Crying in H Mart

First Edition Cover

When Emily and I visited the library, she told me the recent hot book is “crying in H Mart”. Coincidently, I saw this book on the Rapid Read display shelf. This is the reason why I picked this book for my reading. I finished reading this book in 2 weeks because it is in the “Rapid Read” display and needs to be returned within two weeks.

The author, Michelle Zauner, is an American Korean whose mother came from South Korea. Korean foods play the connection between the daughter and mother. It also represents the finding of her “identity” after the author’s mother passed away due to stomach cancer. There are many comments and sharing online, and anyone can easily find good introductions for this book.

H Mart is a Korean Asian supermarket in the US. If I were not here now, the feeling might not be so vivid to me. Furthermore, we are also new immigrants to the US, although all of my family are not the second generation yet.

The culture that we shared was active, effervescent in my gut and in my genes, and I had to seize it, foster it so it did not die in me…If I could not be with my mother, I would be her.

Near the end of the book, Zauner

Interestingly, Michelle Zauner is also the “Japanese Breakfast” singer which previously visited Taiwan. The cover of her debut album of “Psychopomp” is her mother’s photo. Her mother’s passing away is her mother’s end, but she also finds herself and the new in her writing and music performance. The intriguing relationships between the author and her mother seem one traditional type in Asian culture. Probably not every reader can appreciate and understand this kind of situation. Finally, this is still a good book to read for me!

Learning from History: Desert Diary

After moving to Boston, I began to enjoy the pleasure of reading again. It has been a long time not to read books in past of busy daily life. Two weeks ago, I borrowed this book from the library in town and really understood the injustice for Japanese Americans (Nikkei) in the 1940s.

The Book Cover: Japanese American Kids Behind Barbed Wire

I know the racial issues, such as stop Asian hate and Balck lives maters but never thought the similar events that happened during WW II. This is also my first to know “The Pledge of Allegiance”, which is also read in my daughter’s junior high.

The government did something wrong and finally apologized for the past. Although it takes some time (apology letter signed by George H. W. Bush, 1990), the wrongdoing is acknowledged and history is always remembered.

I really enjoy reading!

Related Links: Discover Nikkei