Anna Tan's Blog, page 6

#review: Fresh 14.0 | ZXC Theatre Troupe

Okay so I did this thing (again) where I went to see a show without knowing anything about it except that my friend wrote a script in English, but it was going to be performed in Hokkien with surtitles. 

SHOULD BE OK KAN. SUPPORT YOUR FRIENDS KAN.

It was actually this:

I dunno what all the other words say, I only know Fresh 14.0 hahaha. And I'm too lazy to google translate. So anyway, the first 3 plays were in Mandarin (probably) and only the last (Heng Yeh's) was in Hokkien, and apparently my half...

#bookreview: Yet You Cry When It Hurts (Nothing is Promised #4) | Susan Kaye Quinn

Yet You Cry When It Hurtsby Susan Kaye Quinn
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Quinn's imagined future is one where the world has finally gotten its act together in the midst of devastating crises. Cooperation is the word of the day, whether voluntary or involuntary, and everyone is working together for the good of all humanity, no matter race, nationality, sexual orientation, or gender. Equality of a sort has been reached, if only because without it, your country is not going to survive the next pandemic o...

#bookreview: Exhalation | Ted Chiang; The Mammoth Book of Celtic Myths and Legends | Peter Berresford Ellis

Exhalation by Ted Chiang
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I can't deny that Exhalation is a compelling, thoughtful read. There are many things to think about, to delve into, in these nine stories. And all of them are varied enough that each truly feels like a fresh thought.

And yet at the same time, for some weird reason, they didn't feel quite memorable to me. I reached the story notes and went... wait, what was that story about again? And nothing in the title or in the notes clued me in.

So I dunno. I li...

#musicmonday: Budaya 4.0: Cerita Kita | A Tapestry of Malaysian Tales

The kids (lol) over at Berklee Malaysia Association wrote music to 12 stories of Malaysia as part of their showcase and in conjunction with GTLF2022. Here's the description:

The Berklee Malaysian Association (BMA) is proud to present BUDAYA 4.0: Cerita Kita (A Tapestry of Malaysian Tales). This year, our student-run concert aims to showcase music inspired by 12 stories of Malaysia from its unique fusion of multiple cultures that is influenced by the indigenous, immigrant and colonizing powers.

Ou...

#bookreview: Whitstead Harvestide: A Speculative Anthology | Abigail & Sarah Falanga (eds.)

Whitstead Harvestide: A Speculative Anthology by Abigail Falanga
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This took me a long time to get through, partially because I took a long time in between stories.

It's an interesting enough collection of short stories that centres around a small English town called Whitstead in the 1800s, at harvestide...or All Hallows Eve. And it's also a "speculative" anthology, which means that all the stories deal with the fantastical, whether that's pure fantasy, fairy tale, folklore, s...

#bookreview: The Last Tale of the Flower Bride | Roshani Chokshi

The Last Tale of the Flower Bride by Roshani Chokshi
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Last Tale of the Flower Bride is a dark fairy tale about fairy tales, where nothing really is as it seems. There are secrets within secrets--but will the revealing of the secret be what breaks the curse or what triggers it? That's the risk the Bridegroom has to take.

Indigo Maxwell-Castenada is a figure full of mystery and enchantment. She is rich and famous - and utterly eccentric, living in a world defined by her own...

#bookreview: Storm Front (The Dresden Files) | Jim Butcher

Storm Front by Jim Butcher
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I didn't want to do anything over CNY so I read this instead.

I got this like a million years ago (I cannot remember which book sale lol) mostly because someone had said that the Dresden Files were a good read. And then I procrastinated because, you know, everything else is a good read. And if I ended up liking it going in, that would be a hefty investment because there are like what, 10+ books in the series? and I only have the one book...

Anyway...

#bookreview: Nusantara: A Sea of Tales | Heidi Shamsuddin

Nusantara: A Sea of Tales by Heidi Shamsuddin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Nusantara: A Sea of Tales is a wonderful collection of fairy tales, folklore, and fables from the core geographic area of the Malay Archipelago or what used to be called Nusantara. A large majority of the stories come from Malaysia, both East and West (since Heidi Shamsuddin is Malaysian), and Indonesia (because both countries share quite a lot of the same folklore), which I guess automatically includes Singapore (because they w...

#edelweiss #bookreview: Gin, Jesus, and Jim Crow | Brendan J. J. Payne

Gin, Jesus, and Jim Crow: Prohibition and the Transformation of Racial and Religious Politics in the South by Brendan J. J. Payne
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

TBH... the main reason I picked this up was because I saw the cover and went "oh, that's the book my Facebook friend's husband wrote". But also, I agree with a lot of her views and I was just kaypo enough to figure why not since Edelweiss had it as a DRC for download.

It was fascinating to read about how so many things we take for granted as "Chr...

#edelweiss #bookreview: VAMPS: Fresh Blood | Nicole Arend

VAMPS: Fresh Blood by Nicole Arend
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Dillon is a Dhampire, a half-human, half-vampire reject. But he's also gotten a place at the very prestigious vampire finishing school, known as VAMPS, where he's supposed to be learning with and competing against the most elite of vampire society. Which really sucks, because he only found out about this whole... thing... a week before he was supposed to show up at school and has no clue about how vampire society works. Or how he's suppose...