#gina chung

[longreads]

Ten Outstanding Stories to Read in 2025

Gina Chung. Morgan Talty. Jamal Brinkley. Our annual round up of ten outstanding short stories to read features work from these incredible authors and more. All the stories on the list are freely available to read online.

[phaedraismyusername]

It's been forever since I've mentioned any books so I just wanted to shout out a few of my favourites from this year so far

Mapping The Interior by Stephen Graham Jones

This little 100ish page novella was my very first read of the year and I truly could not have started with better. It follows a 15 year old Native American boy who believes he sees his dead father walk through their house one night and his mission to recreate the experience to find answers. It's an exploration of grief and trauma, and whether or not these cycles can be broken

Horror Movie by Paul Tremblay

This is so not for everyone lol. I've read four of Tremblay's books this year and this is my favourite. This book is about a horror movie that was never released. A couple of decades later, after a few scenes and the screenplay made it onto the internet, the film has gained a cult following and the only surviving member has agreed to be a part of a much anticipated remake. This is told through excerpts of the original screenplay, the autobiographical audiobook by "the thin kid" and the current timeline of the film getting made. It's weird and uncomfortable and I ate it up in a single day

Sea Change by Gina Chung

Obligatory sad girl seeks peace entry in the list. Ro has just turned 30, works at a mall aquarium, and her boyfriend has just left her to go to Mars. Estranged from her family and sidelined from her best friends life as she plans her dream wedding, Ro spends her nights drinking sharktini's and generally making bad choices. The only light in her life is a giant Pacific octopus, Dolores, who she sees as her last real connection to her missing father, and what happens when Dolores is put up for sale. It's sad and melancholy but with a throughline of hope that slowly blossoms into what my heart needed to read lol

Siren Queen by Nghi Vo

I loved this so much. This book follows a Chinese American girl named Luli Wei as she breaks into 1930s-ish Hollywood and her journey to becoming a star as the monster known as the Siren Queen. I know that's a short summary in comparison but that's because the sale is absolutely in the vibes which are basically 'what if classic Hollywood was Faerie and make it sapphic' and if any one of those words appeal to you in the slightest then I beg you to try this one. I took out an American library e-card just to get my hands on this and it's best decision I've made all year. Please read it lol

Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson

This audiobook y'all. The book follows Lillian as she reconnects with her childhood sort of best friend from boarding school who has written to her begging for help with her politician husbands two children when their mother suddenly passes away. Lillian, living the life of the persistent down and outer, agrees easily, it's just for the summer and she can't turn down the money, after all how hard could it be? There's one little catch though, sometimes the kids burst into flames. When I say this audiobook broke my heart and then healed my soul I promise you I am barely exaggerating. I'm sure you could just read it and it would still be good, but Marin Ireland's narration brings so much heart to this story that I physically cannot bear to recommend it any other way lol. If you only listen to one book this year then this is the one it should be

[judgingbooksbycovers]

Green Frog: Stories

By Gina Chung.

[daricommons]

Everyone always seemed to be climbing upward and striving for more all the time: more money and responsibility, a better title, greater prestige. And it wasn’t like I didn’t want any of those things for myself; it was more like I wouldn’t have had any idea what to do with them had they come to me. I wanted, if I was being honest, to slow down, just for a little while. Everything felt like a race for which there wasn’t even a definitive prize, and that didn’t seem to end until you died. “When you were little,” Umma told me once, “you learned how to walk at such a young age that we were all astonished. But the faster you learned how to go and the easier it became for you, the less you wanted to walk anywhere. It was like you were becoming an infant again. You would sit down in the middle of the sidewalk or in the supermarket and refuse to move until either your father or I picked you up.” She thinks this is a story about what she sees as my lack of ambition manifesting itself early on; I think this is a story about how almost anything, even something as basic as walking, can become less enjoyable when it’s constantly being monitored for progress.

[librarycards]

Rumpus: As someone who balances full-time employment with writing, do you have self-care practices that help you continue creating art?

Gina Chung: I’m very used to thinking of myself as a brain in a jar. I don’t always remember to consider my bodily needs, especially when things get really busy or when I’m in the middle of an engrossing project. I’ve had to remind myself over the years to slow down when I need to and to take care of the container through which I experience the world.

My main tip is to listen to your body as much as you can. Take breaks and sleep when you need to. I’m someone who can easily ignore all my body’s warning signs and just keep going until the point of exhaustion. It’s just not worth it most of the time. There’s no need to flagellate yourself in the name of your art, and the wellspring of your creativity can’t be replenished if you don’t rest, no matter how guilty you might feel for not getting down a certain number of words per day. I’m still learning how to be gentle with myself in doing this. Now, whenever I feel like all the creativity is gone and I’ve lost it for good, I’ve at least learned to believe that’s not true. It’s my lizard brain panicking. I know it will come back. The only way you can care for your art is to care for yourself.

THE PRESENCE IN ABSENCES: A CONVERSATION WITH GINA CHUNG

[signal-failure]

Mutant Octopus and Coming-of-Age in Sea Change

Sea Change, by Gina Chung, is about Dolores, a giant octopus in captivity, and about Ro, who cares for Dolores while everything else in her life falls apart.  This is a terribly relatable story about being stuck and being aimless at the same time. Dolores was an amazing almost-character, because who doesn’t love a story about a giant octopus? But Dolores is also a connection to Ro’s childhood and…

[chai-n-ivy]

have y'all read Sea Change? I'm halfway through and I love it!

[laavenderhaze]

It feels good to be regularly reading again 💕💗

[herald-caliber]

"Sea Change" by Gina Chung: A Beautiful Novel

If you're looking for a captivating novel that will take you on a journey of self-discovery and environmental consciousness, look no further than Sea Change by Gina Chung.

With stunning prose and a unique storyline, Chung's debut novel tells the story of a young woman's struggle to come to terms with loss and change, while also highlighting the impact of human actions on the natural world. As readers follow Ro's journey through her past and present, they will be drawn into a world of mystery and intrigue, all while grappling with some of the most pressing issues of our time. So why not dive into the pages of Sea Change and discover the transformative power of this incredible novel for yourself? Trust us, you won't regret it!>>Read More<<

[ursidanger]

Some OC redesign work from earlier in the year, goal was to specify their individual eye shapes and upper body areas

[todd-queen]

happy international women's day to all the women I'd crawl around on my knees for <3

[daricommons]

envisioning the worst possible thing isn’t the same as being protected against it.

[unfilteredfantasies]

🐙 Sea Change by Gina Chung 🐙

Sea Change by Gina Chung is an Asian American literature novel following a young woman that works at an aquarium, where she’s befriended a unique cephalopod. While working here, the woman is confronted with changes at her job, which make her reflect on her life since her father’s disappearance years ago and how much her life has changed since then.

I imagine the rush of waves, the roar of the ocean. A place where the sky and the water meet, where creatures of the deep grow to mythic proportions and the waters shine so bright with pollutants that they light up the skies at night.”

My interest with Sea Change  started with the beautifully fuchsia and gold tinted octopus on the cover. Then When I gleamed over the snippet, it felt like the type of story that I could devour with my heart and soul, which is precisely what happened, making this the first 5-star read of 2024, or rather its equivalent.

The author has crafted such an honest and affecting look at protracted loss and the significant sense of harm that it stirs, chiefly over a period of time, like a deep wound that is slow to heal. Coupled with the event taking place during the main character’s transformative teen years, then the sense of self and discovery becomes just as protracted and skewed as the emotions surrounding that loss. Having dealt with the subject quite frequently in my life, this powerful motif sweeps the reader away in a torrent of many thoughts and feelings.

Sea Change is conveyed in the first-person narrative of our main character and her expressions are sharp yet candid, anecdotes of intimate microcosms of the Asian American experience, such as being an immigrant and being the child of immigrants, the sense of cultural confusion and disarray with constantly being Othered—all of which are facets of living and growing in a frighteningly unfamiliar environment. Due to the personal nature of the character’s reflections, forming a responsive bond with her becomes a quick and effortless task.

He was self-conscious about his accent, the way people heard his r’s and l’s and his inflections first before they could hear what he was saying. He had three degrees–a bachelor’s in biology, a master’s in economics, and a PhD in marine biology–but he would never be listened to in the same way his white colleagues (who, he never failed to point out, had all gone to inferior institutions) would. ‘It’s not enough to be as good as them, Arim,’ he always said. ‘You have to be the best.’”

Other things about Sea Change I loved include the complexly deteriorating mother-daughter relationship laced with mutual yet varying forms of love, sacrifice, and sense of mendacity; the depth of the perception of incertitude that haunts Asian diaspora as they are challenged with acclimatising a sense of identity amid and between multiple cultures, while staying true to their individuality; how incredibly quotable and wise the words within the pages are, imprinting themselves on your mind and heart; and the amazingly heart-warming bond that our main lady has with her octopus friend, plus the underlying symbolism and parallels of that relationship as it pertains to her inner and outer battles, for instance, being “one of a kind” or “outcasts” in their relative worlds.

If she thinks you’re weird just because you like stuff that’s different from the stuff she likes, it doesn’t matter. It’s just who you are.”

Sea Change is a fine piece of literature. I love that it’s a coming-of-age story about an individual in their thirties. Coming-of-age doesn’t necessarily have to equate to the younger eras of someone’s life, and this novel does an exquisite job of highlighting the whys and the how of that supposition. As an Asian & Pacific-Islander diaspora myself, I felt so splendidly seen and understood by this book, particularly in some jarringly confidential ways that I never anticipated and it left me feeling less alone and far more empowered with my own search and understanding of “identity.” I highly recommend this to all readers of literature, especially those who are in their thirties and needing something to relate their own intricate efforts to. It’s simply beautiful, slightly bittersweet.

Publisher: Vintage Genre: Asian American Literature Release Date: March 2023 Content Warnings: Sexism. Fatphobia. Racism. Infidelity. Death of loved one. Workplace inequity. Ableism. Mental health difficulties.

[duckprintspress]

Celebrate Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month with 22 Great Queer Reads!

May is wrapping up, and with the end of May comes the end of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. There are so so so many great books coming out by AAPI authors starring AAPI characters, and so – here’s a list of some of our favorites! All of these are either BY AAPI authors, have AAPI main characters, or – in most cases – both! The contributors to this list are: Shadaras, Tris Lawrence, Nina Waters, D.V. Morse, Terra P. Waters, theirprofoundbond, Annabeth Lynch and an anonymous contributor.

Not Your Sidekick (Sidekick Squad series) by C.B. Lee

The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea by Maggie Tokuda-Hall

Phoenix Extravagant by Yoon Ha Lee

“Eldest Daughter Seeks Her Wife” by N. C. Farrell from She Wears the Midnight Crown

Babel by R.F. Kuang

The Spear Cuts Through Water by Simon Jimenez

The Water Outlaws by S.L. Huang

Black Water Sister by Zen Cho

If You’ll Have Me by Eunnie

Roadqueen: Eternal Roadtrip to Love by Mira Ong Chua

They Called Us Enemy by George Takei, Justin Eisinger & Steven Scott

The Prince and the Dressmaker by Jen Wang

Away With the Fairies by Annabeth Lynch

Meal by Blue Delliquanti & Soleil Ho

Firebird by Sunmi

After the Dragons by Cynthia Zhang

Iron Widow (Iron Widow series) by Xiran Jay Zhao

The Problem with Wishes by Annabeth Lynch

Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki

Hold Me (Cyclone series) by Courtney Milan

Sea Change by Gina Chung

Clash of Steel: A Treasure Island Remix by C.B. Lee

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You can view this list, and all our other lists, as shelves on Goodreads.