The Samurai's Garden


Gail Tsukiyama - 1994
    Here he is cared for by Matsu, a reticent housekeeper and a master gardener. Over the course of a remarkable year, Stephen learns Matsu's secret and gains not only physical strength, but also profound spiritual insight. Matsu is a samurai of the soul, a man devoted to doing good and finding beauty in a cruel and arbitrary world, and Stephen is a noble student, learning to appreciate Matsu's generous and nurturing way of life and to love Matsu's soul-mate, gentle Sachi, a woman afflicted with leprosy.

Rebirth of the Wolfish Silkpants Bottom


泡麵香腸君 - 2017
    Treated as a stepping stone by his biological mother, opening a path for his younger brother, only to realise all this when dying.The Shu Ning who was thirsting for maternal love was always extremely hardworking, acting as a well-behaved child in front of his father, while fighting with his elder brother, although his IQ was not high, he still played dirty tricks to the utmost. Constantly being encouraged by his mother’s warm feelings, the more he obstructed his elder brother, the more brave he got. When he met with a mishap, his mother took his younger brother and escaped to a faraway place, leaving Shu Ning alone to bear the crime and get thrown into jail.Love is more solid than gold, his lover decided to embrace another man.Attaching a great importance to friendship, not only did they take the time to visit Shu Ning in jail and laugh at him, they even rubbed salt in the wound.His most loved and respected mother did not even bother to show her face.However, when he closed his eyes, his elder brother came. Truth was, it was Shu Heng who had arranged for him to be able to live comfortably in prison.If he hadn’t followed them, and was a clever little brother, would it all have changed? In the blink of an eye, Shu Ning returned to the time where he was a junior high school student.Two-faced, controlling elder brother gong X Clever and cute little wolf shouElder brother thinks that younger brother is very cute, very adorable, very soft, how could he be this close to the ideal?Younger brother is thinking, hahaha… … that elder brother with facial nerve paralysis could blush? What happened to your cold and handsome image? Becoming foolish with just one kiss? What happened to your mysophobia? I’m just sitting in your lap, and your whole body stiffened up? ╮(╯▽╰)╭To prevent his elder brother from thinking that Shu Ning was after the company, Shu Ning relied on memories from his previous life to earn a bit of money, becoming financially independent while being a silkpants, also slowly raising that soft and immature elder brother, Shu Ning felt that these days were just too comfortable, however… … Why is elder brother becoming more and more strange? What is this sleeping together for warmth? What is this good morning and good night kiss? Do you really take me for a brat? Σ( ° △ °|||)︴Note : The ‘Silkpants’ part means mean a rich and hedonistic son.[The gong (seme) and shou (uke) have no blood relation, are also not in the same household register, do not share a father nor a mother, this is a serious declaration. ]

A Little Life


Hanya Yanagihara - 2015
    There is kind, handsome Willem, an aspiring actor; JB, a quick-witted, sometimes cruel Brooklyn-born painter seeking entry to the art world; Malcolm, a frustrated architect at a prominent firm; and withdrawn, brilliant, enigmatic Jude, who serves as their center of gravity. Over the decades, their relationships deepen and darken, tinged by addiction, success, and pride. Yet their greatest challenge, each comes to realize, is Jude himself, by midlife a terrifyingly talented litigator yet an increasingly broken man, his mind and body scarred by an unspeakable childhood, and haunted by what he fears is a degree of trauma that he’ll not only be unable to overcome—but that will define his life forever.

The Reader and Protagonist Definitely Have to be in Love


Tui - 2018
    The formerly lighthearted tale of a cute harem master suddenly became super dark and edgy. The reader could only helplessly look on as the the protagonist was abused and betrayed, finally embarking on the road to becoming completely evil. Everything was a mess!After that the reader transmigrated into a strange world. How come the person in front of him looks like the protagonist (evil undead version)? Just what is going on?!Note: Du Zhe (读者 meaning Reader) and Du Ze (杜泽 the character’s name) sound almost the same

The Russian Concubine


Kate Furnivall - 2007
    Always looking over her shoulder, the sixteen-year-old must steal to feed herself and her mother, Valentina, who numbered among the Russian elite until Bolsheviks murdered most of them, including her husband. As exiles, Lydia and Valentina have learned to survive in a foreign land.Often, Lydia steals away to meet with the handsome young freedom fighter Chang An Lo. But they face danger: Chiang Kai Shek's troops are headed toward Junchow to kill Reds like Chang, who has in his possession the jewels of a tsarina, meant as a gift for the despot's wife. The young pair's all-consuming love can only bring shame and peril upon them, from both sides. Those in power will do anything to quell it. But Lydia and Chang are powerless to end it.

Mr. Tycoon's Daring Wife


Xincerely - 2019
    For you, my darling, I would part the mountains, split the sea, and cause havoc on Earth just to have you."- - - -In every love story, there's always a vengeful and venomous fiancée who was engaged to the rich and handsome CEO that fell for the poor, but gentle and innocent female lead. In his greed for her love, he broke his poor fiancée whose love drove her to the brink of insanity.No one ever cared about how the fiancée felt.Zhao Lifei was prepped her entire life to marry one man, but suddenly, his heart was captured by another. She was face-slapped, destroyed, and disowned for loving Zheng Tianyi. She was willing to sacrifice her youth, time, and heart for the man, but all she got was pain and despair.It took two harsh, but awakening years for Zhao Lifei to finally understand the mistakes she has made in the past.After her redemption, it was now Zhao Lifei's turn to experience a love grander than the female lead.Smarter, feistier, and wittier, Zhao Lifei knew how to survive the cruel, backstabbing, and harsh upper-class society was."A bastard fiancé that broke my heart? Screw him, I'll find someone richer!""All of my friends have abandoned me? Whatever, I'll find better ones!""My parents disowned me? That's fine, my grandfather is wealthier and more powerful than both of them combined!"To the polar opposite of the snarky Zhao Lifei, was the incredibly wealthy and powerful, yet ruthlessly cold Yang Feng.Yang Feng, the King of the Business Empire, was a man to be feared. Heart of ice, eyes of stone, merciless but enticingly handsome, there was not a single person in this world that dared to offend him.Many have tried, but none had succeeded in garnering his attention. That is, until his path unexpectedly collides with Zhao Lifei.Challenges will arise, chaos will commence, and drama will ensue. But then again, what is a love story without disturbance? They say love without conflict is just a simple crush and the story of Zhao Lifei and Yang Feng was anything but that.

Last Words from Montmartre


Qiu Miaojin - 1996
    Unfolding through a series of letters written by an unnamed narrator, Last Words tells the story of a passionate relationship between two young women—their sexual awakening, their gradual breakup, and the devastating aftermath of their broken love. In a style that veers between extremes, from self-deprecation to pathos, compulsive repetition to rhapsodic musings, reticence to vulnerability, Qiu’s genre-bending novel is at once a psychological thriller, a sublime romance, and the author’s own suicide note.The letters (which, Qiu tells us, can be read in any order) leap between Paris, Taipei, and Tokyo. They display wrenching insights into what it means to live between cultures, languages, and genders—until the genderless character Zoë appears, and the narrator’s spiritual and physical identity is transformed. As powerfully raw and transcendent as Mishima’s Confessions of a Mask, Goethe’s The Sorrows of Young Werther, and Theresa Cha’s Dictée, to name but a few, Last Words from Montmartre proves Qiu Miaojin to be one of the finest experimentalists and modernist Chinese-language writers of our generation.

Love You 59 Seconds


Yun Guo Shi Fei - 2011
    Wu Han Ying does not know why a bunch of people were following him around shouting sister-in-law.Xia Chen does not know why he begins to like the existence of this obedient Little Wudang, who is sometimes a bit silly as well.Being followed and being called Sister-in-law, Little Wudang could not stand it anymore and retorted, “I’m a man.”—Lao Da (Boss) confessed, Sister-in-law (Sao Zi) ran away, so Lao Da is going crazy.Guild Member 1: Sister-in-law, please come back, Lao Da doesn’t mind that you’re a ladyboy! (ladyboy – a male plays female character in game; this happens often in RPG ^^)Guild Member 2: Pei Pei Pei, ladyboy your ass! Dare to call my sister-in-law as ladyboy, come to Yan Nan* (A place’s name, where players use for PVP)Guild Members: …Little Wudang thought to himself, you can’t blame me for disappearing, it’s because the school internet got disconnected.

死亡万花筒 Kaleidoscope of Death


西子绪 - 2018
    He then pulled down the zipper of his trousers and aimed at the abyss…Ruan Nanzhu: “…Put your pants on properly!”Super shameless, ill, pampered gong X Shameless, calm shou; a combination of double [or extreme] shamelessness.

Monkey: The Journey to the West


Wu Cheng'en
    It is the story of the roguish Monkey and his encounters with major and minor spirits, gods, demigods, demons, ogres, monsters, and fairies. This translation, by the distinguished scholar Arthur Waley, is the first accurate English version; it makes available to the Western reader a faithful reproduction of the spirit and meaning of the original.

Diamond Head


Cecily Wong - 2015
    But something ancient follows the Leongs to Hawaii, haunting them. The parable of the red string of fate, the cord which binds one intended beloved to her perfect match, also punishes for mistakes in love, passing a destructive knot down the family line. When Frank is murdered, his family is thrown into a perilous downward spiral. Left to rebuild in their patriarch’s shadow, the surviving members of the Leong family try their hand at a new, ordinary life, vowing to bury their gilded past. Still, the island continues to whisper—fragmented pieces of truth and chatter, until a letter arrives two decades later, carrying a confession that shatters the family even further.Now the Leong’s survival rests with young Theresa, Frank Leong’s only grandchild, eighteen and pregnant, the heir apparent to her ancestors’ punishing knots. Told through the eyes of the Leong’s secret-keeping daughters and wives and spanning The Boxer Rebellion to Pearl Harbor to 1960s Hawaii, Diamond Head is a breathtakingly powerful tale of tragic love, shocking lies, poignant compromise, aching loss, heroic acts of sacrifice and, miraculous hope.

暴君宠婚日常 [Tyrant Pampering Wife Diary]


一日知千 - 2020
    Someone killed him, took his identity and his child, and became the first male empress in history.Li Xiao in his previous life was even more pitiful. Driven insane by poison, he lost control and killed countless people and just happened to miss the only person who could have cured him in that lifetime.After rebirth, Song Song knew that he could be Li Xiao’s remedy. He also knew that Li Xiao could be his strongest supporter. In order to regain their baby who also died in their past life, he decided to take the initiative this time– Only to find that Li Xiao was even more enthusiastic!This novel style is concise and lively. The rhythm is just right. On one hand, it’s about getting revenge on enemies. On the other hand, it’s about sweet sweet romance. The double rebirth setting allows the plot to be quick paced.One character was born the extravagant grandson of a tycoon, the other, a well beloved royal prince. Both were fortunate children who became victims of villainous schemes and fell into destitute.But through mutual support and healing, they will right the wrongs and bring everything to order again.

The Stolen Bicycle


Wu Ming-Yi - 2015
    The result is a surprising and moving meditation on memory, loss, and the bonds of family. Award-winning novelist Wu Ming-Yi is also an artist, designer, photographer, literary professor, butterfly scholar, environmental activist, traveller and blogger, and is widely considered the leading writer of his generation in his native Taiwan.

In the Land of the Long White Cloud


Sarah Lark - 2007
    Responding to an advertisement seeking young women to marry New Zealand’s honorable bachelors, she corresponds with a gentleman farmer. When her church offers to pay her travels under an unusual arrangement, she jumps at the opportunity.Meanwhile, not far away in Wales, beautiful and daring Gwyneira Silkham, daughter of a wealthy sheep breeder, is bored with high society. But when a mysterious New Zealand baron deals her father an unlucky blackjack hand, Gwyn’s hand in marriage is suddenly on the table. Her family is outraged, but Gwyn is thrilled to escape the life laid out for her.The two women meet on the ship to Christchurch—Helen traveling in steerage, Gwyn first class—and become unlikely friends. When their new husbands turn out to be very different than expected, the women help one another in ways they never anticipated. Set against the backdrop of colonial nineteenth-century New Zealand, In the Land of the Long White Cloud is a soaring saga of friendship, romance, marriage and adventure.

Call Me By Your Name


André Aciman - 2007
    Unprepared for the consequences of their attraction, at first each feigns indifference. But during the restless summer weeks that follow, unrelenting buried currents of obsession and fear, fascination and desire, intensify their passion as they test the charged ground between them. What grows from the depths of their spirits is a romance of scarcely six weeks' duration and an experience that marks them for a lifetime. For what the two discover on the Riviera and during a sultry evening in Rome is the one thing both already fear they may never truly find again: total intimacy. The psychological maneuvers that accompany attraction have seldom been more shrewdly captured than in André Aciman's frank, unsentimental, heartrending elegy to human passion. Call Me by Your Name is clear-eyed, bare-knuckled, and ultimately unforgettable.