Happy Valentine’s Day to all! To celebrate this day filled with roses, chocolates, and overpriced dining out, let me share a bit of poetic history with you. You can choose to receive this “gift” of mine via my Substack or my Medium. 💘
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Roundup of 2023’s Best Books by Korean Americans
Turns out there were a whole bunch of novels and short story collections by Korean American authors last year, quite likely the most ever — and I was one of them! Super cool news — read all about it.
Best Songs of 2023
Here’s a list of my top songs for this year, in an order that might be surprisingly mixable. These are not necessarily from 2023; I just happened to have heard them in the last twelve months.
- The Grants, by Lana Del Rey on Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd
- Right Hook, by Corvair on Bound to Be
- The Loneliest, by Måneskin on Rush!
- vampire, by Olivia Rodrigo on GUTS
- Million Dollar Baby, by Ava Max on Diamonds & Dancefloors
- Dream to Me, by Dario G on In Full Colour
- Devastatingly Mediocre, by Deanna Petcoff on To Hell with You, I Love You
- Truth About You (Live), by The Particles on 1980s Bubblegum
- While Without, by Annie Hart on The Weight of a Wave
- Give Me Your Love, by Girl Ray on Prestige
- Mine, by Kelly Clarkson on Chemistry
- Juliet, by Passion Polka on Musik Music Musique 3.0
- Finding Paradise, by Petite Noir on MotherFather
- Yesterday, When I Was Mad (Jam & Spoon Mix), by Pet Shop Boys on SMASH The Singles 1985-2020
- Blame Brett, by The Beaches on Blame My Ex
- Sour, by Echosmith on Echosmith
- Arm’s Length Away, by Tanlines on The Big Mess
- Nothing Left to Lose, by Everything but the Girl on Fuse
- Burn Away, by Patrick James on All About to Change
So many good songs here, but the one that most surprised me was Give Me Your Love by Girl Ray. It clocks in at almost eight minutes, and usually I find four-minute songs to test my patience. And yet this one is full of so many gentle twists of the melody and style that I felt like I could listen to another eight minutes. It’s also just very mellow. I’d never heard of this band before, and I can’t wait to see what they come up with next.
The poppiest song of the year has to go to Olivia Rodrigo’s vampire. It’s hard to believe she was able to top her debut album, but she did.
Shepherd: My 3 Favorite Reads in 2023
Is it too early to do a “best of 2023” list? I don’t think so, not when I’ve been seeing Christmas trees at Costco since September. Drum roll, please!
Sung J. Woo’s 3 favorite reads in 2023
And here’s what 883 authors and many readers considered their best of 2023.
Deep Roots review: “Modern complications in family succession”
Another review for Deep Roots, but this one has quite a few spoilers, so you might not want to read it until you’ve finished the book. 🙂 Thank you, Korean Quarterly, for covering my second Siobhan novel! I should also thank them for using a photo of mine that dates back a decade and change. Nary a single gray hair to be found back in those youthful days…
Deep Roots, Now in Audiobook!
Available starting today — via Audible, Spotify, and everywhere else as far as I can see. It’s already at my library via Hoopla Digital, even! Click on the video above to listen to the first chapter.
Skin Deep, Audiobook!
Skin Deep is now available in audiobook! Superbly narrated by Jennifer Sun Bell, I’m super thrilled that the book will now have a wider audience. Jennifer also narrated Deep Roots, which will be available in a couple of weeks.
So…the video cannot be embedded here, apparently (this is what I get for not using YouTube). But here’s the good old fashioned link to the first chapter:
Audible | Spotify | Google Play | B&N
You can also listen to it through your local library, via Hoopla! Many ways to get your Siobhan audio fix. 🙂
In Largehearted Boy: Sung J. Woo’s playlist for his novel “Deep Roots”
I’m not sure what I like more, having a book out or having the opportunity to create a playlist for it. Many thanks to Largehearted Boy, a.k.a. David Gutowski, for hosting my song list on his beautiful site!
Sung J. Woo’s playlist for his novel “Deep Roots”
Crime Fiction Lover’s Review of Deep Roots
I doubt I’ll receive another review as thorough and kind as this one. ❤️
Crime Fiction Lover’s Review of Deep Roots
Coffee with a Canine: Me and Koda
We’re almost at the end of book release week, and what better way to celebrate that than with Koda (BTW, a whippet does make an appearance in Deep Roots!)?
He’s our little whippet, and if you want to know more about him and me, Coffee with a Canine is the place. Thanks for reading, as always.