My New Year’s Resolution for 2018 is to read a book (or listen to an unabridged audiobook) every day: 365 books by December 31. I will post my reviews here each week and provide regular updates on Twitter and Goodreads. Recommendations are always welcome!

Week 50: Holiday Reading: My Holiday Reading consisted of the annual Hingston and Olsen Short Story Advent calendar, three Christmas themed audiobooks, a couple more installments in Winston Graham’s Poldark series and the latest book from Alexander McCall Smith’s No #1 Ladies Detective Agency Series. Here are this week’s reviews:

#345 of 365 A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

Genre: Classic Fiction

Date Listened: December 21, 2018

Acquired: Purchased from Audible.com

Format: 3 hours and 31 minutes

Review: I have seen numerous film adaptations of A Christmas Carol (my favourite is Muppet Christmas Carol, which is hilarious, heartwarming and incorporates a remarkable amount of text from the novel) but nothing compares to the original. Dickens evokes the atmosphere of mid-Victorian London perfectly with its cold winters, fog and widespread poverty.

There are hints in the novel that the Cratchit family is in far more straightened circumstances than it is portrayed in many of the film adaptations, which makes the ending even more joyous for the characters. Bob Cratchit comes to work wrapped in a blanket because he cannot afford an overcoat, his elder daughter works long hours in a milliner’s shop and the Cratchit Christmas goose has to be taken to a bake shop because the family does not have the necessary kitchen to prepare the festive meal at home.

The novel also gives a good sense of how Scrooge came to be such an unpleasant figure as the disappointments of his past Christmases are recreated by the spirits in detail. The audiobook is well read by Tim Curry, who does an especially good job of bringing to life Scrooge himself and the succession of spirits who haunt him on Christmas Eve. An excellent holiday listen.

#346 of 365 The Christmas Hirelings by Mary Elizabeth Braddon

Genre: Classic Fiction

Date Read: December 21-22, 2018

Acquired: Complimentary from Audible.com

Format: Audiobook, 3 hours and 57 minutes

Review: A classic Victorian Christmas story with a few endearing characters and a heartwarming ending. I listened the the audiobook while wrapping presents and the tale is well read by Richard Armitage. The Christmas Hirelings by Mary Elizabeth Braddon, however, does not transcend its time in the manner of A Christmas Carol as it contains a variety of Victorian novel stereotypes without the evocative descriptions of the setting or original turns of phrase that characterize Dickens’s novels. In The Christmas Hirelings, there is a rich elderly gentleman who has become estranged from his daughter because he disapproves of her marriage, a stately home in need of Christmas cheer, three adorable children and a sudden medical crisis that precipitates the elderly man’s change of heart. These characters and plot developments have all appeared in other Victorian novels to a greater effect. A nice holiday listen but not especially memorable.

#347 of 365 Christmas Days: 12 Stories and 12 Feasts for 12 Days by Jeanette Winterson

Dates Listened: December 22-23, 2018

Format: Audiobook, 9 hours and 9 minutes

Acquired: Purchased from Audible.com

Genre: Short Fiction/Recipes

Review: “Good memories, happy memories also need to be honoured. We remember so much of the bad stuff and we are so careless with the good stuff.” Christmas Days: 12 Stories and 12 Feasts for 12 Days is a collection of holiday inspired essays, short fiction and recipes by Jeanette Winterson. I enjoyed the opening essay, which places Christmas and the wider need for light, feasting and community in the depths of winter within a broad historical and cultural context. Winterson encourages readers not to see Christmas as a routine holiday but a time to expect the unexpected, which is the theme of much of her short fiction, which includes talking snowmen, Christmas fairies with ipads, and medieval mistletoe murders.

The stories are really quirky and some are a little bit dark for the Christmas season and seem better suited to Hallowe’en. The sections about the recipes and what they mean to the author are quite joyous though and contain some thought provoking meditations on the holiday season. An interesting seasonal read with some chapters of greater interest to me than others.

#348 of 365 The Colors of All The Cattle by Alexander McCall Smith

Genre: Fiction

Date Read: December 22, 2018

Acquired: Purchased from BMV Books, Toronto

Format: Hardcover, 228 pages

Review: On January 2, earlier this year, I reviewed Book 18 in the No. Ladies’ Detective Agency Series, The House of Unexpected Sisters, and predicted that it would be the conclusion to the series. I am pleased to discover that I was wrong and the series has continued into a 19th installment, The Colors of All The Cattle. Alexander McCall Smith’s characters continue to be endearing and the series remains enjoyable to read. There is less attention devoted to Precious Ramotswe and her Detective Agency in The Colors of All The Cattle and more time devoted to secondary characters and plot lines including Charlie’s new girlfriend Queenie-Queenie and her bodybuilding brother Hercules, Grace Makutsi’s marital difficulties, and the city council elections in Gabrone. There are some nice introspective passages for Precious Ramotswe toward the end of the novel but the book ends quite abruptly, perhaps in anticipation of a 20th volume.

#349 of 365 The 2018 Short Story Advent Calendar edited by Michael Hingston, designed by Natalie Olsen

Dates Read: December 1-25, 2018

Format: 25 Short Story Booklets

Acquired: Purchased from Hingston and Olsen

Genre: Short Fiction

Review: An annual holiday tradition! I have read all four of the Short Story Advent Calendars since 2015 and I always enjoy being introduced to new authors and genres as well as reading a few seasonal stories close to Christmas. The 2018 advent calendar was an especially diverse collection that includes stories from a variety of different countries. There was a wide range of styles and characters as well. Highlights for me included “Sea Monster,” a tale of past lives, on December 1, “Mister Elephant” about childhood bullying on December 11, the Christmas Triptych of Stephen Leacock stories on December 20 and Christmas Eve, 1944 on Christmas Eve. The advent calendar concluded with a lovely story about the power of belief in Santa on December 25. I look forward to reading the stories in next year’s Advent Calendar!

#350 of 365 The Stranger from the Sea by Winston Graham

Dates Read: December 23-25, 2018

Genre: Historical Fiction

Acquired: Purchased from BMV Books, Toronto

Format: Paperback, 499 pages

Review: The Stranger from the Sea is the 8th book in Winston Graham’s Poldark series and it is set 10 years after the events of the 7th book (and the 4rd season of the television series). As a result, the book begins with a lot of recap of what has happened to the characters from the last book in the intervening decade. There are a number of key characters from the earlier books, including Verity, Drake, Morwenna, Sam and Rosina who are described as doing well but play little role in the Book 8.

After this underwhelming beginning, the novel develops an absorbing momentum of its own, focusing closely on Ross and Demelza’s children, and the financial and romantic misadventures of the aging George Warleggan. As always, Graham weaves the history of the times into his novels as the Napoleonic Wars continue and Jeremy Poldark becomes fascinated by potential uses for steam engines. There is some lovely writing about Ross and Demelza coming to understand their children as adults with distinct personalities that combine the qualities of their parents with some unique interests and traits as well. I look forward to reading the rest of the series.

#351 of 365 The Miller’s Dance by Winston Graham

Dates Read: December 27, 2018

Genre: Historical Fiction

Acquired: Purchased from BMV Books, Toronto

Format: Paperback, 485 pages

Review: The Poldark series continues with The Miller’s Dance, which focuses on Ross and Demelza’s two elder children Jeremy and Clowance as well as Valentine Warleggan. Graham brings back some characters who were almost entirely absent from The Stranger from the Sea including Verity, Sam and Rosina (though Drake and Morwenna are once again described as doing well but never actually appear), and there is therefore more continuity between this novel and the first seven books in the series.

My favourite scenes include Clowance’s joy at the discovery of a Roman coin in one of her father’s mines and the talk of the War of 1812 (including the Battle of Queenston Heights) at the Truro races. In contrast, I would have preferred that Stephen Carrington had left the series at the end of Book 8 as I disliked the character and thought that too much of the story was centred around Stephen and his perspective in both Book 8 and Book 9. I look forward to reading the last three books in the series.

My New Year’s Resolution for 2018 is to read a book (or listen to an unabridged audiobook) every day: 365 books by December 31. I will post my reviews here each week and provide regular updates on Twitter and Goodreads. Recommendations are always welcome!

Week 49: History and Culture of Asia and the Middle East: During an extended layover at Changi Airport in Singapore earlier in December, I bought a few books with Asian and Middle Eastern themes in a W. H. Smith bookshop sale and have been gradually reading them over the past few weeks. I also listened to a few audiobooks in my collection set in the same regions of the world. The books include a memoir about escaping North Korea, a history of Jerusalem, an analysis of 1990s China and a history of the Mongol Empire as well as three historical novels. Here are this week’s reviews:

#338 of 365 A River in Darkness: One Man’s Escape from North Korea by Masaji Ishikawa

Date Listened: December 10-11, 2018

Genre: Memoir

Acquired: Purchased from Audible.com

Format: Audiobook, 5 hours and 54 minutes

Review: “No one thought or talked about anything except food.” A heartbreaking memoir that provides a rare glimpse of daily life in North Korea from the 1960s to the 1990s. Masaji Ishikawa was born in Japan, the son of a Korean father and Japanese mother. Since Koreans were treated as second class citizens in postwar Japan, his father accepted an invitation to immigrate with his family to North Korea in search of a better life. Instead, the author and his family experienced constant shortages of food, housing and basic medical care and were socially ostracized for their Japanese background.

The author discusses his family’s suffering and the differences between propaganda and reality in North Korea at length. The description of the birth of his third child without medical care is especially horrifying. The escape described in harrowing detail at the end of the book is not necessarily a happy ending as the author remains separated from his family. A short and powerful book.

#339 of 365 Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World by Jack Weatherford

Genre: History

Acquired: Purchased from Audible.com

Format: 14 hours and 20 minutes

Dates Listed: December 11-12, 2018

Review: A engaging overview of Mongol society and government during the reigns of Genghis Khan and his descendants. The author highlights the lasting impact of the Mongol Empire on world history and compares Mongol and medieval European politics and warfare. Genghis Khan himself is the focus of just the first part of the book with the majority of the narrative focused on his children and especially his grandchildren, including the famous Kublai Khan. The book is well written but reliant on a fairly narrow source base, especially The Secret History of the Mongols, and favours positive depictions of the Mongol Empire over critical ones. The book would have benefited from more of the insights from the author’s travels to the region included over the course of the book instead of being confined largely to the introduction/afterword. An interesting audiobook but I preferred The Secret History of the Mongol Queens by the same author.

#340 of 365 The Map of Salt and Stars by Jennifer Zeynab Joukhadar

Dates Listened: December 13-15, 2018

Genre: Fiction/Historical Fiction

Acquired: Purchased from Audible.com

Format: 12 hours and 17 minutes

Review: “You have walked with me through the library past the spines of old friends”A lyrical novel about the Syrian refugee experience today where the travels of one family to safety are interwoven with a tale of the 12th century cartographer Mohammed Al-Idrisi and his map, the Tabula Rogeriana. The novel begins slowly and the audiobook is initially a little difficult to follow as the narrator moves seamlessly between the two time periods. Once the rhythm of the story becomes clear, however, both stories are deeply compelling and compliment one another more and more as the novel progresses. Joukhadar creates rich landscapes with metaphors and telling details and she shows the anxiety of being on a journey where the destination is unclear. An engaging novel that provides a fresh perspective on past and present events.

#341 of 365 Jerusalem: The Biography by Simon Sebag Montefiore

Genre: History

Date Read: December 14-16, 2018

Format: Paperback, 704 pages

Acquired: Purchased from W. H. Smith, Changi Airport, Singapore

Review: An epic history of religion, politics, war and scandal in Jerusalem with a strong emphasis on how the city fascinates the rest of the world. The book is filled with detailed information about the development of the city including lengthy footnotes that explain recent archeological discoveries and provide biographical information on the historical figures discussed in the text. Simon Sebag Montefiore provides an especially strong overview of the Classical, Crusader and Modern periods of Jerusalem’s history. I would have been interested to read more about the Mamluk and Ottoman influence over the city prior to the 19th century. An absorbing read that places Jerusalem at the centre of world history.

#342 of 365 The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane by Lisa See

Genre: Fiction

Dates Read: December 16-20, 2018

Acquired: Purchased from Audible.com

Format: Audiobook, 14 hours and 7 minutes

Review: I listened to the audiobook while sipping Pu’er, the tea at the centre of the novel. The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane is an epic multigenerational novel that encompasses the history of China from the Cultural Revolution to the present, the impact of contact with the outside world on the traditions of the Akha people of Yunnan province, the complexities of transnational adoption and, of course, the health benefits and economics of tea. There is so much fascinating historical and cultural background that the setting and context occasionally overwhelm the human drama at the centre of the novel but the book is always interesting and engaging. The audiobook is well read by a team of narrators who bring the various perspectives to life. The ending is perhaps too brief but deeply moving.

#343 of 365 China Wakes by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn

Date Read: December 18-20, 2018

Genre: Asian Studies

Acquired: Purchased from Book City, Toronto

Format: Paperback, 507 pages

Review: I read Half the Sky by the same authors in 2010 and China Wakes has long been on my reading list. The book provides a snapshot of China and its relationship with the wider world in the 1990s, placing the status of women, economy, culture, foreign affairs and politics within a broad historical context. There are some sections of the book that are a little dated because some of the laws discussed in the book, such as the one child policy, have since changed and new issues have emerged. The subjects addressed by the authors, however, remain topical. China Wakes was more of a memoir than I expected as Kristof and WuDunn frequently discuss their conflicts with local authorities and the difficulties of gathering information in their roles as foreign correspondents in China. China Wakes is informative and engaging and I would be interested in reading an updated edition.

#344 of 365 Free Food for Millionaires by Min Jin Lee

Genre: Fiction

Dates Read: December 20-26, 2018

Acquired: Purchased from W.H. Smith, Changi Airport, Singapore

Format: Paperback, 648 pages

Review: I listened to the audiobook of Pachinko earlier this year and greatly enjoyed it. I was delighted to find another novel by the same author. Free Food for Millionaires begins with an inspiring essay about how Lee became an author in the face of repeated setbacks and obstacles. The book itself, however, was not to my taste. Free Food for Millionaires is well written and contains astute social commentary. Both Ella and Leah are complex characters shaped by the expectations faced by women in their Korean-American community. Nevertheless, I disliked the central character, Casey Han, until she stood up for her mother toward the end of the novel. I was not especially interested in the issues that Casey encountered in business school, which dominate so much of the story. The secondary plots also contained some distasteful characters. The New York City setting never really came alive for me as there are few references to local landmarks or other distinctive aspects of the city. Of the author’s two novels, I greatly prefer Pachinko.

My New Year’s Resolution for 2018 is to read a book (or listen to an unabridged audiobook) every day: 365 books by December 31. I will post my reviews here each week and provide regular updates on Twitter and Goodreads. Recommendations are always welcome!

Week 48: On Land and At Sea My recent reading includes a blend of titles read on land and sea during my recent Southeast Asia cruise ship lecture series. The library on the cruise ship had a large collection of music biographies and I purchased both fiction and non-fiction about Malaysia, the last stop in my travels, in various airport bookshops. I also listened to a variety of audiobooks. Here are this week’s reviews:

#331 of 365 Becoming Beyoncé: The Untold Story by J. Randy Taraborrelli

Genre: Biography/Music

Dates Read: November 28-December 1, 2018

Acquired: Borrowed from the Cruise Ship Library

Format: Hardcover, 494 pages

Review: An engaging biography of Beyonce Knowles with a strong focus on the development of her career through various early girl groups then Destiny’s Child then her current solo career. The author clearly recognizes Beyonce’s talent, work ethic and drive to succeed and writes about her music career with a great deal of warmth and admiration. (He has a less favourable opinion of her film appearances in Dreamgirls and Austin Powers). The biography, however, is hampered by the author’s limited access to key sources as none of the members of Destiny’s Child or Beyonce’s immediate family provide interviews exclusive to the book. A fun travel read but limited in terms of the range perspectives included in the biography.

#332 of 365 Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline

Genre: Historical Fiction

Dates Listened: November 24-December 1, 2018

Acquired: Purchased from Audible.com

Format: Audiobook, 8 hours and 21 minutes

Review: A moving novel about orphaned city children who were sent out west to be placed with new families in 1920s America. The novel goes back and forth between the perspective of Neve/Dorothy/Vivian, a young Irish girl who loses her family in a New York tenement fire and finds herself on an orphan train with other children in equally difficult circumstances, and Molly, a 21st century First Nations foster child who is assigned to organize Vivian’s papers as community service. The novel captures the hardships experienced by both Vivian and Molly in their respective time periods and the friendship that they develop as they discover that that they have a great deal in common. The audiobook is well read by Jessica Almasy and Suzanne Toren.

#333 of 365 Respect: The Life of Aretha Franklin by David Ritz

Genre: Biography/Music

Dates Read: December 2-4, 2018

Acquired: Borrowed from the Cruise Ship Library

Format: Hardcover, 520 pages

Review: A biography of Aretha Franklin written with a great deal of Respect. David Ritz collaborated with Franklin on her autobiography but observed that Franklin was careful about which aspects of her life that she was interested in sharing with the public. In Respect: The Life of Aretha Franklin, Ritz interviews Franklin’s siblings, all talented musicians themselves, to provide a more comprehensive portrait. Franklin was passionate about her career and reputation as the Queen of Soul, observing that if Queen Elizabeth could be queen for life then so could she. Behind the scenes, however, Franklin suffered a great deal of heartbreak and these difficult circumstances informed her music. An engaging read that is also a portrait of the music industry over the course of her career.

#334 of 365 Beartown by Frederik Backman

Dates Listened: December 1-7, 2018

Genre: Fiction

Acquired: Purchased from Audible.com

Format: Audiobook, 432 pages

Review: “They say it takes a village to raise a child. We chose the wrong village.” Beartown is an extraordinary achievement. At first glance, Beartown  appears to be a novel about the importance of a junior hockey team to a small town but it instead examines how that town creates the conditions for a crime to take place and how the victim and her family come to be ostracized by the community that has known them all their lives. Backman knows his characters inside out including their past, present and future decisions and he ruminates on the nature of society, family and community as the events unfold. The friendships and other relationships between the characters shift as the story unfolds in unexpected and compelling ways. The ending is especially powerful. Highly recommended.

#335 of 365 Social: Why Our Brains Are Wired to Connect by Matthew D. Lieberman

Date Listened: December 8-10, 2018

Genre: Society and Culture

Acquired: Purchased from Audible.com

Format: 11 hours and 16 minutes

Review: An overview of the science behind the importance of sociability to human life. I enjoyed some chapters more than others. The chapter on social pain was well reasoned and explains the lasting harm caused by childhood bullying. The victim often views the bully as speaking for a wider group of silent bystanders and the trauma of this perceived wider social exclusion endures long after the actual bullying has ended. In contrast, I found Lieberman’s suggestions for how to make the education system more sociable to be simplistic. He presents stereotypical depictions of how History and English are taught based on little more than his own experiences in high school and provides heavy handed advice about how he believes these subjects could be improved. The book contains some interesting research and insights but it is an uneven read overall.

#336 of 365 Malaysians and their Identities edited by Yeoh Seng-Guan 

Date Read: December 9, 2018

Genre: Society and Culture

Acquired: Purchased at Kuala Lumpur Airport, Malaysia

Format: Paperback, 199 pages

Review: I purchased and read this book at the airport in Kuala Lumpur and enjoyed learning more about Malaysian society. The essays in Malaysians and their Identities are written by young scholars at Monash University Malaysia and discuss a variety of different subjects including coffeehouse culture, the indie music scene, fashion, beauty standards, technology and sports. There is a lot of interesting analysis of women’s roles in society including perceptions of female musicians and foreign wives of Malaysian spouses. The chapter about how the smartphone has transformed society speaks to wider cultural trends around the world. Recommended for travelers and readers interested in learning more about Malaysia today.

#337 of 365 The Garden of Evening Mists by Tan Twan Eng

Genre: Historical Fiction

Date Read: December 16-17, 2018

Format: Paperback, 352 pages

Acquired: Purchased from W. H. Smith, Changi Airport, Singapore

Review: “Memory is like patches of sunlight in an overcast valley, shifting with the movement of the clouds. Now and then the light will fall on a particular point in time, illuminating it for a moment before the wind seals the gap, and the world is in shadows again.” A beautifully written novel about grief, loss, and the nature of memory. Yun Ling is the sole survivor of a Second World War Japanese internment camp in Malaysia who seeks to create a memorial garden for her sister in the 1950s, at the height of the Malaysian emergency. The other characters in the novel have all been shaped by these traumatic events in Malaysian history as well and Yun Ling’s quest to memorialize her sister emerges as part of a wider effort to survive and remember the past. A haunting and thought provoking novel.

My New Year’s Resolution for 2018 is to read a book (or listen to an unabridged audiobook) every day: 365 books by December 31. I will post my reviews here each week and provide regular updates on Twitter and Goodreads. Recommendations are always welcome!

Week 47: Singapore: I recently travelled to Southeast Asia to lecture on a cruise ship and journey began and ended in Singapore. I enjoyed exploring the city, visiting the Botanic Gardens, Fort Canning, National Museum and Chinatown. I also enjoyed reading histories of Singapore and the wider region as well as novels set there. In recent weeks, I read the Crazy Rich Asians trilogy, fiction and non-fiction about Singapore’s founder Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, a traveller’s history of Southeast Asia and a mystery novel set in the 1930s Crown Colony of Singapore. For more histories of Singapore, see the reviews in Week 45: The History, Politics and Culture of Southeast Asia. Here are this week’s reviews:

#324 of 365 Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan

Date Read: November 23, 2018

Genre: Fiction

Acquired: Purchased at Indigo Books, Toronto

Format: Paperback, 527 pages

Review: I read the novel after watching and enjoying the film. Nick Young and Rachel Chu have even more eccentric relatives in the novel and some of the storylines are more complicated including Astrid’s marriage and Eleanor’s family life. Like the movie, the book is a lot of fun. Kwan includes humorous footnotes about the slang phrases used in Singapore, and the designers favoured by the different social circles among the very wealthy. There’s a detailed annotated genealogy of all the interconnected families as well. The financial decisions made by the Young family and their relatives were interesting. The characters, especially Astrid, spend enormous sums spent on clothing and jewellery but they are expected to stay with family and friends whenever they travel instead of spending on hotel rooms, which of course leads to more complications. The perfect read for the long flight to Singapore.

#325 of 365 China Rich Girlfriend by Kevin Kwan

Date Read: November 25, 2018

Genre: Fiction

Acquired: Purchased from Indigo Books, Toronto

Format: Paperback, 479 pages

Review: The entertaining sequel to Crazy Rich Asians. Most of the characters from the first novel return although there are surprisingly few scenes featuring Nick’s overbearing mother, Eleanor Young, with the exception of a dramatic entrance early in the novel. There is a fun subplot involving an “art consultant” to the wealthy who helps her clients break into high society with the correct fashions, behaviour and manner of speaking. In contrast to the first book, very little of novel takes place in Singapore. Instead, Nick and Rachel spend their honeymoon in China, getting to know Rachel’s half-brother and his complicated social circle, and take a side trip to Paris. There are some unexpected plot twists toward the end including a dramatic medical crisis.

#326 of 365 Rich People Problems by Kevin Kwan

Genre: Fiction

Acquired: Purchased from Indigo Books, Toronto

Format: Paperback, 541 pages

Dates Read: November 25-28, 2018

Review: My favourite book in the Crazy Rich Asians trilogy. In Rich People Problems, the future of Tyersoll Park, the stately home of NickYoung’s grandmother is in question, and the family matriarch’s last will and testament raises more questions than it answers. The history of Japanese occupation of Singapore is woven into the narrative with a fascinating back story concerning the older generation of the family and the Singapore Botanic Gardens. There is some great character development for both Kitty and Astrid while Rachel continues to find Nick’s overbearing family and immense wealth to be a challenge. An entertaining and satisfying conclusion to the series.

#327 of 365 A Traveller’s History of Southeast Asia  Nicholas J. White and J.M. Barwise

Dates Read: November 28-30, 2018

Genre: Travel/History

Acquired: Purchased from Amazon.com

Format: Paperback, 358 pages

Review: A good overview of selected countries in Southeast Asia designed for travellers to the region. The writing style is a little bit dry but conveys a great deal of information in a concise manner. The book includes a chronology of key events and lists of political leaders as well as summaries of the current political situation of each of the countries discussed in the book. The intended audience of the book, travelers to the region, limits the scope of the history as the author leaves out Myanmar and the Philippines because they attract fewer tourists, even though they are relevant to the historical events mentioned in the text. There are also no conclusions presented about the region as a whole. A useful read for travellers but of limited value as an overall history of the region.

#328 of 365 Raffles: And the Golden Opportunity by Victoria Glendinning

Acquired: Purchased at the National Museum of Singapore

Date Read: December 5, 2018

Format: Paperback, 350 pages

Genre: History/Biography

Review: A comprehensive biography of Thomas Stanford Raffles, the founder of modern Singapore. The author devotes much of the book to his extended family and his sometimes contradictory ideas concerning Britain’s political and cultural influence in the wider world. The narrative often reads like a real life Jane Austen novel with passages such as “The Raffleses were ordinary people with no family money and few influential connections” and the circumstances surrounding Raffles’ two marriages and his efforts to arrange matches for his sisters. The book did not devote as much time to the founding of Singapore as I expected and I would have been interested to read more about Singapore’s history in the context of Raffles’ biography. An interesting read but the focus is more on Raffles’s early life and family than some of his later achievements.

#329 of 365 Olivia and Sophia by Rosie Milne

Dates Read: December 7-11, 2018

Genre: Historical Fiction

Format: Paperback, 432 pages

Acquired: Purchased at the Battlebox Museum, Fort Canning, Singapore

Review: An engaging novel told through the fictional diaries of Olivia and Sophia, the successive wives of Sir Stamford Raffles, the founder of Singapore. Both the scandalous Olivia and the pious and supportive Sophia were interesting historical figures in their own right and they were well traveled by the standards of their time, accompanying Raffles on his journeys to Asia. Milne captures the changing sensibilities of the 19th century as Olivia is presented as far more tolerant of local customs around the world than Sophia, who is convinced of the superiority of her own culture and religion.

There are moving entries concerning the loss of Raffles’ and Sophia’s children to tropical diseases. Some of the entries in the novel follow historical documents closely while others are heavily fictionalized. Sophia’s entries are more nuanced than Olivia’s, perhaps because Milne was able to draw upon Sophia’s real life memoir to get a strong sense of her voice. The entries from Olivia’s perspective are a bit too reliant on the cadence of the early 19th century with frequent uses of “twas” and “twere” that become distracting over time. An enjoyable read, especially for visitors to Singapore.

#330 of 365 The Betel Nut Tree Mystery by Olivida Yu  

Genre: Mystery/Historical Fiction

Date Read: December 13-14, 2018

Acquired: Purchased from W.H. Smith, Changi Airport, Singapore

Format: Paperback, 312 pages

Review: An entertaining murder mystery set in 1930s Singapore. I found the mystery itself a little bit hard to follow and had to reread the conclusion a second time but I greatly enjoyed the historical setting and the narrator’s dry humour. The novel incorporates the events and popular culture of the time from a Singaporean perspective including the abdication of King Edward VIII to marry Wallis Simpson, the Japanese invasion of China and the growing threat of war in Europe. Yu includes Singapore’s cultural diversity including different approaches to the English language, details which play a key role in solving the mystery. I look forward reading other novels in the series.

My New Year’s Resolution for 2018 is to read a book (or listen to an unabridged audiobook) every day: 365 books by December 31. I will post my reviews here each week and provide regular updates on Twitter and Goodreads. Recommendations are always welcome!

Week 46: Biography and Memoir: I have returned from lecturing on a cruise ship and I am catching up on my book reviews here! In addition to reading historical novels and histories of Southeast Asia in November, I read a variety of different biographies and memoirs. While a couple of these books are biographies of historical figures, the others are modern memoirs that examine a variety of themes including family history, First Nations experiences, growing up in apartheid South Africa, dealing with stress, and the division of household labour. Here are this week’s reviews:

#317 of 365 The Viceroy’s Daughters: The Lives of the Curzon Sisters by Anne de Courcy

Genre: History/Biography

Date Read: November 8, 2018

Acquired: Borrowed from Robarts Library, University of Toronto

Format: Hardcover, 431 pages

Review: A joint biography of Irene, Cynthia and Alexandra Curzon, the three daughters of George Curzon, Viceroy of India, and an American heiress, Mary Leiter. de Courcy provides a vivid portrait of British upper class society in the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s, describing lavish dinner parties and debutante balls. The most interesting sections of the book are the accounts of King Edward VIII’s abdication in 1936 and marriage to Wallis Simpson in 1937 from the perspective of his social circle. Alexandra “Baba” Curzon was married to Edward’s best friend (and best man) Fruity Metcalfe and her diary provides a first hand account of the unconventional royal wedding.

There are other sections of the book, however, that become mired in the numerous scandals involving the Curzon sisters and their friends and with less attention devoted to the broader historical context. Irene was one of the first female Life Peers in the House of Lords, Cynthia was a Member of Parliament and Alexandra provided financial assistance to the Dalai Lama after his flight from China, and received the Commander of the Order of the British Empire for her philanthropy. I would have been interested to read more about these political and charitable endeavours. Irene’s and Alexandra’s lives after the Second World War are summarized in a few pages at the end of the book, even though Alexandra died in 1995 at the age of 91. An engaging read but I prefer some of Anne de Courcy’s other books including 1939: The Last Season and Debs at War.

#318 of 365 Heart Berries: A Memoir by Terese Marie Mailhot 

Date Read: November 9, 2018

Genre: Memoir

Acquired: Purchased from Indigo Books, Toronto

Format: Hardcover, 160 pages

Review: My book club’s choice for November. An exquisitely written memoir. The author has experienced a great deal of personal suffering but there are moments of hope and humour that shine through her pain. Mailhot engages with the concepts of forgiveness and memory and how these ideas are shaped by culture. The influences of her own mother and grandmother and the experience of growing up on the Seabird Island Reservation in British Columbia infuse the narrative. The book includes an introduction by Sherman Alexie that describes the author as “the metaphorical love child of Emily Dickinson and Crazy Horse.” There is also an interview with the author that describes the process of writing the book from her original intent to write fiction to the uncovering of her life story. An original and absorbing read.

#319 of 365 It’s All Relative: Adventures Up and Down the World’s Family Tree by A.J. Jacobs

Dates Read: November 16-17, 2018

Genre: Memoir/Comedy

Acquired: Found at Home

Format: Hardcover, 336 pages

Review: An entertaining book about researching family history, the prospect of a global family tree and the author’s efforts to organize the world’s biggest family reunion. It’s All Relative is filled with entertaining anecdotes about the author’s own family tree, including a touching story about his grandparents’ courtship that Jacobs uncovers in his grandfather’s FBI file. He discovers famous people who are his 7th or 9th cousins and interviews them about their own views on family history research. (The scientist Neil deGrasse Tyson is actively disinterested in geneology while the actress Mila Kunis sends Jacobs a DNA profile that is so complete that he learns her earwax consistency). The family history project does not seem to have been quite as all consuming as his previous books, which involved reading the entire Encyclopedia Britannica, following the Bible literally or transforming his diet and exercise regime but it’s still a very enjoyable read.

#320 of 365 Frederik III: The King Who Seized Absolute Power by Jens Gunni Busck

Date Read: November 19, 2018

Genre: History

Acquired: Purchased from Amazon.com

Format: Hardcover, 60 pages

Review: An illustrated short biography of a little known monarch who had a profound effect on the government of Denmark for nearly two hundred years after this reign. Prior to the reign of Frederik III, a Council of the Realm imposed limits on the King of Denmark’s power, which the monarch was obliged to respect in order to ensure that his son would be accepted as the next King. After the Council was blamed for the mismanagement of a disasterous war with Sweden, Frederik III seized absolute power in 1660 and his Royal Laws remained in force until the introduction of a constitutional monarchy in 1848. While the politics of his reign are explained in detail, there is not as much space devoted to his personal life, aside from image captions that hint that his marriage was difficult one. A good short overview of Frederik’s reign but the book does not provide details concerning all aspects of his life.

#321 of 365 Fed Up: Emotional Labor, Women, and the Way Forward by Gemma Hartley

Genre: Memoir/Cultural Studies

Date Read: November 20-21, 2018

Acquired: Purchased from Indigo Books, Toronto

Format: Paperback, 264 pages

Review:Fed Up is both a memoir of the author’s marriage and a wider cultural analysis of how society views emotional labour. Hartley writes with warmth and optimism about the frustrations caused by the activities that appear invisible but make individual homes and communities run smoothly such as planning meals, remembering birthday parties and organizing Christmas cards. In her own home, changing employment circumstances and better communication result in a more equitable division of household labour, giving Hartley the space required to complete her book manuscript. While much of the book is focused on the domestic sphere, there are also chapters that analyze perceptions of emotional labour in politics and the workplace. Hartley concludes that a more equitable division of emotional labour, in addition to setting boundaries around these activites and letting go of perfectionism, would benefit both men and women. An interesting and insightful read.

#322 of 365 Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah

Genre: Memoir

Dates Listened: November 21-22, 2018

Acquired: Purchased from Audible.com

Format: Audiobook, 8 hours and 44 minutes

Review: The best audiobook that I have listened to this year, brilliantly narrated by the author who is able to imitate a multiplicity of voices from all backgrounds. Noah is an excellent writer with an eye for memorable details and distinctive personalities. He provides a unique perspective on apartheid in South Africa as the child of a European father and an African mother whose relationship was illegal at the time of his birth. As he explains, he was literally “Born a Crime.” Noah writes about his religious, strict and resourceful mother with admiration and explains the complexity of the society where he grew up with a great deal of insight. Highly recommended.

#323 of 365 10% Happier: How I Tamed the Voice in My Head, Reduced Stress Without Losing My Edge, and Found a Self-Help That Actually Works by Dan Harris

Genre: Memoir

Date Listened: November 23, 2018

Acquired: Purchased from Audible.com

Format: Audiobook, 7 hours and 50 minutes

Review:10% Happier appears to be a self help book but it is actually an interesting memoir about a news anchor who finds a lasting solution to his depression and panic attacks through mindfulness meditation. His reflections on his journalism career were interesting and insightful. He discusses the impact of war on the mental heath of war correspondents and the manner in which reporters competing for scarce air time view current events through the lens of their own careers. Harris discovers meditation through his press coverage of religion and spirituality and goes from skepticism about this practice to attending week long silent retreats. The audiobook is well read by the author.

My New Year’s Resolution for 2018 is to read a book (or listen to an unabridged audiobook) every day: 365 books by December 31. I will post my reviews here each week and provide regular updates on Twitter and Goodreads. Recommendations are always welcome!

Week 45: The History, Politics and Culture of Southeast Asia: Next week, I will be giving a lecture series on a cruise ship sailing to Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. In recent weeks, I have been researching the history of Southeast Asia, reading a general history of the region, two histories of Singapore, two histories of Vietnam, two histories of monarchy in Thailand and the surrounding nations, and a novel set in colonial Malaysia that includes a historical afterword about the history of the Straits Settlements. Here are this week’s reviews:

#309 of 365 A New History of Southeast Asia by M.C. Ricklefs, Bruce Lockhart, Albert Lau, Portia Reyes and Maitrii Aung-Thwin.

Genre: History

Format: Paperback, 572 pages

Acquired: Borrowed from Robarts Library, University of Toronto

Date Read: October 31, 2018

Review: A strong overview of the political and religious history of the region. There is less space devoted to society and culture as well as the status of women. The early chapters are little hard to follow but the modern history is well organized and described for those who are new to the history of southeast Asia. There are certain key developments that seem to be summarized very quickly, especially the Vietnam War. The further reading section is exceptionally detailed and useful as it is organized by time period, country and theme. A good introduction to Southeast Asian history.

#310 of 365 Singapore A Pictorial History 1819-2000 by Gretchen Liu

Date Read: November 8, 2018

Genre: History/Photography

Acquired: Borrowed from Robarts Library, University of Toronto

Format: Hardcover, 400 pages

Review: An informative and beautifully illustrated history of Singapore that reflects the country’s cultural diversity from the 19th century to the present day. Liu does not only provide a political and social history of Singapore through visual culture but also the history of art and photography in the region. The author discusses the origins of the images in the book as well as the events depicted in them. There are some interesting photographs of royal tours including the welcome of the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and York (the future King George V and Queen Mary) in 1901, a garden party in honour of the Duke of Connaught in 1906, the future King Edward VIII at the Malaya Borneo exhibition in 1922, and Queen Elizabeth II at a military review in 1972. The book concludes with panoramic landscapes of modern Singapore. A fascinating volume, especially for travelers to the region.

#311 of 365 Monarchy in South East Asia: The Faces of Tradition in Transition (Politics in Asia series) by Roger Kershaw

Genre: Political Science

Date Read: November 9, 2018

Acquired: Borrowed from Robarts Library, University of Toronto

Format: Paperback, 268 pages

Review: An analysis of monarchical governments in southeast Asia from the Second World War to the end of the 20th century with an introductory chapter summarizing the influence of key events from the mid 19th century. The book is a comprehensive study of monarchy in the region, encompassing Laos, Brunei, Thailand, Malaysia and Cambodia, and includes rulers and dynasties who are comparatively little known. Since the book was published in 2001, the discussion of current events is a little dated and some of the predictions did not unfold quite as described by the author but the historical context, theoretical framework, and further reading list is detailed and informative.

The book includes a timeline of events and would have been enhanced by the inclusion of maps and geneological charts. Since the focus is on the influence of monarchical government on political structures rather than the wider history of region, Monarchy in South East Asia is best read after finishing a general history of the region as the author assumes a certain degree of general knowledge of historical and political events. A detailed and informative book relevant to both scholars and general readers interested in royalty and Southeast Asia.

#312 of 365 Vietnam: A New History by Christopher Goscha

Genre: History

Dates Read: November 11-16, 2018

Acquired: Purchased from Audible.com

Format: 23 hours and 42 minutes

Review: An excellent book that provides an overview of the political, social and cultural history of Vietnam with an emphasis on the 19th and 20th centuries. Vietnam: A New History is thoroughly researched and scholarly but written a style accessible to readers new to the history of southeast Asia. While most English language histories of Vietnam focus almost exclusively on the Vietnam War, Goscha provides an extensive analysis of Chinese and French influences on Vietnamese culture in addition to the impact of the United States in the region. Goscha also addresses the cultural diversity of the region and Vietnam’s relationship with other countries in Southeast Asia. An informative and interesting read.

#313 of 365 The End of the Absolute Monarchy in Siam by Benjamin A. Batson

Date Read: November 17, 2018

Genre: History

Acquired: Borrowed from Robarts Library, University of Toronto

Format: Paperback, 349 pages

Review: A fascinating in-depth study of the reign of King Prajadhipok (reigned 1925-1935), the last absolute monarch of Siam (Thailand) that draws upon a wide variety of sources including memoranda drafted by the King (which are included as an appendix in the book) and the popular press of the time. Batson explains the King’s routine and responsibilities during the final years of the absolute monarchy, which included reviewing personally all the petitions that he received as well as participating in court ceremonies and undertaking foreign tours. The King visited Canada and the United States in 1931 to seek treatment for an eye condition and described his stay in Banff as “a real holiday for me.” Batson does an excellent job of explaining the court politics of the time and the roles of the various princes within the wider royal family and the government. An interesting and informative book.

#314 of 365 Singapore: A Biography: by Mark Ravinder Frost and Yu-Mei Balasingamchow

Date Read: November 19, 2018

Genre: History

Acquired: Borrowed from Robarts Library, University of Toronto

Format: Hardcover, 456 pages

Review: A history of Singapore from the 1300s to 1965, incorporating images from the History Galleries of the National Museum. The book discusses the history of the island  including the mysterious fire that destroyed the settlement that predated the British colony, the goals of Sir Stamford Raffles and William Farquar in creating a British outpost there, the cultural and social history of the island, trade and commerce in the region, and the effects of the Japanese occupation during the Second World War. The illustrations include the London Illustrated News coverage of the royal visit to Singapore by the future King George V and Queen Mary in 1901. A fascinating and engaging book that presents Singapore’s rich history from a variety of perspectives.

#315 of 365 A History of the Vietnamese by K.W. Taylor

Genre: History

Dates Read: November 20-21, 2018

Acquired: Borrowed from Robarts Library, University of Toronto

Format: Paperback, 626 pages

Review: A monumental history of the lands and peoples that comprise present day Vietnam with the majority of the book devoted to the centuries before European contact and conquest. Taylor focuses on the steady influence of China over Vietnamese politics and culture over the centuries with comparatively brief periods of French, Japanese and American involvement in the region in the 19th and 20th centuries. There is a strong emphasis on royal court politics and dynasties including the policies and personalities of successive rulers. Women played a prominent role at court and often helped to determine which one of the numerous princes within the extended royal family would become the next ruler. The Vietnam War is summarized relatively quickly in the second last chapter but the events of this conflict have received extensive attention in other works of Vietnamese history. A detailed and comprehensive history from the earliest surviving sources to the present.

#316 of 365 The Ghost Bride by Yangsze Choo

Genre: Historical Fiction/Supernatural

Dates Listened: November 18-21, 2018

Acquired: Purchased from Audible.com

Format: Audiobook, 12 hours and 8 minutes

Review: “Desires and feuds lingered even after death.” A unique novel that is both historical fiction set in the Chinese community of 1890s colonial Malaysia and a ghost story where the heroine visits the plains of the dead and discovers family secrets. In the novel, the living and the dead are connected through numerous channels as the dead draw upon offerings left by their living family members and recreate the same social hierarchy that they experienced while they were alive. The writing has a dreamlike quality as the ghosts move differently than the living (they have difficulty moving in straight lines) and travel at different rates through the various stages of the afterlife. I expected the book to spend a bit more time in land of the living and would have been interested to read more scenes set in colonial Malacca. An interesting read that includes a detailed historical afterward that discusses the Chinese communities in the Straits Settlements and the ideas of the afterlife that existed in that place and time.