AAPI Heritage Month: Two Memoirs

 AAPI Heritage: More Books

Week three of the Asian American Heritage month book reviews and features. Wrapping up next Sunday. 

Biting the Hand: Growing Up Asian in Black and White America by Julia Lee
Published April 18, 2023; Henry Holt & Co.

Genre: memoir, Asian American literature, race relations, biography

Julia Lee wants to debunk the stereotype of Asians being the model minority, who are seen as quiet, passive, acquiescent, sweet and polite.

The truth, she says, is that Asians are full of rage - first at their mothers for insisting on saving face, teaching their children to be decorous and always polite in public; and at the stereotypes of Asians propagated by society, beginning at school, and the racism and classism shown by students, teachers, and school administrators.

The author goes through the history of immigration in America, including the banning of Asian immigration for 60 years, before the Hart-Celler Act of 1965 relaxed the quotas. She cites the Korean shopkeepers caught up in the LA uprising and states that black versus Asian and minority myths are propagated by society at large to keep the minorities at war with each other so to keep the white majority on top.

She sees a solution in having all people seen as humans, not as a racial group, and be treated as individual human beings, and not as just a minority group.

The author is convincing in the history and the facts she presents for her case, and very detailed, giving multiple examples of racism and the violence and self-hatred that it can propagate. There is so much more to this book than I can cover here, but I recommend it highly as relevant to everyone living in America.

Julia Lee is an Assistant Professor of English at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, California. 

 

Her first book, The American Slave Narrative and the Victorian Novel, was published by Oxford University Press in 2010. Her second book, Our Gang: A Racial History of “The Little Rascals” was published by University of Minnesota Press in 2015. She has also published a novel, By The Book (2018), under the pen name, Julia Sonneborn. 

Owner of a Lonely Heart: A Memoir by Beth Nguyen

Publication: July 4, 2023; Scribner

Genre: memoir, Vietnam refugees, Asian American literature, women, immigrants

I thought again of how war separates families in strange and devastating ways, resulting in fractured relationships. Beth Nguyen was eight months old in April 1975 when she and her sister fled with their father and his relatives on a naval ship to the U.S. , leaving behind Beth's mother, who lived in another town. Years later, in 1985, the mother and her family arrived in Boston as immigrants.

Beth met her birth mother only after finishing her second year of college, but she had grown up with no curiousity about Vietnam, the past, or her birth mother. As Beth wrote," Our histories had separated long ago and had never truly met again."

However, Beth soon began to imagine and wonder about the grief her birth mother must have felt on finding her daughters gone when she went to visit them in the city back in Vietnam. Beth finally learns from what happened when her mother found an empty house, no note, and only news that their father had fled Vietnam with the girls those long years ago.

The novel becomes emotional for me, as the reader, towards the second half of the memoir, when Beth presses her birth mother for more honest answers about the past - how her mother felt and reacted to losing her daughters so suddenly. Though both her parents now have new families of their own, Beth seems haunted by what her mother must have felt and what she might feel still.

I felt that there was a breakthrough and that after her mother admitted she "cried and cried", Beth came to terms with the wholesome life she had had with her father and stepmother, and the new relationship she has with her birth mother and her family.

I feel I have not done justice to this very interesting and moving memoir of war and the aftermath of war on two families. This is a very worthwhile memoir for those interested in the Vietnam War, in refugees, and in the complex backgrounds and experiences of many immigrants.

The author:

Bich Minh "Beth" Nguyen is an American novelist and nonfiction writer. She is the author of the novels Short Girls, which won a 2010 American Book Award, and Pioneer Girl, and a memoir, Stealing Buddha's Dinner, which won the PEN/Jerard Award and was a Chicago Tribune Best Book of 2007 and a BookSense pick. She lives in Chicago and Indiana, where she teaches literature and creative writing at Purdue University.

Also writes as Beth Nguyen

Thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for access to these books. 

What are you reading this week? 

Memes: The Sunday Post hosted by The Caffeinated Bookreviewer. Also,  It's Monday: What Are You Reading, and Sunday Salon, Stacking the Shelves, Mailbox Monday

Sunday Salon: A Reposting of a 2010 Sunday Salon

March 28, 2010 Sunday Salon Post

Time to reprint this post with its links to reviews of interesting books of then! Click on the titles for my full blog reviews!

In between full time work, I did only two book reviews the past week. I tried to sneak in as many pages of reading as I could during lunch and breaks. I'm on the computer all day but can't blog, of course. It's been a busy but Ho Hum week.

Posted a review of The Writing on My Forehead: A Novel by Nafisa Haji (March 2009) for TLC Book Tours, plus a guest post by the author on writing.

The Godfather of Kathmandu by John Burdett, detective fiction, also got a review, which I changed around a few times as I had a hard time expressing how I felt about the book. There was just so much to it.

I loved The Old Capital by Yasunari Kawabata, a short novel about the beauty of the old Kyoto, the ancient capital, and about a young girl finding out that she is adopted. Straight forward and easy to read.

I reviewed a new mystery novel, Murder in the Palais Royal (Aimee Leduc Investigations, No. 10) by Cara Black, set in Paris. One of my favorite mystery series.

Then there is a love story, Love in Mid Air by Kim Wright, a debut novel. 

On the 6-hour drive to and from Canada last weekend, we listened to 8 discs of the 17-disc audio of  The Swan Thieves: A Novel.  My hubby, who loves art and a good mystery, really liked it. Click on the title for my post.

It will rain tomorrow. Later, I'll take down the old robin's nest in the tall bush/tree outside my window. I think robins build new ones each year.

Ho, hum, time to turn in! What did you do last week?

So, this is my post 12 years ago in the Sunday Salon. I'm amazed I read so many books so quickly during that time! Do you have posts from 2010?

What are you reading this week? 

Memes: The Sunday Post hosted by The Caffeinated Bookreviewer. Also,  It's Monday: What Are You Reading, and Sunday Salon, Stacking the Shelves

Sunday Salon: Historical Fiction and Contemporary Books

 Now reading: 

The Last Rose of Shanghai by Weina Dai Randel, December 1, 2021, was offered online as one of the First Reads. It's an historical fiction set in Shanghai in 1940, during the Japanese occupation.

 Aiyi, an heiress and owner of a nightclub, falls in love with Ernest, an impoverished Jewish refugee fleeing the Nazis in Germany. The two people are devastated and separagted by war in Shanghai, a city divided into  European and local Chinese sections, all overshadowed by the occupying Japanese.  I'm learning more about this fascinating period in Shanghai's WWII history.

A book I rescued from my give-away pile is The Song Remains the Same by Allison Winn Scotch, a novel about a woman with dissociatie amnesia, having lost her memory after a plane crash and finding herself married to a man she does not remember. 

I am re-reading it and reposting a review I wrote in 2012!

Title:The Song Remains the Same: A Novel
Author: Allison Winn Scotch
Putnam Adult; April 2012
Objective rating: 4/5

Nell Slattery has lost her memory after a plane crash and is lied to by her relatives and her husband about details of her past. She doesn't recognize her husband, her mother, or her sister, and it seems she has become another person - a more outgoing and less stuffy and conservative person she hears she used to be.

Nell slowly discovers the truths about her marriage, her childhood, and the disappearance of her father, a well-known artist. She makes a decision to be a different person from the one she used to be. I thought the ending was a bit prolonged, however, and I was also a bit surprised by Nell's decision re her dad at the end of the book as this didn't seem totally in character. Overall, however, a very good read!

What are you reading this week? 

Linked to The Sunday Post hosted by The Caffeinated Bookreviewer. Also, Sunday Salon

Sunday Salon: Novels with Widows and a CIA Agent

 New reads from the library:

An Ambush of Widows by Jeff Abbott,  July 6, 2021, Grand Central Publishing

Genre: psychological suspense

About: two widows delve into their husbands’ deadly and dangerous secrets—as they try to protect their own.

The women, who know each other only because their husbands were killed in the same location, join to find the secrets behind the murders and to protect their families. 

The Last Tourist by Olen Steinhauer, March 24, 2020, Minotaur Books

Genre: political thriller

About: This is the fourth book in the CIA agent's, Milo Weaver, series. Milo is hiding out in Western Sahara when a young CIA analyst arrives to question him about a series of suspicious deaths and terrorist chatter linked to him.

This detailed, complex book takes some time to get into and to read, but seems worth it. 

What are you reading this week?

Memes: The Sunday Post hosted by The Caffeinated Bookreviewer. Also,  It's Monday: What Are You Reading, and Sunday Salon

I Thought You Said This Would Work by Ann Garvin: Sunday Salon

 The title of this book  made me choose it, and I'm not disappointed so far.

I Thought You Said This Would Work by Ann Garvin

Published May 1, 2021, Lake Union Publishing

Genre: contemporary fiction, humor

Source: ebook 

Three women are off in a broken down camper, driving cross country on an errand for their friend Karen, who is undergoing cancer treatment. The goal? Bring back Karen's beloved diabetic Great Pyrenees dog from LA to her bedside in Wisconsin. Karen's ex has already shipped the unwanted giant dog to a rescue center in Utah and the three women must travel to Utah, find the dog and bring him to Karen, who needs him as her therapy pet. The dog needs insulin shots regularly, so putting him in a crate in the belly of a plane, to fly to Wisconsin, is out of the question. 

What's the novel's interest besides this unusual quest? The three women are not compatible, two of them are barely talking to each other, and the third is a new LA friend who has hopped on for the ride. But their getting along is crucial on the trip. The situation calls for either comedy or tragedy and the book is hilarious so far.

What book is keeping you up this week? 

Memes: The Sunday Post hosted by The Caffeinated Bookreviewer. Also,  It's Monday: What Are You Reading, and Sunday Salon

Sunday Salon: Books Published in 1941

 Reading Books published 1941

I found on my shelves a first edition of The End is Not Yet: China at War by Herrymon Maurer, printed 1941 by Robert M. McBride & Company, NY

A withdrawn library book that I've had for umpteen years, it's description on Goodreads:

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations.

The book begins with the August 1937 attack on Shanghai, China by Japanese forces, starting a years' long occupation of several major cities and an attempt at complete subjugation of China at the beginnings of WWII. This period of time is known as the Sino-Japanese War. The Japanese did not give up their attempts or withdraw from China until their defeat in WWII in 1945. Thus the title, The End Is Not Yet, as this book was printed in 1941, four years before the defeat. 

The book describes the surprise attacks and takeover of major cities by the Japanese troops, and the unrelenting Chinese resistance, with what amounts to mainly guerilla warfare to counter the superior tanks and armored vehicles and the bombs of the invading country. The Chinese resistance continued for about eight years, from 1937 to 1945,  and was successful because of their numbers, the mountainous nature of the landscape, the unforgiving and uncontrollable great rivers of the Yellow River and the Yangtze, the Chinese guerilla tactics, and their determination to keep their country free. 

The author received first hand information for this partial history from friends, foreign and Chinese, in Szechwan and primarily in Chengtu.

I am in the middle of reading The End is Not Yet, and am totally captivated, as I've always been fascinated by this period of Chinese history.  I'm so glad I finally noticed this book on my shelves!

From the Library: 

The title of this small green hardcover on the mystery shelves of our library caught my eye. This title was new to me, and I believed I had read all of Du Maurier's novels. 

I'll Never Be Young Again by Daphne du Maurier was first printed in 1932. This edition is a 1941 publication by the Sun Dial Press, New York. 

It's a coming-of-age story, with  a 20-year-old who was rescued from self-destruction by a slightly older man, who takes him on journeys far away from the stifling and loveless home life and family in London which had led him to near suicide.

I'm in the middle of the book and curious about the final outcome, as the young man, Dick, reacts to his new environments and meeting and interacting with new people his own age, far from home.  It seems a little different from her previous novels and is relatively unknown, it appears. 

These are my current books. 

What are you reading this week?

Memes: The Sunday Post hosted by The Caffeinated Bookreviewer. Also,  It's Monday: What Are You Reading, and Sunday Salon

My Grape Year by Laura Bradbury: Armchair Travel and Romance: Sunday Salon

 A rom-com memoir set in a French vineyard in Burgundy.

Title: My Grape Year by Laura Bradbury

September 23, 2015, Grape Books

Genre: YA, rom-com, travel memoir

And this is only the beginning. There are others after this book, making it a series of at least 8 books! Laura first travels to France as an exchange high school student, nearing 18 years-of-age, hoping for adventure and romance. She lands up staying with four different families during a year in wine making Burgundy. 

I have only just started Book 1 but it satisfies my armchair travel inclinations, and the writing is so delightful, I'm sure I'll be reading the rest of the series, in due time.

Currently also reading: 

Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu, January 28, 2020, Pantheon Books 

Genre: contemporary Asian fiction, multicultural

Setting: USA

It's a funny book full of Asian stereotypes the author is trying to debunk. 

Willy Wu describes himself as Generic Asian Man dreaming of being Kung Fu Guy.

That's how he is seen, except by his mother who tells him, Be more.

Lots of chuckles. Am looking forward to reading on. 

Someone should write Generic Asian Woman. That should bring just as many chuckles. 

What are you reading this week? 

Memes: The Sunday Post hosted by The Caffeinated Bookreviewer. Also,  It's Monday: What Are You Reading, and Sunday Salon

Sunday Salon: Singapore, India, and Southern Italy

 My latest books have come from the library, which is welcoming patrons into the building once again. This means I'm ignoring my ereader, for the time being, and going with paper books!

Last Tang Standing by Lauren Ho, published June 9, 2020, Putnam

Genre: contemporary women's fiction, romance

My goodreads review:

Refreshing take on career, romance and marriage, pulling the main character in two directions at once. Andrea Tang is a successful corporate lawyer in Singapore, working overtime to achieve her goal of making partner in the firm.

However, her relatives, in particular her mother, are after her to find a husband and to provide grandchildren. How Andrea manages these two conflicting, for her,  goals are the main theme. The novel is written with humor and interesting insights into  women and careers, especially among the well-to-do in Singapore. Last Tang Standing was fun to read and more than a great beach read.

Recently arrived in the mail: 

The Bombay Prince by Sujata Massey, June 1, 2021, courtesy of Soho Crime

Genre: historical mystery set in India, 1920s

Description: India’s only female lawyer, Perveen Mistry, is compelled to bring justice to the family of a murdered female Parsi student just as Bombay’s streets erupt in riots to protest British colonial rule. 

The Measure of Time by Gianrico Carofiglio, April 8, 2021, from Bitter Lemon Press
Genre: legal thriller set in Southern Italy

Description: The setting is Bari in Southern Italy. Defense attorney Guido Guerrieri takes on an appeal against what looks like an unassailable murder conviction. The alleged perpetrator is the son of a former lover. A taut legal thriller and a meditation on the ravages of time.

What are you reading this week? 

Memes: The Sunday Post hosted by The Caffeinated Bookreviewer. Also,  It's Monday: What Are You Reading, and Sunday Salon

Sunday Salon: The Searcher by Tana French

 New thriller I'm currently reading:

The Searcher by Tana French, October 6, 2020, Viking

Setting: Ireland

Genre: thriller, mystery

Source: library ebook

A retired Chicago cop decides to live in Ireland, where he thinks there is little or no crime, but soon gets caught up in his little village's rural life. He is persuaded by a young teen to search for the teen's missing brother. and there are two unexplained violent attacks on a sheep of two different farmers. These situations are interesting enough to pull him back into detective mode, albeit on his own and not officially. 

I'm looking forward to see what he uncovers. 

Other news: 

It has been snowing in earnest, although we have gotten only about 4 inches so far, but we have an arctic freeze this weekend and into next week. The temps are in the teens right now and we have another incentive besides self-isolation from the virus to stay in. So, I can get some more reading in!

I've been having fun posting pictures of the various winter socks I'm wearing to keep warm even indoors! 

What are you reading this week? 

Memes: The Sunday Post hosted by The Caffeinated Bookreviewer. Also,  It's Monday: What Are You Reading, and Sunday Salon

Sunday Salon: Never Look Back by Alison Gaylin

 Currently reading:

Never Look Back by Alison Gaylin, July 2, 2019, William Morrow

Genre: suspense, mystery

Source: library book 

A teenage girl and her boyfriend went on a killing spree 43 years ago before being killed in a fire. The brother of one of those killed wants to make a podcast about the victims and their surviving families. He is then told that the young girl, one of the killers, might still be alive. 

I'm a third of the way through the book and it's holding my interest. 

What are you reading this week? 

Memes: The Sunday Post hosted by The Caffeinated Bookreviewer. Also,  It's Monday: What Are You Reading, and Sunday Salon

Sunday Salon: Armchair Travel

Finished a few books in the past ten days, more than I've been reading lately. Here are my brief reviews and comments.

White Out by Danielle Girard, August 1, 2020, Thomas Mercer
Genre: thriller, suspense
Setting: North Dakota
Source: Kindle Unlimited

Lily Baker wakes up in a car overhanging an overpass, the injured driver unconscious behind the wheel after the accident. She slowly extricates herself while trying to save the driver, whom she doesn't recognize. Lily is suffering from amnesia from the accident, and discovers, step by step, her painful past experiences and who she can and cannot trust. 
An entertaining thriller, very good at the beginning but burdensome and heavy at the ending. Still worth reading.

The Other Side of the Door by Nicci French, William Morrow Paperback,
2021
Genre: suspense, psychological thriller
Setting: London
Source: NetGalley

My Goodreads review:

Love, obsession, murder, friendship. These are themes in Nicci French's psychological novel. Bonnie has promised her friend to perform at her wedding and has gotten together a motley group of friends to form a small band just for the event. The interaction among these people lead to unforeseen consequences that tests love and friendship. A compelling read with suspense and an unexpected ending.

Love, obsession, murder, friendship. These are themes in Nicci French's psychological novel. Bonnie has promised her friend to perform at her wedding and has gotten together a motley group of friends to form a small band just for the event. The interaction among these people lead to unforeseen consequences that tests love and friendship.

A compelling read with suspense and an unexpected ending.

The Nesting by C.J. Cooke, September 29, 2020, Kindle edition
Genre: Scandinavian thriller, suspense, modern Gothic
Setting: Norway
Source: NetGalley

Set in Norway, the novel uses Norwegian legends, beliefs, and folk tales as an integral part of the plot.

 Lexi Ellis, down on her luck and needing a job, pretends to be someone else to get a dream job of nanny to two small girls in the forests of Norway. She becomes involved in the local beliefs of spirits and ghosts and the mystery of the death of her employer's former wife. Good armchair travel and an entertaining plot. 

Tahoe Hit by Todd Borg, Kindle edition
Genre: thriller
Setting: Lake Tahoe, Nevada, California
Source: Kindle Unlimited

The son of a rich financier with a home in Lake Tahoe hires Tahoe private investigator Owen McKenna to investigate and find his son. Time is of the essence, as McKenna and his sidekick, a Great Dane named Spot, try to unravel a Shakespearean plot that involves a family drama resembling the  tragic story of Hamlet. 

 Clever use of setting and literature to craft a mystery thriller well worth reading.

Currently reading:

Hard Rain by Irma Ventner, romantic mystery set in Tanzania, with a journalist and a photographer with a mysterious past. 

What are you reading this week?

Memes: The Sunday Post hosted by The Caffeinated Bookreviewer. Also,  It's Monday: What Are You Reading, and Sunday Salon

Sunday Salon: Paris Is Always a Good Idea by Jenn McKinlay

I have never appreciated books so much as this year, a difficult year on so many counts. I've finished re-reading 

A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles

for our book club next week, and I got so much more from reading the novel the second time around. I'm looking forward to our discussion as there are so many topics to cover from this one book.

Themes include dealing with forced isolation or self-isolation. "Mastering your circumstances" instead of having them master you. I thought that's appropriate for these days, though the book was written several years ago.

===================

A less serious novel caught my attention. Paris is always a good idea, I'd agree! This is one of my current reads. 

 Paris Is Always a Good Idea by Jenn McKinlay

Published July 21, 2020, Berkley

Genre; romance, contemporary fiction

What are you reading this week?

Memes: The Sunday Post hosted by The Caffeinated Bookreviewer. Also,  It's Monday: What Are You Reading, and Sunday Salon

Sunday Salon: A Theory of Everything Else: Essays by Laura Pedersen

Re-reading

A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles

March 26, 2019, Penguin

This, for a book club meeting early August. A reader on FB admitted to reading the novel four times!  I might go for three, but I doubt four times!

Books to be finished

I have too many of these. I must be having attention deficit when it comes to reading, as I'm tempted by new Netgalley and Kindle Unlimited books very quickly. And I'm not always in the mood for a specific genre. How about you?

In the mail 

A Theory of Everything Else: Essays by Laura Pedersen

She Writes Press (September 1, 2020)

In A Theory of Everything Else, Pedersen vividly demonstrates how life can appear to grind us down while it’s actually polishing us up―and why everyone wants to live a long time but no one wants to grow old. (publisher)

What are you reading this week?

Memes: The Sunday Post hosted by The Caffeinated Bookreviewer. Also,  It's Monday: What Are You Reading, and Sunday Salon