For the holiday season this year, here are some books that the Kundiman staff recommend.
(From Left to Right) The covers for Vauhini Vara’s book The Immortal King Rao, Jessica Au’s book Cold Enough for Snow, Ocean Vuong’s book Time Is a Mother, Belinda Huijuan Tang’s book A Map for the Missing, and Tracey Lien’s All That's Left Unsaid.
Shan Rao recommends The Immortal King Rao by Vauhini Vara
To read a book set in the future where the world is set up so effortlessly feels like such a gift! I couldn't stop thinking about it for weeks after reading. Vauhini's debut story collection, This Is Salvaged, just came out this September as well!
Gina Chung recommends Cold Enough for Snow by Jessica Au
Tender and suffused with a gentle melancholy, Cold Enough for Snow is one of the most memorable and affecting novels I've read this year. On its surface, the story is deceptively simple, about a young woman traveling through Japan with her elderly mother, and the sights and scenes they encounter along the way, but this slim novel is powerful, exploring themes as varied as modern art, diaspora, immigration, the things left unsaid in parent-child relationships, and the eternal unknowability of the other. A perfect read for those traveling for the holidays, battling winter ennui, or seeking meaning in the random and seemingly unconnected details of life.
Amara Overmyer recommends Time Is a Mother by Ocean Vuong
I’ve recently begun reading Ocean Vuong’s Time is a Mother. Vuong has always grappled with the passage of time, and the way that, in young adulthood, it both cradles us and leaves us forever wishing for more. When the weather gets cooler and the skies cloud, there is a bittersweet feeling of lost warmth, but reading this book is helping me to cope with the deadlines, nostalgia, and existential terror that comes with each new year.
Saifa Khan recommends A Map for the Missing by Belinda Huijuan Tang
This novel is an intense story of dysfunctional family dynamics, duty, betrayal, and forgiveness. Well-written in such a way that you're invested in each and every character!
Shirley Cai recommends All That's Left Unsaid by Tracey Lien
The story is about a Vietnamese Australian family grappling with the loss of their youngest son, Denny. The novel is arresting and incredibly human. It was also transformative to see a story set in Cabramatta — an area that I grew up in, that's not often rendered in literature — and to see it written with so much care.