Set in 1966 China, The Morgue Keeper is not a story of rebellion in the traditional sense… it's a story of survival, of sharing cigarettes and kindness when there's nothing left. I finished it wrecked, and grateful to have read it.

When food can’t satisfy your hunger and rage is more powerful than grief... That’s the space What Hunger lives in. A raw, haunting coming-of-age story about trauma, survival, and the power of finding your voice even if you have to bite first.

At first, it feels like a story about a girl with premonitions. But what unfolds is quieter and deeper not about seeing the future, but remembering what you weren’t allowed to know. Premonition is soft, steady, and more emotional than it seems at first glance.

A quiet and deliberate novel that explores grief, suicide, and creative purpose through two intersecting lives, a sculptor and an architect, each reckoning with personal loss and the slow gravity of memory. This is a book that doesn’t offer resolution, but instead asks you to sit in the discomfort. I found it powerful, even when the tone stayed distant.

What happens when grief, internet fame, and accidental self-help collide? Jade Chang’s new novel follows Lola Treasure Gold — a woman thrust into the spotlight by a viral video and forced to reckon with what it means to be seen, believed, and followed. Part social satire, part character study, this one isn’t always fast, but it stays messy in the right ways.

Messy but full of energy, The Book of Taba is a self-published debut that blends anime-style action, found family, and a soul-draining magic system. There are rough edges here, but also characters I cared about, and ideas that stuck with me. If you like reading early indie voices with ambition, this one might surprise you.

A layered, puzzle-like novel of psychological horror and buried trauma. Told through four interlocking stories and a series of eerie drawings, Strange Pictures builds dread without spectacle and leaves a lingering unease long after the final page.

A bestselling Korean novel about a small village bookstore where strangers come to rest and reset. Told in quiet, comforting chapters, Soyangri Book Kitchen explores burnout, grief, and second chances with warmth, food, books, and peace.

A smart, accessible YA novel about the pressures of perfection, the cost of invisibility, and what happens when you get exactly what you think you want. I Am Not Jessica Chan takes a familiar idea — swapping lives and reframes it through an Asian American lens.

A quiet, dreamlike novel set in a village where the sun is vanishing from the sky. Sunbirth follows two sisters as they face grief, uncertainty, and the slow unraveling of the world around them. Emotionally grounded and subtly surreal, this is speculative fiction that lingers in feeling more than explanation.

A speculative novel told in disjointed vignettes, Under the Eye of the Big Bird explores extinction, artificial life, and the slow unraveling of humanity. Detached by design, this is a book that raises big questions about intimacy, survival, and what remains when connection disappears.

A memoir about faith, loss, and figuring out who you are after everything else has fallen away. Tamara Jong writes with honesty and clarity about being raised inside the Jehovah’s Witness faith, navigating addiction and grief, and what it means to walk away from the structures that shaped you. A layered, deeply personal book with sharp observations and surprising moments of humor and release.

A quiet, slightly offbeat novel about burnout, books, and the strange comfort of working the night shift in a library that only houses the works of the dead. If you liked Morisaki Bookshop or Nakano Thrift Shop, this one belongs on your radar.

A fast, voice-driven novel about a Korean teen in Japan navigating love, violence, and the harsh politics of identity. Sharp, funny, and deeply personal Go hits hard and leaves a mark

A Korean memoir built from therapy transcripts and reflections on depression, identity, and emotional contradiction. Fragmented, honest, and often repetitive a candid look at what it means to struggle quietly.

A lyrical Korean novella about a salmon swimming upstream in search of purpose. Through quiet allegory, Ahn Do-hyun explores identity, sacrifice, and the quiet courage of going against the current.

8 Lives of a Century-Old Trickster is a brutal, layered story about what it means to live through history that tries to erase you — and the impossible choices women have had to make to survive.

This isn’t poetry about healing. It’s poetry about getting up again when healing isn’t coming. From myth to grief to survival, Thanh Dinh’s Salt & Ashes refuses to tie things up cleanly. It’s a record of endurance, and it doesn’t ask for pity.

Han Kang doesn’t just write novels, she creates atmospheres. From The Vegetarian to We Do Not Part, her work explores silence, memory, and the emotional aftermath of violence. This author spotlight brings together my reflections on her translated works so far, including links to full reviews and why she continues to shape how I read.

A quiet, haunting novel that unfolds in layers — snow, silence, and a history that still trembles underfoot.