Bookish Asia
is a wonderful site I’ve recently discovered; it features book reviews and
author interviews focussing on books about East Asia categorised by country, or
region. Here one of the founders, John Grant Ross, provides a profile of the
site.
Running a
book review site is immensely rewarding; it’s like owning a bookstore but
without the hard work, stress, and almost inevitable bankruptcy. Not only do
you have an excuse for copious amounts of reading (and have that reading
experience enriched by the need to read more deeply than usual), but there’s also
the tremendous satisfaction of helping authors spread the word. And that’s very
much needed in today’s flooded, fragmented market, where so few of the wonderful
books coming out get the attention they deserve.
We review
both fiction and non-fiction, new and old. I especially enjoy introducing
readers to talented young writers: the likes of Shawna Yang Ryan (Green Island), Alec Ash (Wish Lanterns) and Quincy Carroll (Up to the Mountains and Down to the
Countryside). It’s also fun to bring forgotten works back into the light; Lionel
Davidson’s thriller The Rose of Tibet
(1962) is a perfect example of a former bestseller that has fallen into
obscurity.
Our book reviews
are mostly positive: why spend time reading and then writing about books you
dislike when there are so many good ones to choose from? But we do offer
constructive criticism, and from the point of view of editors/publishers, so I
think it’s very useful for writers.
There are
three people behind Bookish Asia: Michael Cannings, Mark Swofford and me. We’re
all Old Taiwan Hands and hopeless bibliophiles. Frustrated by the lack of English-language
books about Taiwan, we founded a small publishing house called Camphor Press in
2014. As the only work-from-home guy of the trio (“slurp”) I have a more flexible schedule (“Where did that bottle go? Damn evaporation!”) and I happily handle
most of the reviewing. I’ve always loved books. I was a keen reader from an early
age, and became a fanatical bookworm after a bad accident at the age of nine
meant a prolonged recovery at home. I lost myself in the world of Biggles, Willard Price’s Adventure series, and other such escapes,
and, thankfully, I’ve never really found my way back to reality.
I first had
the idea for Bookish Asia in July 2012 when The China Beat blog shuttered its doors after a magnificent six-year run of articles,
commentary and book reviews. (The site, which was founded
by Kenneth Pomeranz and Jeffrey Wasserstrom is still up.) Although there was
an obvious need for a replacement, the three of us were involved with launching
Camphor Press, so it wasn’t until 2015 that we had sufficient time to start
Bookish Asia. Mark came up with the name.
“We need something bookish.” I told
him.
“Why not use 'bookish'?” He replied.
Michael also suggested trying our luck with
a new suffix, “.asia” rather than “.com” and it has worked out well.
Bookish Asia
is a non-profit site; we neither pay nor receive money for reviews. Likewise,
we are not part of any affiliate program so we receive no money from the publisher
sites that we link to. We don’t even feature reviews of our own Camphor Press books.
Our only self-promotion takes the form of a few banner ads for some of our
titles. When we started Bookish Asia, we didn’t want to duplicate the coverage
of the Asian Review of Books. We decided to stick mostly to East Asia, and to
write longer pieces. As well as reviews, we also have author interviews. Once
again, these are long-form and often running over two thousand words.
Choosing
books to review is equal measures being contacted by authors and us contacting
authors. Because we understand the great expense of sending out review copies, we
are happy with digital editions.
