Shanna & Languages

Of translation, books, languages and me

Book Musings

Happy Pub Month to My Translation of DAKOTA

Technically there’s no pub day (it’s “Published in Apr 2024”), so I shall celebrate for the whole month instead! I can’t believe DAKOTA by Wong Koi Tet is finally meeting its readers – both in an expanded Chinese edition and my English translation.

DAKOTA is a project that has been with me since the early days of my foray into literary translation and it has seen me through my very newbie days to my less newbie self now. It’s indeed a very special book to me, for many reasons.

It brought me community and taught me so much.

And as a Singaporean, I’m very glad that my first translation from Mandarin Chinese is a Singaporean work 🙂

Our publisher, City Book Room, is also a bookshop – mainly Chinese-language books.

It’s not a big space, but it is indeed an oasis from the hustle and bustle of life. It’s quite hidden, located in a condo x commercial building and you actually need to ring the intercom to get buzzed in.

I love how there are quotes around the bookshop from both editions!

You can buy the books separately (Chinese, English) , but City Book Room also has a limited edition box set that also comes with a tote!

With Wong Koi Tet (author).

Okay, this shall be my signature pose for all my translations HAHA.

Till next time!

故事裡的世界

出於種種原因，我已經好久沒有靜下心來閱讀中文作品。

今天偷得半日閒，翻開我昨天剛買的書，感覺又回到了某年的我。這種感覺很奇妙。似乎我會把某個時間的我和當時閱讀的書籍、聽的音樂連結起來。

我很喜歡源於「地方」的故事。以地方為背景，開啟了屬於那裡獨有的故事。

所以幾乎是一眼就發現了這本書。簡介也很吸引我。

位於瀋陽市的「五愛市場」是中國最著名的批發市場之一。那是遠在另一個國度的地方，也許是這輩子我都沒機會到訪的地方。但通過這本書和裡頭的故事，拉近了我們的距離。這種感覺也很奇妙。♡

大時代的小人物，大市場的小故事。
五愛就是人間。五愛就是人生。

2020 Tilted Axis Press Subscription

I’m late in the game of book subscription boxes. How could I not know that such a thing exists?! I need to rethink whether I can call myself a book lover. But better late than never, so I got myself the 2020 and 2021 subscription from Tilted Axis Press.

The great thing about being late is that instead of getting the books as and when they are published, I get to have all six at one go! Shipping was amazingly fast despite the COVID situation. Received the books in 9 days and in pristine condition. Sometimes I hesitate to buy books online because I’m afraid that they will come creased (or tattered!), am I the only one?

While I love reading, I tend to stick to specific genres/themes or authors (who may write books across diverse genres). For about 2 years, I was crazy about time-travel (穿越言情) books, so I read almost exclusively in that. There was a period where I was into forensics / crime books, and for the past 10 years, I bought almost all the books that Taiwanese author Giddens (九把刀）wrote.

I’m glad that my ongoing obsession is on translated fiction. It really introduces me to a wider range of authors and genres that I’ve read previously. The Tilted Axis subscription looks great. I may not have picked them in the library / from the bookstore, but now I’m so excited to delve into the books.

I’ll share more once I’ve finished reading. It’s crazy how I started the site in October and didn’t update since then. 2020 is a time warp.

Happy reading. If you happen to come across this space, please let me know what are your favourite books. 🙂

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2020 Tilted Axis Press Subscription
2021 Tilted Axis Press Subscription