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sunni

@vanreads

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☼ books + photos
☼ coast salish territory (vancouver, bc)
☼ posting sporadically these days

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confession: i read zero books in the month of september though i did take a photo of all the arcs i still owe (think there are more e-arcs). i am trying!

something i’ve been thinking about this month is social media. i have been chronically online since dial up. i love it here. but sometimes i wonder when it becomes too much of a good thing. when i’m tired i could brain rot for hours here. now there’s more and more ai content. and for what cause? if not that, the content online is a lot of repeating trends to game the algorithm.

when i was in art school, it was hammered into our heads to have an internet presence. build your portfolio. now in tech, it’s still the same. build your portfolio. list out your achievements.

in some sense, internet presence makes you ‘real’. but at the same time, internet presence makes your identity easy to steal especially with ai.

now with less time on my hands and the ever increasing desire to be more present in my daily life, i do wonder what purpose i have on here.

to be honest, the thing keeping me around is my love of local bookstores, libraries, and canadian and asian indie publishers and authors, like the publishers i tagged in this post. i’m thankful for the community i’ve cultivated here. i don’t want to lose that.

at the same time my desire to be online is really waning. and i haven’t quite figured out what to do with that feeling.

have you felt burnt out on social media? i’d love to know how you’re handing all the changes. especially if social media is one of your creative outlets!

🖤 by @vanreads

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12 days ago

HELLO BABY by kim eui-kyung (tr. sora kim-russell) is a slim book that leaves the reader with a lot to think about.

when i started discussing the idea of having a kids with friends, i learned that many of them have had some form of fertility challenges over the years. it made me realize that getting pregnant could actually be quite challenging.

HELLO BABY tells the story of from multiple pov of women in a group chat who bond over their ivf journeys, each women with their own set of challenges, from health concerns and conditions, crappy men and in-laws, etc. while each story is pretty pared down, it highlights to the reader how invasive ivf is on a woman’s body, and leaves the reader mulling over how societal expectations of motherhood relies entirely on a woman’s body. meanwhile, everybody else (ahem men, work, other mothers, parents, in-laws) has unsolicited opinions on what a woman should be doing with her body if she is of childbearing age.

it’s so easy for naysayers to comment on a woman’s body when they don’t have to go through any of the physical and emotional pain of pregnancy or trying to get pregnant, assuming a woman even wants kids in the first place.

overall i am glad this book exists and how it sheds light on ivf and women’s bodies and health. i love that the story captures the women as different people who have come together in a support group. i also really love how this story’s focus has been on the women’s journey and not so much the baby itself. it feels like big FU to the idea that women’s bodies only succeed when they produce babies.

shoutout to my fellow rage readers @owlslittlelibrary (who rage baited us into reading this) and @jjoongie and @readwithneleh! 💢

i leave you with some of my favorite quotes from the book 💢💢 by @vanreads

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a month ago

august dump 🌻

i loveee summer especially august because it is sunflower season. this month had a lot of friend and family visits which was so nice. dad came to town and so did both sisters! lots of friend hangs and a wedding celebration!

outside of the social activities, i finally watched PURSUIT OF JADE. it was excellent and now i need something else to watch please send recs. i also discovered the readibu app so i get to read my danmei in chinese (with lots of pinyin help lol). this is amazing. goodbye all my english books 😆.

it also felt nice to be able to get back into supporting local through the vancouver public library rooftop remix (not pictured but you can see my previous post!) and review and rave about VERY VANCOUVER by christopher cheung (#partner @ecwpress) i even went to duffins after.

i’m still reading and also finished these books this month:

HELLO BABY by kim eui-kyung // this deserves its own review (but check out @jjoongie & @owlslittlelibrary in the meantime! my reading buddies with @readwithneleh!)

TO GOD by esther yi (#partner @astrahousebooks @netgalley) // a review to come but the quick review is that esther yi is always a good time especially if you liked Y/N

PREPARING FOR WAR by bradley onishi // i picked this up on a whim after seeing @jjoongie post about it. it’s worth a read if you’re interested as to why and how christian nationalism got its hold on america.

i’m not going to list all my current reads because i am pretty sure some of my libraries audiobooks lapsed and tbd if i will reborrow, but i am definitely going to finish reading THE WAX CHILD by olga ravn. i got this as an arc from @bookhugpress a while back, and i’m finally getting to it now thanks to @kobobooks plus (i can’t read physical these days). this book is such a vibe and gives me 18th century english lit vibes with its rhythmic prose. a full review to come when i finish.

that’s it for now, but i hope your summer was great! by @vanreads

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a month ago

bookish cuties take on the annual vpl rooftop remix! dare i call this ✨the✨ bookish event in the city where library patrons and readers come together on the beautiful vancouver public library’s rooftop to fundraise and celebrate what the library has to offer.

this event’s fundraising goals were for early learning spaces at VPL branches for young children ages 0-5, but you can support the vancouver public library in all aspects year round. from using the library’s services (this let’s the city know that there is a need for library funding) to providing financial support if you have the means to do so.

or as arthur says, “having fun isn't hard when you've got a library card."

and as always, thank you @thevplfoundation and @vancouverpubliclibrary for the beautiful evening! 🫶

#vancouver #vplrooftopremix #vancouverpubliclibrary #supportyourlibrary #bookishreels taken in Vancouver Public Library by @vanreads

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2 months ago

please clap, i have finished a physical book for the first time in months and i’m so glad the book was VERY VANCOUVER by christopher cheung (#partner @ecwpress).

when i moved to vancouver for university, it came with a lot of grief realizing i did not have the permanent residency to stay in america, the place i spent my whole life knowing.

that being said, vancouver has been the only home i’ve known in my adulthood despite me often feeling like a fake american cosplaying as a canadian.

in VERY VANCOUVER, i really like how each chapter of this book shares real stories with multicultural locals who are not usually given much thought by books and urban tours i previously sought out to learn about vancouver. cheung does an excellent job giving people space to tell their stories and writing their stories in a way that feels human, a fine balance that many authors struggle to accomplish when writing such stories.

when reflecting on VERY VANCOUVER i think a lot of my feelings of being an outsider have much to do with the fact that i am not white nor an older immigrant, which are the stories of vancouver i have read primarily about. cheung’s ability to find stories from a wide spectrum of people across vancouver has me thinking about all of the stories i’ve accumulated about the city and the wonderful people i’ve met along the way and thinking that maybe it’s okay to call vancouver home.

if you’re a local or someone interested in vancouver, i highly recommend picking this book up. i haven’t read anything quite like this in showcasing the city and the people in it. if you’ve been to vancouver or live here, what is your favorite story of the city? i’ll leave mine in the comments. taken in Vancouver, British Columbia by @vanreads

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2 months ago

july dump 💜

the best part of this month was friends visiting! i got to spend a whole weekend with @johannajournaled in vancouver which was so special! most of these pics are from our adventures, from getting coffee at @nemesis.coffee, visiting the @vancouverchinesegarden, getting @chinatownbbq, @tomsushi_davie, visiting @nooroongji.ca and more. basically a whole mini tour of vancouver together catching up and eating good food AND stationery shopping. now we’ve hung out in 3 different cities which is really really special. i love how bookstagram brought us into each others lives even though we live in totally different cities. 💜

not pictured is old friends visiting from out of town as well! i still have so many college friends i hold dear and it’s cool to see us grow together.

and as always is another call to support your local bookstores. i love discovering the unique books each local bookstore carries. this time i saw @nooroongji.ca share a book on china and ai (the first pic), and jennifer kindly held it for me until i was able to drop by and pick it up. i am so so excited and can’t wait to read this!

what i read:

ATLAS OF AI by kate crawford - this wasn’t quite what i was expecting with a lot more background than current ai discussion, so lots of overlap with books like ALGORITHMS OF OPPRESSION but it’s a good overview for anyone who is not familiar with the biases in tech and how it translates to the ai world.

THE LIBRARY OF FLOWERS by l.c. chu (#partner @raincoastbooks) - already reviewed in highlights. it was meh sadly, but it did make me want to get into perfumes. if you know of a good sandalwood based scent please let me know!

HOOKED by asako yuzuki (tr. polly barton) - oh this was good, just like butter, but this one moved a lot quicker. i want to do a full review, but for now, i liked the exploration on female friendship and loneliness.

currently reading:

VERY VANCOUVER by christopher cheung (#partner @ecwpress) - loving this so far

TO GOD by esther yi (#partner @astrahousebooks) - i love esther yi. that is all. by @vanreads

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2 months ago

june dump ✨

i think i’m slowly coming to terms with life being too slow and too fast these days, and somehow in the monotony of my day to day, i’m still trying to squeeze in hobbies like knitting, reading, and taking photos. i’ve seen friends. i’ve gone out to eat and visit cafes again. i even made it out to a world cup game which was super cool. and of course i had to support my friend’s debut book launch!

we also said goodbye to my family cat. the last time i saw him in texas, i didn’t realize it would be the last time. prince, i miss you our sweet land cloud.

on a bookish note, i finished:

THE HYPHENATED LIFE by han ren (#partner @grandcentralpub)

i liked the second half better when the author brings in more of her clinical counseling practice. this part is valuable for those looking for ways to navigate asian american specific challenges. the first half is much weaker and it feels like the author doesn’t trust readers to understand basic terms. also i found the title disingenuous, as it doesn’t really encompass intersectional identities as it proclaims and it really is mostly for asian americans in the most stereotypical sense.

A GREAT AND POWERFUL TYRANNY by victoria carbol (#gifted @pagestreetya)

i’ll be honest and say i’m biased because the author is my good friend, but this ya sapphic fantasy based on wizard of oz is truly a fun and delightful experience! but i am also biased because i love love love portal (transmigration, isekai) stories. unlike thia, the mc, we all know i’d get unalived in a fantasy world immediately due to my lack of survival skills.

BUTTER by asako yuzuki (tr. polly barton)

this was really good! i like how the story ended up being about friendships and found families. i loved the apartment with all the friends in it, and really wish friends would come hang out in my apartment all the same.

full reviews to come soon hopefully for all of these!

i’m still reading/listening to THE LIBRARY OF FLOWERS by l.c. chu (#partner @raincoastbooks @librofm) and WE MEND WITH GOLD by kristin t. lee.

let me know what you read this june! by @vanreads

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3 months ago

Sometimes the best projects are the ones that come full circle. ✨ I’m so excited to finally share these custom needle-felted cat coasters. They are the result of a second commission for the same wonderful client. The dedication they have for their pets is truly inspiring.
As a small business owner, there's no better feeling than knowing a client loves my work enough to return. I poured so much love into these—from the distinct fur patterns to those sweet eyes and the cute ruffled collars. Thank you for trusting my craft for a second time and allowing me to bring these beloved cats to life. 💖
#NeedFelting #CustomCatArt #Handmade #catlovers❤️ #coasterenthusiasts by @vanreads

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3 months ago

this is more book reflection than a review that i’ve been sitting on for a whole year now. anyways, swipe to the end to see the book photo because idk how to talk about this book without spoilers! will post the full text below.

before that, the icon blur was downloaded and designed by Magnific (www.magnific.com).

✨ book reflection ✨

last june i was sitting at a crossroads in my career, working in a science communications role with profs doing cutting edge research, with plans to transition into tech while ai development was rapidly taking over the industry. i didn’t know it at the time, that i’d also become pregnant soon, bringing new consciousness into the world.

in this book, the main character finds out at the very end that they are, in fact not fully human, a cyborg of sorts, whose memory is fabricated by their mother figure and creator, their reality much starker than their imagined reality. this reveal left me feeling quite sorry for the mc.

as ai was taking over our public discourse both online and in my two work spaces, i started thinking back to this story and the many sci-fi stories that explore this question of whether an artificial entity could be humanized. the most prominent one i think of is data from STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION.

he frequently reminds people around him that he’s incapable of feelings because of his robot origins, yet the show shows us glimpses of him making empathetic decisions over rational ones, leaving the viewer to consider whether data had crossed that threshold into human-ness.

the show does a good job making him a lovable character, and it becomes hard to distinguish his ability to show empathy from that of a human as the show progresses much like the mc’s felt loneliness over the course of the book.

there are other examples of this, like klara in kazuo ishiguro’s KLARA AND THE SUN, HAL (2013 anime film), lovelace in becky chamber’s wayfarer series, HER (2013 film), and WESTWORLD (tv series), to name a few. these are just the ones i can think of off the top of my head.

cont. in comments 👇 by @vanreads

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4 months ago

may dump 🌱

i finished one book and one book only in may and that was WE DO NOT PART by hang kang. there’s this understated sadness and hope that lingers in hang kang’s work that feels distinct to her writing even across different translators of her work.

i started a few other books, including those of my two lovely friends: WE MEND WITH GOLD by kristin t. lee and THE GREAT AND POWERFUL TYRANNY by victoria carbol (out this month!) which i can’t wait to post about when i finish.

other than that, i’ve been trying to rebuild a sense of normalcy and pick up reading and hobbies again after not doing so for a few months. the bookstagram husband gifted me a new kobo libra color with the remote has been super helpful with this! 🥰

hopefully that means getting back into book reviews soon? no promises, though i have some books lined up that i would like to review.

besides books, i have once again ordered more yarn for knitting and more film to take film photos with. if your girl is not working she’s spending too much on hobbies…. 🙈

anyways hope y’all are doing well as usual! i will try my best to share some more books and things soon! by @vanreads

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4 months ago

dec 2025 - pt 2 of hk. love this city and how there are so many friends and family here that i don’t get a chance to see everyone each time i come. on the bright side, i seem to come a lot! it’s nice to have places that i get to go often enough that i get to slowly meander and get to know each place a little better each time. it’s one small way for this diaspora to find ways to stay connected to her family! taken in Hong Kong , 香港 by @vanreads

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5 months ago

dec 2025 - favorite city in the world 🖤 taken in Guangzhou, China by @vanreads

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5 months ago