This was a great introduction into Filipino literature. I learned new things about the Filipino culture food and language.
Some of the stories were dull, others were light but had very deep meanings; a great balance.
It was a very easy read and a great first book for the new year.

“So what brings you to the peens?”
Before I even begin, I never imagined reading this book and finding Bigfoot in it, nevermind a book in which Bigfoot referred to the Philippines as the “peens.” That sure made me laugh at how absurd it was.
I am so grateful to have received this collection of short stories as my first ARC to review. As a Filipino, I love to see an author with the same ethnic background as me share stories that feel like home. Although there were some places mentioned that I have never visited, some caricatures of types of people I have never met, and some events that I never imagined to be possible or happen to me, the overall collection felt so nostalgic. The absurdities of some events, the humor and the descriptions felt so human, but in the mundane of humanity, there were also sprinklings of magic.
Some themes such as being LGBTIA+ in a very traditional Filipino culture, making sacrifices for the ones you love, grief, internalized racism, and familial love were explored throughout the collection and I truly enjoyed reading these themes through a lens that I find so familiar to the way I was raised. Tuazon’s exploration of some of these topics pushed me to reflect on my own life and how I have conformed or broke away from the traditional culture. Have my actions been to my detriment, or am I breaking boundaries that need to be broken? These are some questions I found myself asking.
Inherent to most short story collections, there are stories that will resonate to some, and others that will fall a bit flat. Because of this, I’m rating this a 4 stars, however I think that is just something that I find with most, if not all short story collections. My favorite short stories were “Carabao," “Far From Home,” “Tiny Dancer,” and of course, the titular story, “Professional Lola.” Throughout all of the stories, the beautiful prose and descriptions provided by Tuazon were evident and enjoyable, even if some of the plots did not land for me.
Overall, I truly recommend this short story collection, especially if you are looking to read more stories with Filipino representation.

This was a good time!

I loved the relatable situations/humor that comes in being apart of the Filipino culture.

I giggled a lot!

Some of the stories were a little wacky but also I guess that’s exactly what you’d expect.

I can see this being a little bit intimidating as there are a lot of words and terms that are used that someone who doesn’t know the language wouldn’t understand. However everything was easy enough to put together or a simple google search for anyone that may need it.

Overall I enjoyed it. 3.5

Ahhh, this was making me homesick. I am glad to have stumbled into this book. I honestly remember hiring lola’s for occasions before. I am also very familiar with traditions, culture, norms,expressions and even superstitions written about Filipinos in this book. I can smell the food as if it was being cooked in my own kitchen.
As fir the writing, I believe the it can be improved and polished well. Nevertheless, I enjoyed reading it and I thank Netgalley for giving me a copy in exchange of my review.

I absolutely love Filipino representation in literature. Filipino culture, traditions, superstitions, mannerisms, humor and love is so different from any other cultural group. In some way, you can categorize these stories as magical realism, but if you know Filipinos, you know that magic is part of their reality. We believe in the magical, otherworldly and supernatural and it is part of our everyday lives. These stories really manage to highlight that with a great sense of humor and a lot of heart.
At the same time, these stories live in between the Filipino and the American culture somewhere, it has the foreigners eye on the curiosities and explains it with the knowledge of the natives which makes them suitable and accessible to anyone.
The stories stay so lighthearted and tender even through heavy topics. Like in the last story “Carabao”, where a young child is trying to understand his grandfather's transitioning to a woman. And then the parallels that are drawn between his understanding of this and the Discovery rocket launch.The journey that needs to be made before it can land, just like the journey the relationship needs to take before there can be acceptance. It’s absolutely beautiful and it’s so well done.
Several stories pick up parallels like that so you get to see things from different angles and the message really comes across, but leaves us open ended still and doesn’t force anything on us. I loved spending time with professional lola, and I savored every last bite, every story.

Thank you to Red Hen Press for the ARC of A Professional Lola.

This collection of short stories about Filipino American Life is at time surreal but always poignant. I appreciated the multi-faceted layers these stories provided.
The titular short story, A Professional Lola features a family who hire a woman who acts for a period of time as their deceased lola (grandmother). Seeing each family member find something from a final experience with their departed family member was touching, albeit jarring to consider.
I also particularly enjoyed the short story about Bigfoot featuring half-siblings living separately in the Philippines and United States, which deals with grief and loss, as well as what binds family together.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC of this book. “A Professional Lola” is a good short story collection- as with most shirt story collections, some work better than others to me but overall I enjoyed the Filipino and FilAm representation - it felt so familiar and like home to me- and the food …. Oh man…. Reading this made me hungry. My favorite story is the titular story “A Professional Lola”. This book publishes May 7, 2024.

The description of the book seemed interesting, so I wanted to check the story out. Unfortunately, I have since lost my initial interest in the story. I may try and find a physical copy to add the my library when it is released, though, because I think my readers could like it!