Thank you to Red Hen Press and E.P. Tuazon for a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I always find rating and reviewing collections of short stories to be very difficult. In this some of the stories were great and the others were a little forgettable, but overall I had a great time reading. It is always great to see characters that reflect people you grew up with. The pandesal story is one that I feel sticks out for me.

Overall, great read. If you are looking for something a little bit different than your normal large novel read, this would be a great pick

What a lovely collection of short stories! These stories, focusing mainly on the filipino-american experience, were exactly the right mix of heartfelt, interesting and strange for me. As always with story collections, there were some that didn't land with me, but the ones that did fully made up for that.

The last two stories, Handog and Caraboa, which deal mainly with family relationships, were my fav. Also Tiny dancer! All in all, just a really lovely read, that's all I can say lol.

Thanks to Netgalley and Red Hen press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I’m not the biggest reader of short stories but I absolutely loved this collection of short stories. A Professional Lola is comprised of short stories showcasing Filipino culture across topics from dealing with grief and family relationships. I loved getting to learn more about filipino culture from this and seeing it tie into magic realism. Tuazon did a beautiful job crafting these stories to showcase harder themes dealing with internalized racism or queerness in a traditional culture. My favorite story is the first one with the professional Lola, hired by a family to act as their lola for a birthday party.

Thank you to Netgalley and Red Hen Press for the advanced reader copy. All opinions are my own.

Rating: 3.5 rounded up
As a Filipinx American, I always enjoy being able to see myself on the pages. There were about 3/4 of the stories that I enjoyed more than others, with the Professional Lola being one of my favorites. I have never heard of that being a thing, and it made me wonder how I would feel about it, especially with me not being close to the only grandmother I knew. (Everyone else had passed before I was born).

There were pieces of magical realism that sometimes made it difficult to connect or resonate. I think if it was more of a fictional story with more plot, I would have enjoyed those pieces more. In general, I really enjoyed the themes of family, identity, and the inclusion of LGBTQ issues.

3.5 stars, rounded up. Whether the Filipina girlfriend with an intriguing brand of kleptomania in Tiny Dancer, or the reserved immigrant father who raised his Fil-Am son on Bukowski and Frost, A Professional Lola and Other Stories is at its best when we’re shown a glimpse into its characters interior lives. These pieces have a lot of heart, intimate in its depiction of Filipino families, friends, and lovers reaching towards each other across borders and generations.

With that in mind, I had a few minor gripes with how language---particularly of homeland Filipinos---was used in the book. A lot of the times, the way characters who grew up in the Philippines speak was unnatural. Examples were aforementioned characters redundantly repeating things both in Tagalog and English (“Hindi ko alam. I don’t know.”), or mixing ‘Taglish’ in ways far from our vernacular (“Doesn’t matter ang gagawin. Bonding-bonding na!” is spoken by an elderly Filipina woman). You could argue that this wording was utilized by Filipinos speaking to their Americanized children, but as someone fluent in both the language and the culture of interacting with your ‘kano relatives, I think Tuazon could have gotten a few more opinions regarding the authenticity of how their homeland characters sounded.

Despite this, I still recommend A Professional Lola and Other Stories, especially to readers of Haruki Murakami and Elaine Castillo! If you’re looking for a light, meditative collection of slice-of-life stories, read this. If you’re a part of the Asian-American diaspora, read this. If you’re queer and from the Philippines, read this. There’s a little bit of magic in this book for everyone.

Thank you to NetGalley and Red Hen Press for the digital ARC.

A beautiful collection. Many of these stories spoke to me, as a person of the Filipinx diaspora. We need books like this. We all deserve books like this. I'm a big fan!

Thank you to NetGalley and Red Hen Press for providing me with a digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

So, I recently dove into "Professional Lola" by E. P. Tuazon, and let me tell you, it was quite the ride. It's like it cracked open a window into Filipino-American culture and invited me in 😊

I was pleasantly surprised at how deeply some of the stories resonated with me. Coming from a culture with similar (and, at the same time different) dynamics, they felt like some of my own family/friends stories.

But here's the kicker: it doesn't hold your hand through it all. There were moments when I had to hit up Google for some translations or cultural references, and yeah, a glossary at the end would've been nice. But you know what? I kinda liked it. It felt like the book was treating me like an adult, respecting my intelligence, and letting me figure things out on my own.

Now, let me tell you about the writing. It's beautiful, plain, and simple in a way that just pulls you in. Even if some of the plots didn't quite land for me, it made it worth the read.

I also gotta say some of the stories felt like they ended a bit abruptly, leaving me hanging like a cliffhanger in a Netflix series. But maybe that's on me. I haven't read short stories in a minute, so take this part with a grain of salt.

In the end, "Professional Lola" is a wild ride through the complexities of Filipino-American life. It's got heart, humor, and just a touch of magic sprinkled in. It touches on deep themes like being LGBTQIA+ in a society steeped in tradition, family dynamics, grief, and even internalized racism. So, if you're looking for a book that's gonna make you think, make you feel, and maybe even make you laugh a little, this one's for you. Trust me, you won't regret it.

Thank you NetGalley and Red Hen Press for the ARC! My opinion is my own.

[3.5 stars rounded up]
A Professional Lola is an anthology of 13 stories rich with Filipino culture and the experiences of the Filipino diaspora living in Los Angeles. As a Filipino, I find the stories so refreshing with the accurate representation of Filipino culture (and food!), and I feel so homesick (even though I already live in the homeland). The stories themselves have a certain vibe that's both uncanny and nostalgic, and I love the exploration of themes like complicated family relationships, queer & trans identity, grief, and reconnecting with your roots. I said that the stories felt uncanny because there was just something about the stories that felt like deja vu to me, I don't know what exactly but it's maybe the characters themselves that remind me of someone, or the setting (which isn't a bad thing; it just took me by surprise). With this book being an anthology, there are of course, some stories that didn't quite hit me as hard as the others. My favorite stories include the titular Professional Lola, Far From Home, After Bigfoot, Handog, and Carabao.

If you're a big fan of magical realism, exploring Filipino culture, or looking for complex short stories that pack so much emotion and humanity, this book is for you :)

I'm not the biggest fan of short stories because they always leave me wanting more, but there were quite a few short stories I enjoyed in this book. I love that there was representation of both general things people know about Filipinos and the nuances of Filipino culture. Some of the stories that stuck out to me were the couple that robbed a panaderya, the coven casting a spell on their husbands, and the son returning to his father's home after he disappears. There are elements of magical realism in some of the stories, while others are more realistic. There is a little bit of something for everyone.

Absolutely loved this book. I didn't know I needed to read something like this, but I'm so glad I did. Would definitely recommend this to people!

3.5 stars. As someone from Southeast Asia, I was keen to try out this collection of short stories that would shine a spotlight on Filipino culture, even as it came through a Filipino-American lens. Personally, I feel the strongest stories were the ones that dealt with the relationships between the different generations, kicking off this collection strong with "Professional Lola" and ending just as solid with "Carabao". I was also pleasantly surprised by the inclusion of LGBTQ+ issues, but grateful and pleased nonetheless. A charming read!

3.5⭐
This was an enjoyable read. it's like a book you read in class and discuss it and I would really like to be in that classroom and hear how others interpret things in it.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

I wasn't entirely sure what I was getting myself into when I started this book, but once I started reading I couldn't stop. As a Filipina-American with a love for magical realism, these short stories were very much aligned with my interests, and it was so refreshing to see myself represented in a simultaneously contemporary and surreal setting.

Beyond the fact of representation, I really liked the topics covered in the short stories, as well. There is a beautiful exploration of grief, family, and navigating queerness in the titular Professional Lola tale; working through the complicated nature of half-sibling relationships in After Bigfoot, and understanding a loved one's transition in Carabao. My personal favorite was probably Handog, which was centered on the strained relationship between a father and son & the ways they're able to connect (& not.)

The only thing that I didn't enjoy about some of the stories was the way some of them felt like they came to a bit more of an abrupt ending while reading them. However, I think that's more a fault of my constant desire to get more out of a short story than is in the nature of the genre, rather than a fault of this particular book itself. Reflecting on these stories a couple days after reading them (as well as revisiting them again after the first pass) allows them to settle much more satisfactorily to my mind.

Overall, I definitely recommend this for folks who are a fan of magical realism & even more so to those who are looking to read some emotional/exploratory stories, largely about family, that are deeply rooted in the Filipino-American experience. It was so delightful to see my own family/relationships reflected in these texts & I'm very grateful to E.P. Tuazon for sharing these with the world!

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.