#TaiwaneseLiterature

I forgot to update it here, but the Taiwanese novel I’m reading at the moment is 殺人是件嚴肅的事 by 馬卡. I read a collection of short stories by this author last year, and I really loved it, so I did not hesitate to buy this novel when I saw that it was included in the Readmoo challenge.

I love this one too, but the topics are very dark and the story is a bit depressing. Not really what I was looking for, but it’s a good police procedural.

I’m hoping to finish it this week!
#TaiwaneseLiterature #ReadingUpdate

Finished 異人山：不歸之人 by 高雲章 (Kao Yunchang), it was so so good! The book is actually composed of a short story and a novel, both featuring the same protagonists. The novel is set in a remote village that was first founded by Japanese engineers and is now home to people who all have their reasons to settle in such an isolated place.

I loved how we learn about the life of the community there, and the past of some characters. But the novel is also an excellent mystery, so many things and dark secrets are revealed at the end !
#FinishedReading #TaiwaneseLiterature

I’m reading 異人山 (不歸之人) by 高雲章, and it’s so great so far (I’m at 25%)
The setting is a remote mountain village, and the plot is very intriguing. I also love our two protagonists!

This book is part of the 2026 Readmoo reading challenge, and I just saw that if you’re reading a book from the challenge, it appears on your homepage. (To be honest, I rarely go on this page, but it’s a nice feature!)
#TaiwaneseLiterature #ReadingChallenge #Readmoo

I finished 403小組，警隊出動！by 顏瑜 (Yen Yu). I loved this book so much, the plot and characters are great, and the novel gives really good insights into daily police work while exposing a lot of issues inherent to the system.

Yen Yu’s other police novels are all on my list

#FinishedReading #TaiwaneseLiterature

I decided to not continue the 暗黑者 trilogy just yet, and instead read another novel by 顏瑜, one of my favourite authors of 2025.

I plan on reading all of 顏瑜’s works or at least the police series. I found a recommended order to read them, and 403小組，警隊出動！ came first, so that’s the one I bought!

#TaiwaneseLiterature

Books finished recently

- 爆弾 by 呉勝浩 (Go Katsuhiro, jp) , a police procedural where police officers have limited time to locate bombs planted in Tokyo. There are fascinating duels in the interrogation room, and I liked that the psychology and personality of each of the officers involved in solving the case are described in detail and influence the investigation. I haven’t watched the movie, but it looks great from the trailer I’ve seen.

- 上流兒童 by 吳曉樂 (Wu Xiaole, tw) describes the milieu of privileged mothers who use their child to score good marks for themselves in the endless competition with other mothers, and the pressure and burden felt by our protagonist who tries to fit in. It was both fascinating and scary to see how the people you spend time with can influence and change you, and how easy it is to embrace the values of your circle, even if they’re not yours to begin with.

The English translation, The Privileged by Michael Berry, will release on December 16, I highly recommend it!

#TaiwaneseLiterature #JapaneseLiterature

My husband was in Taiwan for a conference, and these are the books he brought back!
I found these titles on a website promoting Taiwanese literature for translation (Thanks @sachirin for sending me the link, it has been very useful!). I know at least one of them is translated into English (The Privileged by Wu Xiaole, translated by Michael Berry), but I’m not sure about the others.

I already started 訪客 by 托比寶 (TobyBao), and I devoured the first two chapters. I’m not even a big fan of SF in general, but this book is so suspenseful!
#TaiwaneseLiterature #Taiwan #BookHaul

New book
The five short stories/novellas that won the 23th Mystery Writers of Taiwan Award.

(They can be purchased separately as e-book, but I bought the whole collection).
#TaiwaneseLiterature #MWTAward

I finished 筷：怪談競演奇物語, and it was a real gem! It’s a collection of short stories by five different authors.

Shinzo Mitsuda (三津田信三) for Japan, Xerses (薛西斯) for Taiwan and JeTauZi (夜透紫) for Hong Kong each create a different urban legend related to chopsticks, from rituals that grant a wish to rituals that put a curse on someone, they are all different and inspired by the local culture.

Then Xiao Xiang Shen ( 瀟湘神) (Tw) writes a story that links the first and the second stories together, and Chan Ho Kei (陳浩基) (HK) writes the final story that links the third and fourth stories together, making the collection a very cohesive whole. Even though each story is independent, the last two ones show that everything was linked! It’s really mind-blowing, I’ve never read anything like this before.

As for the short stories themselves, I liked them more or less (favourite ones are the ones by JeTauZi and Xiao Xiang Shen), but the collection as a whole is really exceptional.

#HongKongLiterature #TaiwaneseLiterature #JapaneseLiterature

I finished 鱷魚之夢 by Taiwanese author 瀟湘神 (Xiao Xiang Shen), it’s the fourth short story in the collection 筷：怪談競演奇物語 which features authors from Japan, Hong Kong and Taiwan, all creating urban legends connected to chopsticks.

Not only was this short story extremely suspenseful, but it also refers to and takes elements from previous short stories in the collection. I was not expecting that! Not just hints or cameos, but important and plot-relevant elements and characters! It gives a completely different perspective to the collection! 🤯 Even though each story is independent, they now belong to the same world… it’s absolutely brilliant!

The last short story is written by 陳浩基 (Chan Ho Kei), so we’re back in Hong Kong for the final one. I wonder if it will be the same and incorporate the previous stories into the plot…

#TaiwaneseLiterature