Welcome to Litsy!

Two nonfiction picks for #NonfictionNovember! This is a nice pairing—the #BookSpin pick has been on my TBR for a loooonnng time, and my #DoubleSpin is the book I‘ve bought most recently.

This book was published almost 50 years ago, yet it would be considered fresh and even revolutionary today. I wasn‘t always sure what was personal/family memoir and what was Chinese story, and I sometimes took a long time to figure out how people were related to the author, but I thought it was extraordinary.

Enjoying Laos with good reads✨

A frustrating read for me. While I applaud Kingston‘s creativity in blending Chinese legends with her own experiences mixed with hyperbolic retelling, I can‘t say I enjoyed myself much through the book, especially the last chapter‘s excruciating examination on how she basically tortured a classmate into trying to talk and calling a mentally disabled classmate a “monster.” Very difficult to penetrate.

Historical fiction at it's best. I have approximately half of this list and read about a quarter.

How many have you read? Any recommendations?
#historicalfiction

https://www.panmacmillan.com/blogs/history/best-historical-fiction-books?fbclid=...

An appreciation post for an amazing author Maxine Hong Kingston.

#womensday #reading #authorappreciation #femaleauthor #females #readingthelibrary #readyforthefuture #readathon #readingmyownbooks #chineseauthor #booknerd #bookworm #librarybook

A slow start but a worthy finish. Advertised as memoir but parts felt more mythologized.

I need someone smarter than me to explain this book 😂 it's about growing up in the US to a Chinese immigrant mother and not feeling like you really belong anywhere, also about women in Chinese culture. It's definitely a blend of memoir and story telling.

What a clever way to write one's memoirs. Kingston wrapped Chinese traditions, superstitions, and legends around her childhood. She starts by telling the story of Mu Lan and how her mother becomes a woman warrior herself by becoming a doctor educated by Eastern and Western medicine. By the end, she is confused about what is true and what is a story and decides to visit China to gain deeper knowledge. I will definitely read more by Kingston.

"You must not tell anyone," my mother said, "what I am about to tell you."

#FirstLineFridays @ShyBookOwl

I ordered White Noise by Don Delillo and received this book instead. Has anyone read it? I went through the process to return and it said no need to send the item back. I‘ve never received a wrong book before!

I definitely need to work on my photo collage skills but any murmurings on these choices? @TheBookHippie @Wife @Sward7 #lmpbc

#FebruaryFeels @Eggs
#FaveMemoir

I have read only a few memoirs. I am not into this genre. I had to read this one in my senior high school English class. It had already been out for awhile and I didn't make it to the end. Nevertheless, it is the best one I have read.

This is my stats for all the books I own at my house.
How many I have read.
How many pages I have read.
Top author's.
Top genre's.
I need to work on my own collection of books more as I'm leaving for university next year and would like to only use the library and my kindle it would save a lot of money as I won't be working so much.
#readingmyownbooks #university #student #librarybooks #stopbuyingstartreading #mylibrary 🤟📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚

#WanderingJune

(Day 3 - #ChinaGirl)

*The tagged book includes the phrase “Memoirs of a Childhood Among Ghosts.” The book is memoir interwoven with folklore. Some of Kingston‘s imagery is represented above: the No Name Woman; Fa Mu Lan & the White Tigers; her scholarly mother & her naming all white people “ghosts”; San Francisco Airport as “Western Palace”; her mother cutting the membrane under her tongue. Kingston is in the b&w framed photo.

Thanks for the reminder, Goodreads. Get me a clone or house elf (paid for the elf) and I could read more!!

This memoir artfully blends folklore and memory to craft a feminist battle cry. Since It doesn‘t follow a linear narrative and introduces some fantastical elements, some may find it a challenging read, but it rewards the effort with beauty and wisdom.

I just started this and I am struck by the voice.

'She opened her mouth and a voice came out that wasn't a whisper, but it wasn't a proper voice either.... When it was my turn, the same voice came out, a crippled animal running on broken legs. You could hear splinters in my voice, bones rubbing jagged against one another.'

Why did I never read this book until now? Devoured in one day, with me forever now. It's a tour de force.

Some people hate it when a book they're reading has been highlighted or annotated by someone else - I love it. This second-hand copy has been highlighted in two colours (possibly by two different people), bits underlined in pencil (a third person?) and pages turned down at the corners. I feel like I've joined in on an ongoing conversation as the book resonates with people and they respond.

Woman warrior fashion book look！

What do you do when you're VERY early to book club even after visiting the independent bookstore and the comic shop next door? You go ahead and order a cider and start in on one of the new acquisitions.

A profound and deeply nostalgic memoir detailing the juxtaposition of growing up Chinese in California. I found it incredibly unique, almost poetic, at times bordering on magical realism, but rich in tradition, mythology, and culture. As a native Californian, I appreciated this different perspective. It was eye opening in many different ways. Definitely recommend.

“I can do ghost things even better than ghosts can.
Not everybody thinks I‘m nothing.
I am not going to be a slave or a wife.”

I start late on Fridays - this is how I like to spend my free mornings ☺️☕️📖

Litsy, it‘s been too long. Starting this today! #thewomanwarrior #maxinehongkingston #sanfrancisco

"We're all under the same sky and walk the same earth; we're alive together during the same moment."

Starting this book, long overdue...

Following @TheNextBook 's lead, here is my stack of books I want to read this year. I have a distinct problem with buying used books at library and Rotary sales, and then not reading them as I manage my library queue. My shelves are 2-deep, and I need to get reading!! #tbrstack

#AndItsAugust Day 16 - Diversity

These three works give insight to the diversity of some of the "hyphenated" experiences: African-American, Mexican-American, Chinese-American.

Was rather proud of myself for being able accurately guess what was published when based on cover. Here are a few #publishedinthe1970s for #JubilantJuly - all are recent purchases from a library sale and #tbr 📚

Though a classic, I just could not get into this novel. It's written as a memoir but does not read like one -- it's more like a fictitious collection of jumbled short stories. Read for an Asian-American lit class that I definitely did not enjoy.
••••••••••
⭐️⭐️

Kingston talking about her mother moving into a dorm room when she goes to college.

Beautifully written memoir that is feminist and intersectional. MHK writes of her childhood as first generation Chinese American and about the female warriors and ghosts in her family. https://cannonballread.com/2017/04/a-warrior-armed-with-words/

just started 📚☕😚

Excellent advice from the brilliant Maxine Hong Kingston for #MondayMotivation. ✨

No matter how hard things are in your life and outside of it, there is always power in exercising your creativity to make art.

#BookMail! 📬🎉

I've been really looking forward to this book, and I finally got my hands on it! It's a feminist classic about a woman growing up as Chinese-American in California.

Overall I enjoyed the stories. However I found the fluidity lacking and was sometimes confused by the narration. The author was sometimes writing from the view of her mother and sometimes herself. Only I couldn't tell which person she was from the mothers point of view. There were also unanswered questions at the end. I think some of the problems could have been solved with better editing. I will be interested to hear other book clubbers opinions.

Brought my library book club read on vacation with me. Can't say I have read much of it so far but there is always the plane ride home. #welltraveledbook

A fictionalized memoir of stories about being a Chinese-American girl growing up in California. It's sad how little I know about Chinese history 😔 I'm going to make a point in the new year to read more and learn more about their culture and history. Any suggestions for books or podcasts? Or music?? I love finding new music. I highly recommend this book 💜

Last story in this collection. It has been a beautiful collection, but one I'm glad I took the time to read in chunks so I could really absorb it all. I hope everyone is having a wonderful week!!

Next story in this book. I have very lofty goals today of finishing many things...we shall see how much I actually accomplish 😁🙌🏻

Going back to this one for my lit class. 😁

Morning reading and coffee. I thought I would be reading a lot more on this break...isn't that always the case? 😩

I got the last seat in the Literature of Women's Studies course 🙌🏻🙌🏻 I've already picked up a few of the books. I'll have to post the full list later. It's an amazing list! Fiction. Non-fiction. Memoir. Graphic Novel. Comics. My brain exploded. This is one of the books. I figured I'd start it while in the pick up line for school. Really great so far!!

I'm #currentlyreading fictionalized biography of the author Maxine Hong Kingston about Chinese-Americans living in the US.

#photoadaynov16

About the book - I can't say anything because I just started to read it and my favorite card game is tarock, even though I don't play well.

#novemberland

Student artwork relating #AmyTan and #MaxineHongKingston to the essential question: How does culture affect identity?

Third stop for #bookstoretourism today was South Congress Books. It's a nifty used and collectible book store on the main drag. I could have spent much more time here and I had a hard time limiting myself to the two books I ended up purchasing.