https://www.scmp.com/rss/25/feed Find all the latest book, ebook and audiobook releases & reviews en https://assets-v2.i-scmp.com/production/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Charmaine Yu Charmaine Yu Few figures in Qing dynasty (1644-1912) history embody the tragedy of shifting tides quite like Duanfang, a Manchu statesman born in 1861. Duanfang rose through the imperial ranks, earned distinction for his service during the Boxer Rebellion (1899-1901) and went on to hold major regional posts, such as governor of China’s Hubei province and viceroy of the Liangjiang region. His career took a bizarre turn when he was stripped of his viceroyalty in 1909 for supposedly showing disrespect by... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/chinese-culture/article/3367584/tragic-qing-dynasty-politician-whose-legacy-lives-descendants-new-novel?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/chinese-culture/article/3367584/tragic-qing-dynasty-politician-whose-legacy-lives-descendants-new-novel?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 16 Sep 2026 23:15:04 +0000 Ashlyn Chak Ashlyn Chak Women are vastly under-represented in ancient Chinese literature. The few who appear, often in myth or semi-fiction, serve primarily to reflect that era’s moral expectations for women. From filial warriors to patriotic seductresses and femmes fatales, these women have one thing in common – they all trade personal autonomy for survival in a man’s world. Here are three fictional women in Chinese history and what makes their names live on to this day. 1. Hua Mulan The only historical record of Hua... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/chinese-culture/article/3366929/famous-chinese-women-folklore-hua-mulan-consort-who-brought-down-dynasty?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/chinese-culture/article/3366929/famous-chinese-women-folklore-hua-mulan-consort-who-brought-down-dynasty?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 11 Sep 2026 23:15:04 +0000 Chow Chung-yan Chow Chung-yan Elon Musk called it a fundamental catalyst for SpaceX. Nobel laureate Paul Krugman credited it with shaping his career. Newt Gingrich made it required reading for his congressional staff, and even Japanese cult leader Shoko Asahara was reportedly inspired by it. Isaac Asimov’s Foundation was published as a book series 75 years ago this week, and it has lost none of its relevance or poignancy today. Unlike Frank Herbert’s Dune, which is evocative, poetic and elegantly composed, Asimov’s style was... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3364964/why-asimovs-foundation-series-still-resonates-ai-era?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3364964/why-asimovs-foundation-series-still-resonates-ai-era?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 26 Aug 2026 01:30:06 +0000 Charmaine Yu Charmaine Yu Could merely glimpsing a 357-year-old Buddhist manuscript really grant you seven lifetimes of good fortune? An old Chinese folk belief regarding the Tibetan Dragon Canon has recently been revived on social media as the monumental Qing dynasty (1644-1911) scripture takes pride of place in “Tibetan Dragon Canon: A Symphony of Imperial Power, Belief and Art in a Golden Age”, an exhibition at Taipei’s National Palace Museum. While it is impossible to trace the origin of the qishi fubao – good karma... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3364369/357-year-old-buddhist-text-taiwan-said-bring-lifetimes-luck-one-glimpse?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3364369/357-year-old-buddhist-text-taiwan-said-bring-lifetimes-luck-one-glimpse?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 18 Aug 2026 08:15:08 +0000 Chow Chung-yan Chow Chung-yan In every civilisation, certain stories capture the psyche so profoundly that they are retold across centuries. In the West, Homer’s Odyssey is the one. Countless adaptations have emerged over millennia, inspiring literary giants from Dante Alighieri to James Joyce. Christopher Nolan’s cinematic adaptation is merely the latest. While it reflects the British-American filmmaker’s personal vision, it also offers a glimpse into the anxieties and self-reflections of today’s Western elite. Homer’s... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3363689/what-nolans-odysseus-tells-us-about-western-elites-existential-angst?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3363689/what-nolans-odysseus-tells-us-about-western-elites-existential-angst?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 14 Aug 2026 01:30:07 +0000 Alex Lo Alex Lo I once came across a book titled, The Last Walk, with a worn-out dog collar on the front cover. I lost all interest in browsing and quickly left the bookstore. As a lifelong owner of cats and dogs as well as other animals, I have had too many last walks. Some walks I knew were likely to be our last together. Others I didn’t suspect would come to an end; I thought there was still time. I often wonder whether that book sold well. Perhaps it appealed to some people. My wife and I, though, have been... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3361551/how-death-argos-odysseus-faithful-dog-still-haunts-us?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3361551/how-death-argos-odysseus-faithful-dog-still-haunts-us?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 24 Jul 2026 12:30:08 +0000 Christopher DeWolf Christopher DeWolf Ackbar Abbas, a Hong Kong-born scholar whose influence extended beyond academia to shape artists, filmmakers, writers and many others, died on July 13 at the age of 84 after a brief battle with cancer. Over decades of teaching at the University of Hong Kong (HKU) and the University of California, Irvine (UCI), Abbas did not simply analyse Hong Kong – he altered the way Hong Kong could be described. His 1997 book Hong Kong: Culture and the Politics of Disappearance was particularly influential.... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3361422/how-scholar-ackbar-abbas-changed-way-people-thought-about-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3361422/how-scholar-ackbar-abbas-changed-way-people-thought-about-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 23 Jul 2026 23:15:06 +0000 Charmaine Yu Charmaine Yu New York-based author Elizabeth Lim grew up hearing her grandmother’s stories about Hong Kong in World War II, Guangdong during the Sino-Japanese war and the sweeping immigrant journey that eventually brought their family to American shores. Those ancestral memories form the backbone of her latest novel, Fishbone Cinderella, set to hit shelves on July 28. Known widely for her young adult high fantasies such as Spin the Dawn (2019) and Six Crimson Cranes (2021), The New York Times bestselling... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/chinese-culture/article/3359950/i-never-felt-ready-elizabeth-lim-writing-her-chinese-grandmothers-story-and-soy-milk?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/chinese-culture/article/3359950/i-never-felt-ready-elizabeth-lim-writing-her-chinese-grandmothers-story-and-soy-milk?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 11 Jul 2026 11:15:05 +0000 Richard James Havis Richard James Havis Who is the real Jet Li Lianjie? That is a question being asked not by journalists and his fans, but by the martial arts film legend himself. In his new book Beyond Life and Death: The Way of True Freedom, Li says he has always been searching for his true self, and finally found it through practising Tibetan Buddhism. He wrote the book to share the spiritual benefits of these practices. Martial artists have, in history and legend, always been entwined with Buddhism, although not typically of the... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3359680/6-facts-jet-lis-new-book-we-didnt-know-life-changing-injury-almost-dying?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3359680/6-facts-jet-lis-new-book-we-didnt-know-life-changing-injury-almost-dying?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 08 Jul 2026 10:15:05 +0000 Fionnuala McHugh Fionnuala McHugh The first time Michelle Garnaut visited Nanteuil-en-Vallee in southwestern France was in 1990. The previous year, she had opened M at the Fringe in Hong Kong, a restaurant that set such a high standard for fine dining that it had already attracted a devoted clientele. Some of these patrons invited her to Nanteuil, a village of historic charm – an 8th century abbey, a medieval church – listed as one of France’s “small towns of character”. On that initial trip, Garnaut, who is Australian,... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3359098/rich-and-fascinating-new-literary-festival-france-has-hong-kong-connection?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3359098/rich-and-fascinating-new-literary-festival-france-has-hong-kong-connection?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 06 Jul 2026 23:15:05 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Eiko Kadono, the author behind Japan’s most famous – and almost certainly most beloved – literary witch, has a little trouble going up the stairs these days. At 91, she is still writing every day and has not stopped loving the colour pink, dressing up or believing in the magic of books. Kiki’s Delivery Service, which was published in 1985 and turned into a 1989 animation by Hayao Miyazaki’s Studio Ghibli, is among more than 200 books she has written. “I never tire of writing,” she says at her... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3359097/kikis-delivery-service-author-eiko-kadono-91-loves-pink-and-never-tires-writing?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3359097/kikis-delivery-service-author-eiko-kadono-91-loves-pink-and-never-tires-writing?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 05 Jul 2026 11:15:05 +0000 Tribune News Service Tribune News Service Reading Intimate Audrey feels like cuddling into your favourite reading nook and wrapping yourself in a real-life fairy tale. In this book, the authors take you on a most personal journey into Audrey Hepburn’s life from her childhood to her death. Filled with stories of victory – such as being declared the only person to play Gigi in the Broadway show of the same name by the novelist on whose book the show was based – and tragedy, such as when her housekeeper revealed the extent of her husband’s... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3357373/new-audrey-hepburn-biography-emotional-roller-coaster-joy-and-tragedy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3357373/new-audrey-hepburn-biography-emotional-roller-coaster-joy-and-tragedy?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 20 Jun 2026 11:15:05 +0000 Tribune News Service Tribune News Service Inside an unassuming room of the Huntington Library in Los Angeles, California, author Lisa See unfolds a stack of court records. At first glance, they look like a centuries-old love letter. The paper has yellowed from age, and the cursive is so ornate that the words are hard to make out. “This is the case of the Wing Chun store,” See explains. “This is where a lot of the violence happened.” The store was run by Sam Yuen, head of one of Los Angeles’ tongs, which were secret societies made up of... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/chinese-culture/article/3357286/night-horrors-las-chinese-massacre-1871-brought-fore-new-book?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/chinese-culture/article/3357286/night-horrors-las-chinese-massacre-1871-brought-fore-new-book?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 19 Jun 2026 11:15:07 +0000 Fionnuala McHugh Fionnuala McHugh The writer Kit Fan likes his readers to know, at least initially, where – and when – he is taking them. His first novel, published in 2021 and set in 1987, is called Diamond Hill, and its location is mostly confined to the Hong Kong neighbourhood it is named after. Diamond Hill was Hong Kong’s equivalent of Hollywood during its heyday after World War II. But by the late 1980s, it had lost its movie glamour. In that book, Fan played with a colourful, often profane, cast of nuns, triads and drug... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/article/3354739/hong-kong-author-kit-fan-food-identity-and-reverse-migration-goodbye-chinatown?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/article/3354739/hong-kong-author-kit-fan-food-identity-and-reverse-migration-goodbye-chinatown?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 25 May 2026 23:15:09 +0000 Christopher DeWolf Christopher DeWolf When Winston Churchill stood in the House of Lords in October 1943 and made the case to rebuild the bomb-ravaged House of Commons exactly as it was, he had just the thing to say: “We shape our buildings; thereafter they shape us.” The dogged British leader was no architectural scholar, but he was a master of the turn of phrase. His quote has lingered ever since as a concise reflection of how we relate to our built environment. In that particular case, Churchill believed the oppositional layout... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/interiors-living/article/3354321/how-buildings-and-cities-shape-our-lives-ancient-rome-hong-kong-today?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/interiors-living/article/3354321/how-buildings-and-cities-shape-our-lives-ancient-rome-hong-kong-today?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 21 May 2026 10:15:05 +0000 Chloe Loung Chloe Loung Growing up in the suburbs of Glasgow as one of only two Chinese children in her primary school, Eliza Chan rarely questioned her identity. Although her thick Scottish accent is the first thing you would notice about her, she says it was simply “normal” to be stopped on the street in her small town and asked where she was really from. “It was one of those childhoods where I don’t think I realised what I wasn’t until other people told me,” she recalls. Chan, 41, admits that this caused her to go... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/chinese-culture/article/3353678/she-rejected-her-chinese-heritage-child-now-she-leans-it-through-her-novels?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/chinese-culture/article/3353678/she-rejected-her-chinese-heritage-child-now-she-leans-it-through-her-novels?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 18 May 2026 23:15:05 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Neil deGrasse Tyson has had a lifelong fantasy of being abducted by aliens. That’s right: he actually wants to be taken. “I even picture the scenario in my head: I’m sitting out there alone, and a beam of light comes down,” he says. “It’s not a spacecraft that’s hovering over me. It’s just a beam of light from space. And I just get lifted up into that beam of light, and I appear in a new place.” America’s favourite astrophysicist has turned that lifelong fascination into a book, Take Me to Your... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3353430/how-should-we-greet-aliens-neil-degrasse-tyson-has-answer?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3353430/how-should-we-greet-aliens-neil-degrasse-tyson-has-answer?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 17 May 2026 11:15:05 +0000 dpa dpa There is no perfect way to raise children. But if you are despairing because of unruly kids, adopting some Japanese parenting methods could be the way to go. Japanese parenting emphasises unconditional love, community and harmony with nature, as ways to nurture well-behaved, respectful and creative children, says author Lisa Katayama, who used Japanese methods to bring up her own two children after moving from Tokyo to the United States. And now she has shared the core principles involved with... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/family-relationships/article/3353249/10-japanese-parenting-tips-raise-your-children-be-well-behaved-mindful-and-creative?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/family-relationships/article/3353249/10-japanese-parenting-tips-raise-your-children-be-well-behaved-mindful-and-creative?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 13 May 2026 11:15:08 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press He is on screen, onstage, on tour, online and in song. Hamlet – William Shakespeare’s masterpiece about a moody Danish prince – seems to be having a moment. A production by the UK’s National Theatre has landed at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York starring Hiran Abeysekera. There is a movie version set in London’s South Asian community starring Riz Ahmed. Anthony Hopkins, at 88, recently delighted fans on TikTok with part of Prince Hamlet’s “To be, or not to be” soliloquy. The movie... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3353158/how-hamlet-adaptations-are-having-moment-play-taps-current-existential-angst?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3353158/how-hamlet-adaptations-are-having-moment-play-taps-current-existential-angst?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 12 May 2026 07:15:05 +0000 Edmund Lee Edmund Lee To the literary purist, she is the sensual storyteller who penned semi-autobiographical tales of French Indochina, capturing the suffocating heat of forbidden romance. To the art-house cinephile, she is a radical auteur who took a sledgehammer to commercial filmmaking, stripping away plot to leave pure atmosphere behind. So who is the real Marguerite Duras? This May, Hong Kong audiences can answer this question for themselves. Marking 30 years since she died in 1996 at the age of 81, the city is... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3352313/who-was-marguerite-duras-decoding-dual-identity-french-cinemas-radical-auteur?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3352313/who-was-marguerite-duras-decoding-dual-identity-french-cinemas-radical-auteur?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 05 May 2026 07:15:05 +0000 Tribune News Service Tribune News Service Jonnie Park has always gone by many names. The most google-able is his hip-hop moniker “Dumbfoundead”, which he has gone by for decades as a battle rapper and a multi-album artist while becoming one of the kings of Project Blowed – a hip-hop crew, record label and open-mic workshop. As a resident of Los Angeles’ Koreatown since childhood, he is still known as “The Mayor of K-town”. To his friends, he is just “Dumb”. Of all the aliases and titles he has fought for, “author” might seem to be the... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3351829/korean-american-rapper-jonnie-park-aka-dumbfoundead-family-struggles-music-and-beef?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3351829/korean-american-rapper-jonnie-park-aka-dumbfoundead-family-struggles-music-and-beef?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 02 May 2026 11:15:07 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press To the cheers and applause of thousands of attendees at the annual fan convention BookCon, Jacob Tierney, director-screenwriter of the hit TV series Heated Rivalry, and Rachel Reid, author of the books it is based on, walked on to the main event stage at New York’s Jacob Javits Convention Centre. The two Canadians have been international celebrities for just a few months and still find themselves wondering if all the noise is for someone else. “We don’t really get to experience this kind of... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3351639/sex-language-show-heated-rivalrys-rachel-reid-and-jacob-tierney-open?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3351639/sex-language-show-heated-rivalrys-rachel-reid-and-jacob-tierney-open?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 28 Apr 2026 13:15:09 +0000 Tribune News Service Tribune News Service Michaeleen Doucleff set out to examine her and her family’s relationship to – reliance on, really – screens and junk food. Why was she checking texts at every stop sign when biking with her daughter, Rosy? Why was she mindlessly devouring Pringles crisps? Why did Rosy impatiently count the minutes to nightly cartoons from the moment she got home? When was the last time they ate a whole food? At the beginning of her reckoning, Doucleff prepared herself for a lesson in willpower. If she was going... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health-wellness/article/3350945/your-family-addicted-screens-and-junk-food-how-change-their-habits?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health-wellness/article/3350945/your-family-addicted-screens-and-junk-food-how-change-their-habits?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 23 Apr 2026 07:15:09 +0000 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