https://www.scmp.com/rss/25/feed Find all the latest book, ebook and audiobook releases & reviews en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Alex Lo Alex Lo Few contemporary academics have played a more important role than Daniel Bell in explaining the philosophical and cultural roots of modern Chinese rule to a foreign audience. It’s not for nothing that he was once named a “cultural leader” by the World Economic Forum. Our city is privileged that he joined the University of Hong Kong’s law faculty as the chair professor of political theory not too long ago. Equally important is his post as the founding editor of the China book series with the... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3350710/how-ancient-chinese-philosophers-make-sense-modern-headaches?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3350710/how-ancient-chinese-philosophers-make-sense-modern-headaches?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 21 Apr 2026 12:30:09 +0000 The Korea Times The Korea Times By Bereket Alemayehu Kim Wan-jun, who calls himself a “soju artist”, published the English translation of his book, How to Drink Soju: A Guide to K-Drinking Culture & Games, last month. The 300-page book provides an in-depth look at the history of soju, a Korean distilled alcoholic drink, while exploring its cultural significance and the customs surrounding it. Kim, a self-proclaimed upcycling artist known as Funnyjun, has been documenting South Korea’s drinking culture since 2014 and sharing... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/3346853/drinking-soju-south-korea-english-guide-will-teach-you-rules-you-may-not-know?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/3346853/drinking-soju-south-korea-english-guide-will-teach-you-rules-you-may-not-know?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 18 Mar 2026 07:15:08 +0000 Karen Cheung Karen Cheung What happens when the author of a bestselling memoir about working as a courier in mainland China, and a Hong Kong videographer who moonlights as a food delivery rider, meet? They do not immediately launch into a philosophical discussion about art and labour. Instead, they compare different vehicles’ battery lifespans, the daily distances they travel, and the risk of traffic accidents on the job. “It’s very common in [mainland] China,” Hu Anyan says. “And especially so with food delivery,... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3346516/one-wrote-bestselling-book-about-being-courier-other-made-film?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3346516/one-wrote-bestselling-book-about-being-courier-other-made-film?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 15 Mar 2026 23:15:12 +0000 Enid Tsui Enid Tsui “I feel they are about to reclaim this space,” says the Pulitzer Prize winning novelist Hernan Diaz as he pauses along Battery Path in Hong Kong’s central business district to look at the tentacles of banyan trees gripping the walls like an intimate scaffolding. In the eyes of the New York-based writer, the contrast between lush vegetation and glass-and-steel monoliths illuminates the fragility of man-made symbols of power. “It is not entirely clear who is trespassing on whom.” Diaz is on a walk... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3345713/pulitzer-prize-winner-hernan-diaz-power-narratives-and-beautiful-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3345713/pulitzer-prize-winner-hernan-diaz-power-narratives-and-beautiful-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 08 Mar 2026 23:15:10 +0000 Chloe Loung Chloe Loung What happens when two artists fall in love? Here is an unlikely answer: a nugget is born, and a tubby one at that. The Adventures of Tubby Nugget: Escape from Nuggetville, a newly released graphic novel, is the result of a collaboration between illustrator Joshua Jackson and author Jenine Pastores. The pair met in 2015 when the then filmmakers were assigned to work on a short film called Heartsick. Today, they are still creating things together – only now, their canvas has shifted from screen to... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3345117/how-tubby-nugget-went-silly-doodle-viral-sensation-10-million-fans?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3345117/how-tubby-nugget-went-silly-doodle-viral-sensation-10-million-fans?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 02 Mar 2026 23:15:07 +0000 Fionnuala McHugh Fionnuala McHugh It is seven years since Indian author Amitav Ghosh last published a novel. For many readers, he is a fiction writer best known for The Glass Palace (2000) and his Ibis trilogy comprising Sea of Poppies (2008), River of Smoke (2011) and Flood of Fire (2015). These are set against historically accurate moments during the British Empire, but are works of imagination. Like his readers, he says he thinks of himself as “primarily a novelist”. In more recent years, however, he has focused on... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3343994/indian-author-amitav-ghosh-publishes-first-novel-7-years-why-so-long?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3343994/indian-author-amitav-ghosh-publishes-first-novel-7-years-why-so-long?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 24 Feb 2026 08:15:07 +0000 The Korea Times The Korea Times Like many other things in Korea, K-pop rarely pauses to explain itself. New groups debut, concepts cycle, controversies surface and fade. The industry absorbs the moment, recalibrates and quickly moves on. That forward momentum has long been part of its appeal. It is also what makes the system difficult to read from the outside. However, beneath the choreography and camera-ready polish, a quieter question persists: why does K-pop feel so engineered, not just in sound or style, but in how its... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/k-drama/bands/article/3342461/stray-kids-aespa-k-pop-loving-business-expert-breaks-down-industrys-systems?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/k-drama/bands/article/3342461/stray-kids-aespa-k-pop-loving-business-expert-breaks-down-industrys-systems?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 06 Feb 2026 04:45:08 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press John Skelley cannot escape the pull of Harry Potter. It is as if something magical keeps them together. The stage actor was first hired to be an understudy of the grown-up wizard in Broadway’s Harry Potter and the Cursed Child in New York. Then he led the cast in San Francisco before the pandemic hit. He returned to Potter on a year-long national tour and now finds himself back on Broadway, with the role officially his. “It’s like something that just kind of keeps coming back into my life,”... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3337772/john-skelleys-harry-potter-journey-broadway-understudy-star?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3337772/john-skelleys-harry-potter-journey-broadway-understudy-star?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 29 Dec 2025 11:15:08 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Heated Rivalry is scoring big with hockey romance fans. Since its debut, the steamy television adaptation of Rachel Reid’s 2019 novel has dominated social media feeds and inspired a growing fan base devoted to the queer romance at its centre. The story traces Canadian Shane Hollander and Russian Ilya Rozanov as they sustain a decade-long secret relationship, mixing slow-building yearning with explicit sexual scenes. Jacob Tierney, who developed, wrote and directed the series, was drawn to the... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3338002/how-heated-rivalrys-recipe-hockey-and-queer-romance-made-it-steamy-success?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3338002/how-heated-rivalrys-recipe-hockey-and-queer-romance-made-it-steamy-success?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 29 Dec 2025 10:15:08 +0000 Charmaine Yu Charmaine Yu From auspicious horse-themed phrases and couplets to whether your luck is in, check out our Year of the Horse 2026 series to discover all you need to know about the coming Lunar New Year. For thousands of years, horses have been important to humanity in both our greatest periods of innovation – as invaluable tools of transport and agriculture – and our darkest times of war, as smart and sturdy companions for soldiers. From the prehistoric cave paintings in France’s Lascaux Cave to the monumental... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3335981/year-horse-2026-5-famous-works-equine-art-through-centuries?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3335981/year-horse-2026-5-famous-works-equine-art-through-centuries?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 12 Dec 2025 09:15:09 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse British author Sophie Kinsella, who wrote the popular Shopaholic series, has died aged 55 after being diagnosed with brain cancer, her family announced on Wednesday. Madeleine Sophie Wickham, who wrote under the pen name Sophie Kinsella, revealed last year that she was receiving chemotherapy and radiotherapy for glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer. “We are heartbroken to announce the passing this morning of our beloved Sophie,” her family said on Instagram. “Sophie counted herself... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3335955/sophie-kinsella-shopaholic-author-dies-55-brain-cancer?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3335955/sophie-kinsella-shopaholic-author-dies-55-brain-cancer?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 10 Dec 2025 15:15:20 +0000 Charmaine Yu Charmaine Yu It remains a challenging time for the Hong Kong community following the devastating fire in Tai Po’s Wang Fuk Court last week. The outpouring of support as the city mourns the immense loss and witnesses the urgent needs of the displaced reflects the compassion of its people. This list serves as a dual guide, detailing a few ways you can contribute to the long-term relief and rebuilding efforts for the victims, while also providing activities for families and friends across the city to de-stress... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/3335261/5-best-things-do-hong-kong-and-ways-lend-hand-weekend-december-5-7?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/3335261/5-best-things-do-hong-kong-and-ways-lend-hand-weekend-december-5-7?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 05 Dec 2025 02:44:54 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Designer Jeffrey Banks spent years co-authoring seven books on fashion before finally deciding it was time to share his own story. The menswear designer recounts more than 50 years in fashion, from working for Ralph Lauren to launching his own label, in his new memoir, Storyteller: Tales from a Fashion Insider. At 72, Banks is having a breakout year. One of his designs was selected by the Metropolitan Museum of Art for its “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style” exhibit, and he is relaunching his... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/3334213/fashion-designer-jeffrey-banks-ralph-laurens-other-son-shares-his-story-new-memoir?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/3334213/fashion-designer-jeffrey-banks-ralph-laurens-other-son-shares-his-story-new-memoir?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 27 Nov 2025 11:15:11 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press The cover of Margaret Atwood’s memoir shows a close-up of the author holding a finger to her mouth, a mischievous look in her eyes, as if to suggest a riddle or two: is this a book in which secrets will be revealed, or perhaps one in which secrets are kept? Yes, and yes. Book of Lives: A Memoir of Sorts is a 600-page look at the personal and creative life of one of the world’s most acclaimed, influential and provocative authors. The 86-year-old has at times been called a prophet – a reluctant... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3333224/look-inside-handmaids-tale-author-margaret-atwoods-new-memoir?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3333224/look-inside-handmaids-tale-author-margaret-atwoods-new-memoir?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 19 Nov 2025 11:15:14 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press For Cindy Zhong, like many young Chinese women, a relaxing night used to mean curling up with a steamy story about two men in love. Then her favourite authors, and their tales, started disappearing. Fans of the popular danmei same-sex romance genre, written and read mainly by straight women, say the Chinese government is carrying out the largest crackdown yet on it, effectively neutering the enjoyment. In the vast world of fantasy, danmei is relatively straightforward: two men stand in for... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/chinese-culture/article/3332773/chinas-crackdown-same-sex-love-stories-leaves-chinese-women-less-happy-without-it?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/chinese-culture/article/3332773/chinas-crackdown-same-sex-love-stories-leaves-chinese-women-less-happy-without-it?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 16 Nov 2025 04:15:10 +0000 Tribune News Service Tribune News Service The first step was easy. A book editor, impressed by Jeff Chang’s acclaimed 2005 cultural history of hip-hop, Can’t Stop Won’t Stop, asked if he would consider writing a book on Bruce Lee, the martial arts icon and movie star. The next 99 steps? Well, that was something altogether different. The editor who had pitched the biography left the publishing industry. Chang had two books already under contract to finish. More editors came and went. Another book cut to the front of the line. A fourth... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3332801/how-bruce-lee-went-martial-arts-star-enduring-asian-american-icon?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3332801/how-bruce-lee-went-martial-arts-star-enduring-asian-american-icon?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 15 Nov 2025 23:15:09 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse British-Hungarian writer David Szalay won the Booker Prize on Monday for his novel Flesh, a tortured story of a Hungarian émigré who makes and loses a fortune. Szalay beat five other shortlisted authors, including Indian novelist Kiran Desai, who won in 2006, and Britain’s Andrew Miller, to claim the £50,000 (US$65,500) award at a ceremony in London. Szalay had previously been shortlisted for the prestigious literary honour in 2016 for his last work, All That Man Is. His sixth novel, Flesh is... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3332259/british-hungarian-writer-david-szalay-wins-booker-prize-london-ceremony?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3332259/british-hungarian-writer-david-szalay-wins-booker-prize-london-ceremony?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 10 Nov 2025 22:48:25 +0000 Kyodo Kyodo On a quiet street in Jimbocho, a Tokyo neighbourhood known for its second-hand bookshops and publishing houses, one shop stands out: Chekccori. The store’s shelves are lined with Korean literature translated into Japanese, as well as works in the original language. It has become a gathering place for readers eager to cross cultural borders one page at a time. The name Chekccori means “a celebration after finishing a book” in Korean. The store was founded in 2015 by Tokyo-based South Korean... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/article/3331461/tokyo-bookstore-where-translated-korean-literature-sparks-conversation-across-borders?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/article/3331461/tokyo-bookstore-where-translated-korean-literature-sparks-conversation-across-borders?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 04 Nov 2025 09:15:07 +0000 dpa dpa The Booker Prize has announced its “most ambitious endeavour” in 20 years with the launch of its first prize for children’s fiction. The foundation will launch the literary award in 2026, with the winner to be chosen by a combined panel of child and adult judges and awarded £50,000 (US$66,600). The Children’s Booker Prize will see an author selected annually from 2027 to celebrate the “best contemporary fiction” for children aged eight to 12 years old. The foundation will also gift 30,000 copies... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/article/3330207/childrens-booker-prize-kids-fiction-announced-adults-and-youngsters-choose-winner?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/article/3330207/childrens-booker-prize-kids-fiction-announced-adults-and-youngsters-choose-winner?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 25 Oct 2025 08:15:08 +0000 Fionnuala McHugh Fionnuala McHugh The Hong Kong-born poet Sarah Howe has a lovely voice. People have commented on it so often that she wrote a line about it in her new collection, Foretokens. “From my teens, well-meaning adults would exclaim, ‘You have a lovely voice!’” she writes in her poem World Service. “Not picking up my flush of shame, they’d keep going. ‘When you grow up, you should be on the BBC!’” Those modulated tones were drummed into her when she moved from Hong Kong to England aged seven, the daughter of a British... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/family-relationships/article/3328945/hong-kong-born-poet-stunned-silence-detractors-finds-voice-again-foretokens?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/family-relationships/article/3328945/hong-kong-born-poet-stunned-silence-detractors-finds-voice-again-foretokens?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 15 Oct 2025 23:15:08 +0000 Kylie Knott Kylie Knott Author Emma Pei Yin has many happy childhood memories of visits to her grandparents’ ancestral village home in Hong Kong. For Britain-born Pei Yin – who moved to Hong Kong at the age of 14 – time spent in the rural New Territories, far removed from the hustle and bustle of the city, allowed her to indulge in traditions such as grave sweeping and the Mid-Autumn Festival. She recalls lazy evenings lounging around on plastic chairs in the courtyard, full from a feast of poon choi – a communal dish... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/article/3328084/horrors-world-war-ii-seen-through-eyes-hong-kong-women-new-novel?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/article/3328084/horrors-world-war-ii-seen-through-eyes-hong-kong-women-new-novel?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 08 Oct 2025 23:15:07 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press When novelists look at the future, the view is often grim. There are a lot more fictional dystopias than utopias. Ian McEwan has good news and bad news about what lies ahead in What We Can Know, a book he calls “science fiction without the science”. The British author’s 18th novel is set in 2119 and follows a professor of literature researching a famed 21st-century poet and his circle. So far, so cosy. But it is a world in which nuclear war, pandemics, economic collapse and climate change – a... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/article/3326636/ian-mcewans-what-we-can-know-looks-back-fondly-present-dystopian-future?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/article/3326636/ian-mcewans-what-we-can-know-looks-back-fondly-present-dystopian-future?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 25 Sep 2025 13:15:07 +0000 Charmaine Yu Charmaine Yu Hongkongers are likely to have already seen Steven Harrison Stratman’s videos of him exploring every library in the city on their Instagram feeds. In his clips, Stratman – better known as @authorshstratman online – captures everyday scenes of libraries from Shau Kei Wan to Tiu Keng Leng, from children flipping through picture books to the architecture. His narrated videos even document the journeys he takes to get there and explain the area’s history, as well as review the library itself. It is... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3326090/viral-instagram-videos-hong-kongs-libraries-are-time-capsule?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3326090/viral-instagram-videos-hong-kongs-libraries-are-time-capsule?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 21 Sep 2025 00:15:08 +0000 Kavita Daswani Kavita Daswani The Vale, Abigail Hing Wen’s latest young adult fantasy book, was written more than a decade ago by The New York Times bestselling author for her creative thesis at the Vermont College of Fine Arts. At the time, she felt that she was watching AI “being incubated and seeping into all our lives”, something that sparked a story about a 13-year-old boy who builds an AI-generated VR fantasy world to retreat to from reality. The idea was too far ahead of its time. “Nobody knew what AI generation was,... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3322480/author-ya-novel-loveboat-taipei-new-book-vale-story-ahead-its-time?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3322480/author-ya-novel-loveboat-taipei-new-book-vale-story-ahead-its-time?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 21 Aug 2025 07:15:07 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press The Moomins, Finland’s most lovable literary cartoon family, are celebrating their 80th birthday this year. The chubby, white, hippopotamus-like characters have captivated readers worldwide since author and illustrator Tove Jansson published The Moomins and the Great Flood in 1945, a children’s book that features Moomintroll and Moominmamma in their search for the missing Moominpappa. Jansson, a Swedish-speaking Finn who died in 2001, went on to write eight more books, multiple picture books and... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/article/3321808/moomins-80th-birthday-draws-fans-across-europe-special-event?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/article/3321808/moomins-80th-birthday-draws-fans-across-europe-special-event?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 17 Aug 2025 07:15:08 +0000 Kavita Daswani Kavita Daswani Evelyn Skye’s grandparents used to visit their family in California every year from Taiwan, bringing a box full of origami cranes as gifts for the children. “The paper my grandmother used was gorgeously patterned, with silver or gold woven in,” recalls the writer. “It was so special because she made them with love for us. I had chains of them strung corner to corner across my bedroom ceiling. I still think back to the journey these cranes took across the ocean.” That memory is at the heart of... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3321741/new-york-times-bestselling-authors-new-novel-recalls-origami-cranes-she-received-kid?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3321741/new-york-times-bestselling-authors-new-novel-recalls-origami-cranes-she-received-kid?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 14 Aug 2025 07:15:38 +0000 Tribune News Service Tribune News Service What do you do when one of the most dangerous dolls in paranormal history supposedly suddenly disappears? Said to be demonically possessed and responsible for everything from car accidents to house fires, Annabelle – made famous by real-life paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren, who inspired the Conjuring universe – was recently rumoured to have disappeared while on a paranormal tour of the United States. Was it true? It appears not. But the internet had a collective meltdown about it... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/article/3320397/7-books-about-haunted-objects-and-possessed-possessions-will-give-you-chills?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/article/3320397/7-books-about-haunted-objects-and-possessed-possessions-will-give-you-chills?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 03 Aug 2025 09:15:08 +0000 Tribune News Service Tribune News Service American author Steve Ryfle remembers scouring his TV guide every week to find the monster movies and horror films he loved. “The Japanese films always appealed to me the most,” says the co-writer of the Emmy-winning 2017 documentary Miracle on 42nd Street. “They were intriguing because they took place in a world that was unfamiliar, a culture that was unfamiliar.” Godzilla, he says, was especially captivating to a dinosaur-loving kid. “Of course, when you’re younger, you’re into dinosaurs,” he... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3319362/godzillas-70th-anniversary-celebrated-huge-new-book-over-900-photos?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3319362/godzillas-70th-anniversary-celebrated-huge-new-book-over-900-photos?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 24 Jul 2025 11:15:07 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Japanese writer Asako Yuzuki did not expect her novel Butter, hailed as a biting feminist critique of sexism and body shaming, to capture a cult following abroad. Translated into English in 2024, the tale of murder and misogyny has whetted an insatiable appetite, selling more than 600,000 copies overseas, including 400,000 in Britain – more than in Japan – where it won multiple awards. Yuzuki was inspired by the real-life story of “Black Widow” Kanae Kijima, a woman sentenced to death in 2012... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/3318507/how-foodie-novel-butter-stirs-japans-issues-sexism-misogyny-and-body-shaming?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/3318507/how-foodie-novel-butter-stirs-japans-issues-sexism-misogyny-and-body-shaming?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 17 Jul 2025 11:15:07 +0000 The Korea Times The Korea Times By Emily Serby If you have ever fallen down a Seoul vlog rabbit hole, chances are you have come across the YouTuber Cari. Cari is the face behind both the “cari cakes” and “cari can read” channels on YouTube. Best known for her travel vlogs, the Seoul-based content creator does not shy away from processing personal ups and downs with her channel’s 415,000 subscribers. She weaves themes of solitude and nostalgia through her videos, all delivered with a quiet vulnerability that makes her feel more... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3318291/who-cari-south-korea-based-youtuber-content-creator-success-living-abroad-books?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3318291/who-cari-south-korea-based-youtuber-content-creator-success-living-abroad-books?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 16 Jul 2025 23:15:08 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Stephen King has a rule for anyone wanting to adapt one of his books for the big or small screen. It is basically the Hippocratic Oath for intellectual property: first, do no harm. “When you deviate from the story that I wrote, you do so at your own risk,” he says in an interview from his home in the US state of Maine. “I know what I’m doing and I’m not sure that screenwriters always do or that producers and directors always do.” Not everyone has listened to King, who has enjoyed hit adaptations... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3317826/stephen-king-happy-institute-tv-adaptation-yes-very-much-so?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3317826/stephen-king-happy-institute-tv-adaptation-yes-very-much-so?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 12 Jul 2025 20:15:07 +0000 Tribune News Service Tribune News Service A little knowledge is a dangerous thing. But who knew that books could kill? That is the premise of “If Books Could Kill”, an exhibit at The Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, in the US state of Maryland, that looks at four toxic pigments used for millennia and around the world to illustrate and bind books: mercury, arsenic, lead and the bright-yellow mineral known as “orpiment”. The exhibit, open since December, ends on August 3. These metals and minerals produced jewel-like, dazzling colours – a... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3317694/how-lethal-toxic-pigments-used-books-millennia-created-images-die?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3317694/how-lethal-toxic-pigments-used-books-millennia-created-images-die?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 12 Jul 2025 07:15:08 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Stephen King ’s first editor, Bill Thompson, once said: “Steve has a movie camera in his head.” So vividly drawn is King’s fiction that it has offered the basis for some 50 feature films. For half a century, since Brian De Palma’s 1976 film Carrie, Hollywood has turned, and turned again, to King’s books for their richness of character, nightmare and sheer entertainment. Open any of those books up at random, and there’s a decent chance you’ll encounter a movie reference, too. Rita Hayworth. The... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3313115/film-buff-stephen-king-life-chuck-adaptation-and-one-movie-he-walked-out?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3313115/film-buff-stephen-king-life-chuck-adaptation-and-one-movie-he-walked-out?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 05 Jun 2025 03:11:02 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Former White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre has a book out this fall that promises a close look at US President Biden’s decision not to run for re-election and calls for thinking beyond the two-party system. Jean-Pierre herself has switched her affiliation to independent after working in two Democratic administrations, according to Legacy Lit, a Hachette Book Group imprint that will publish Independent: A Look Inside a Broken White House, Outside the Party Lines on October 21. “Until... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3313095/ex-biden-spokeswoman-karine-jean-pierre-quits-democratic-party?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3313095/ex-biden-spokeswoman-karine-jean-pierre-quits-democratic-party?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 04 Jun 2025 19:42:53 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Former CIA director and Biden cabinet official William Burns is working on a book about his years leading the intelligence agency. Random House announced on June 3 that it would publish Burns’ Diplomat Spy: A Memoir of Espionage in Revolutionary Times. The release date is still to be determined. “It was a profound honour to lead the men and women of CIA, and I hope in this new book to illuminate their remarkable service, and the crucial connection in this revolutionary new era between spycraft... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3312942/former-cia-director-william-burns-riveting-memoir-be-published-random-house?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3312942/former-cia-director-william-burns-riveting-memoir-be-published-random-house?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 03 Jun 2025 21:45:07 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press The history of Chinese immigrants in America has always been about much more than one ethnic group. As Michael Luo’s Strangers in the Land: Exclusion, Belonging, and the Epic Story of the Chinese in America shows, understanding America’s efforts to keep Chinese labourers out, and the violence enacted against those who got in, is essential to understanding the evolution of America’s immigration system as we know it today. That is because restrictions against Chinese immigrants represented the... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3312817/book-review-chinese-exclusion-and-mistreatment-19th-and-20th-century-america-explored?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3312817/book-review-chinese-exclusion-and-mistreatment-19th-and-20th-century-america-explored?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 03 Jun 2025 03:17:31 +0000 Tribune News Service Tribune News Service If the gruesome setting of HBO video-game adaptation The Last of Us left you reeling for more stories of survival, found family and the haunting beauty of decay, you are in the right place. Whether you are drawn to tales of fungal terror, dystopian futures or post-apocalyptic perseverance, this list includes books that capture the emotional depth, eerie atmosphere and heartbreaking stakes that made the series unforgettable. 1. What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher A gripping and atmospheric... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3312211/if-you-enjoyed-last-us-youll-love-these-8-survival-books?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3312211/if-you-enjoyed-last-us-youll-love-these-8-survival-books?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 31 May 2025 09:15:08 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse From his roof, Sidi Mohamed Lemine Sidiya scans the medieval town of Oualata, a treasure that is disappearing under the sands of the Sahara desert. “It’s a magnificent, extraordinary town,” said Sidiya, who is battling to preserve the place known as the “Shore of Eternity”. Oualata is one of a Unesco-listed quartet of ancient, fortified towns, or ksour, which in their heyday were trading and religious centres and now hold jewels dating back to the Middle Ages. Doors crafted from acacia wood and... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3311915/sahara-desert-sands-swallow-ancient-town-and-its-trove-medieval-manuscripts?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3311915/sahara-desert-sands-swallow-ancient-town-and-its-trove-medieval-manuscripts?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 29 May 2025 08:15:08 +0000 Lucy Quaggin Lucy Quaggin On a Saturday morning in April, readers gathered in a park in Indonesia’s capital Jakarta for a monthly book club. Around 260 strangers sat on the grass, heads down, captivated by what they were reading. It almost looked like a regular book club, but there was a twist. Everyone here was reading something different: from fantasy, romance and religion to business and self-help books. Titles read included Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie, The Vegetarian by Nobel laureate Han Kang, and The... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/article/3311163/how-silent-book-clubs-are-rising-around-world-readers-enjoy-no-pressure-events?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/article/3311163/how-silent-book-clubs-are-rising-around-world-readers-enjoy-no-pressure-events?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 21 May 2025 23:15:08 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Indian writer, lawyer and activist Banu Mushtaq has won the 2025 International Booker Prize for her short story collection Heart Lamp. The 77-year-old is the first author of literature in Kannada, a language spoken predominantly in the southwest Indian state of Karnataka, to receive the prestigious literary award for translated fiction. “This moment feels like a thousand fire flies lighting a single sky – brief, brilliant and utterly collective,” Mushtaq said at a ceremony at the Tate Modern... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3311153/indian-activist-author-wins-2025-international-booker-prize-short-story-collection?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3311153/indian-activist-author-wins-2025-international-booker-prize-short-story-collection?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 21 May 2025 05:45:07 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Kazuo Ishiguro’s mother was in Nagasaki when the atomic bomb was dropped. When Ishiguro, the Nobel laureate and author of Remains of the Day and Never Let Me Go, started writing fiction in his twenties, his first novel, 1982’s A Pale View of Hills, was inspired by his mother’s stories, and his own distance from them. Ishiguro was born in Nagasaki but, when he was five, moved to the UK with his family. A Pale View of Hills marked the start of one of the most lauded writing careers in contemporary... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3310853/cannes-2025-author-kazuo-ishiguro-films-adapting-his-books-and-becoming-homer?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3310853/cannes-2025-author-kazuo-ishiguro-films-adapting-his-books-and-becoming-homer?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 19 May 2025 04:45:07 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press James Bond creator Ian Fleming did not need to write about Cold War intrigue to consider the ways people scheme against each other. The Shameful Dream, a rare Fleming work published this week, is a short story about a Londoner named Bone, Caffery Bone. Fleming’s protagonist is the literary editor of Our World, a periodical “designed to bring power and social advancement to Lord Ower”, its owner. Bone has been summoned to spend Saturday evening with Lord and Lady Ower, taken there in a... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3310576/quarterly-dusts-rare-short-stories-007-creator-ian-fleming-and-graham-greene?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3310576/quarterly-dusts-rare-short-stories-007-creator-ian-fleming-and-graham-greene?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 16 May 2025 20:15:08 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Fashion designer Prabal Gurung has always been a storyteller. First, it was through the colourful, Nepal-inspired designs that helped him find early success in the cutthroat fashion world. Now, he is sharing his life story in words with his bold new memoir, Walk Like a Girl. The book traces his South Asian roots – born in Singapore, he grew up in Nepal and spent time in India – and difficult childhood. He eventually moved to New York to study at the Parsons School of Design, interning for Donna... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/3310243/singapore-born-fashion-designer-prabal-gurung-shares-his-amazing-life-story-new-memoir?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/3310243/singapore-born-fashion-designer-prabal-gurung-shares-his-amazing-life-story-new-memoir?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 14 May 2025 03:15:07 +0000 dpa dpa For more than 30 days, Tobias Schlegl walked the Camino de Santiago – the world’s most famous network of pilgrimage routes – with his 73-year-old mother, Sieglinde. She had long dreamed of walking the Camino, also known as the Way of St James, and Schlegl, a journalist and paramedic, wanted to reconnect with her. The historic routes, which date back to the 9th century, extend from different European countries and lead to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Spain. What followed was a 700km... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/family-relationships/article/3309236/mother-son-bond-strengthened-700km-walk-spains-camino-de-santiago-pilgrimage-route?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/family-relationships/article/3309236/mother-son-bond-strengthened-700km-walk-spains-camino-de-santiago-pilgrimage-route?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 07 May 2025 20:15:07 +0000 The Korea Times The Korea Times After having lived a little more When I stand at the edge of death Will I be able to think That I truly held life tight (through writing). So begins “After Having Lived a Little More”, a contemplative two-page essay by Han Kang that drifts between lyrical poetry and prose. This brief meditation on the act of writing graces the final pages of the South Korean author’s latest book, Light and Thread, her first publication since winning the Nobel Prize in Literature in October 2024. Light and Thread... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3308325/new-han-kang-book-light-and-thread-reveals-nobel-prize-winner-beyond-her-writing-desk?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3308325/new-han-kang-book-light-and-thread-reveals-nobel-prize-winner-beyond-her-writing-desk?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 30 Apr 2025 09:15:07 +0000 The hotel that inspired Stephen King to write his bestseller The Shining is getting a sweeping overhaul in a bid to cement its status in the film industry, particularly among horror-movie aficionados. The new owners of the Stanley Hotel, in Estes Park, Colorado, roughly 64km (40 miles) from Boulder, plan to borrow nearly US$300 million to expand its facilities. The project, which includes a new events centre, is the result of a decade of planning by the US state and the hotel owner along with... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3307847/heres-johnny-stanley-hotel-inspiration-shining-get-major-overhaul?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3307847/heres-johnny-stanley-hotel-inspiration-shining-get-major-overhaul?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 25 Apr 2025 11:15:08 +0000 Demure, submissive and erotic, Suzie Wong is a bigger-than-life stereotype, a caricature Asian women grew up with in the US. We may have also secretly hoped to play that geisha-like image to win our way out of our oppression. But over the years, some of us grew to resent it, fight it and reject it, hoping to claim our true identity and dignity as a person. In The World of Nancy Kwan, a memoir by the pioneering Hollywood star, we hear from the real-life woman who played Suzie Wong. We learn that... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3307408/suzie-wong-star-nancy-kwans-book-talks-about-overcoming-stereotypes-and-racial-barriers?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3307408/suzie-wong-star-nancy-kwans-book-talks-about-overcoming-stereotypes-and-racial-barriers?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 22 Apr 2025 23:15:07 +0000 If you polled 100 people about who is the most awful among the awful people in The Great Gatsby, I bet 99 of them would answer “that louse Tom Buchanan”. In the new book The Gatsby Gambit, Buchanan finally gets what’s coming to him. Daisy Buchanan’s loathsome husband is murdered early on in Claire Anderson-Wheeler’s mystery novel that is timed to capitalise on the centenary of The Great Gatsby, which fell on April 10, 2025. North Dakotan-turned-dreamy-poor-little-rich-boy Jay Gatsby is around in... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3306096/another-great-gatsby-jays-sister-greta-has-murder-solve-gatsby-gambit?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3306096/another-great-gatsby-jays-sister-greta-has-murder-solve-gatsby-gambit?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 13 Apr 2025 10:15:08 +0000 When Alida Guo first discovered Liu Cixin’s groundbreaking sci-fi novel The Three-Body Problem in high school, she was captivated. The plot proved so irresistible that she hid a copy behind her history textbooks, turning classes into covert missions to decode the “Trisolaran crisis” – named after the fictional alien civilisation that threatens Earth. “The physics element went over my head, but the story stuck with me – it’s so Chinese that it resonates, yet so visionary that it challenges how we... https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3306183/chinas-sci-fi-industry-shoots-stars-beijing-pushes-quality-growth?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3306183/chinas-sci-fi-industry-shoots-stars-beijing-pushes-quality-growth?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 13 Apr 2025 09:00:08 +0000 In March 2009, American Scott Parazynski – a veteran of five Nasa space shuttle missions, including seven spacewalks, who had racked up more than 23 million miles (37 million km) – hung up his spacesuit. “I could have flown once, maybe twice more, but I was keen to stretch my wings as an inventor and entrepreneur,” says the 63-year-old. A couple of months after retiring from the US space agency, Parazynski attempted to summit Mount Everest but, at 7,470 metres (24,500 feet), was forced to turn... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3305922/ex-nasa-astronaut-scott-parazynski-shares-his-journey-space-top-mount-everest?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3305922/ex-nasa-astronaut-scott-parazynski-shares-his-journey-space-top-mount-everest?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 12 Apr 2025 08:15:07 +0000