Easy pick this month. Most books were pans or I bailed, leaving just three to pick from.
#readingbracket @chasjjlee
48 likes
Dreams of Joy | 
Easy pick this month. Most books were pans or I bailed, leaving just three to pick from.
#readingbracket @chasjjlee
#20in4 #readathon update:
📚 Dreams of Joy finished ✅
📚 Nostradamus Equation (ebook), chapter 73 (66%)
📚 Copperfield on hold hoping to get audio app back up and running
📚 Roots, no progress, still on page 501 of 888
📚 Afrikaans (audiobook), chapter 6 of 77
📚 about 7 hours read today—sadly my son was very sick today so I sat reading while keeping an eye on him today
Headstrong 19-yo Joy smuggles herself into China in the 1950s to meet her birth father and ready to give herself to the communist cause. Falling in love, she marries a poor conniving peasant. Her mother—who escaped China years before—tracks her down, and they both witness the effect of communism: the Great Famine that‘s estimated to have killed up to 55 million people. Obvious trigger warnings. A slow start so I struggled to stay interested. ⬇️
I‘ve been reading this book for weeks so the #20in4 #readathon is timely to help me finish it. So here‘s my update starting off the weekend. I‘m on page 207 of 349. Sadly the chapters aren‘t numbered so I can‘t track that way. #authoramonth
#twofortuesday. Thanks @TheSpineView for the tag!
1) tagged. See researches her topics so well & writes about historical events beautifully.
2) As a former Toastmaster, I see overused filler words, such as “and,” “you know,” and ums. Pauses are so effective. I always wish for confidence for speakers, because most often it‘s a matter of nerves.
In writing, the improper use of pronouns, such as the use of “I” in prepositional phrases. ARG!!
Up next. For #authoramonth. This book was a kind gift from @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks last year because she knew I like Lisa See!
pickBook 2
I listened to Dreams of Joy by Lisa See, a favorite author. Her characters, settings, and historical research are deeply detailed and compelling. I was surprised to find this novel lacking initially, but it picked up halfway and I was enthralled. I didn't know it was the second in a series, but it follows the 19-year-old daughter from Shanghai Girls running away from her family in the States to live in Communist China in the 1950s. ⭐⭐⭐⭐
This would be a good choice for #authoramonth in March. It‘s the second of a two-book series, but you could read it as a standalone. But why would you want to?!? The first book is really good too! #dream #beginswith
pickI enjoyed this sequel to Shanghai Girls. I didn‘t know a lot about China in the 1950‘s and this does an excellent job of describing the details and affects of the Great Leap Forward and what it was like to live in Mao‘s China.
This was my #bookspin for November @TheAromaofBooks
Thanks for the tag @wanderinglynn
1. I started the tagged last night.
2. Goodreads, Storygraph and a book journal.
3. The Forgotten Orphan
Tagging @PaperbackPirate @Tattooedteacher @wideeyedreader @Emilymdxn
#weekendreads @rachelsbrittain
The tagged is my November #bookspin and In the Garden of Beasts is my #doublespin.
@TheAromaofBooks
I‘m so happy to have been the recipient of the generosity of @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks in sending me this book as a complete surprise! I have loved all the Lisa See books I‘ve read, and I am thrilled to get this one! And look at the homemade bookmark and gorgeous card! You are so incredibly kind! Thank you! #litsylove
pickAnother brilliant novel by Lisa See. The sequel to the Shanghai Girls takes place in the late 1950's in China, just as Mao's Great Leap Forward starts to take place. The story unfolds during this turbulent time in history. The main character, a young, American born, Chinese girl, travels to China, to the place of her heritage and soon finds herself in the midst of the largest famine in the world's history.
so-soI love what I learn from Lisa See books including this one, but it took me too long to like this book for my hand to stay thumbs up. Joy drove me crazy! I‘m all about a complicated MC that we either learn to love or love what we learn from them. However, Joy‘s continued missteps made no sense to me and got in the way of the history taught in this one.
Of course I must immediately read the next book 🌻
pickI love everything I‘ve read by Lisa See. This sequel to Shanghai Girls was so revelatory about the Cultural Revolution and the mass starvation in the countryside. Amazing.
pickWhile I enjoyed this, it wasn‘t among my favorites by Lisa See. I found Joy‘s impulsive behavior extremely annoying. Maybe it‘s typical teenaged rebellion (at 19 though?), but she made some really bad choices. Her mother Pearl‘s chapters saved the book, though.
Pictured with my amazing new PRIDE chucks. So Sparkly 🤩🥳💥🌈✨💞❤️🧡💛💚💙💜
(My House is now coated in silver glitter... but I don‘t care!)
My breakfast of champions after a 2.5 mile walk. I love Lisa See. This one has been on my #MountTBR for quite a while. Although I‘m finding MC Joy‘s teenaged naivety annoying, The Book is good so far. (I guess I might have been this impulsive and badly informed at 19? I‘d like to think not...)
#LitsyWalkers
On special today!!
I enjoy all of her work but this one was really good! 💙
pickYou need to read this book so that the series is complete. It‘s a heartbreaking look at life in China in the 1950s.
1. Austin Texas
2. Italy
3. China 1950s
4. BBQ brisket
5. @elyseh @TheEmpress
#frideas @SailorMoon @SailorRabbit @SailorMoon
pickBeautiful story of love, deep sacrifice and survival set in China during the middle twentieth century. As China moves from socialism to communism and famine grips the country, Lisa See brings the reader on a daring escape. Famine in China so deep they turned to the unthinkable, “Swap Child, Make Food.” Lisa See is a well researched and thoughtful writer resulting in a gripping and heartfelt journey.
pickThat was amazing! The sequel to Shanghai Girls was riveting from start to the last page.
Incredibly well drawn characters, great plot twists and such rich descriptions of China under Mao's rule. Highly recommend this book
Finished listening to this book yesterday. I‘ve loved all of Lisa See‘s books and this one was one of my favorites. Heartbreak at times, it was also filled with love. It was eye opening to read more about China during this time period. The narrator did a great job of bringing the characters to life.
pickShanghai Girls‘ sequel. It wasn‘t as strong but taken together it becomes obvious how important an immigration system that takes care of refugees is.
Great sequel to Shanghai Girls. Captivating story about the lengths a mother‘s love for her daughter within this historical post-WWII setting. Heartbreaking at times though 💔
pickThis book continues where Shanghai Girls left off. Pearl and May now care for Pearl‘s strong-willed nineteen-year-old daughter, Joy. Joy joins a communist artist community and needs to be rescued by her closest family and friends leaving them open to exposure as communist resistors.
4/5 stars.
pickLisa See is an incredible storyteller. I‘ve learned so much above it the Chinese culture and the devastating events that occurred just over 50 years ago.
#HumpDayPost @MinDea
1. This isn‘t necessarily crazy, but I hiked a small portion of The Narrows in Zion NP.
2. Egg on toast.
3. Woman becomes communist
4. La Croix can
5. 5‘6”
Lulu and I are snuggled in. I am reading the next to the last book of my #litsyatoz challenge. Only one more to go!! @BookishMarginalia
pickOne of my fav books from the past year, it‘s a sweeping epic taking place during the rise of Communism in China that‘s emotional & revealing in what it means to be a mother, as well as the naivety of being young, impulsive, & idealistic. It‘s the sequel to Shanghai Girls, which is a story about the struggles & profound bond sisterhood in a time of war.
#lisasee #chineseliterature #diversebooks
The Dollar Tree has really stepped up their book selections recently! I picked these up for the LFL but may read a couple before I donate 🙂
#wildestdreams
Maybe I will get to this one someday... 💜📚
#augustgrrrl
#chinagrove #rockinmay. I enjoyed the last book I read by Lisa See , Shanghai Girls, so looking forward to this one 📚🐉
#blameitonLitsy another photo of my booksale finds. Went back for a couple of hours this morning 📚🐉
pickSo much has already been said about this book, but let me just say that beyond being a deep reflection on Mao's China, this book is an intense look into motherhood and what it means to live with the choices you make.
End of semester lunch out by myself. Finally got this book on Overdrive and I'm loving it!
#audioeating
Happy almost summer, #teachersoflitsy and #professorsoflitsy!
Dollar store find.
pickHoly shit, this book took all my emotions & threw 'em into an intense-as-fudge meat grinder & marinated it w/tension. I'm such an incoherent mess right now.
The detailed storytelling of life during the 1st decade of Mao's reign & communism is heart-shatteringly raw. The book explores the brutal reality of the era w/courage via deeply complex characters & unbelievably captivating prose. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
#dreamsofjoy #lisasee #china #historicalfiction
This whole chapter has made me think of my mum & the shit I put her through during my rebel phase. Mothers are amazing people, and books with beautifully heart-wrenching prose like this one, can bring such feelings of gratitude and awe to life in unexpectedly engrossing ways!! 💜 I apologise for the quote spamming. I'm just so blown away by the intensity & powerful nature of this book!!
#dreamsofjoy #lisasee #amreading #historicalfiction
The fruit of modern communism: HYPOCRISY & CORRUPTION!! .... Bloody hell, this book is intense.
#dreamsofjoy #lisasee #amreading #historicalfiction #china
