Hello fellow bookworms,
It has been a long time since I last posted. As usual, it’s that old enemy to blame – a lack of time. I’ve been extremely busy with my day job, work on books for the new publishing venture Plum Rain Press, a Taiwan history podcast called Formosa Files, and also a new book podcast called Bookish Asia with Plum Rain Press. I’ll still be posting the occasional book review here and author interviews, but I will be focusing more on the audio side of things.
The Bookish Asia podcast looks at both new releases and old classics. It is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and other platforms. So far there are 12 episodes up – the first one was with veteran Hong Kong-based author Mark O’Neill, who described what Taiwan was like in the early 1980s. Despite a mysterious knife attack and various authoritarian elements (such as “mail boxes” for reporting spies and subversives), he loved the country.
The most recent Bookish Asia episode features snow-loving Englishman Sam Baldwin chatting about his life-changing two years as an English teacher on the JET Programme in the Japanese town of Ono, Fukui Prefecture.
For Fukui’s Sake: Two years in rural Japan by Sam Baldwin (2011, Baka Books)
Upcoming Bookish Asia interviews include:
Mark Kitto and his novel, China Running Dog, published by Plum Rain Press and now available for purchase from our website (and some other outlets). Plum Rain Press is a new Taiwan-based publishing house and the work of Eryk Michael Smith, Eric Hsu, as well as me.
China Running Dog is set in Shanghai in the year 2000. It’s a magnificent read, both funny and gripping. My fingers are crossed in the hope that this will become the breakout hit it deserves to be. In fact, today is launch day for Mark’s superb book so we’re feeling nervous. Any help you can give, whether it’s sharing a post about the book, buying it, mentioning it or Plum Rain Press to friends, well, it’s all highly appreciated.
Regards,
John
