Days Speaking of watching new dramas because of who is in them...Park Min Young SLAYS in every drama I've seen her in (including rom com, which I DO NOT EVEN WATCH but which I have watched for her and pretty much died laughing over)...and Yeon Woo Jin (who...now that I think about it...I have watched a rom-com with him in it too...yikes...this is not me...) Maybe I'm an idiot for wanting to ruin the two rom-coms I've enjoyed in my life by seeing two of their leads in a tragedy, but...I have heard nothing but high praise for every aspect of this drama except the trailers, and once I get past my current stack of tragic historical dramas, I'm definitely going to watch this one. Five Fingers This one is on hold...to be honest, I only ever wanted to watch it because of the opening sequence of piano music, which I watched. All I know is it's about pseudo-brothers and revenge and pianos? And there's a fire in there somewhere? Which sounds like a fun combination, but I'm not sure as a story that has enough weight to pull me completely in. I might do better with my time to just learn some piano music for myself.... 38 Task Force Okay, for something not a revenge tragedy...this weirdly named show is for fans of Leverage and Seo In Guk. The relationships weren't quite so well done as I'd hoped, and the cons (which then became the point of it all) were minimally memorable. I remember one of them involved the main conman giving a speech at a fancy place...and another involved him coming up with a car out of thin air...and another had something to do with antiques and throwing money everywhere. So. I remember enjoying it enough to watch it...but not much else. Rating: Eh. School 2013 Aw...one more drama that is neither tragedy nor romance. It's a school drama about guilt, honesty, dreams, the impact of adult role models on troubled children, and a David-Jonathan friendship that went horribly wrong. As such it is a lot less weighty than most of the others on this list...yet while you're watching it you forget that the only thing at stake is the friendship of some high school boys and possibly their futures. Which I think is something Korean dramas sometimes excel at - is the tragic destruction of a friendship going to destroy the world? No, but when you're in the situation it might feel like it is, and the drama manages to pull you in so that you feel what they're feeling. Six Flying Dragons Sooooo....back to tragedies....*cough* Caveat: I have not yet finished this. But just the first few episodes plunged me into the founding of a nation and the creation of a man - I love how Korean dramas are not afraid to spend the time setting up the world and showing you exactly what choices were made to make someone the person they became. And maybe it’s a bloody mess of history but it’s tragic and fascinating and even if largely fictionalized there is so much to learn from history, let alone about story-telling. I’m looking forward to watching this one as a whole.   What is your favorite drama or movie with a number in the title? Which of the above have you watched? XD

#kdrama #dorama #jdrama #six flying dragons #school 2013 #two weeks #38 task force #five fingers #queen for seven days #5 minutes to tomorrow #Blood Monday #7th grade civil servant #The K2

[aion-rsa]

The Weird History of A Chinese Ghost Story Franchise

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When A Chinese Ghost Story premiered in 1987, it was already part of a unique category – the fusion of horror, comedy, and Kung Fu. Asian horror films are known as jiangshi, which is the name of a specific spooky hopping ghost found in Chinese folklore that proliferates these films.

Part zombie, part vampire, jiangshi are corpses that are usually reanimated by demons or Daoist sorcerers. They hop along mindlessly with their arms outstretched like sleepwalkers, and feed on the life essence – or qi – of the living. Often a jiangshi is blind but can smell breath. This makes for great comic hijinks as hapless characters struggle to hold their breath while gruesome jiangshi shove their rotting noses close to their mouths trying to pick up the scent.

Comedy is a common horror film device. It releases tension and leaves the audience unguarded for the next jump scare. The addition of Kung Fu is purely Hong Kong and can be traced to Sammo Hung’s groundbreaking Encounters of the Spooky Kind in 1980. Adding martial arts action comes naturally because in Chinese culture sorcerers and exorcists are Daoist or Buddhist Kung Fu masters. In the wake of that film, Kung Fu Horror Comedies became a thing of its own with plenty of franchises, most notably Mr. Vampire.

If the horror, comedy, and Kung Fu menage a trois wasn’t enough, A Chinese Ghost Story was one of the first films of a then-burgeoning period genre called FantAsia. FantAsia is the Chinese answer to sword and sorcery flicks. It includes superhuman Kung Fu (which means lots of wirework and flying about), magic spells and supernatural beasts. FantAsia is based on a longstanding body of fiction in movies and literature known as Wuxia, which means ‘martial heroes.’ 

A Chinese Ghost Story was produced by Tsui Hark, who spearheaded FantAsia with his Zu: Warriors From The Magic Mountain four years prior to A Chinese Ghost Story, and followed with many other FantAsia classics like The Swordsman, Once Upon a Time in China and Green Snake. Ching Sui-tung directed all three A Chinese Ghost Story films and continues to deliver FantAsia films like The Sorcerer and the White Snake, but Tsui is the undisputed father of the genre. 

The Chinese Twilight Zone from the 1800s

A Chinese Ghost Story retells a beloved Chinese tale of star-crossed romance. All these Chinese Ghost Story films are titled Qian Nu You Hun in Chinese, which translates into “beautiful woman dark spirit.” This is the story of Nie Xiaoqian, drawn from a 1740 short story compilation titled Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio by Pu Songling. These were stories of the supernatural world with covert social commentary, akin to The Twilight Zone today.

Tales from Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio have been depicted in countless Chinese films and TV shows, most recently in last year’s CGI-drenched FantAsia flick The Knight of Shadows: Between Yin and Yang where Jackie Chan played Pu Songling. Nie Xiaoqian’s tale is a favorite having been retold in over a dozen TV shows and the films mentioned here.  

In the original tale, Nie is a beautiful ghost, doomed to haunt an abandoned temple and hunt for souls for a demon that has enslaved her. She tries to capture a milquetoast travelling scholar, Ning Caichen, who manages to free her from her curse and takes her home to help his sickly wife. After Ning’s wife dies, he marries Nie and redeems her. In Chinese folktales, supernatural beings often strive to become human. It’s a device to analyze what being human means, akin to the journeys of Data, Seven of Nine, and T’Pol in Star Trek. 

There was a notable adaptation of Nie’s tale in 1960. For that film, Qian Nu You Hun was translated as The Enchanting Shadow and was Hong Kong’s submission for Cannes and the Academy Awards. In the lead roles were two of the most popular actors of their generation. Nie was Betty Loh Ti, who died tragically to an overdose at just 31. Betty was a classic beauty, perfect for Nie, and this was her most celebrated role. Ning was Zhao Lei who enjoyed a long career of over a hundred films from the early 50s to the late 80s.

The Enchanting Shadow is a gorgeous film with sumptuous sets and costumes, which is what gave it such international appeal. It plays out almost like a European gothic horror in its gradual pacing and eerie Theremin soundtrack. With its international acclaim, The Enchanting Shadow set the stage for A Chinese Ghost Story 27 years later.

The Chinese Ghost Story Trilogy

A Chinese Ghost Story casts the alluring Joey Wang as Nie and heartthrob Leslie Cheung as Ning. Also in the cast are Wu Ma as the Daoist exorcist Yin and Lau Siu-ming as the androgynous Tree Demoness (Lau is male). The Tree Demoness steals the show like she plucks the hearts of her prey. Shifting between male and female voices, she attacks with entangling roots reminiscent of The Evil Dead (although she penetrates her victims through the mouth not other orifices). Her main weapon is her tongue, which grows so long that it wraps around her prey, cuts down trees and mutates into fangs and tentacles of Lovecraftian proportions.

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25 Fiendishly Funny Horror Comedies

By Kirsten Howard

Joey is entrancing, a seductive portrait of long flowing locks wrapped in diaphanous silk gowns. Everything is always blowing in the wind like Beyonce’s hair, lending a mysterious grace to Joey in every scene.

And Leslie is adorably naïve. Who can’t but sympathize for him getting smitten by mystical Joey and her luxurious eyebrows, even if she was trying to eat him? A Chinese Ghost Story was pre-CGI so the special effects are dated: stop motion zombies, puppet tongue prosthetics, post-production glowy effects and lots of wire work. But there’s a certain charm to the cleverness of the effects. It’s old school filmmaking and although it looks dated now, it still works.

Three years later, the cast was reunited for A Chinese Ghost Story II. It picks up where the original left off. Leslie is still the innocent Ning, thrust in a horrid world. To show the brutality of his environment, there’s an early homage to Yojimbo, with a stray dog fetching a severed human hand.

Ning is in trouble from the start. He accidently sits down in a restaurant for cannibals, and then gets thrown in jail. After Elder Chu (Ku Feng) helps him escape, Ning gets mistaken for Chu by his gang of rebels. One of the gang members is Windy, who bears an uncanny resemblance to Nie because she’s played by Joey Wang. Ning is smitten again.

New to the cast is another Daoist wizard named Autumn (Jacky Cheung) and his frenetic energy ramps up the comedy and action.

The sequel quickly goes to a lot of fun places with absurd fight choreography, Daoist and Buddhist magic, amorous naked hijinks, crazy flying sword blades and a hysterical giant gloppy demon puppet that’s tenuously held captive by a Daoist freezing spell. And the reveal of the main demon is over-the-top strange and hilarious. 

A Chinese Ghost Story III came out the following year, but it’s a break from the narrative. In the first film, the Tree Demoness was banished for a century, so the threequel skips forward to a century later, outliving Ning and the other good characters. Lau Siu-Ming reprises his Tree Demoness role and Joey Wang returns as another beautiful ghost named Lotus. She’s joined by her sister ghost Butterfly (Nina Li, Jet Li’s wife). Jacky Cheung returns but as a different character, the Taoist exorcist Yin. It’s the same name as Wu Ma’s character in the first film because Jacky plays Yin’s rejected student. 

Replacing the lovelorn Ning is a bumbling Buddhist disciple, Shifang (Tony Leung Chiu-Wai) and his master Bai Yun (Lau Shun). Their relationship adds its own comic relief. Early on, Shifang is splattered with blood while witnessing a random roadside sword fight, just like what happened to Ning, while Bai Yun meditates obliviously.

Although the weakest of the trilogy, the special effects have improved over the years. The Tree Demoness’ tongue lickings are more vicious, including a tongue’s eye-view as it deep throats its prey and swims down to pluck out its heart. Lotus attacks with her entangling locks and Butterfly uses telescopic fingernails.

Instead of Daoist sorcery, there’s more Buddhist magic: restraining sutra wraps, flying carpet cassocks, magic malas, and blood so pure that it is gold. And who can forget Bai Yun’s enchanted earlobes? The finale demon reveal is the strange bastard child of a Transformer and a Kaiju that doesn’t quite work but by then, things have gotten so outrageous that it doesn’t really matter.

More Haunting Chinese Ghost Stories

Tsui Hark returned to the romance of Nie and Ning in 1997 for A Chinese Ghost Story: The Tsui Hark Animation. That was during a pivotal year for Hong Kong because it was the handover when it ceased being a British colony and was returned to China. Consequently, Hong Kong cinema was on fire. Filmmakers had no idea what would become of their industry under communist China, so they were producing their edgiest political work as many tried to immigrate to other countries in fear of having their artistic vision oppressed. 

Hark had been working on the project for years and the animated format allowed him to unleash his vision like never before. This story stands independent of the others, but revisits characters developed for the threequel.

Ning and Nie are the same, although Nie is translated as Shine. Nie Xiaoqian translates to “whispering little lovely” so it’s unclear why Shine was chosen for the English language version. Other characters are translated literally like White Cloud and Ten Miles (translations of Baiyun and Shifang). Also appearing are Butterfly and the Tree Demoness, renamed Madame Trunk, along with her creepy bald minor demoness entourage.

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Zu: The Movie That Inspired Big Trouble In Little China

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Replacing Master Yin is a new Daoist exorcist named Red Beard who travels in the bizarre magical giant transformer with temple bells for arms, a drum for a torso and barrels for legs. There’s also Mountain Evil, a giant rock star like demon that holds a concert and is obsessed with his hair. There’s a lot of music in this installment.

And Ning has a dog sidekick, Solid Gold, who serves as a comical canine conscience. For the Chinese versions, Tsui Hark voiced Solid Gold, which is funny because he only makes dog noises like barks and whimpers. 

Like the threequel, Ning finds himself in a cannibal restaurant but this time, it’s not in the normal world. This one is filled with demons. A Chinese Ghost Story: The Tsui Hark Animation is a deep dive into the yaoguai world.

Yaoguai means “supernatural and strange.” Fans of Asian cinema know it better from the Japanese term Yokai. It’s the world of magical creatures – fairies, demons, ghosts, immortals, enchanted snakes and foxes – different from the elves and gnomes found in Western folklore.

Hark’s animated film was echoed in Hayao Miyazaki’s Oscar-winning Spirited Away four years later. A Chinese Ghost Story: The Tsui Hark Animation transitions between conventional and CGI animation, which was groundbreaking then but comes off awkward today. It has its visionary moments but pales in comparison to the artistry of Spirited Away. 

In 2011, a remake came out, appropriately titled A Chinese Ghost Story 2011 and answered the question “What would A Chinese Ghost Story look like with today’s eye-popping CGI special effects?” Sadly, it doesn’t help despite a stellar cast.

Nie is played by Crystal Liu, who just appeared in the titular role in Mulan, but she falls short. Crystal is China doll cute, but she lacks the mystery needed for a haunting ghost. Ning is Yu Shaoqun. Like Leslie Cheung, Yu is a pretty boy singer, but doesn’t add much to the role beyond eye candy.

The Tree Demoness is veteran actress Kara Hui, who usually delivers gripping performances, but here she reduces the character to a cackling maniacal wicked witch that is strangely unsatisfactory.

There’s some redemption in the Daoist exorcists, which have a completely different and complex story arc. There are two, Yan Chixia, played by a brooding Louis Koo, and the one-armed Xia Xuefenglei, played by Louis Fan. The remake doesn’t capture the charm of the originals and the effects are unimaginative. This isn’t to say that this version is totally negligible. It has some moments like the villagers getting infected after rerouting water from the tree demon’s pool which makes them grow leaves. The villagers provide good comic relief. The sword fights are amusing too. The duel between the two Louises is high flying Kung Fu fun. The film is dedicated to the memory of Leslie Cheung, who tragically committed suicide by jumping off a building in 2003. 

Despite the title, A Chinese Ghost Story isn’t frightening. There’s nothing in any of the films that might keep one up at night. It’s a haunting tale of undying romance, retold with visionary action and hilarious slapstick moments that, apart from some splattered demon ichor, is family friendly, with about the same level of frights as the Ghostbusters franchise. But be warned. A Chinese Ghost Story opens the portal to the psychotropic genre of FantAsia Kung Fu horror comedies. Once entered, there are hundreds of films in this genre that can possess a viewer for months of binging.  

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

A Chinese Ghost Story and A Chinese Ghost Story II are available on Amazon Prime.

The post The Weird History of A Chinese Ghost Story Franchise appeared first on Den of Geek.

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#aion-rsa #Den of Geek

[yingyuerc]

Note (skippable): Hi, I’m going to post about my character from Royal Chaos. A lot of stuff here is gonna contradict the canon story in the game but who cares about canon I came here for a good time baby. Anyway I don’t expect anyone to ever read or find this post cause Royal Chaos isn’t very popular on tumblr but I was bored and wanted to break writer’s block. I got very inspired by @sister-ruan and @lady-reinian so thank you guys for posting amazing content!

My Royal Chaos character — Jiang Ying Yue!

Name: Jiang Ying Yue, but call her Ying or Yue for short

Name meaning: Ying Yue means “Reflection on the moon”, Jiang means “river”.

Age: 17 years old.

Birthday: January 21st, she has always celebrated her birthdays on a beautiful winter day.

Western constellation: Capricorn.

Title: Consort decency, upper 2.

Appearance:

Ethnicity: East-asian (chinese) and European (unspecified)

Height: 5′5, or 165 cm.

Hair: Yue has black, straight hair and it’s very long and silky. It reaches below her waist and she usually wears her hair down. Yue takes very good care of her hair and has a strict routine she uses everyday. Yue has a special and expensive jade comb that she uses. She wears golden accessories on her head & hair to enhance her beauty.

Eyes: Ying Yue has sharp, cat-like upturned blue eyes that seem to appear more purple than blue. They’re framed by long, black lashes. Her eyes are a prominent feature to her beauty, and they always appear to be pensive.

Complexion: Yue has a natural olive skin complexion, but she uses pale make up on her face to match the fair skin tones of the other concubines. Although her skin is glowy and sunkissed, a pale complexion is unfortunately the beauty standard in China.

Body shape: Ying’s body is slender, svelte, thin, gracious, elegant after years of serving as a concubine and having to dance and entertain the emperor. She has long legs and soft, dainty features.

Voice: Yue’s voice is sharper and deeper than you expect. Her face is dainty and meek, but her eyes have an edge of sharpness to match her voice. she has a bossy tone when she speaks but still sound as smooth as the dewdrops on a lotus.

Personality:

Personality traits: |Daring|Bold|Brave|Determined|Bright|Clever|Smart|Cunning|Sneaky|Passionate|Ying Yue is a very daring and bold girl. She is not afraid of speaking what’s on her mind and she always faces a challenge head-on. Yue is strong and brave and doesn’t let other people put her down. She is also bright, clever and smart, and she can solve problems easily thanks to her cleverness. Yue enjoys a good challenge such as a good chess match, a tricky word game, or a tough riddle. Although years as serving as a concubine has made her sneaky and cunning, she lies to get what she wants and often work behind the curtains. A mastermind behind a devillish plan. She would do what it takes for the people she cherish. She is very passionate and persuasive.

Hobbies: Ying loves dancing and playing instruments in her free time. She practices dancing a lot and she is very good at it. She plays various chinese instruments as well as western instruments. Ying Yue paints a lot on beautiful days. She enjoys singing in the palace garden when the stars are shining and the moonlight cascades from the sky. Ying Yue adored board games and always play them with Yuexiu. She spends time with Wen Ruyan and solves crosswords-puzzles when Yuexiu is busy.

Likes: Pretty accessories (especially gold), purple, luxurious gowns, board games, puzzles, art, music, dancing, delicious food, sweets.

Dislikes: Being ignored, getting dismissed, disrespectful behavior, rival concubines, being underestimated, worms.

Strengths: Clever mind, very brave, caring for those she loves, an extraordinarily great dancer and musician, good at solving problems.

Weaknesses: Selfish, apathetic toward those she doesn’t care about, appears to be very untrustworthy if you don’t know her.

Misc:

Favorite food: Candied fruits. Especially candied cherry tomatoes.

Favorite color: All shades of purple, but favors Lavender. She often wears purple clothes.

Favorite animal: Koi fish.

Favorite mythological animal: Dragon.

Favorite scent: Lavender, floral scents.

Occupation: Concubine, consort decency.

Love interest: Er, the emperor Consort Nian  

Background:

Financial situation: Poor, any money she hoards from the emperor she immediately sends to her family.

Previous relationships: None, aside from crushing on a dear friend she’ll no longer meet.

Location: China.

Family: Jiang Ying Yue has two brothers and one younger sister. Her brother, Yuan Wu, is 19 years old and is the oldest child in the Jiang family. He’s studying to become a physician, although the family is struggling financially. Yue’s other brother, Zhen Kun, is 15 years old and is the middle child of the family. He spends a lot of his days fishing. The youngest child in the Jiang family — Jiang Lei, 12 years old and loves picking flowers and attending their family garden. Yuan Wu has a sharp intellect, while Zhen Kun is laidback, Jiang Lei is meek and sweet. Ying Yue had a mother and a father, but they tragically drowned when traveling to a foreign land to sell wares. Ying Yue was seven years old when her parents died. She and her siblings had to live in poverty without parents to take care of them. Jiang Lei was often sick and they couldn’t buy her medicine. So when Yuan Wu grew older he wanted to study and become a physician. Meanwhile Ying Yue danced to get enough money for her family, and Zhen Kun sold fish and sea creatures that he found. 

Backstory: Yue was born into a wealthy family that survived off on trading exotic wares and fine silk with foreigners. She and her family lived in a relatively lively village and they had relatives in big cities. Although her relatives had never visited her, or even acknowledged her existence due to her being half-foreigner. Her mother was a western woman with brown hair and peculiar blue eyes. Meanwhile her father was from a wealthy chinese family of merchants. When he married her his family protested and in the end disowned him. They moved to a nearby village and had four children. When Ying Yue was only seven, Yuan Wu nine, Zhen Kun five, and Jiang Lei two years old, their parents passed away by drowning. They were sailing to Yue’s mother’s homeland to sell wares until a storm hit them. Without any parents to look after the children, they had no other choice but to live in poverty. No relatives would help them, and Ying Yue had playmates from the village’s orphanage but they all told her the living conditions at the orphanage was awful and that she was so lucky to have a mother and father. Ying Yue broke down crying, and soon her older brother Yuan Wu decided that they should move into a bigger village, because at least there they’ll have a chance to beg for money from richer merchants and businessmen. Ying Yue was against the idea because she didn’t want to leave her best friend, Xia Lin from the orphanage. Xia Lin was a very stubborn girl, feisty, scheming and cunning. Xia Lin taught Ying Yue a lot and they were the closest of friends. Ying Yue had to say goodbye to her dearest friend and moved to a bigger village with lots of markets and merchants. Since Jiang Lei was only two years old at the time the sudden change of environment affected her the most. She got nervous and very sick, but they couldn’t get her medicine or see a physician. Ying Yue learned how to play and dance to entertain the villagers so she could help her family. Zhen Kun spent a lot of time around the lakes and rivers, occasionally fetching crabs and other sea critters. He sold them cheap to help his family. Yuan Wu wanted to become a physician to help his sister, but of course he was very young and found a physician to mentor him. As the years passed the Jiang siblings grew older. Ying Yue became extraordinarily beautiful, her dance movements more graceful and elegant, and she matured. Yuan Wu wanted to continue studying to finally become a capable physician. Zhen Kun loved fishing and spent most of his time near the water to find food for his family. Jiang Lei’s health improved, but she was still weaker than most girls her age. Unfortunately Yuan Wu couldn’t afford to continue his tuition since the Jiang family lacked money. Zhen Kun’s money from fishing couldn’t help much but feed the family. Jiang Ying Yue only saw one option, she forced herself to become a concubine to help finance her family. Ying Yue was 15 when she entered the palace as a concubine and she has served as one for two years, sending back the luxurious riches to her family. She regularly keeps in contact with them via letters. Yue didn’t like the emperor that much, she faked her nervous giggles and blushes to get money for her family. She doesn’t hate the emperor, in fact she’s very indifferent about him and quite apathetic. But she could never love him. Ying Yue never had time for men and she simply wasn’t interested in them. A lot of dramatic events unfolded, but Jiang Ying Yue kept going strong.

#Royal Chaos #RC #Lore #Character Info

[docholligay]

Silverleaf 15--Hidden Futures

We’re getting down to the final entries in this story! Please thank Benjamin for sponsoring it! Yu can see all of Silverleaf here. This entry is a little over 2000 words. 

Michiru looked through her little black book with a sense of intense disinterest.

This feeling was hardly new to her, as she had spent the greater part of her life with a unique and specific sense of boredom. Once she had discovered what it was that she was meant to be, and the line was laid out clearly for her, there was no need to have any sort of curiosity over the matter. She took violin and art classes and learned languages and English riding, pruned herself into every classic social grace and became an elegant hostess and clever conversationalist. She grew and she learned and she turned off the place in her mind that imagined there might be anything else.

When one is reared with the idea that nothing is beyond one’s reach, the specific idleness of the very rich sets in, something Michiru had long abhorred and found unavoidable. She was impossibly wealthy, terribly beautiful, and endlessly talented. The only fun that could be had was to see how far one could take all of that power.

And she had taken it masterfully far, until she had flown too close to the sun and slept with the wives of the Chinese ambassador, the head of Singapore Airlines, and the conductor of the New York Symphony Orchestra. Though, not all at once, she was quick to correct otherwise. She was a lady, after all.

Her parents had pulled her home after that, still being woefully alive and thus in charge of her trust, no longer feeling secure with her being across the sea bearing their name.

And so, the boredom persisted.

But whatever shadowy darkness--and it was too interesting and dramatic to even call it darkness, when it was clearly more of a pale shade of flat and very fashionable grey--lay within her, that sad unlit room where she waited for something that might be release, she still had a sense of duty, and a sense of propriety.

Which led her to consider her options for the ball. Her dress would be lovely and couture, as it always was, though the ball hardly called for it, and it would be perfectly acceptable for her to wear something from an earlier occasion, or, in truly dire moments, something off the rack. But there was something to be said for being an example to these girls of what they could be, what they were expected to be in future. Silverleaf had long been the garden soil that grew the blooms of society. Michiru had been educated there herself.

She was a prize rose, decorated and celebrated, whatever she might have gotten up to a world away.

Her mind turned to Haruka, the same as one touches a burn to see if it still stings, and her foolishness in ever entertaining the idea that Haruka could be even a casual affair. Her hair could bounce and shine as she walked down the hall, and her bright ties might be charming, and her smile might radiate all the way to her eyes, but that did not make her an appropriate mate for Michiru.

She had learned nothing from the affair with the English teacher, it seemed. Wildflowers grew in bunches, daisies and dandelions and Queen Anne’s lace all tangled together, but roses like her grew in lines, one next to the other.

But while she was required to pay whatever sacrifice of fantasy her station demanded, she was not required to make a monk of herself. And so, the book. She would find in it a girl of great family and intelligence and breeding, and she would be dressed neatly in fine suiting, and Haruka would see then that her rejection of Michiru -- which had been a kindness to them both, really, for Michiru had been so very silly to ask her in the first place-- was more foolishness on Haruka’s part than anything else. That she could have had the golden key, but lacked the strength to hold it. That Michiru was a prize.

She opened the book, but the door to her secret garden would remain locked.

___

“Okay, so I might be wrong, but were you on the national track team? Back about seven years ago?”

“Oh my god,” Haruka put her head on the table, “It’s been seven years. How did it get to be seven years?”

Elsa laughed. “Sorry to say, but we’re all adults now. Hurdles, right? I even remember you from middle school, I dropped to regular distance running because no one had a hope in hell of catching you.” She laughed again, the first rolling into the second, her dark hair that seemed almost magenta in its red curling around her face.

“Yeah,” Haruka took a wing and snacked on it thoughtfully, “never did make it to the Olympics. Got hurt.”

Elsa seemed chided for a moment, and this made Haruka feel worse, her tragic backstory once more bringing down the general mood.

“Fucked it up pretty bad, huh?”

Haruka nodded.

“Well,” Elsa picked up another chicken wing, “Guess I should have stayed in hurdles,” she grinned at Haruka, “played the long game.”

Haruka let out a peal of deep and appreciative laughter. Elsa was fun. She was charming and calm and Haruka felt at ease around her, and if she was not quite Haruka’s type, all messy hair and polo shirt, it could be forgiven for the way her laugh came easy, and made Haruka’s come the same.

They both had crashed and burned in their former romantic lives, though Elsa so much sooner, and Haruka could tell it bothered her simply by the way she never spoke of it at all, the kind of girl who put on a cartoon bandaid and carried on. Haruka wished she were a bit more like that, that she did not take the world so much to heart, but she could only be herself. The experience of life had taught her enough about what it did to her to hold it in ike she used to, and so she managed to vent the steam of it all, but still, there we times she wished she were more like the sunny and slightly goofy girl next to her.

“Home run!” Elsa hooted and held up her hand for a high five.

Haruka had, in many ways, learned to adapt and to compromise. If there was no initial spark, why not see if she could make one? Wasn’t friendship the better beginning to love? She did want to be friends with Elsa, very much, and that could become something else.

Love at first sight only happened in stories.

“Hey Elsa,” she fiddled with the label of her beer bottle, “you doing anything two weeks from now?”

___

Hotaru Tomoe thought she’d used up her life’s worth of disasters, and then she went to high school.

She was very used to the idea that she would die, and what thinking about that felt like, but it was more of a surprise to her the feeling of desperately wishing she would die on the spot. It didn’t even have to be a medical emergency, a well-timed bus could give her all the peace she greatly longed for as she stood in front of the house where Cere lived, larger than Chibiusa’s and even more grand, a monument to whatever things her parents had done to get here, which Hotaru was sure were underhanded at best and maniacally evil at worst, if she trusted the things said about Cere.

“Oh, you...you worry too much.” Sakiko said, but she sounded as if she hardly believed herself, “I’m sure she’ll have us do some stupid chore for her or something to give us back the letter. We’ll feature her in the yearbook, she loves the look of her own face.”

Hotaru listened to Sakiko’s chuckle, even as the wind carried it away into the night, wishing it was closer at her side and not slipping away as if it had been hardly heard at all.

“I guess,” she shrugged, as if unsure of what else to say. She had her doubts that Cere would be so reasonable. She had her own ideas that Cere might also have feelings for Chibiusa. That would at least explain her need to torment Hotaru in a way that didn’t have to involve Hotaru’s ability to be bullied.

Interrupting them both, the door swung open, a young women in a neatly pressed outfit before them standing tall, with keen eyes and a natural bearing that suggested this amount of ceremony was in her blood.

“We’re, uh,” Hotaru suddenly forgot why she had come at all, for a moment, “We’re, we’re--” her brain caught the hook again and remembered why she’d come, “We’re here to see Cere!”

It came out too excited for the eggshell and black formality of the entrance behind the woman, and she looked at Hotaru curiously.

“It’s for school,” Sakiko quickly interrupted, “we have a piece of homework we have to get from her.”

“I’m sure she could email--”

“It’s for a diorama.”

Hotaru envied Sakiko’s ability to confidently lie to adults, though she reminded herself that they were fifteen, and this should be normal. They were supposed to be stealing lip gloss and getting into scrapes and it was only Hotaru who was awkward and outside of the world instead of living in it.

The woman stepped to the side neatly and ushered them inside, and yet she had such an air of authority that Hotaru could hardly stop watching her as she removed her shoes, slipping her feet into one of the pairs of slippers that stood at the door in vast array. She took their coats and nodded to them, offering up an understood command that they were meant to follow.

Cere’s house not only looked rich but it had the smell of wealth, as well, that unique quality that is somewhere between aspirational and suffocating, the call of a siren and all the same promise of drowning.

She knocked at the door to a large bedroom where Cere sat on her phone, ankles crossed one over the other on the bed, her back straight against the pillows, and for a moment she very much reminded Hotaru of Ms. Kaioh. She waved away her the woman who greeted them and set down her phone, smiling.

The door clicked behind her, and Cere leaned forward.

“What can I do for the two of you?”

Hotaru toyed with the end of her sweater, unable to look Cere in the eye and all the more angry at herself for that fact.

“I’d like my letter back.”

It was a small mew of a request, barely audible on the air.

But Cere heard it, and Cere simply flipped her and shook her head. “I have no idea what you could be talking about.”

“Oh come on!” Sakiko popped, years of being in the same grade and school as Cere finally coming to a head, “Hotaru never did anything to you, Cere.”

But Cere did not react, simply grabbed a brush from the edge of her nighttable and began to brush her hair.

“What sort of a letter was it?”

Hotaru’s blush bloomed on the pale of her skin. Don’t make me say it. Please.

Hotaru did not know Cere, not really, and as she looked at her, she saw a strange look in her eye, something that she would not understand until many years later, long after Cere had matured and apologized for the whole affair, long after Cere had moved to more adult manipulations.

This was fun for her.

“I--it was personal.”

Sakiko looked at her, with a mix of pity and confusion. Hotaru was a bird caught in a net, and there was little either of them could do now. What was she meant to do? To tell Cere it was about Chibiusa, to hear her laugh over those secret and awkward pinings?

Cere nodded. “Well, I’ll be certain to let you know if I come across it.”

Hotaru looked out the window, where the great grey clouds had come and stolen any of the light of the night, and felt an overwhelming sense of despair.

The weakness of human beings is that we sometimes see only what is in front of us. The gate of the walled garden, the darkness of the night, or not yet realizing you are only at the middle of your story. We accept what is nw, not knowing that walls often crumble, the wind blows the clouds, and all stories come to their ends.

[oscarschineselitblog]

Ten Interesting Chinese Novels

Please Dont Call Me Human By Wang Shuo  ” Contemporary Chinese writer Wang Shuo, widely celebrated for revealing the "dark corners of new China" (Newsweek), applies his genius for cultural irreverence to one of the world's sacred rituals: the Olympic Games. In Please Don't Call Me Human, he imagines an Olympics where nations compete not on the basis of athletic prowess, but on their citizens' capacity for humiliation-and China is determined to win at any cost. The plot unfolds into an alternately bizarre and hilarious satire of nationalism, the Olympics, and the cult of celebrity. Banned in China for its "rudeness" and "vulgarity," this mercilessly brutal satire is filled with the kind of word play and outlandish antics that have earned Wang Shuo his own "genre by itself-call it China noir “ (Good Reads)

A Hero Born: The Definitive Edition By Jin Yong  “After his father—a devoted Song patriot—is murdered by the Jin empire, Guo Jing and his mother flee to the plains of Ghengis Khan and his people for refuge. For one day he must face his mortal enemy in battle in the Garden of the Drunken Immortals. Under the tutelage of Genghis Khan and The Seven Heroes of the South, Guo Jing hones his kung fu skills. Humble, loyal and perhaps not always wise, Guo Jing faces a destiny both great and terrible.However, in a land divided—and a future largely unknown—Guo Jing must navigate love and war, honor and betrayal before he can face his own fate and become the hero he’s meant to be.“ (Barnes & Nobles)

The Fat Years By  Chan Koonchung  “ An entire month has gone missing from Chinese records. No one has any memory of it, and no one seems to care except for a small circle of friends who will stop at nothing to get to the bottom of the sinister cheerfulness and amnesia that have possessed the nation. When they kidnap a high-ranking official and force him to reveal all, what they learn—not only about their leaders, but also about their own people—stuns them to the core.”  (Barnes & Nobles)

The Vagrants by Yiyun Li  “ is based on a true story from 1970s China. In this tragic Chinese novel, a 28-year-old woman who has just survived ten years of a prison sentence has now been sentenced to death for her loss of faith in Chinese Communism. Following her death, we see the ripples it causes within her local community. “ (Books and Bao)

The Three Body Problem by Cixin Liu “ The Three-Body Problem is a science fiction novel by the Chinese writer Liu Cixin. The title refers to the three-body problem in orbital mechanics. It is the first novel of the Remembrance of Earth's Past trilogy, but Chinese readers generally refer to the whole series as The Three-Body Problem. “ (wikipedia)

Dream of the Red Chamber by  Xueqin Cao, Chi-chen Wang “ For more than a century and a half, Dream of the Red Chamber has been recognized in China as the greatest of its novels, a Chinese Romeo-and-Juliet love story and a portrait of one of the world's great civilizations. Chi-chen Wang's translation is skillful and accurate.” (Good Reads)

The Dark Forest (Remembrance of Earth's Past Series #2)by Cixin Liu, “ In The Dark Forest, Earth is reeling from the revelation of a coming alien invasion-in just four centuries' time. The aliens' human collaborators may have been defeated, but the presence of the sophons, the subatomic particles that allow Trisolaris instant access to all human information, means that Earth's defense plans are totally exposed to the enemy. Only the human mind remains a secret. This is the motivation for the Wallfacer Project, a daring plan that grants four men enormous resources to design secret strategies, hidden through deceit and misdirection from Earth and Trisolaris alike. Three of the Wallfacers are influential statesmen and scientists, but the fourth is a total unknown. Luo Ji, an unambitious Chinese astronomer and sociologist, is baffled by his new status. All he knows is that he's the one Wallfacer that Trisolaris wants dead.” (Barnes & Noble)

Wolf Totem by Jiang Rong “ An epic Chinese tale in the vein of The Last Emperor, Wolf Totem depicts the dying culture of the Mongols-the ancestors of the Mongol hordes who at one time terrorized the world-and the parallel extinction of the animal they believe to be sacred: the fierce and otherworldly Mongolian wolf” ( Good Reads)

Deaths End by LIu Cixin “ Half a century after the Doomsday Battle, the uneasy balance of Dark Forest Deterrence keeps the Trisolaran invaders at bay. Earth enjoys unprecedented prosperity due to the infusion of Trisolaran knowledge. With human science advancing daily and the Trisolarans adopting Earth culture, it seems that the two civilizations will soon be able to co-exist peacefully as equals without the terrible threat of mutually assured annihilation. But the peace has also made humanity complacent.

The Wandering Earth By Liu Cixin “ I’ve never seen the night, nor seen a star; I’ve seen neither spring, nor fall, nor winter. I was born at the end of the Reining Age, just as the Earth’s rotation was coming to a final halt. The Sun is about to unleash a helium flash, threatening to swallow all terrestrial planets in the solar system. On Earth, the Unity Government has erected Earth Engines. With them it plans to propel our planet out of the solar system, setting it on a journey into outer space in search of a new sun. The Earth begins its centuries-long, wandering travels through outer space. Just as we began our journey, my grandfather passed away, his burnt body ravaged by infection. In his final moments, he repeated over and over, “Oh, Earth, my wandering Earth...”

[mermaidsirennikita]

Favorite Reads 2017

2017 was, all in all, not the greatest year for books (for me personally).  A few follow-ups to series-starters I loved disappointed me; there was a lack of new historical fiction that was truly compelling; YA was very hit or miss.  But there are always exceptions to the years unspoken “rules”, and I found myself reading more thrillers than I had before.  Maybe the bright side of my usual categories (I don’t know that they’re all genres) failing me is that I had to get a bit more adventurous.

In no particular order, my top ten favorite books of the year were as follows...

Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan.  Rachel is an ABC--American Born Chinese.  Smart, practical, and successful, she’s dating Nicholas Young, quite possibly the man of her dreams--but there’s a bit of mystery about him.  So when Nick brings her to his family home in Singapore to attend his friend’s wedding, she’s shocked to discover that he’s the heir to a fabulous fortune, hailing from one of the most high-profile and wealthy families in Asia, or perhaps even the world.  Everyone is out to break up Rachel and Nick, it seems; but especially his mother, the conniving and clever matriarch Eleanor.  This is one of the most addictive books I’ve ever read, and the rest of the trilogy thankfully measures up.  God, I was hooked; and it’s nothing like what I expected.  There are vapid characters, sure, but this isn’t Gossip Girl--the book is wickedly smart, and Kwan seems to make great insights about “crazy rich Asian culture” without ever seeming sanctimonious.  The characters are great--you root for Nick and Rachel’s romance while falling in love with his Machiavellian mother, and for that matter his tragic It Girl cousin Astrid.  Unfortunately, this book has been categorized by some as trashy... and sure, at times it is.  But it’s also one of the best books I’ve read in a long time.

Wintersong by S. Jae-Jones.  In nineteenth century Europe, Liesl is a gifted composer.  But she’s overshadowed by her brother Josef, a musician, and their beautiful sister Kathe.  As a child, Liesl knew the Goblin King; and she meets him again as a young woman, stealing her sister away from the mortal world.  Liesl makes a bargain with the Goblin King: if he returns Kathe, Liesl will become his bride.  The Goblin King--enchanted with her music--whisks her away to his realm, creating a world of delights that’s hard for Liesl to resist.  This book is basically everything a grown woman could want Labyrinth to be.  Liesl and the Goblin King do have a captivating romance, but it’s not so much insta-love as I would say it’s a sexual awakening.  I don’t think she’s starry-eyed; she’s more attracted to him physically, and experiencing the thrill of having someone return that attraction for the first time.  So much of the book is about passion--the Goblin King’s passion for Liesl, their shared passion for her music, the Fair Folk’s passion in general for things that they can’t have.  It’s a melancholy, haunting book with just the right side of indulgence to make it impossible for me to resist.

Final Girls by Riley Sager.  After surviving a massacre that took all of her friends during a college cabin trip, Quincy is a part of what the press calls “the Final Girls”.  Lisa survived a sorority girl slaying, while Sam was nearly murdered at the motel she worked at.  But the three don’t really interact, as Quincy is determined to live a normal life.  She doesn’t even remember what happened to her on the night of the Pine Cottage murders.  That all changes when Lisa is found dead of a supposed suicide, and Sam shows up on Quincy’s doorstep.  Quincy needs to remember what happened all those years ago--before it’s too late.  This book is far from your run of the mill thriller, with unexpected twists and a feminist slant.  It’s almost a satire of slasher tropes--except the plot is a bit too coherent for a satire, and everything is a little too real.  I blazed through it, and wasn’t exactly sure of what happened until the very end.

Warcross by Marie Lu.  Teenager Emika Chen makes her living as a bounty hunter--specifically, tracking down people who illegally bet on Warcross, the virtual reality game that’s taken the world by storm.  Of course, Emika’s hacks in the game aren’t exactly legal either, so when she’s summoned to Tokyo by the game’s creator, billionaire Hideo Tanaka, she assumes the worst.  But Hideo has a proposition for her: if she can find out who’s at the heart of a dangerous security glitch in the game, the payout will be huge.  But as Emika competes undercover, she realizes that the stakes--personal and professional--are much higher than she thought.  This is one of those books that really surprised me. You don’t have to be a gamer to follow “Warcross”--which also, surprise, has a great romance to go along with it--but the parts of the story that pertain to the game are just as compelling as the bounty hunting plot.  What pleased me most, however, was the ending; nothing is as it seems in this book, and the characters are much grayer than you might imagine.

Girls Made of Snow and Glass by Melissa Bashardoust.  This retelling of Snow White focuses on the relationship between Lynet, our princess, and Mina, her wicked stepmother.  Lynet is the living embodiment of her dead mother, and recently made the queen of the southern territories by her father--which displaces Mina, of the southern territories and devoted to her homeland.  What Lynet doesn’t know, as we’re told the story of Mina’s past, is that she was made from snow by Mina’s alchemist father--who, using the same magic, saved Mina’s life by making her a heart of glass. Mina believes herself incapable of love, and despite her closeness to Lynet, she grows increasingly threatened by the girl.  This fairy tale is decidedly dark--but it’s clear that this isn’t darkness of the sake of darkness.  Rather, we see the good and bad in both Mina and Lynet, two women driven apart by the machinations of men--but perhaps not permanently.  

An Enchantment of Ravens by Margaret Rogerson.  The painter Isobel caters to a specific clientele: the fair folk.  Incapable of “craft”, they treasure Isobel’s paintings, but are feared for their predatory and capricious ways.  Isobel’s always been careful around the fair folk, but slips up when she paints the autumn prince, Rook, accidentally depicting sorrow in his eyes.  This creates a great weakness for Rook, who takes her on a journey to the autumnlands, so that she can stand trial and dispel the notions of any mortality in Rook.  Of course, there is the issue of their attraction to each other--because if a mortal and a fairy fall in love, their lives will be forfeit.  This is a lovely fairy tale, with a romance that is much more hard-won and realistic than what I expected from the summary.  While Rook is just as fanciful as you’d expect a fairy to be, Isobel has her feet planted in reality, and I love a story in which the main character really, really doesn’t want to fall in love.  This book depicts the fair folk with just the right balance of fear and whimsy, and I dare you to read it without falling for the world.

Flame in the Mist by Renee Ahdieh.  The daughter of a samurai, cunning Mariko is on her way to meet her betrothed, a prince.  Along the way, her party is attacked by a group of bandits paid to assassinate Mariko--killing her servants along the way.  Disguising herself as a boy, she infiltrates the bandits’ group--known as the Black Clan--determined to find who was sent to kill her, and get revenge.  This retelling of “Mulan” takes on gender roles in a fantasy realm influenced by Japanese history, with Mariko standing as a strong female character, but also a girl.  Renee Ahdieh is great at building these history-based fantasy worlds--and she’s not too shabby when it comes to the romance department, either.

Caraval by Stephanie Garber.  Scarlett and Tella live a sheltered existence, dominated by their abusive father.  Scarlett--the responsible one--has always dreamed of going to Caraval, the magical circus-like show that sucks the audience into the game.  In an effort to make her sister relax, Tella takes Scarlett to Caraval, only to get swept up in its magic.  The object of this year’s game?  To find Tella.  So Scarlett joins a host of people looking for her sister--but the line between reality and fantasy on the island is blurred, and Caraval may turn out to be just as dangerous as it looks.  This is the sort of dreamy fantasy that is just delicious to read, especially during cold weather.  

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid.  Unknown journalist Monique is stunned when she’s selected to interview the notoriously private movie star Evelyn Hugo, famous for her beauty, talent, and seven husbands.  As Monique is drawn into Evelyn’s story, she becomes more and more curious about why Evelyn chose her, and who the real love of Evelyn’s life was.  Evelyn is clearly based on Elizabeth Taylor in some ways, but the story is really all her own.  While Evelyn’s tale is obviously more compelling than Monique’s, they satisfyingly come together in a way I didn’t quite expect.  Really, at its heart this is a love story; but it’s also quite the piece of Old Hollywood glamour, with all the gossip and controversy that you’d expect.

The Language of Thorns by Leigh Bardugo.  This anthology of fairy tales is set in Leigh Bardugo’s grishaverse, but all take a little bit from those that you might be familiar with.  They’re dark and sensual, some of them a little gory.  But what really got me is that these are stories I can really see the characters from Bardugo’s other books telling.  The world feels fully realized, the morals complex but solid and a little dated, but with reason.  Read this if you want to be transported and a little spellbound.

#books #recs

[trailsoftravel-blog]

History is replete with stories of great men, who were either ignored or marginalized when they were alive, but their values and contributions suddenly is realized after they pass away. And then they not only become legends but often is worshiped and remembered for decades and centuries.

The story of Qu Yuan is one such story in the above mold. He was a Chinese poet and Minister in the state of Chu during the feudal dynasty period of ancient China. He had advised the King to ally with the state of Qi (one of the seven warring states) to fight against the most powerful state of Qin. The king, however, did not believe in him and actually thought him to be a traitor and sent him to exile. During his exile, Qu Yuan wrote a great deal of poetry that showed his love for his country. Qu Yuan was however right, and the state of Chu was captured by its enemies. On hearing about the tragedy, Qu felt so much remorse that he committed suicide by drowning himself in the Miluo River in the Hunan Province. When the death of Qu Yuan came to the knowledge of the local people, they were aghast. They took out their boats and rowed to the river in search of Qu’s body. But alas! They were unable to find his body. So they paddle their boats up and down the river, hitting the water with the paddles and beating drums in order to scare away the water spirits. They also threw rice dumplings into the water to keep the fishes and the water spirits away from Qu Yuan’s body. Later these rice dumplings also became offerings to the spirit of Qu Yuan. From here originated the Dragon boat race and the rice dumpling ‘zongzi’ (sticky rice treats wrapped in bamboo leaves), drinking realgar wine (an alcoholic drink that consists of cereal wine and powdered yellow-orange mineral).

Dragon boat racing is officially a competitive sport played under rules set by the International Dragon Boat Federation. This is something beyond what the Chinese people could imagine some 2,500 years ago when they took boats to distribute feed in a river trying to keep fish from disturbing the permanent rest of patriotic and beloved poet Qu Yuan.

The Dragon Boat Festival also called Duwanu Jie is usually held on the fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese Lunar Calendar.

Today, it is celebrated globally in many cities. It is one of Britain’s fastest growing water sport as well as a highlight in London’s cultural calendar. The 23rd edition of the annual London Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival last year entertained 10,000 visitors.

In the United States, dragon boat racing is popular in cities including San Francisco, Kansas City and Boston. In New York City, it has become the largest local summer event.

Kolkata, with its significant history of Chinese association since the time Tong Achew alighted on the river bank near today’s Budge Budge, couldn’t have been left out of this unique Chinese festival. It was in 2015, driven by the initiative of the Chinese community in Kolkata and the Consulate General of China in Kolkata, the festival was celebrated for the first time in India in Tiretta Bazaar, Kolkata. While there weren’t any boats that year, it was celebrated by decorating the first China Town outside of SE Asia and people enjoying cultural programs and cherishing Chinese Food.

In 2016, with support from Calcutta Rowing Club, the festival was held in Rabindra Sarobar. While the Dragon boats weren’t there, but it retained the remaining fervor and mood of a Dragon Boat Race. The historic Dragon Boat Race finally gets flagged off in the city where the first member of the community had settled almost 250 years back.

Ma Zhanwu, the Consul General seemed extremely happy about the race being held in Kolkata. He praised the city’s culture and lifestyle.

“For the first time in the history of India, we have real dragon boats. Everyone is excited, including me. It’s certainly the city of joy.”

While celebrations began in a place that is referred to as Old China Town (Tiretta Bazaar), in 2017, the boat race moved closer to the New China Town, Tangra – in the waters of Calcutta Boating and Hotel Resorts. The celebration will spruce up one’s soul – colorful decoration all around with motivating sounds of drums and horns welcomes you to the venue. The colorful boats with dragon heads becomes an aspect of curiosity, and so is the preparations that happen alongside by the teams to get the boats and their own selves ready. The boats sail away on the other side of the lake and spectators wait for the faint starting signal at the other end. Even if you have missed the flagging off the race because it is from the extreme other side, the sudden haste of the people rowing them will signal that the race has begun. While the race is like any other similar event, so many dragons racing upto you is what differentiates this to a common spectator.

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Settle down with some delicious Chinese food for a show of Chinese Lion Dance. You may see familiar faces amongst the people selling food. Many of them are the ones, whom you must have seen in dreary eyes, while exploring the Chinese Breakfast in Tiretta Bazaar. While you may get almost anything you get there, Zongzi is something which is specific to this occasion and intricately linked to the mythology behind this festival. How can you not try one?

Maker:L,Date:2017-8-30,Ver:5,Lens:Kan03,Act:Kan02,E-Y

Maker:L,Date:2017-8-30,Ver:5,Lens:Kan03,Act:Kan02,E-Y

If you are a Kolkatan, one experience of this event is bound to reinforce your ideas about this being a City of Joy and melting pot of cultures. If you stay elsewhere, time one of your visits to coincide with the first and the only Dragon Boat Race of India.

Its tragic origins, vigorous actions and thrilling camaraderie, blends seamlessly into one compelling and exciting spectacle.

Drumming up the Dragons History is replete with stories of great men, who were either ignored or marginalized when they were alive, but their values and contributions suddenly is realized after they pass away.

#dragonboatrace chinesedragonboat chineseinkolkata chinesefestivals kolkata festivalsofkolkata chinatown Tangra Dragonboat weekendi

[travelguy4444]

Backpacking Cambodia: 3 Suggested Itineraries for Your Trip

Posted: 5/1/2019 | May 1st, 2019

Cambodia: it’s full of warm and friendly people, beautiful coastlines, a lively nightlife, and it has a growing foodie scene. It’s also one of the cheapest countries in the world.

I didn’t have high expectations when I first visited in 2006. Back then, all I knew about Cambodia was its awful history involving the Khmer Rouge and that it was home to Angkor Wat.

But I was blown away by the people and their warmth, spirit, and hospitality; the beautiful natural scenery; and the country’s long history. It was wonderful, and I ended up staying weeks longer than I thought I would (I especially loved Phnom Penh). I returned often, including spending over a month there when I was writing my first book. (It made for a great base of operations.)

In the last decade or so, Cambodia has grown by leaps and bounds. Sleepy little towns I visited before are now megacities, tourists (especially Russians and Chinese) visit en masse, there are more ATMs (there was exactly one in the country when I first went), and there’s a growing expat and foodie scene.

Cambodia still has problems, but it’s a lot more cosmopolitan today than when I first went.

What should you do when you visit Cambodia?

How should you plan your trip?

Below are some itineraries that include the best destinations in Cambodia. You can use them as a guideline to help you make the most of your trip!

What to See and Do in Cambodia: A One-Week Itinerary

Day 1 – Phnom Penh

The capital of Cambodia, Phnom Penh has a Wild West ambiance, with dusty streets and a “devil may care” atmosphere. It has a few good attractions and an up-and-coming foodie scene.

The main attraction is the Royal Palace. Start there, and don’t miss the beautiful flower gardens and the Silver Pagoda, whose floor is made up of more than 5,000 silver tiles; inside is an emerald-covered Buddha and a diamond-covered Maitreya Buddha. It also has murals around its outer wall that tell the story of the Ramayana.

On the palace grounds are five stupas, with the two largest to the east containing the ashes of King Norodom and King Udung (the two most famous kings of modern Cambodia) and a statue of King Norodom on horseback. Admission is $10 USD for foreigners.

After seeing the palace, learn about the country’s tragic, not-too-distant history. The Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum is a former school where the Khmer Rouge interrogated and tortured people in the 1970s. You’ll see rusty beds and torture devices, in sharp contrast to the beautiful trees and lovely jasmine smell in the gardens. Admission is $5 USD for adults and $3 USD for anyone under 18.

Afterward, head to the Killing Fields, about 14km from Tuol Sleng. Although a visit to Choeung Ek (the best-known site) may not be the most cheerful way to spend an afternoon, it makes for a hallowed and memorable experience, a testament to the dangers of uncontested power. You won’t believe the memorial building in the center that is filled with skulls. Admission is only $3 USD; expect to pay at least $15 USD for a return-trip tuk-tuk ride.

(Tip: Visit the museum before heading to the Killing Fields, as it will open your eyes to the atrocities that happened here.)

Where to Stay in Phnom Penh: Sla Boutique Hostel – This is a pretty nice hostel not far from restaurants, bars, and attractions. It’s clean, and the beds are comfy and have privacy curtains. The staff (especially Mr. Star) are super friendly, and they can really help you plan your trip.

Day 2 – Phnom Penh

Spend your second day wandering around the city, and start by seeing the Independence Monument, designed by architect Vann Molyvann and inaugurated in 1958. It was created to mark Cambodia’s independence from French rule, though it also serves as a de facto war memorial. It’s one of the biggest landmarks in the city and a good place to start your day.

If you’re in the city on a weekend, try to catch an architectural walking tour with KA Tours, which has excellent guides who are students or experts in architecture, plus they’re not very expensive at around $15.

Check out the Cambodian Living Arts Center, a traditional dance school and performance center where you can watch students in training and see traditional live theatre. This is a fun way to spend a couple of hours while learning about the artistic traditions of the country. You can also take part in a workshop, which last around 90 minutes and cost $15 USD per person.

Make sure you stroll along Sisowath Quay on the Mekong River. The 3km walkway is busy and full of restaurants, bars, cafés, and shops.

Day 3 – Sihanoukville

Get an early start and take a five-hour bus ride to Sihanoukville, named after the ruling prince of Cambodia in 1964. It was a lazy beach town until about 2010, when it took off with travelers (and tons of Chinese and Russian tourists on package tours) because of its white-sand beaches, nearby deserted islands, excellent diving, and delicious seafood. Its varied nightlife filled with cheap booze makes it the premier backpacker party city in Cambodia.

If you’re looking to soak up some sun, Independence Beach and Otres Beach are probably your best bets. Serendipity Beach used to be a great party spot, but there’s a lot of Chinese development going on now, so I wouldn’t stay there.

Where to Stay in Sihanoukville: Monkey Republic – This hostel is awesome. It’s a happening place, with a bar, restaurant, and pool. The staff is really friendly, and they host a lot of events. (Say hi to Aaron for me!) They can also organize a lot of day trips for you too.

Day 4 – Sihanoukville

Today is a day for day trips.

From Sihanoukville, hop on a boat and take a 45-minute ride to Koh Rong. While you can stay overnight, if you’re pressed for time, you can do it in a day trip. The beaches here are way better than on the mainland (and a lot less polluted). Snorkeling day trips cost approximately $21 USD and include lunch and equipment; there are PADI-certified schools in the area that offer a variety of different dive trips for one or more days.

If you don’t feel like heading to Koh Rong, you could book motorbike trip into Bokor National Park (as well as longer, multiday trips if you’re interested). There, you can hike through a great rainforest or see the atmospheric ruins of the French aristocracy for whom Bokor was a big draw back in the day. You’ll have some amazing views and find ruins, waterfalls, and temples all around.

You could also do a day trip to Kampot and the pepper fields in that area too.

Day 5 – Siem Reap

It’s gonna be a busy travel day. From Sihanoukville, you’ll need to return to Phnom Penh and then get on another bus to Siem Reap. I recommend Capitol Tours. It’s a 12-hour ride, so it’ll be evening by the time you get to Siem Reap.

(Note: It’s better to take the night bus so as not to waste a day. You won’t sleep well, but you also won’t lose a day!)

Siem Reap is located on the northeastern side of Tonle Sap Lake and is the main access to Angkor Wat. The center remains a rural old town, with French-style houses and shops. The area around the Old Market is crowded with locals and foreigners all day long.

Where to Stay in Siem Reap: Topsky Hostel – This hostel offers basic accommodations in a pretty quiet area that’s not far from the action. Try to get a lower bunk with a privacy curtain. The friendly staff will help you arrange a tuk-tuk and activities too.

Day 6 – Siem Reap

Spend your day at Angkor Wat, the ancient city that was the center of the Khmer Empire that once ruled most of Southeast Asia. The temple was built in the 12th century and covers over 500 acres.

The most popular temples are Angkor Wat, Bayon, Ta Phrom, and Angkor Thom. I would recommend getting a multiday pass so you can visit some of the outer temples where there are fewer visitors. You can hire a tuk-tuk for the day for around $20-25 USD or rent bicycles and explore on your own.

Angkor Wat is open daily from 5am to 6pm. Admission is $37 USD per person for a day pass, $62 USD for a three-day pass, and $72 USD for a seven-day pass.

Day 7 – Siem Reap

Enjoy your last day in Cambodia by exploring more of the Siem Reap area. Head over to the Angkor Wat complex for several more hours in the morning and then head over to astonishing Banteay Srei.

Known as “the city of women,” this temple was dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva and features a number of outstanding red sandstone statues. (You need an Angkor Wat Pass to visit.)

If you have time, visit Tonle Sap, Southeast Asia’s largest freshwater lake. It is 52km (32 miles) from Siem Reap. Sailing down the river and around the lake gives you a look at how closely Cambodian life is tied to this major waterway. Tours start around $2.50 USD per person.

What to See and Do in Cambodia: A Two-Week itinerary

Want to spend more time in Cambodia? Great! You should! There are tons of other places to visit. Here are my suggestions:

Days 1 & 2 – Phnom Penh Follow the Phnom Penh itinerary from above.

Day 3 & 4 – Sihanoukville Follow the Sihanoukville itinerary from above.

Day 5 & 6 – Koh Rong

Head out to Koh Rong, which got its name after the legend of a giant King Kong–like ape that once called the island home. It’s a 45-minute trip from Sihanoukville and a great place to relax on the beach or go snorkeling. There are a lot of accommodation options, and it’s a popular spot with backpackers.

Day trips costs around $25 USD and include lunch and snorkeling equipment, but since you have the time, spend a few nights here relaxing and enjoying beach life.

There are also other islands nearby if you want to stay longer and explore, including Koh Rong Samloem, which is becoming something of a backpacker paradise (there’s even a Full Moon Party there now).

Days 7 & 8 – Kep

In the morning, travel by bus to Kep, which is about two hours from Sihanoukville. This quaint beach town and fishing village is the quiet version of Sihanoukville: a nice place to relax near the ocean but without a party atmosphere. It’s famous for its pepper crab and empty beaches.

Consider taking two full days here. Sure, it’s quite sleepy and there’s not a lot to do, but it’s the perfect place to relax, eat all the delicious crabs the city is famous for, and read a book. You can also spend some time on nearby Rabbit Island (Koh Tonsay) too, a secluded and charming escape from the world if you’re looking to disconnect. Basic bungalows can be rented for under $10 USD per night.

Where to Stay in Kep: Khmer House Hostel – Kep is pretty spread out, so wherever you stay, make sure you rent a bike or scooter. This hostel is a good option as it’s not far from the Crab Market.

Day 9 – Kampot

The southern region of Cambodia is filled with pepper farms where you can learn about the history of the spice, see how it is grown, and pick up what is considered some of the finest pepper in the world.

I’d spend one night in Kampot. It’s another quiet town on the coast. Most people come here to enjoy the scenic riverside views as well as the rolling hills that surround the city. The area used to be a getaway for the French, so you’ll see old French architecture around.

At night, the street near the old bridge is lined with fruit shake vendors. Try a million. The city is famous for them.

Also, if you only do one thing in this entire itinerary, make sure it’s eating the ribs at The Rusty Keyhole. They are some of the best ribs I’ve ever had in my entire life. You have to order them the day before. You’ll also get healthy side of mashed potatoes and coleslaw too. It’s one of the best meals I’ve ever had. I still dream of it.

Where to Stay in Kampot: The Magic Sponge – This is one of my favorite hostels in Cambodia. Make sure you book early, as it tends to sell out. It’s a really nice, relaxed guesthouse where you’ll get your own bed (not a bunk). You’ll feel at home here, and it’s a short walk to the center of town. The dorm rooms are very clean. They also have a little mini-golf course too.

Day 10 – Kampot

Today, hire hire a tuk-tuk driver to explore the Kampot area. The Phnom Chhngok Cave Temple has a religious shrine inside, or you can head out and spend the day in Bokor, as Kampot is relatively close to the park.

Days 11, 12, & 13 – Siem Reap Follow the Siem Reap itinerary from above. Angkor Wat is best seen slowly, so use your days to explore it as much as possible. There are a lot of out-of-the-way temples to visit that are free of crowds.

Day 14 – Siem Reap

On your last day in Cambodia, why not take a cooking class? The class sizes tend to be around six people, and you will learn to prepare three different meals, as well as get recipe cards at the end. Prices start around $20 USD per person; local guesthouses can help arrange a class.

What to See and Do in Cambodia: A Three-Week Itinerary

Have even more time for Cambodia? Good! Cambodia has a lot more to it than the major spots on the backpacker trail.

Days 1, 2, & 3 – Phnom Penh and Kirirom National Park Follow the above suggestions, but also head out to Kirirom National Park for a day trip. This park has all sorts of walking trails, mountain biking trails, waterfalls, and a few lakes. It’s a good place to go to take a break from the city.

The park is around a two-hour drive from the city, so you’ll need to hire a driver for the day. The best way to do this is to find some travelers to join you so you can share a ride, which will cost around $80 for the day.

Days 4, 5, 6, 7, & 8 – Sihanoukville and the Islands Follow the above suggestions but at a much slower pace!

Days 9, 10 & 11 – Kep and Rabbit Island Follow the above suggestions for Kep, but head out to Rabbit Island for a rustic island getaway.

Days 12 & 13 – Kampot Follow the above suggestions!

Days 14, 15, & 16 – Siem Reap Follow the above suggestions!

Day 17 – Koh Ker

For a fun day trip from Siem Reap, head to Koh Ker, located around 2.5 hours from town. Koh Ker was briefly the capital of the Khmer Empire, and many of the temples here are over 1,000 years old. It’s a massive archeological site located in the jungle, and it sees far fewer tourists than Siem Reap.

There are no public buses that go there (the roads were only paved a few years ago), so you’ll have to arrange transportation via your hostel or hotel.

Day 18 – Phnom Kulen

For another fun day trip, head to Phnom Kulen, considered the country’s most sacred mountain. It’s located just 50km from Siem Reap and offers some amazing jungles, hiking, and picturesque waterfalls where you can take dip to beat the heat. You can easily spend a day here. If you head up to the summit, there are some great views as well as a large reclining Buddha statue. Try to arrive early as the park fills up by lunchtime. Admission to the park is $20 USD.

Day 19 – Battambang

From Siem Reap, you can take a three-hour bus to Battambang. Or try taking a riverboat on Tonle Sap for a unique experience (there is one boat per day, with tickets costing around $20 USD per person).

When you arrive, you’ll discover Cambodia without the tourism. Get familiar with Battambang by exploring the town on foot (or by tuk-tuk). Check out the Phsar Boeung Choeuk and Phsar Naht markets. You’ll also want to visit the gorgeous pagodas and temples, such as Wat Pippitharam (near the Old Market), Wat Bovil, Wat Kandal, and Wat Damreay Sar.

In the evening, check out the Battambang Circus. The show is put on by students at a Cambodian nonprofit arts school, so your donations go to a good cause.

Where to Stay in Battambang: Sophea Hostel – This is a good place to meet locals and make some friends. It’s family-run, and they try to make you feel at home. The facilities are pretty basic, but typical, dorms. There’s a nice garden and sitting area. While there’s no restaurant on-site, there are plenty of nearby options.

Day 20 – Battambang

Take it easy this morning by touring the town a bit more on foot. Check out the colonial architecture along the waterfront and the governor’s residence. This building from the early 1900s is not open, but you can marvel at the exterior.

While you’re wandering, don’t miss the Art Deco central market building and the Victory swimming pool (where you can take a dip if you’re in the mood). You may want to visit the Battambang Museum; admission is just $1 USD, and you’ll learn a lot about the history of the area.

After lunch, you should grab a tuk-tuk and head a bit out of town to check out Phnom Sampeu. Take about an hour to climb to the monastery on the hill. You’ll also find some caves in the area with Buddhist temples in them. There’s also another cave at the foot of Phnom Sampeu; this is where you want to be around dusk, when millions of bats fly out of the cave in search of food. It’s an incredible sight!

Day 21 – Siem Reap or Phnom Penh

Make your way back to one of these towns, depending on where your flight is leaving from. Enjoy the bus ride, knowing it’s your last in Cambodia (at least for now)!

*** I always love my time in Cambodia. It lacks the polish of Thailand, making travel here a little more rustic and challenging.

But more amazing than any of the country’s sights and activities are the people. I’ve always found them to be incredibly welcoming. Even with so much darkness clouding their recent history, Cambodians always go above and beyond, making any trip here a memorable one.

But don’t take my word for it. Come and see this incredibly country for yourself.

And let these suggested Cambodia itineraries help you plan your trip!

Book Your Trip to Cambodia: Logistical Tips and Tricks

Book Your Flight Find a cheap flight by using Skyscanner or Momondo. They are my two favorite search engines because they search websites and airlines around the globe, so you always know no stone is being left unturned.

Book Your Accommodation You can book your hostel with Hostelworld. If you want to stay somewhere other than a hostel, use Booking.com as they consistently return the cheapest rates for guesthouses and cheap hotels. I use them all the time. My favorite places to stay are:

Sla Boutique Hostel (Phnom Penh) – This is a classy hostel not far from restaurants, bars, and attractions. It’s clean, and the beds are really comfy!

Topsky Hostel (Siem Reap) – This hostel is in a quiet area and offers basic accommodation. The staff will help you arrange a tuk-tuk and activities.

Monkey Republic (Sihanoukville) – This hostel is a happening place and always good for a aprty. They have a bar, restaurant, and pool making it really easy to realx and meet people. The staff is really friendly, and they can also organize some day trips for you too.

Sophea Hostel (Battambang) – This is a family-run hostel and they doo a good job of making you feel at home. The facilities are basic but there’s a nice garden and sitting area. While there’s no restaurant on-site, there are plenty of nearby options.

Don’t Forget Travel Insurance Travel insurance will protect you against illness, injury, theft, and cancellations. It’s comprehensive protection in case anything goes wrong. I never go on a trip without it, as I’ve had to use it many times in the past. I’ve been using World Nomads for ten years. My favorite companies that offer the best service and value are:

World Nomads (for everyone below 70)

Insure My Trip (for those over 70)

Looking for the best companies to save money with? Check out my resource page for the best companies to use when you travel! I list all those I use to save money, and I think they will help you too!

Want More Information on Cambodia? Be sure to visit our robust destination guide on Cambodia for even more planning tips!

Photo credit: 14, 15

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Backpacking Cambodia: 3 Suggested Itineraries for Your Trip

Posted: 5/1/2019 | May 1st, 2019

Cambodia: it’s full of warm and friendly people, beautiful coastlines, and lively nightlife, and it has a growing foodie scene. It’s also one of the cheapest countries in the world.

I didn’t have high expectations when I first visited in 2006. Back then, all I knew about Cambodia was its awful history involving the Khmer Rouge and that it was home to Angkor Wat.

But I was blown away by the people and their warmth, spirit, and hospitality; the beautiful natural scenery; and the country’s long history. It was wonderful, and I ended up staying weeks longer than I thought I would (I especially loved Phnom Penh). I returned often, including spending over a month there when I was writing my first book. (It made for a great base of operations.)

In the last decade or so, Cambodia has grown by leaps and bounds. Sleepy little towns I visited before are now megacities, tourists (especially Russians and Chinese) visit en masse, there are more ATMs (there was exactly one in the country when I first went), and there’s a growing expat and foodie scene.

Cambodia still has problems, but it’s a lot more cosmopolitan today than when I first went.

What should you do when you visit Cambodia?

How should you plan your trip?

Below are some itineraries that include the best destinations in Cambodia. You can use them as a guideline to help you make the most of your trip!

What to See and Do in Cambodia: A One-Week Itinerary

Day 1 – Phnom Penh

The capital of Cambodia, Phnom Penh has a Wild West ambiance, with dusty streets and a “devil may care” atmosphere. It has a few good attractions and an up-and-coming foodie scene.

The main attraction is the Royal Palace. Start there, and don’t miss the beautiful flower gardens and the Silver Pagoda, whose floor is made up of more than 5,000 silver tiles; inside is an emerald-covered Buddha and a diamond-covered Maitreya Buddha. It also has murals around its outer wall that tell the story of the Ramayana.

On the palace grounds are five stupas, with the two largest to the east containing the ashes of King Norodom and King Udung (the two most famous kings of modern Cambodia) and a statue of King Norodom on horseback. Admission is $10 USD for foreigners.

After seeing the palace, learn about the country’s tragic, not-too-distant history. The Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum is a former school where the Khmer Rouge interrogated and tortured people in the 1970s. You’ll see rusty beds and torture devices, in sharp contrast to the beautiful trees and lovely jasmine smell in the gardens. Admission is $5 USD for adults and $3 USD for anyone under 18.

Afterward, head to the Killing Fields, about 14km from Tuol Sleng. Although a visit to Choeung Ek (the best-known site) may not be the most cheerful way to spend an afternoon, it makes for a hallowed and memorable experience, a testament to the dangers of uncontested power. You won’t believe the memorial building in the center that is filled with skulls. Admission is only $3 USD; expect to pay at least $15 USD for a return-trip tuk-tuk ride.

(Tip: Visit the museum before heading to the Killing Fields, as it will open your eyes to the atrocities that happened here.)

Where to Stay in Phnom Penh: Sla Boutique Hostel – This is a pretty nice hostel not far from restaurants, bars, and attractions. It’s clean, and the beds are comfy and have privacy curtains. The staff (especially Mr. Star) are super friendly, and they can really help you plan your trip.

Day 2 – Phnom Penh

Spend your second day wandering around the city, and start by seeing the Independence Monument, designed by architect Vann Molyvann and inaugurated in 1958. It was created to mark Cambodia’s independence from French rule, though it also serves as a de facto war memorial. It’s one of the biggest landmarks in the city and a good place to start your day.

If you’re in the city on a weekend, try to catch an architectural walking tour with KA Tours, which has excellent guides who are students or experts in architecture, plus they’re not very expensive, around $15.

Check out the Cambodian Living Arts Center, a traditional dance school and performance center where you can watch students in training and see traditional live theatre. This is a fun way to spend a couple of hours while learning about the artistic traditions of the country. You can also take part in a workshop, which last around 90 minutes and cost $15 USD per person.

Make sure you stroll along Sisowath Quay on the Mekong River. The 3km walkway is busy and full of restaurants, bars, cafés, and shops.

Day 3 – Sihanoukville

Get an early start and take a five-hour bus ride to Sihanoukville, named after the ruling prince of Cambodia in 1964. It was a lazy beach town until about 2010, when it took off with travelers (and tons of Chinese and Russian tourists on package tours) because of its white-sand beaches, nearby deserted islands, excellent diving, and delicious seafood. Its varied nightlife filled with cheap booze makes it the premier backpacker party city in Cambodia.

If you’re looking to soak up some sun, Independence Beach and Otres Beach are probably your best bets. Serendipity Beach used to be a great party spot, but there’s a lot of Chinese development going on now, so I wouldn’t stay there.

Where to Stay in Sihanoukville: Monkey Republic – This hostel is awesome. It’s a happening place, with a bar, restaurant, and pool. The staff is really friendly, and they host a lot of events. (Say hi to Aaron for me!) They can also organize a lot of day trips for you too.

Day 4 – Sihanoukville

Today is a day for day trips.

From Sihanoukville, hop on a boat and take a 45-minute ride to Koh Rong. While you can stay overnight, if you’re pressed for time, you can do it in a day trip. The beaches here are way better than on the mainland (and a lot less polluted). Snorkeling day trips cost approximately $21 USD and include lunch and equipment; there are PADI-certified schools in the area that offer a variety of different dive trips for one or more days.

If you don’t feel like heading to Koh Rong, you could book motorbike trip into Bokor National Park (as well as longer, multiday trips if you’re interested). There, you can hike through a great rainforest or see the atmospheric ruins of the French aristocracy for whom Bokor was a big draw back in the day. You’ll have some amazing views and find ruins, waterfalls, and temples all around.

You could also do a day trip to Kampot and the pepper fields in that area too.

Day 5 – Siem Reap

It’s gonna be a busy travel day. From Sihanoukville, you’ll need to return to Phnom Penh and then get on another bus to Siem Reap. I recommend Capitol Tours. It’s a 12-hour ride, so it’ll be evening by the time you get to Siem Reap.

(Note: It’s better to take the night bus so as not to waste a day. You won’t sleep well, but you also won’t lose a day!)

Siem Reap is located on the northeastern side of Tonle Sap Lake and is the main access to Angkor Wat. The center remains a rural old town, with French-style houses and shops. The area around the Old Market is crowded with locals and foreigners all day long.

Where to Stay in Siem Reap: Topsky Hostel – This hostel offers basic accommodations in a pretty quiet area that’s not far from the action. Try to get a lower bunk with a privacy curtain. The friendly staff will help you arrange a tuk-tuk and activities too.

Day 6 – Siem Reap

Spend your day at Angkor Wat, the ancient city that was the center of the Khmer Empire that once ruled most of Southeast Asia. The temple was built in the 12th century and covers over 500 acres.

The most popular temples are Angkor Wat, Bayon, Ta Phrom, and Angkor Thom. I would recommend getting a multiday pass so you can visit some of the outer temples where there are fewer visitors. You can hire a tuk-tuk for the day for around $20-25 USD or rent bicycles and explore on your own.

Angkor Wat is open daily from 5am to 6pm. Admission is $37 USD per person for a day pass, $62 USD for a three-day pass, and $72 USD for a seven-day pass.

Day 7 – Siem Reap

Enjoy your last day in Cambodia by exploring more of the Siem Reap area. Head over to the Angkor Wat complex for several more hours in the morning and then head over to astonishing Banteay Srei.

Known as “the city of women,” this temple was dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva and features a number of outstanding red sandstone statues. (You need an Angkor Wat Pass to visit.)

If you have time, visit Tonle Sap, Southeast Asia’s largest freshwater lake. It is 52km (32 miles) from Siem Reap. Sailing down the river and around the lake gives you a look at how closely Cambodian life is tied to this major waterway. Tours start around $2.50 USD per person.

What to See and Do in Cambodia: A Two-Week itinerary

Want to spend more time in Cambodia? Great! You should! There are tons of other places to visit. Here are my suggestions:

Days 1 & 2 – Phnom Penh Follow the Phnom Penh itinerary from above.

Day 3 & 4 – Sihanoukville Follow the Sihanoukville itinerary from above.

Day 5 & 6 – Koh Rong

Head out to Koh Rong, which got its name after the legend of a giant King Kong–like ape that once called the island home. It’s a 45-minute trip from Sihanoukville and a great place to relax on the beach or go snorkeling. There are a lot of accommodation options, and it’s a popular spot with backpackers.

Day trips costs around $25 USD and include lunch and snorkeling equipment, but since you have the time, spend a few nights here relaxing and enjoying beach life.

There are also other islands nearby if you want to stay longer and explore, including Koh Rong Samloem, which is becoming something of a backpacker paradise (there’s even a Full Moon Party there now).

Days 7 & 8 – Kep

In the morning, travel by bus to Kep, which is about two hours from Sihanoukville. This quaint beach town and fishing village is the quiet version of Sihanoukville: a nice place to relax near the ocean but without a party atmosphere. It’s famous for its pepper crab and empty beaches.

Consider taking two full days here. Sure, it’s quite sleepy and there’s not a lot to do, but it’s the perfect place to relax, eat all the delicious crabs the city is famous for, and read a book. You can also spend some time on nearby Rabbit Island (Koh Tonsay) too, a secluded and charming escape from the world if you’re looking to disconnect. Basic bungalows can be rented for under $10 USD per night.

Where to Stay in Kep: Khmer House Hostel – Kep is pretty spread out, so wherever you stay, make sure you rent a bike or scooter. This hostel is a good option as it’s not far from the Crab Market.

Day 9 – Kampot

The southern region of Cambodia is filled with pepper farms where you can learn about the history of the spice, see how it is grown, and pick up what is considered some of the finest pepper in the world.

I’d spend one night in Kampot. It’s another quiet town on the coast. Most people come here to enjoy the scenic riverside views as well as the rolling hills that surround the city. The area used to be a getaway for the French, so you’ll see old French architecture around.

At night, the street near the old bridge is lined with fruit shake vendors. Try a million. The city is famous for them.

Also, if you only do one thing in this entire itinerary, make sure it’s eating the ribs at The Rusty Keyhole. They are some of the best ribs I’ve ever had in my entire life. You have to order them the day before. You’ll also get healthy side of mashed potatoes and coleslaw too. It’s one of the best meals I’ve ever had. I still dream of it.

Where to Stay in Kampot: The Magic Sponge – This is one of my favorite hostels in Cambodia. Make sure you book early, as it tends to sell out. It’s a really nice, relaxed guesthouse where you’ll get your own bed (not a bunk). You’ll feel at home here, and it’s a short walk to the center of town. The dorm rooms are very clean. They also have a little mini-golf course too.

Day 10 – Kampot

Today, hire hire a tuk-tuk driver to explore the Kampot area. The Phnom Chhngok Cave Temple has a religious shrine inside, or you can head out and spend the day in Bokor, as Kampot is relatively close to the park.

Days 11, 12, & 13 – Siem Reap Follow the Siem Reap itinerary from above. Angkor Wat is best seen slowly, so use your days to explore it as much as possible. There are a lot of out-of-the-way temples to visit that are free of crowds.

Day 14 – Siem Reap

On your last day in Cambodia, why not take a cooking class? The class sizes tend to be around six people, and you will learn to prepare three different meals, as well as get recipe cards at the end. Prices start around $20 USD per person; local guesthouses can help arrange a class.

What to See and Do in Cambodia: A Three-Week Itinerary

Have even more time for Cambodia? Good! Cambodia has a lot more to it than the major spots on the backpacker trail.

Days 1, 2, & 3 – Phnom Penh and Kirirom National Park Follow the above suggestions, but also head out to Kirirom National Park for a day trip. This park has all sorts of walking trails, mountain biking trails, waterfalls, and a few lakes. It’s a good place to go to take a break from the city.

The park is around a two-hour drive from the city, so you’ll need to hire a driver for the day. The best way to do this is to find some travelers to join you so you can share a ride, which will cost around $80 for the day.

Days 4, 5, 6, 7, & 8 – Sihanoukville and the Islands Follow the above suggestions but at a much slower pace!

Days 9, 10 & 11 – Kep and Rabbit Island Follow the above suggestions for Kep, but head out to Rabbit Island for a rustic island getaway.

Days 12 & 13 – Kampot Follow the above suggestions!

Days 14, 15, & 16 – Siem Reap Follow the above suggestions!

Day 17 – Koh Ker

For a fun day trip from Siem Reap, head to Koh Ker, located around 2.5 hours from town. Koh Ker was briefly the capital of the Khmer Empire, and many of the temples here are over 1,000 years old. It’s a massive archeological site located in the jungle, and it sees far fewer tourists than Siem Reap.

There are no public buses that go there (the roads were only paved a few years ago), so you’ll have to arrange transportation via your hostel or hotel.

Day 18 – Phnom Kulen

For another fun day trip, head to Phnom Kulen, considered the country’s most sacred mountain. It’s located just 50km from Siem Reap and offers some amazing jungles, hiking, and picturesque waterfalls where you can take dip to beat the heat. You can easily spend a day here. If you head up to the summit, there are some great views as well as a large reclining Buddha statue. Try to arrive early as the park fills up by lunchtime. Admission to the park is $20 USD.

Day 19 – Battambang

From Siem Reap, you can take a three-hour bus to Battambang. Or try taking a riverboat on Tonle Sap for a unique experience (there is one boat per day, with tickets costing around $20 USD per person).

When you arrive, you’ll discover Cambodia without the tourism. Get familiar with Battambang by exploring the town on foot (or by tuk-tuk). Check out the Phsar Boeung Choeuk and Phsar Naht markets. You’ll also want to visit the gorgeous pagodas and temples, such as Wat Pippitharam (near the Old Market), Wat Bovil, Wat Kandal, and Wat Damreay Sar.

In the evening, check out the Battambang Circus. The show is put on by students at a Cambodian nonprofit arts school, so your donations go to a good cause.

Where to Stay in Battambang: Sophea Hostel – This is a good place to meet locals and make some friends. It’s family-run, and they try to make you feel at home. The facilities are pretty basic, but typical, dorms. There’s a nice garden and sitting area. While there’s no restaurant on-site, there are plenty of nearby options.

Day 20 – Battambang

Take it easy this morning by touring the town a bit more on foot. Check out the colonial architecture along the waterfront and the governor’s residence. This building from the early 1900s is not open, but you can marvel at the exterior.

While you’re wandering, don’t miss the Art Deco central market building and the Victory swimming pool (where you can take a dip if you’re in the mood). You may want to visit the Battambang Museum; admission is just $1 USD, and you’ll learn a lot about the history of the area.

After lunch, you should grab a tuk-tuk and head a bit out of town to check out Phnom Sampeu. Take about an hour to climb to the monastery on the hill. You’ll also find some caves in the area with Buddhist temples in them. There’s also another cave at the foot of Phnom Sampeu; this is where you want to be around dusk, when millions of bats fly out of the cave in search of food. It’s an incredible sight!

Day 21 – Siem Reap or Phnom Penh

Make your way back to one of these towns, depending on where your flight is leaving from. Enjoy the bus ride, knowing it’s your last in Cambodia (at least for now)!

*** I always love my time in Cambodia. It lacks the polish of Thailand, making travel here a little more rustic and challenging.

But more amazing than any of the country’s sights and activities are the people. I’ve always found them to be incredibly welcoming. Even with so much darkness clouding their recent history, Cambodians always go above and beyond, making any trip here a memorable one.

But don’t take my word for it. Come and see this incredibly country for yourself.

And let these suggested Cambodia itineraries help you plan your trip!

Book Your Trip to Cambodia: Logistical Tips and Tricks

Book Your Flight Find a cheap flight by using Skyscanner or Momondo. They are my two favorite search engines because they search websites and airlines around the globe, so you always know no stone is being left unturned.

Book Your Accommodation You can book your hostel with Hostelworld. If you want to stay somewhere other than a hostel, use Booking.com as they consistently return the cheapest rates for guesthouses and cheap hotels. I use them all the time. My favorite places to stay are:

Sla Boutique Hostel (Phnom Penh) – This is a classy hostel not far from restaurants, bars, and attractions. It’s clean, and the beds are really comfy!

Topsky Hostel (Siem Reap) – This hostel is in a quiet area and offers basic accommodation. The staff will help you arrange a tuk-tuk and activities.

Don’t Forget Travel Insurance Travel insurance will protect you against illness, injury, theft, and cancellations. It’s comprehensive protection in case anything goes wrong. I never go on a trip without it, as I’ve had to use it many times in the past. I’ve been using World Nomads for ten years. My favorite companies that offer the best service and value are:

World Nomads (for everyone below 70)

Insure My Trip (for those over 70)

Looking for the best companies to save money with? Check out my resource page for the best companies to use when you travel! I list all those I use to save money, and I think they will help you too!

Want More Information on Cambodia? Be sure to visit our robust destination guide on Cambodia for even more planning tips!

Photo credit: 14, 15

The post Backpacking Cambodia: 3 Suggested Itineraries for Your Trip appeared first on Nomadic Matt's Travel Site.

from Traveling News https://www.nomadicmatt.com/travel-blogs/cambodia-travel-itineraries/

[lifeofaliterarynerd]

We Need Diverse Books: Women’s History Month edition *Books celebrating women and female relationships (romantic and/or platonic)

Reading Lolita in Tehran - Azar Nafisi //  Every Thursday morning for two years in the Islamic Republic of Iran, a bold and inspired teacher named Azar Nafisi secretly gathered seven of her most committed female students to read forbidden Western classics. As Islamic morality squads staged arbitrary raids in Tehran, fundamentalists seized hold of the universities, and a blind censor stifled artistic expression, the girls in Azar Nafisi's living room risked removing their veils and immersed themselves in the worlds of Jane Austen, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Henry James, and Vladimir Nabokov.  A Wrinkle in Time - Madeline L’Engle //  It was a dark and stormy night; Meg Murry, her small brother Charles Wallace, and her mother had come down to the kitchen for a midnight snack when they were upset by the arrival of a most disturbing stranger. Americanah - Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche // As teenagers in a Lagos secondary school, Ifemelu and Obinze fall in love. Their Nigeria is under military dictatorship, and people are leaving the country if they can. Ifemelu—beautiful, self-assured—departs for America to study. She suffers defeats and triumphs, finds and loses relationships and friendships, all the while feeling the weight of something she never thought of back home: race. Obinze—the quiet, thoughtful son of a professor—had hoped to join her, but post-9/11 America will not let him in, and he plunges into a dangerous, undocumented life in London. A Short History of Women - Kate Walbert //  The novel opens in England in 1915, at the deathbed of Dorothy Townsend, a suffragist and one of the first women to integrate Cambridge University. Her decision to starve herself for the cause informs and echoes in the later, overlapping narratives of her descendants. Among them are her daughter Evie, who becomes a professor of chemistry at Barnard College in the middle of the century and never marries, and her granddaughter Dorothy Townsend Barrett, who focuses her grief over the loss of her son by repeatedly defying the ban on photographing the bodies of dead soldiers returned to Dover Air Force base from Iraq. Beauty Queens - Libba Bray //  When a plane crash strands thirteen teen beauty contestants on a mysterious island, they struggle to survive, to get along with one another, to combat the island's other diabolical occupants, and to learn their dance numbers in case they are rescued in time for the competition.

Jane Eyre - Charlotte Brontë //  Orphaned into the household of her Aunt Reed at Gateshead and subject to the cruel regime at Lowood charity school, Jane Eyre nonetheless emerges unbroken in spirit and integrity. She takes up the post of governess at Thornfield, falls in love with Mr. Rochester, and discovers the impediment to their lawful marriage in a story that transcends melodrama to portray a woman's passionate search for a wider and richer life than Victorian society traditionally allowed. Untwine - Edwidge Danticat //  ixteen-year-old Giselle Boyer and her identical twin, Isabelle, are as close as sisters can be. They are each other’s strongest source of support even as their family life seems to be unraveling and their parents are considering divorce. Then the Boyers have a tragic encounter that will shatter everyone’s world forever. Lost Girl Found - Laura DeLuca & Leah Bassoff //  For Poni, life in her small village in southern Sudan is simple and complicated at the same time. Stay in school. Beat up any boy who tries to show attention. Watch out for the dangers in the river. But then the war comes. When soldiers arrive in her village, and bombs begin to rain from the sky, there is only one thing for Poni to do. Run for her life. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen //  Jane Austen’s witty comedy of manners that features splendidly civilized sparring between the proud Mr. Darcy and the prejudiced Elizabeth Bennet as they play out their spirited courtship in a series of eighteenth-century drawing-room intrigues. Code Name Verity - Elizabeth Wein //  Code Name Verity is the story of a friendship formed between two young women, Julie Beaufort-Stuart and Maddie Brodatt, during the early years of World War II. Esperanza Rising - Pam Munoz Ryan //  Esperanza thought she'd always live with her family on their ranch in Mexico--she'd always have fancy dresses, a beautiful home, and servants. But a sudden tragedy forces Esperanza and Mama to flee to California during the Great Depression, and to settle in a camp for Mexican farm workers. Chains - Laurie Halse Anderson //  As the Revolutionary War begins, thirteen-year-old Isabel wages her own fight...for freedom. Promised freedom upon the death of their owner, she and her sister, Ruth, in a cruel twist of fate become the property of a malicious New York City couple, the Locktons, who have no sympathy for the American Revolution and even less for Ruth and Isabel. When Isabel meets Curzon, a slave with ties to the Patriots, he encourages her to spy on her owners, who know details of British plans for invasion. She is reluctant at first, but when the unthinkable happens to Ruth, Isabel realizes her loyalty is available to the bidder who can provide her with freedom. Under a Painted Sky - Stacey Lee //  Missouri, 1849: Samantha dreams of moving back to New York to be a professional musician—not an easy thing if you’re a girl, and harder still if you’re Chinese. But a tragic accident dashes any hopes of fulfilling her dream, and instead, leaves her fearing for her life. With the help of a runaway slave named Annamae, Samantha flees town for the unknown frontier. Grave Mercy - Robin LaFevers //  Seventeen-year-old Ismae escapes from the brutality of an arranged marriage into the sanctuary of the convent of St. Mortain, where the sisters still serve the gods of old. Here she learns that the god of Death Himself has blessed her with dangerous gifts—and a violent destiny. Inside the Shadow City - Kristen Miller //  Life will never be the same for Ananka Fishbein after she ventures into an enormous sinkhole near her New York City apartment. A million rats, delinquent Girl Scouts out for revenge, and a secret city below the streets of Manhattan combine in this remarkable novel about a darker side of New York City you have only just begun to know about. Rad American Women A-Z - Kate Schatz // A list of great women , spanning several centuries and multiple professions. There are artists and abolitionists, scientists and suffragettes, rock stars and rabble-rousers, and agents of change of all kinds.  American history was made by countless rad—and often radical—women. By offering a fresh and diverse array of female role models, we can remind readers that there are many places to find inspiration, and that being smart and strong and brave is rad. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants - Ann Brashares //  Carmen got the jeans at a thrift shop. They didn’t look all that great: they were worn, dirty, and speckled with bleach. On the night before she and her friends part for the summer, Carmen decides to toss them. But Tibby says they’re great. She'd love to have them. Lena and Bridget also think they’re fabulous. Lena decides that they should all try them on. Whoever they fit best will get them. Nobody knows why, but the pants fit everyone perfectly.  And then the journey of the pants — and the most memorable summer of their lives — begins. Cinder - Marissa Meyer //  Sixteen-year-old Cinder is considered a technological mistake by most of society and a burden by her stepmother. Being cyborg does have its benefits, though: Cinder's brain interference has given her an uncanny ability to fix things (robots, hovers, her own malfunctioning parts), making her the best mechanic in New Beijing. Someone Like You - Sarah Dessen //  Halley has always followed in the wake of her best friend, Scarlett. But when Scarlett learns that her boyfriend has been killed in a motorcycle accident, and that she's carrying his baby, she was devastated. For the first time ever, Scarlett really needs Halley. Their friendship may bend under the weight, but it'll never break--because a true friendship is a promise you keep forever. Roomies - Sara Zarr & Tara Altebrando //  When East Coast native Elizabeth receives her freshman-year roommate assignment, she shoots off an e-mail to coordinate the basics: television, microwave, mini-fridge. That first note to San Franciscan Lauren sparks a series of e-mails that alters the landscape of each girl's summer -- and raises questions about how two girls who are so different will ever share a dorm room. Feeling Sorry for Celia - Jaclyn Moriarty //  Life is pretty complicated for Elizabeth Clarry. Her best friend Celia keeps disappearing, her absent father suddenly reappears, and her communication with her mother consists entirely of wacky notes left on the fridge. Feeling Sorry for Celia captures, with rare acuity, female friendship and the bonding and parting that occurs as we grow. The Secret Place - Tana French //  The photo on the card shows a boy who was found murdered, a year ago, on the grounds of a girls’ boarding school in the leafy suburbs of Dublin. The caption says, I KNOW WHO KILLED HIM.   Everything they discover leads them back to Holly’s close-knit group of friends and their fierce enemies, a rival clique—and to the tangled web of relationships that bound all the girls to the victim, Chris Harper. The Girls from Corona del Mar - Rufi Thrope //  A fiercely beautiful debut blazing with emotion: a major first novel about friendships made in youth and how these bonds, challenged by loss, illness, parenthood, and distance, either break or sustain. Friendship - Emily Gould // A novel about two friends learning the difference between getting older and growing up.  As Bev and Amy are dragged, kicking and screaming, into real adulthood, they have to face the possibility that growing up might mean growing apart. She Takes a Stand - Michael Elsohn Ross //  She Takes a Stand offers a realistic look at the game-changing decisions, high stakes, and bold actions of women and girls around the world working to improve their personal situations and the lives of others. This inspiring collection of short biographies features the stories of extraordinary figures past and present who have dedicated their lives to fighting for human rights, civil rights, workers’ rights, reproductive rights, and world peace. Hush - Jacquelyn Woodson //  Toswiah Green's life ended the moment her policeman father decided to testify against a fellow officer. The Greens have had to change their identities and move to a different city. Now Toswiah is Evie Thomas, and that is the least of the changes.  Evie, struggles to find her way, wonders who she is now and how she can make her future as bright as her past once was. Run - Kody Keplinger // Bo and Agnes are opposites and sespite everything, they become best friends. And it’s the sort of friendship that runs truer and deeper than anything else. So when Bo shows up in the middle of the night, with police sirens wailing in the distance, desperate to get out of town, Agnes doesn’t hesitate to take off with her. But running away and not getting caught will require stealing a car, tracking down Bo’s dad, staying ahead of the authorities, and—worst of all—confronting some ugly secrets. Walk Two Moons - Sharon Cheech //  Salamanca Tree Hiddle tells us about a road trip she recently took with her grandparents from Ohio to Idaho. In the car, they are headed west to find Sal's mother in time for her mother's birthday. Over the course of the trip, Sal tells her grandparents about her friend Phoebe's own missing mother.  Creech intricately weaves together two tales, one funny, one bittersweet, to create a heartwarming, compelling, and utterly moving story of love, loss, and the complexity of human emotion. Sea of Shadows - Kelley Armstrong // In the Forest of the Dead, where the empire’s worst criminals are exiled, twin sisters Moria and Ashyn are charged with a dangerous task. For they are the Keeper and the Seeker, and each year they must quiet the enraged souls of the damned. The Secrets We Keep - Trisha Leaver //  Ella and Maddy Lawton are identical twins. Ella has spent her high school years living in popular Maddy's shadows, but she has never been envious of Maddy. When—after a heated argument—Maddy and Ella get into a tragic accident that leaves her sister dead, Ella wakes up in the hospital surrounded by loved ones who believe she is Maddy. Feeling responsible for Maddy's death and everyone's grief, Ella makes a split-second decision to pretend to be Maddy. Soon, Ella realizes that Maddy's life was full of secrets. Caught in a web of lies, Ella is faced with two options—confess her deception or live her sister's life.

#We Need Diverse Books #Women's History Month #ya books #booklr #book rec #mylist

[milliondollarbaby87]

2019 has been a very high quality year for film and I feel this has been the toughest list to put together in the whole ten years of Let’s Go The Movies. Which is certainly a very good and amazing thing for cinema and films. Not only have this years best come from cinema releases but Netflix have really come into the picture with some incredible films with amazing performances. With my list it might feel a little bit all over the place with some of the films that are on it due to UK release dates, but also take into consideration that I have also been lucky enough to see some previews of films as well.

My Cinema 2019 list – here 2019 Films overall – here

I had 22 films that were on my list for Best Films of 2019 and it has been very tough to knock that down to the 10 that have then made up this list. Just missing out (Brittany Runs a Marathon, Can You Ever Forgive Me?, Klaus, Judy, Crawl)

Final list . . .

10. Ready or Not (Review) The most dangerous game of hide and seek that you may ever witness, Ready or Not was a massive surprise film in 2019 and it is so unique that I hope more people get to see it after its cinema release earlier this year. It has some fantastic performances, manages humour within very serious scenes and will also make you want to cover your eyes as well.

9. Fighting With My Family (Review) This film felt very special as a reminder of my love for WWE wrestling back in the late 90s and early 00s, I even used to attend wrestling sessions myself as loved it that much. So seeing an amazing story of a British woman who managed to get to the very top, with a supportive and very different family was very enjoyable. With Florence Pugh leading the film as well, with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson being the driving force behind the film after seeing a documentary on Paige and the family.

8. Ad Astra (Review) Quite possibly the most visually stunning film that I have seen this year and I really feel sad that Ad Astra seemed to quickly come and go at the cinema without much talk around it. Everything about it looked amazing and it did not follow the same usual story about space. A terrific leading performance from Brad Pitt and addresses feeling lonely, which is surely a theme everyone can understand at some stage of life.

7. Little Women (Review) Quite possibly one of the most adapted novels of all time and in 2019 we got slightly updated characters which worked out so well with the truly outstanding cast boasted in this one. I wasn’t fully sure if we needed this film but it turns out we really did and it was an outstanding adventure from start to finish, the timeline of the film is done with shifts over the seven year period which works in a fantastic manner.

6. Wild Rose (Review) It feels like a very long time ago that this film was released but that could be because I cannot remember a time not listening to Glasgow (No Place Like Home) which is an amazing song both in the film and out of the film as well, I really hope it manages to get the Oscar nomination for best original song. Along with that song we get a terrific performance from Jessie Buckley and as strange as it may sound I feel so proud of her and happy for her. Considering how young she was on UK talent show looking for the next Nancy for Oliver, to then do this outstanding piece of work. A lovely film highlighting Scotland and country music. Not forgetting a nice supporting role from Julie Walters!

5. The Favourite (Review) A release from the very start of the year that felt like such a wait for the UK. It is another unique film, I feel as though that has been a common theme throughout this top 10 list which can only be a great thing considering it means I have plenty of different types of films. Olivia Colman in her Oscar winning performance with Emma Stone and Rachel Weisz both nominated. A very female empowering film based on well rumours quite frankly. A very different take on anything to do with the Royal Family and its well hilarious!

4. The Farewell (Review) The Farewell is about a really sad event, cancer but the grandmother not actually being told that is what it is. It’s actually based on a real lie, as soon as that popped up on the screen then I just knew I was going to be hooked with this one. Mainly in Chinese and learning about a very different culture which just so happens to actually work considering she is still alive to this day. It gives you hope as we have all gone through a loved one suffering with cancer and hearing that word seems to be the worst thing for the mental side as well. Mixture of amusing moments was something The Farewell really managed to nail.

3. The Irishman (Review) So much talk around The Irishman and of course that is going to happen when Martin Scorsese manages to get Robert De Niro and Al Pacino back together again along with Joe Pesci! Too much of the talk has been around the running time but I have watched the film fully twice and did not find any issue with it. The performances are that good from the leading and supporting cast that you find yourself engrossed in the world of Jimmy Hoffa.

2. Marriage Story (Review) This film broke me into so many pieces that even the next day I did not feel quite the same. The level of acting is among the best I have ever seen with the argument scene from Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson, raw and felt so real that it really is something else to witness. Showing how people can change even when they have been together for so long and while they want to remain friends that it really is not possible after a certain point.

1. Jojo Rabbit (Review) I am not even fully sure how to start with how much I adored this film, I wasn’t really sure if a satire was something I would ever really like. But I can confirm that Jojo Rabbit has well and truly opened me up to having a different mindset towards this type of film. Roman Griffin Davis delivers one of the best child performances I have ever seen, so I am going to claim of all time. He is outstanding and the stereotypes addressed in this film are done in a laugh out loud manner. It also contains a truly tragic and upsetting scene which took me by surprise.  

Have you seen all of these films yet, if so what did you think of them? What were your best films from 2019?

Top 10 – Best Films of 2019 2019 has been a very high quality year for film and I feel this has been the toughest list to put together in the whole ten years of Let’s Go The Movies.

#2019 #Ad Astra #Adam Driver #Al Pacino #Awkwafina #Azhy Robertson #Best Films #Brad Pitt #Cinema #Emma Stone #Emma Watson #Fighting with My Family #Florence Pugh #Jack Lowden #Jessie Buckley #Jojo Rabbit #Little Women #Marriage Story #Netflix #Netflix Original #Olivia Colman #Rachel Weisz #Ray Romano #Ready or Not #Robert De Niro #Roman Griffin Davis #Samara Weaving #Saoirse Ronan #Scarlett Johansson #Taika Waititi