you’re the breeze in my austin nights
Honestly, so many experiences can be summarized in just a few strokes: graduated, started work, moved to Austin, played a lot of Valorant. When phrased like that, it feels like time has completely escaped me, spilling through my fingertips. But I think a lot has happened and changed, even if it doesn’t necessarily feel like it! Could Christina a year ago have predicted that she’d be here?
a retelling
A reflection on the nature of retellings of memory and Greek mythology, mixed with brief reviews of Hades (2016) and Ariadne.
Review of The Batman
There’s a dull sound approaching you. It’s slow, measured, deliberate. You recognize it as metal against concrete, but the distinct thud, thud, thud betrays a hulking weight behind it…
Review of Hyper Light Drifter
I’ve been itching for an 8-bit style action-adventure RPG that I could finish in one weekend, and Hyper Light Drifter definitely delivered. Gloriously rendered pixel art, haunting landscapes, with a sublime and somber OST by Disasterpeace.
INT. CHINATOWN
A review/reflection of how Shang-Chi, Interior Chinatown, and Houston Chinatown reflect the Asian-American identity - tied together with usual rambling Christina Ji flair
friday the 13th
musings on memory, emotion, and ambiguity - less a blog update, more a reflection on Omori and Almond. really nothing to do with Friday the 13th besides serendipitous posting date
devotions, by mary oliver*
The end of junior year, summer, reading in the sun, and musings on feeling both like time is moving too slow and too fast.
Review of The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane by Lisa See
As someone who loves tea, narratives centered on the experiences of womxn, and learning more about Chinese culture, this book was a mix of elements that I knew I’d enjoy.
Review of The Secret Talker by Geling Yan
There's a sort of allure that comes from the unknown, from the dark, and Hongmei's struggle between complacency and a hunger for novelty taps into that seduction. However, as much as I loved the idea of this book, I was still felt feeling as though it was left largely unfinished, as though we were reading the outline or a draft.
Review of The Garden of Evening Mists by Tan Twan Eng
I have to preface this review by saying that The Garden of Evening Mists is by far one of the “slowest” books I’ve ever read. As many reviews have mentioned, Tan attempts to “capture stillness on paper” in the same manner as Aritomo, and I would honestly consider his endeavor a success. The novel is practically a carefully pruned garden itself, with lovely, meditative prose and poignant themes that meld into one another, almost an act of “borrowed scenery” amongst the end-of-empire narrative.
Review of Autobiography of Red by Anne Carson
Carson possesses an incredible dexterity when it comes to the written word along with the creative chops to substantiate the narrative itself, suffusing this work with clear appreciation and love for the tale and how it can be adapted and interpreted anew.
Review of If I Had Your Face by Frances Cha
I appreciated a lot of the themes that Cha brings up, and she peels back a layer when examining Korean culture, making what would otherwise appear “exotic” something familiar and accessible—a testament to the importance of reading books by Own Voices.
Review of “Before the Coffee Gets Cold” by Toshikazu Kawaguchi
Short and sweet story, so here’s a short and sweet review. Before the Coffee Gets Cold gave me the general feeling I wanted out of a book today—something heartfelt and warm
Review of “The Shadow of the Wind” by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
Barcelona breathes in this story. She exists as the setting, seeps through the characters, whistles as the shadow of the wind itself. Zafón has crafted an incredible ode to storytelling, one that revolves around a mystery infused with the smell of sulfur, and he does so with incredible prose and style.
Bookish Burnout
If you’re not familiar with burnout, here’s a quick definition a la Google’s first result: “Burnout is a state of emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion caused by excessive and prolonged stress. It occurs when you feel overwhelmed, emotionally drained, and unable to meet constant demands.”
Review of “Beach Read” by Emily Henry
3 Stars, but this review goes into why I think stars are rather meaningless…This was my first real foray into contemporary adult romance. I'm neither disappointed nor surprised, rather relatively lukewarm towards this book, but I find it difficult to say if it's just my unfamiliarity with the hallmarks of the genre.
Review of “A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man” by James Joyce
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man is an autobiographical novel based on James Joyce's own life, the protagonist renamed as Stephen Daedalus. The mention of the myth to which Stephen's surname references is often called upon in this novel, an ode to both Icarus and the inventor himself, artist as creator and the consumed.
Marketing & Bookstagram: The Self Concept
Now, let’s get one thing straight: bookstagram is a labor of love. To have the dedication to post regularly towards this passion speaks of commitment to literature, and the bookish community is centered on authentic experiences with one another. We cultivate our pages to showcase how much we love reading — what else could be more pure? So when I talk about marketing in relation to bookstagram, I do not mean to undermine this appreciation as something easily quantifiable…
What I Learned from One Week on Bookstagram
Within that murky fog that delineates author from audience, I think a similar one exists between readers, as though by sharing our reading experiences, we engage in a dance of sorts. Page by page, hand in hand, we turn. What sort of intimacy is deeper than that of your own relationship with a book? As such, we feel closer to one another by seeing these understandings echoed.