Welcome to Litsy!

Getting ready for Thanksgiving !! One of my displays I finished today! 🦃 🍁

Looks great

Such a fun book! Gloria is hilarious, and I love how Mei is very witty and at times sarcastic when dealing with her family problems. If you want a good, fun read, , but also a story that covers the struggles of growing up as a first generation Asian-American and the balancing of the two cultures, this is the book for you 💙

January 26, 2020 Today I bought two books from Green Apple. One is the one you see above. The other is "the love & lies of rukhsana ali" by Sabina Khan. I have really loved reading young adult fiction and nonficition but lately i have been trying to read more nonfiction to learn new things and gain knowledge. If you have any nonfiction recs, please comment below in the comments. #youngadult #fiction #nonfiction

This was a wonderful book from Gloria Chao! I loved this book, reading about Mei's complicated relationship with her strict parents. Especially her tumultuous relationship with her mother. Her struggles being away from home for the first time, and studying a major that she detests. This was really sweet. I will be looking forward to more books by this author.

Today‘s #AudibleDailyDeal looked too cute to resist.

This was just what I needed to stave off a slump! Mei is a great heroine, and I appreciated that the romance portion didn't just fall into the standard "bad communication/stubborn anger" tropes that I find really common. Mei's difficult relationship with her family and their traditional expectations was fleshed out and the book had an arc without having to tie things up in an unrealistic bow.

This was such a cute little book. I loved it so much but did have a few issues with it. I have to say that it was a little off putting to read about a set of parents that didn't get their daughter the glasses she needed. Many times during the story Mei talked about how she couldn't see something because of her bad eyes. If this is the real way this culture is for those families that are I fear for these children.

#LetsTravelAugust @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @OriginalCyn620
#College

This is such a sweet and heartfelt book. I recognised some of my older relatives in it and it made me laugh out loud on the bus!

Taiwanese-American Mei has just started MIT and is trying to navigate school, not disappointing her parents, a crush on an unsuitable boy and her love for dance. That is not doing it justice... it is funny and sad and relatable and it doesn't talk down to its readers or translate Mandarin that you can get the gist of from context. Really enjoying so far.

I enjoyed this light, fun read! Mei is a great MC and this book is a good glimpse into Asian culture, and how different generations can clash.
Read for #booked2019 #foodorbeverageonthecover and #LLB19 #receivedinalitsyswap and #popsugar2019

I just finished the audiobook - it was sweet, moving and perfect for the A&A month readings.

Books # 49-52 that I‘ve read in 2019! 📚
49. “American Panda” by Gloria Chao ⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
50. “Superman: Dawnbreaker” by Matt de la Pena ⭐️⭐️⭐️✨/5
51. “The Art of Starving” by Sam J. Miller ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
52. “Voices: The Final Hours of Joan of Arc” by David Elliott ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
#books #goodreads #fiction #yalit #americanpanda #superman

This was ok, but didn‘t really meet the expectations I had for it. I started it like a month and a half ago and never really felt compelled to finish it until yesterday. Cute story, but it didn‘t blow me away.

1. American Panda
2. All of Them
3. Silas Marner
#weekendreads

This was sweet and light, though not special. It‘s a glimpse into the dynamics and frustrations between generations of a Taiwanese/Chinese-American family from the perspective of a young adult daughter during her first year as a pre-med student at MIT. The writing is not bad, but not good, either. There were some glaring editorial faux pas and the story was set up too predictably. Still, I appreciated the fleshed out cultural dynamics.

The battery in my headphones died (twice) and I had to switch to some easy YA for the last few hours and I almost fell asleep a few times, but I made it! 24 hours!

#24in48 #zzzzzzzz

Now I‘m off to read myself to sleep. 😴

Catching up on my January reads so far. This was my first book of 2019 and it was really enjoyable! Mei is a great protagonist with plenty of depth. Parts of the plot seemed outlandish to me, but I really liked some of the secondary characters like her roommate and her mom. Her family dynamic was interesting to read about. A glossary of Chinese phrases would have been a helpful touch!

Cute book. Interesting. Informative look into Asian family culture.

Another book from @MallenNC #Newyearwhodis list. This was a big surprise. I really liked it and Mei is such an interesting character! I recommend!

#ReadInTheNewYear @hermyknee Ok, I‘m going to put Litsy away now and actually get back to reading this book (which was a swap gift from @Mommamanzi )!

@Chrissyreadit Thanks so much for my #jolabokaflodswap package! I love it all! I‘ve been wanting to read this book for a while and love the bookmark too. And the chocolates...you got my faves! Thank you and happy holidays to you and our organizer, @MaleficentBookDragon

Thank you thank you thank you @Mommamanzi ! I couldn‘t wait until later in the day to open my #jolabokaflodswap package, and I‘m grinning maniacally now because I love what you chose! So excited to read and eat chocolate later!

@MaleficentBookDragon

This was a fast read, available free today. I did not love it at first. The culture felt very foreign to my American brain, but I worked to shift gears and see it as a process of reconciliation between two cultures. I ultimately enjoyed getting insights into Taiwanese culture as represented by this book.

Today over on RivetedLit, you can read American Panda for free: https://rivetedlit.com/book/american-panda/ It‘s for 24 hours only. I really enjoyed this one - hope you also enjoy it. 🐼☕

This is a sweet and funny YA novel that centers around Mei, a Taiwanese-American who has secret dreams of being a dancer, but is enrolled at MIT to fulfill her family‘s wishes for her to become a doctor. It can be a bit heavy-handed at times and some of the characters could have been developed more, but overall it is delightful, as it explores identity and family expectations.

Girls who grew up in the American South during the 1980s were given this exact same sex talk (verbatim). I know this from experience.

I made Bitsy run 3 miles this morning when it was 30 degrees, so I‘ll let her take a snooze in the sun while I read. 😹

OMG, this is almost like an autobiography of myself! Except my dad was all about business instead of med school.

This book was a total #blameitonlitsy purchase and I am so glad that I read it! Mei is a college student who's parents want her to be a doctor but that's not what she wants at all but she is trying to follow what her parents want for her. I love the diversity in this book and learning about Mei culture. Mei has to work through how she feels and how her parents react to her change in their plans. Loved this book!

I really loved this YA debut about Taiwanese-American college student Mei straddling the line between two cultures and trying to figure out how to be herself, even when her family disapproves and she‘s always felt like an outsider. There is a very sweet romance aspect to it but the main story is her family dynamics and the intense pressure she faces as a child of immigrants.

Loved it. Light and weighty at the same time.

🐼Excellent story about Taiwanese-American kid who struggles between cultures, parental expectations, & her own aspirations.
🐼Candidly chats about emotional/mental turmoil of conflicts.
🐼Brilliantly insightful on stigma of forced cultural practise vs personal interpretation of culture.
🐼Shares harmful effects of oppression in conservatism.
🐼Funny & cute.
🐼SUCH AN IMPORTANT BOOK FOR DIVERSE/OWNVOICES READERS!
🐼Wish I had this in HS.
🐼5/5.

Cute and well written. I admired the strength of the MC, and enjoyed the glimpse into a different culture.

Jumping into fall early, and finishing up this sweet contemporary.

This book has been on and off with me. I think if I really settle in I can finish it easily today!

I‘m starting two books tonight. This is the first one, which revolves around a Taiwanese-American girl named Mei who has ambitions outside of the predetermined expectations of her family. But she is hesitant in pursuing them due to the sacrifices her parents made for her comfy life.

I‘ve heard mixed reviews about the quality, but excellent things about the representation, so I definitely had to read it.

#diversebooks #yacontemporary #asianlit

I really enjoyed this book, but this may be hit or miss for most others. I jave a full review posted on my channel, check it out if you're interested in hearing my full thoughts 😊 ⬇⬇⬇

https://youtu.be/wkmO1GUl7e8

This was exactly the book I needed to read right now. I have read a lot of heavy & dark works lately, and this was a YA with a just serious enough topic. The family drama was a little heavy handed, but tHe author, who is a dentist turned writer, said this is the book she wished she could've read in high school. I respect that!

This audiobook kept me company while I was doing housework today. I love the main character! This is a nice change from all the domestic drama/thrillers I've read recently. #audiobook

Another one to add to the list of books with good, smart kids who fall in love (although romance was not the focus of this book).
❤️loved it❤️

Went to the library and picked up these babies!

Duh-rah-ma! So much drama! Taiwanese-American family drama, first love drama, finding your passion drama, roommate drama, learning to wear makeup drama. I loved it! And a Japanese-American love interest 💘 (mentally noted in case my son ever craves a romance read) now i want to do p-sets at MIT while sipping hot chocolate despite it being 90F in Alabama 😂 #mommyreads #ya #romance #comingofage #woc #asianamerican

American Panda

I picked up our library holds, and I'm so excited 😻😻😻 Books! Free books! In English! And more on the way! We're only stateside for a few weeks so the plan is to read as much as possible, especially all the comics I've been missing. Sadly i have some of these as monthlies but never read them so just reading the trades because easier. #mommyreads #comics #babyread #boardbooks #picturebooks #libraryhaul

Got all of these signed last night. 🙌🏻

I enjoyed this story, about a young girl coming to terms with with her family's expectations and her desire to be independent. #ya #librarylove #booklove #englishteacher #teachersoflitsy

I LOVED this book. It‘s funny and sweet in that growing up and going to college kind of way. But it‘s also the story of a complicated relationship between parents and their children, not just the main character Mei (who loves dance and not medicine) but also her brother who chooses to be with someone his parents don‘t approve of. A great story about expectations, identity, and family.