Happy Wednesday, everyone! Wednesdays also mean WWW Wednesday updates. WWW Wednesday is a bookish meme hosted originally by SAM@TAKING ON A WORLD OF WORDS. 

The mechanics for WWW Wednesday are quite simple: you just have to answer three questions:

  1. What are you currently reading?
  2. What have you finished reading?
  3. What will you read next?
www-wednesdays
What are you currently reading?

It is already the middle of the week. How has your week been? I hope it’s going well and going in your desired direction. Woah. Time flies! We are already midway through the fifth month of the year. How has the week and the year been so far? I hope that it is going well for everyone. I hope it is going your way, and that you are being showered with blessings and good news. I hope the rest of the year will be prosperous, brimming with wealth, but more importantly, good health. I also hope everyone is making progress on their goals and is on the way to achieving them. I am now on the way to completing 100 books for the fourth year in a row; reading 100 books in a year used to be a dream but it has become a reality and to think that I am about to make it four years in a row is simply surreal. As my 2025 reading journey is in full swing, I find myself in a very familiar but rarely explored literary territory: Asian literature.

While I commenced by reading year with works of East Asian writers, it has not precluded me from immersing myself in more works from the region. This takes me to a name unfamiliar to me. Interestingly, I featured Eileen Chang’s Half of a Lifelong Romance in one Goodreads Monday update. Recently, I was able to obtain a copy of the book and, without ado, I made it part of my ongoing foray into Asian literature; this year is my most Chinese reading year. Originally serialized in a Shanghai newspaper Yi Bao (亦報) in 1948, under the title Eighteen Springs (十八春), it was collectively published as a single volume in 1950. When the novel commenced, we meet Shijun who was reflecting on his past. The story then flashes back to introduce a trio of friends: Shijun, Manzhen, and Shuhui. The three friends were all working in Shanghai. Amid their busy schedule, they managed to catch up during lunch time at a local café. One day, Shuhui introduced her officemate Manzhen to Shijun. What ensued is a love story that is threatened by their dysfunctional families and their duties to them. Details of Chinese history and culture prop the story, making it an immersive and engaging one. I can’t wait to see how the love story pans out.  

What have you finished reading?

I have been picking up pace in the past few weeks. This allowed me to explore Asian literature further. In the past week, I was able to complete two books. While this is a book lower than my usual number, it still meets my weekly reading average of two books. The first of the two books I read in the past week was Samantha Sotto Yambao’s Water Moon. Initially, I had no intentions of reading the book but I kept on encountering it whenever I drop by the local bookstore. I noted how the book has been gathering some interest. I eventually relented and obtained a copy of the book, making it the third book written by a Filipino writer I read this year; yes, I have to explore Philippine literature more and reading the book is a step toward this direction.

Water Moon is the first book by Yambao I read and is also the first new book I read this year. I was surprised when I learned the book was set in Japan rather than in the Philippines. Nevertheless, I pushed through with reading the book. Toshio Ishikawa runs a pawnshop that appears like a ramen restaurant to customers; this is an initial hint of the magic that permeates the story. His twenty-one-year-old daughter Hana observes him as he caters to various customers. One morning, Hana woke up her father gone missing. The shop was also in disarray, ransacked. The worst part is that one of the precious, glowing birds kept in the vault went missing; one can surmise that Hana and her father are not human beings. In their world, Hana and Toshio must keep the birds safe lest they risk their life. Those who failed to keep the birds safe will be apprehended by the Shiikuin, rotting soulless creatures who administer justice in Hana’s world; they remind me of the dementors. Sure enough, the shiikuin made their presence be felt, prompting Hana to go on a quest to locate her father. Meanwhile, Keishin, a prospective customer and a scientist, enters the pawnshop and offers to help Hana. Despite her apprehensions, Hana tells Keishin what happened. Together, they set out on a quest to find Toshio. I find the book fascinating. The writing is light and lyrical although I am not a fan of the novel’s romantic overtones. While it is not forced, it is quite predictable. The worldbuilding, however, was resplendent, making it a worthy read.

From the Philippines, my next read took me to China. It has been a while since I read a work by Chinese American writer Ha Jin who I first encountered through must-read lists. His novel, Waiting, was ubiquitous. It would also be his first work I read. This was nearly a decade ago. This reading experience prompted me to obtain a copy of War Trash during the Big Bad Wolf Sale back in 2018. Yes, 2018. It has nearly been a decade since I obtained a copy of the book. This is the reason why I included it to my 2025 Beat the Backlist Challenge. It was supposed to be part of my East Asian literature reading adventure but I nearly forgot about it, hence, this belated read. But then again, it is a work of Asian literature.

Originally published in 2004, War Trash charted the fortune of Yu Yuan. During the prologue, we learn that he has settled in the United States and has a family of his own. However, the past lingers. Serving as a reminder of the past is a tattoo which says “FUCK …U…S…” As one can surmise, the answer to the tattoo’s presence lies in the past. As a teenager, Yuan trained as a cadet at the Huangpu Military Academy before the Communists seized control of China. When the communists took over, the Academy’s loyalty also shifted to the Communists. Yuan then trained to be part of the People’s Revolutionary Army where he served as a low-ranking official. When China supported North Korea during the Korean War, Yuan was sent as part of the 180th Division. Because of his educational background, Yuan can understand English albeit to a limited extent. As such, he was used as a translator at the camp. Yuan’s stay at the camp and the battlefield was the backbone of the story. It opens the reader’s eyes to the realities of war where low-ranking soldiers are but pawns. Prisoners of Wars are treated even worse. They are treated like animals by their captors. But the story is more than just about the horrors of war. In the terrifying environment Yuan found himself in, he learned to adapt. It is the only way he can survive the tumult. War Trash then is a story about the human spirit.

What will you read next?