These are the top ten books I'm glad I listened to! I'm sure they would have nice to read too, but the narrators all these all added a little something to them. 

Check out the rest of the Broke and Bookish's TTT Audio Freebie!

It's not very often that a work of fiction gets to me as much as this one did. It was beautiful and haunting and familiar and foreign all at the same time.

The book is written as a sort of memoir. The protagonist reminds the reader several times that it is both fiction and memoir. She goes travels between the present and the past and doesn't always let us know and that can be confusing at times. It lends to the feeling that the protagonist is haunted by her past, that she can so easily drift into memories and stop seeing the world as it is around her in that moment. I loved that it gave a bigger picture of the protagonist as a person, that these events of her past still had a hold of her, but that she was working to let them go.

There is something very powerful about taking deliberate time to work through what haunts us, to let go of the shame we feel in our past, to stop letting it hurt us.

I'll be honest, I listened to the audiobook, which was 13 hours long and read by Emily Woo Zeller. Zeller is amazing, giving the book a full performance, complete with the reverie that really let me know when she was drifting between times. Fortunately, having listened instead of read the book, I could hear the pronunciations of the beautiful names that I would have otherwise just butchered.

As far as the feminist side of things go, this is definitely one of those books that I picked it solely because of Women In Translation month and would not have found any other way. It's proof that setting out to find diverse books to read on purpose allows me to find books that would not have otherwise been in my path and to appreciate stories that I would not otherwise have the opportunity to hear/read. It lets me step into places and history that I was never aware of, such as a sweatshop in Korea during the last century. In that same vein, it's great to read the stories of ordinary women. I know we get caught up in the women breaking barriers and starting revolutions, but we need to remember the ordinary women too. We need to remember the ones who join unions and those who don't, the ones who can only go to school because of work programs, the ones who finish and those who don't, the ones who find their dreams and those who don't.

While the content keeps this from being the kind of story that I could recommend to anyone, this is the kind of book I wish they would include in curriculum for world or Eastern literature. To use her own words to explain the importance of this:

History is in charge of putting things in order and society is in charge of defining them. The more order we achieve, the more truth is hidden behind that neat surface... Perhaps literature is about throwing into disarray what has been defined... About making a mess of things, all over again.

If diversity or feminism or women's lives are among the things you like to read about, this is definitely a book for you. Also, check out the rest of Shin's books here.

Emma Lee Parkinson’s life appears to be perfect. She’s young and beautiful and lives in an elegant high-rise condominium with her rich, handsome husband. Her closet is full of designer clothes, shoes, and purses. Dining at elegant restaurants, attending cocktail parties or upscale gala events are typical nights out on the town for her. Luxurious vacations are taken at least twice a year. This life of leisure allows Emma to pursue personal interests as well. She loves shopping for antiques, strolling through art galleries, museums, and furthering her own artistic skills with painting classes. Who could ask for more? But appearances can be deceiving. Emma hates her life. With a passion. Intimidated by a deep, dark secret, she lives in a constant state of dread. Battered, abused, and even threatened with death, she’s often on the edge of panic. Paralyzed by fear, she’s certain there’s no way out. Until the day she attempts to hang her latest find – a painting so enchanting that she buys it on a whim. Little does she know… this painting will change her life forever.

Hugo, Nebula, Sturgeon nominated 1997 time-travel novella

I like musicals. I like lists. I combined the two and wrote something to post on Buzzfeed Community. You should read it. It contains vampires, a giant lemon and the Turin Shroud. 

Enjoy!