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Told in two alternating time lines one focusing on bi-racial teenager Alva who is growing up in Shanghai but desperately wants to live in America and compromises by attending an Expat school. The other focuses on Li Fang a married man expecting his first child but has always wished for more. There are no likeable characters here but we are made to understand them and care for them nonetheless. I appreciated this addition to the Women‘s Prize list.

#Women‘s Prize Long & Short List

The books I have read from the long list for the Women‘s Prize have been so hard to read, so dark, sad.

This one is a family drama/coming of age story, narrated in two time lines. Every main character has a dark side in terms that they are not who they project to others, they have secrets, they are full of lies, hurting others. There are some triggers here: suicide, sexual abuse. Some parts are so sad😢⬇️

Reading this one now. I will continue reading the books nominated in the long list regardless if they don‘t appear in the short list tomorrow. I have the books, they are in my tbr except The Blue Beautiful World because I would need to read the first 2 books first and Soldier Sailor which I don‘t own yet 🤷🏽‍♀️☺️

It took some time getting into this book but then it gave me all the feels. I rooted for Lu Fang throughout the book, the Chinese man who falls in love with an American woman living in China. Her daughter Alva, who‘s coming to age is another storyline, I found extremely annoying: how many wrong choices can a 15-year old make? Set in China from the 80s until 2009 makes for an interesting setting! ⬇️⬇️

4⭐ #WomensPrizeFictionLongList

Another good but not great read for this years prize. I think at this point it is just my attitude that is the problem. This book has all the right things - lots about language, social, financial diversity and analysis. A girl half American, half Chinese trying to figure out the world as she is raised in China by her American single mom. Something just fell flat for me, I struggled to care about picking the book up

I read both the physical and audio of this because of the use of language through.

I really like when books talk about language, how it is formed, the origin and meanings of words. All things Lexicology, Etymology and Linguistics especially when it crosses and compares languages.

#WeeklyForecast 17/24

I am reading The Wild Laughter, not sure what to think yet. Next will be the tagged book and last but not least, the Iris Murdoch is my #Roll100 book.

My favorite of the week is the book I just finished. Ultimately a story about trying to find where you belong and the struggles you experience when you try to make the wrong thing fit. As I was reading I realized this may be the first contemporary fiction book I‘ve read set in China. 4 🌟

#WomensPrize #52Bookclub24 #IncludesaWedding

This book pulled me in immediately, following mixed race Alva as she tries to navigate her native China without feeling she fits anywhere (there‘s not even a word in her language for half-Chinese), and her stepfather Lu Fang. So much is explored here: class, status, culture, family, belonging, and more. Great entry to the women‘s prize fiction list and my vote for best cover (this US one).

Another #womensprize long listed book that I really liked.

It follows the lives of two people in Shanghai. Alva, a teenager in 2007 is disgruntled when her white American mother marries a Chinese man. Lu Fang is her new stepfather and we see how his life was affected by Mao‘s Cultural Revolution.

None of the characters are likeable and it‘s really rather a sad book, (I‘m not selling it, am I?!) but I do recommend it.

Dual narrative centred on a Chinese man and the daughter of an American single mum living (struggling) in Shanghai. A coming of age story, but for parents too. The jumps over decades so you get a sense of the rapid change families lived through.

Do I want it to be shortlisted? I didn't "love" it, but think it would be a worthy "shortlistee" (I just made that word up, I think!).

#WomensPrize24 #Longlist

"Do you see me becoming a wife and a mother?" she said.
"The pale heavens' arrangements are obeyed as they come," he replied.
She squinted at him, then sighed. "Sometimes I think Chinese proverbs were only invented to obfuscate."

"The Chinese invented the alienation effect. You know you're putting on a show, but you still get lost in it. Sometimes too lost. Like the actor who plays the Yu Concubine in this movie and ended up dead."
"In the movie," Alva said.
The man stared at her blankly. "No, girl. In real life. You haven't heard what happened to Leslie Cheung?"

A man called Lu Fang stole Alva's mother in Grand Ballroom B of Shanghaï's Imperial Hotel.

#OpeningLine
#WomensPrize

📬𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐌𝐚𝐢𝐥📖

Thanks to Bibliolifestyle & William Morrow Books for a copy of 𝐑𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐄𝐚𝐬𝐭, 𝐑𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝗪𝐞𝐬𝐭, 𝐀𝐮𝐛𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐲 𝐋𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐞's debut novel. Published 𝘑𝘢𝘯. 𝟿, 𝟸𝟶𝟸𝟺, it's just the type of book I love to immerse myself in: a combination coming-of-age story, & family & social drama. Against the backdrop of developing modern China, two generations search for belonging & opportunity in a rapidly changing world.

This is quite good. A young half American is growing up in Shanghai with her white mother and struggles to find her place. A Chinese man struggles to find something more to his life.

#BookSpinBingo @TheAromaofBooks

Pub date is 1/9/2024
#ARC #Goodreads #WilliamMorrow

My daughter and I decided to have a low-key Christmas at home and I‘ve welcomed the change of pace this year.

About 25% into this and it‘s good so far!