Book Review: Utopia Avenue by David Mitchell
David Mitchell’s 2020 novel *Utopia Avenue* chronicles a fictional 1960s London band, weaving each chapter around the creation of a song from a different member’s viewpoint. The story is peppered with real‑world music icons such as David Bowie and Nina Simone, anchoring the fictional narrative in the era’s cultural pulse. While the band’s interpersonal struggles—class tension, gender dynamics, and emerging sexuality—are vividly rendered, the late‑stage shift into magical realism feels discordant for many readers. The book also nudges toward Mitchell’s larger, interconnected speculative universe.
TV Review: Gimbap and Onigiri
TV Tokyo’s 2026 drama *Gimbap and Onigiri* follows Rin, a Korean animation graduate student, and Taiga, a Japanese diner cook who bond over shared meals. Their romance unfolds amid language slips, cultural nuances, and the pressures of unsociable work hours....
Book Review: Christopher and His Kind 1929–1939 by Christopher Isherwood
Christopher Isherwood’s 1976 memoir *Christopher and His Kind 1929–1939* revisits the decade he spent in Berlin, the UK, and other European refuges before emigrating to the United States. The book blends third‑person narration of his younger self with first‑person reflections,...
March 2026 Reading Round-Up
In March, the author shared a personal reading round‑up, highlighting a mix of recent releases and classics ranging from culinary travel memoirs to Regency‑style fantasy and Antarctic essays. The post also notes cinema outings to *Project Hail Mary* and *The...
Book Review: We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
The review positions Shirley Jackson’s 1962 gothic novel *We Have Always Lived in the Castle* as an ideal first read for a new book club, praising its eerie atmosphere and layered storytelling. It highlights the story’s core elements—Merricat’s ritualistic “magic,”...
Book Review: Ripe by Sarah Rose Etter
Ripe, a 2023 novel by Sarah Rose Etter, is an intense satire set in 2020 Silicon Valley that follows Cassie, a young professional at a unicorn startup in San Francisco. The story details her battle with depression, cocaine use, precarious...