November 15th marks the print release of Access (Signal 8 Press, 2011), Xu Xi's new collection of thirteen stories. It came out as an e-book on November 1, so that's what I read last week.Each story is unique, but they all have one common theme--desire. Most feature a strong … [Read more...]
Teaching Chinese in the schools
I try not to gripe on my blog, but when something seems so wrong, it's hard to stay silent.Yesterday when I was walking around downtown Chicago I overheard conversations in Mandarin not once, but twice in 20 minutes. And I wasn't even in Chinatown.So my issue is this. My … [Read more...]
Book of the week–H is for Hong Kong
I've been busy with my manuscript revisions this week so haven't posted here as much as I've wanted. But I haven't stopped reading.One book I've been reading many times each day is H is for Hong Kong (Things Asian Press, 2009).Last week I received this book and … [Read more...]
Book of the week–Don’t Joke on the Stairs
Last week I read Cecilie Gamst Berg's new memoir, Don't Joke on the Stairs: How I Learned to Navigate China By Breaking Most of the Rules (Blacksmith Books, 2011).Years ago I'd read Gamst Berg's novel, Blonde Lotus (Haven Books, 2005) and enjoyed her spunky voice. She's a … [Read more...]
Book of the week–When the Emperor Was Divine
Julie Otsuka is my new favorite author. She's got style and substance. Several weeks ago I finished her new novel, The Buddha in the Attic (Knopf, 2011), which was recently listed as a National Book Award finalist.In Buddha, she doesn't use a main character and doesn't … [Read more...]
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