Recent books… with a China theme
Since last month I don’t have an apartment in Shanghai anymore but I still work there. How do I do it? Well, I take the train from Suzhou every morning, and every evening I take the train back. This is only a temporary situation, as I am supposed to start working from home in January. (I might write a post about my daily commute if I am inspired).
One of the upsides of this new arrangement is that I have one hour to read in the train every day. I am reading much more now! The Kindle Paperwhite that C. bought me for my birthday last September might also have something to do with it.
Best present ever!
I like marking the books I am currently reading in Goodreads. WordPress even has a widget you can show in your blog! You can see it here somewhere in the right margin. And I noticed that I have read several books related to China this past year and wanted to share them here.
So, these are the books that I have read this year and that have something to do with China.
Boxers and Saints, by Gene Luen Yang
Two comic books retelling the story of the Boxer Rebellion which took place in China at the end of the 19th century/beginning of the 20th. The story is told separately by two sides of the conflict: the Boxers, who were opposed to foreign imperialism and foreign missionaries, and the Christians (foreign and Chinese) who were the target of their attacks. The main book is Boxers, Saints is way smaller and not so interesting but it is a good complement and allows you to see both sides of the story.
Factory Girls: From Village to City in a Changing China, by Leslie T. Chang
The books follows the lives of several young female workers in the factories of Guangdong. Most of them came from the inner, poorer provinces and didn’t have the chance to study past secondary or high school, so they started working young and saving money. The story of these girls resonated with me as they reminded me of an ex-colleague from my previous job. She had a younger brother and the family didn’t have enough money for the two kids to study. In these situations, it is always the son who will be chosen to follow his studies. So my colleague came to Suzhou and started working in factories and then was upgraded to quality control. Later she started attending evening lessons (remember that workers in factories usually work 12 hours a day, 6 days a week), taught herself English and got a better job, in an office, dealing with customs and logistics. The last thing I knew was that she was now learning Japanese, to have more chances to be hired by one of the many Japanese enterprises in Suzhou. 
Pearl River Drama: Dating in China – A Memoir, by Ray Hecht
Ha! Does the name of the author sound familiar? You might have seen him around here! Ray compiled his Dating in China series from his blog and made this book.
Life and Death in Shanghai, by Cheng Nien
The true story of a wealthy, educated woman that lost absolutely everything and went to prison for more than 6 years during the Cultural Revolution. She was a truly fascinating character and the story is absolutely devastating. A must read. (I think it would be a great movie, but I’m not so sure China would be very happy about it. According to this old piece of news from 1993, Chen Kaige was thinking about filming it but dropped the idea).
The Martian, by Andy Weir
If you have read The Martian, you know China plays a small part in it! I thoroughly enjoyed the book and I’m looking forward to watch the movie,which will be finally released in a couple of weeks here in China.
South China Morning Blues, by Ray Hecht
Ha! Ray again! This is his last book, which has been just published. It tells the lives of different characters, some expats, some Chinese, living in Guangdong. It was the second book I read on the Kindle and I enjoyed it a lot, especially the first half. If you have spent some years in China, like me, you will feel like you have really met the characters in real life!
The Three-Body Problem, by Liu Cixin
I have never read much sci-fi. I don’t know why, it just never found the way to my shelves. I wanted to read this book because the author is Chinese, and I was curious about Chinese sci-fi (not that I can really compare it with the “foreign” one, ha). Besides, it won a prize this year, the movie is in the works and C. is addicted to it. So… I couldn’t put it down. Totally recommended. I will start the second part of the trilogy soon (The Dark Forest), and the English translation of the third book won’t be published until April next year. Argh! If I am too impatient I might try to read it in Chinese. (First I might need a crash course on physics in Mandarin!).
My Kindle still has a lot of free space! What books would you recommend me? My to-read list currently has all the Game of Thrones, The Curse of Chalion (Autumn’s suggestion), The Secret History of the Mongols and Tiger Tail Soup.
My book ;) Little Lord Oscar Dandelion ( International Jewel – and Sandwich Filling Thief )
I read Factory Girls a few years ago and found it really interesting. Otherwise, a few to add to the list, thanks!
Is your Kindle Chinese? Mine is UK and i can’t connect to my wifi here in China so have to use USB to download :( does yours work well?
My Kindle was bought in China and I can connect to the wifi, yes. I also used it in Spain and could connect there. Have you tried connecting to several wifis and none of them work? That is weird…
Kindle is great, isn’t it. I used to have to carry about 3 kgs of books when I was backpacking around Europe. Guess you have already read G G Marquez in and Isabelle Allende in Spanish. How about the recent book about Chinese millionaires by Kevin Kwan or Totem Wolf (this is now a movie by a French director) – both I have not read but read about and on my reading list. There was a modern history book, which name I forgot, about the history from the Boxer Rebellion to the 1980’s when the economic reforms started. Isn’t Saga a graphic novel?
Yes, Saga is a graphic novel, I bought it together with the other books a few months ago so it appears on the picture, although it doesn’t have anything to do with China.
Thanks for your suggestions! I have only read one novel from both Isabel Allende and Gabriel García Márquez, I will queue some more ;)
If you read graphics novels, you should definitely grab Bone by Jeff Smith.
Oh I have read it! A long time ago, and only the first volume I think. I will look it up. Thanks!
Great! Do you know of the Gutenburg Project? You can download many free books. (But I have forgotten the program to convert to Kindle format.
Yes! I have used Gutenberg before, I read some oldies on my tablet. I will find the converting program :)
Why thank you so much for reading.
I’m a fan of Gene Luen Yang, really enjoyed American Born Chinese and looking forwarto reading the next graphic novels. He’s also writing a critically-acclaimed run on Superman now.
Factory Girls is an excellent study on modern China. About Dong’guan, bordering Shenzhen…
I need to read the Three-Body Problem!
Hmmm, would it be better to read the Martian before or after watching the film?
Mmmm I normally prefer reading the book before the movie, but the other way around is also fine… for example now I am going to start reading Game of Thrones, after watching the series!
Me too, just finished Storm of Shadows. Long read….
Only read Ray’s Pearl River Drama thus far and waiting now that his new book is being shipped to me (should arrive in good old Germany somewhen in December…)
The first mentioned comic seems interesting, need to check it out
From that same author you can also check American Born Chinese. It is a recommendation from both Ray and me :P
Three Body Problem is on my list, along with Ray’s and now your Factory Girls. List is huge!
Have yet to break down and buy a Kindle. I feel like I might bankrupt us…
Having a Kindle is dangerous, yes. As you don’t have to worry about where to put so many books, you end up getting A LOT, haha.
I need to reaaaad!!!!! Three body problem! That will definitely be my next!
I’m reading the Martian now… can’t wait to see the role China plays
Jia you, Mary!! Did you watch the movie? It was released a few months ago in the US, no?
It must be nice to have an hour every day to read on the train. Did you have a regular Kindle before? I wonder if the Kindle Paperwhite is much better.
Here’s another suggestion for a book about China. Have you read The Girl Who Played Go? Originally written in French by Shan Sa, the English translation was published in 2004. It’s a Romeo and Juliet tragedy about a Chinese girl and Japanese soldier during the Japanese invasion of Manchuria in the 1930s. It’s also a coming-of-age story. I liked it a lot.
Now I’m reading South China Morning Blues.
This is my first Kindle so I can’t really compare! I guess if you already have the “normal” one and it works fine there is no need to upgrade.
Thanks for the suggestion! I will look for it!
These all sound very interesting. I have Tiger Tail Soup on my kindle app and will read it soon, am thinking of reading some Pearl S. Bucks books after this one.
Oh, yes! I have been meaning to read Pearl S. Buck for years but didn’t manage to until now. I will queue some of her books. Thanks for reminding me!
Gracias por las recomendaciones.
Pues así recientes….
“Chapuzas de amor”, Jaime Hernández
“Frances”, Joanna Hellgreen
“Pies descalzos”, Keiji Nakazawa
“Éramos unos niños”, Patty Smith
…
Me los apunto!
How inspiring! I do find kindle for commutes the best ever! :-) However most of the books I’ve read in the last while are all authors known to us from various book launches. However.. when I surface.. this is a great list to hop over to China themes stories as a nice departure from India!
Yes! I was worried about commutes with a big fat heavy book on my bag, but luckily now I don’t have to worry about that. The kindle is so light! I was kind of “I don’t want an ebook, I like the feeling of the real thing” before, but now I am an ebook believer, haha.
I read through your book selections, and I thought it would make a very good quiz package with the question: “Which one of these books are the odd one out?”. The answer is obvious hahaha!
Which one?? I think all of them can be linked to at least one of the others, haha.
All those books are about people who are living in China and focus on (different) aspects of living in China. Only one of them does not talk about living in China. But I concede, there are a few lines that highlight American and Chinese differences in terms of mindset and culture.
I hope you like the movie though… :D
Oh, now I get it, haha. I think I will enjoy the movie ;)
Commute to Shanghai every weekday? How are you still putting out blog posts? That’s brutal. Keep on truckin’.
And thanks for the book reviews! I’ll be visiting this post as soon as I finish my current book.
Yes, every day… I update the blog from the office because I am not very busy these days!
Boxers and Saints sounds good to me, it seems an interesting book, I was always curious to know a little bit more about the Boxers since pretty much all I know is form the film 55 at Pekin which by the way was shot in Las Rozas, Madrid.
I am trying to read on and off the cumbersome Wild Swans.
Ha! I watched that movie a couple of months ago, I didn’t know it was filmed in Spain! That is funny!
Factory Girls is a really good book. Saga is a cool comic- a friend introduced that to me just earlier this year. I guess you’ve already read Peter Hessler’s books right?
No, I haven’t! Adding them to my to-read list :)
Thanks for the names of the books…I have read some…I note you are adding Peter Hessler’s books to your list; perhaps you could check out Pearl Buck’s books on China – very good and easy to read. PS I love Suzhou!!! You might like to read my post on my visit there if you have an interest.
https://tangmengxiu.wordpress.com//?s=suzhou&search=Go
Thanks Sue! I have been wanting to read The Good Earth a long time but never found the moment, I won’t forget it this time :)
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Getting a kindle was one of the best decisions I ever made! I read a lot of books about daily life in China and your description of The Factory Girls reminded me of one of the common themes I see – just how hard people are prepared to work to get ahead and improve their lives. It really changes your perspective.
What books did you read? Any recommendations? ;)
I’m a big fan of Xinran, I have read a couple of her books – my favourite so far is probably The Good Women of China
Thanks! I’ll look it up.
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