Bite Sized Book Blogs

  Summary What conversations do you have when you feel like there’s nothing to say? An emotionally turbulent story that follows the lives of black daycare provider Benson and Mexican-Japanese chef Mike uses this question as a recurring motif of how it feels to be unwilling to discuss the blurred status of a strained relationship.  Amid the most frustrating period of the relationship, Mike suddenly leaves his home in Houston to travel to Eiju, Japan to care for his terminally sick father. Simultaneously, Mike’s secluded and reserved mother, Mitsuko, moves into the couple’s household, which is situated in a predominantly black neighborhood. While both men are thousands of miles apart from one another, communication grows thin and secrets come out.  In his 2020 raw and heartfelt novel, Bryan Washington details the struggles of a troubled couple by using awkwardness, silence, and unanswered questions to bring out the true characters of Benson, Mike, and Mitsuko — all with the...

Book Review: Beach Read by Emily Henry *MINOR SPOILERS* In this review, I will be talking about Beach Read by Emily Henry. Beach Read is about two authors who have extreme writer's block. Augustus Everett is an acclaimed author of literary fiction who does not believe in happy endings; January Andrews writes best-selling romance, which almost always ends in happily ever after. The only thing they have in common is their neighboring beach houses. Until one night, they come up with a deal designed to cure their massive writer’s block. Augustus Everett will write romance, and January Andrews will write literary fiction. It's only a book deal, no one is going to fall in love right?   First off, I am going to rate this book on its beach readiness (literally in the name). I feel this title is a bit misleading because it does not take place on a beach, more like a lake, and it takes place in literal Michigan. When I hear the word beach read, I think about sunshine state Florida or gol...

 So often in manga female characters are used to further the development of the male protagonist. It is usually the main female character who encourages the protagonist to open up about his emotions or complete his mission. The death of a sister, mother, or girlfriend is used as a mechanism to further drive the plot. One manga I have found to be the exception of this is Attack on Titan (AOT for short) written by Hajime Isayama . In AOT there are many examples of well rounded female characters who have their own personality and arcs apart from the male characters. For this blog post, I will focus on the main female character Mikasa Ackerman.  Aot manga spoilers ahead... Some background: Mikasa lived in the countryside with her parents until the age of nine when they were killed in an attempted kidnapping. Eren, visiting the family with his father, killed two of the kidnappers and encouraged Mikasa to kill the last one when he was unable to. After this event, Mikasa is taken in ...