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China Rich Girlfriend

May 21, 2019May 16, 2019 RaeAnna

Worth A Read Meh
Length 479
Quick Review Rachel Chu and Nick Young are newlyweds, but not everything is honeymoon perfect when they decide to spend the summer in China.

Reading China Rich Girlfriend by Kevin Kwan in Houston’s Museum District. | Red Dress | Shoes

I have mixed feelings about the Crazy Rich Asians the book and the movie. You can read that review here. I have a thing about always finishing every book I read. I don’t often read series, but when I do, I read the whole thing. Since is Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month, I thought I’d read Kevin Kwan’s China Rich Girlfriend.

Rachel Chu is an economy professor in New York with her new husband, Nick Young, a history professor. They get married even after opposition from his wealthier than shit Singaporean family. Due to random circumstances, Rachel finds her biological father and spends her honeymoon in China getting to know her brother. She and Nick get swept up in Hong Kong high society and all the drama the uber wealthy find.

The issues I had with the first book are pretty much the same issues I have with China Rich Girlfriend. The plot is engaging and moves very quickly. It’s easy to keep reading. The fast moving, drama filled plot distracts from the flat and empty characters. It’s hard to have any emotional connection with the characters because they don’t seem to exist in a human realm of emotion. If it weren’t for the great acting done by the cast in the movie – especially Constance Wu – I would have no thoughts or connection to any of the characters. It’s all story and drama with no depth. It’s a great mindless read to get swept up in while by the pool watching your kids, a bird, or napping. You don’t have to pay that much attention to this book.

China Rich Girlfriend by Kevin Kwan | Dress

The lack of character development doesn’t take away from the fun narrative style Kwan brings to China Rich Girlfriend. The narrative style was equally fun and satirical in Crazy Rich Asians. There’s a lot of grandiosity and throwing around of wealth, which, honestly, sounds like a heap load of fun if I had a gold bar pooping unicorn in my backyard. Like in the first book, Kwan utilizes footnotes to bring the reader into his high-society world full of drama with fun tidbits, gossip, and more. Footnotes are also used to alert the reader to cultural things most [Western] readers probably wouldn’t pick up on. He does a good job highlighting the hypocrisy of the uber wealthy. One fun one is the women carrying Birkin bags but cutting out coupons. It seems ridiculous, but I whole-heartedly believe women like this exist in the world. (I would probably be one of them.)

Overall, China Rich Girlfriend has a lot of redeeming points as a vacation or summer read. If you’re looking for an insightful look into the meaning of life or quintessence of humanity, this is not it. It’s a soap opera in book form. Fun but not good.

Memorable Quotes
““Bernard has no money. He only gets about ten million a year to live on,” Carol confirmed.”

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I absolutely love this red dress from Target. It’s such a cute wrap dress. I have terrible luck finding wrap dresses that won’t blow wide open at the thought of wind, but this one doesn’t! Also these shoes from Target are perfect. I love a good pointy-toed nude shoe.

Title: China Rich Girlfriend
Author: Kevin Kwan
Publisher: Anchor Books
Copyright: 2015
ISBN: 9780804172066

Books, NonFiction

Under Red Skies by Karoline Kan

May 16, 2019May 16, 2019 RaeAnna

Worth a Read Yes
Length 320
Quick Review A memoir about growing up under the one-child policy in China as a second child and the collision between traditional and modern values.

Under Red Skies by Karoline Kan at Iowa State University in Ames. | Shorts | Shirt | Sandals | Sunglasses |

For many of us, it’s hard to imagine living in a world where there is a ban on how many children you can have.* It is even harder to imagine one’s existence being illegal. Karoline Kan grew up in both of those realities. She documents her coming of age story in her memoir Under Red Skies.

Chinese history is not common knowledge for most Americans. Tiananmen Square might ring a bell if you were really paying attention in history class. Thankfully, Kan starts Under Red Skies off with a brief historical timeline starting in 1945 with the Chinese civil war to ground the reader in the history affecting the world she grew up in. Most people are aware of the one-child policy in China. For the most part, the effect that policy has on the people probably does not come to mind. Kan’s mother wanted a second child and did everything in her power to make it happen, which is why Karoline Kan is in this world.

The women in China endured a great deal of hardship because of the one-child policy. Kan bore witness to forced sterilization. She was there when the government kidnapped her mother to force her into a tubal ligation. Surgeries were done by non-qualified doctors in outdoor tents. Many women became ill and suffered lifelong difficulties due to these procedures. Some women even died. The first year, 1983, more than 16 million women were sterilized.

Communism rocked the foundations of the Chinese culture. Under Red Skies touches on a great deal of her experiences. Religion was banned; people were arrested, reeducated, beaten, and even killed for having religion. Hukou was a fundamental part of Kan’s growing up. It defined where people lived and where they could go. Essentially, hukou defined who they were. People very rarely amounted to any more than what their family’s had. Kan’s parents worked hard to make sure she and her older brother were not as limited by hukou.

Under Red Skies is about more than just the one-child policy. It’s about growing up in a changing time. With the advancement of technology, life in China was changing. Traditional values clashed with modern values. Kan was born in 1989 and grew up in a time of change. She grew up to become a journalist and a writer. Sharing her story and the story of so many other people.

Kan writes a moving and brilliant memoir. Her experiences are incredibly unique as a second child during a time where that was wrong. She is also incredibly relatable but does not shy away from the gut wrenching details of her childhood. Under Red Skies is a beautiful testament to love and dedication.

*Considering everything that is going on in the U.S. states of Alabama and Georgia where abortions are all but banned. Limiting the number of children a person or couple can have is the exact opposite of what is happening.

Memorable Quotes
“Globally, the voices of young Chinese – especially those of young Chinese women – are often neglected.”
“Scholars believe 30 to 60 million girls “disappeared” because of the One-Child Policy.”
“China was far from being a free country.”

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Title: Under Red Skies
Author: Karoline Kan
Publisher: Hachette Books
Copyright: 2019
ISBN:9780316412049

Books, Fiction

Home Remedies by Xuan Juliana Wang

May 11, 2019 RaeAnna

Worth a Read Maybe
Length 256
Quick Review A collection of short stories exploring family, love, and identity for a generation of Chinese.

Home Remedies by Xuan Juliana Wang | Cherry Shoes

Home Remedies by Xuan Juliana Wang is a collection of incredibly moving short stories oscillating between depressing, funny, tragic, and cringy.

There is a lot going on in this little book. The short stories in Home Remedies are divided up into three sections: Family, Love, Time and Space. The first story does a great job setting the tone of the book. It’s serious and pulls the reader into the book. There is no way you can put the book down once you start reading.

One of the most impactful scenes in the entire book is a scene on page 89. It made me angry, uncomfortable, and feeling a little gross. Good writers don’t shy away from the tough topics, and Wang dove right into the difficult stuff throughout all of Home Remedies. There is never a moment she doesn’t shy away from the human topics. Life is complex and difficult, and Wang captures these moments in her short stories. It focuses on a generation of people in China and Chinese immigrants.

Wang bridges a gap. Giving a voice and story to people who have had very little representation in the Western world. Wang helps define people as human and not by their culture, skin color, or place of birth. Things may be different on the surface, but deep down humans all have similar desires, feelings, and experiences.

Wang’s debut book, Home Remedies, will be available May 14, 2019, and it’s going to make an impression.

Memorable Quotes
“Love could be a burden, too.”
“She was keenly aware of time lines, expiration dates of food, the shelf life of flowering plants, and the appropriateness of behavior at any given age.”

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Title: Home Remedies
Author: Xuan Juliana Wang
Publisher: Hogarth
Copyright: 2019
ISBN: 9781984822741

Books, NonFiction

Last Boat Out of Shanghai by Helen Zia

May 5, 2019May 5, 2019 RaeAnna

Worth A Read Hell Yes
Length 544
Quick Review An intense look into the challenges of emmigrating during the mass exodus from Shanghai in the midst of the communist revolution in China of 1949.

Reading the book Last Boat Out of Shanghai by Helen Zia | Asos Dress

Chinese history – and Asian history for that matter – is so basically covered in the United States. If you want to know about non-white history, you have to educate yourself. It’s Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month; coincidentally, I’ve been reading a lot of books by and about Chinese/Chinese-Americans. Great timing. Last Boat Out of Shanghai by Helen Zia is a beautiful tribute to the men, women, and children who lived through the exodus from Shanghai.

People were leaving Shanghai in droves during the ‘40s as a reaction to the turmoil going on within the country after the Japanese occupation and the rise of Mao and the communist party. Zia focuses on four people’s lives before, during, and after the exodus in Last Boat Out of Shanghai. Benny, Ho, Bing, and Annua lived very different lives, but they were all affected. Benny was the son of an affluent comprador family. Ho grew up well-off in a large extended family compound. Bing was abandoned, adopted, abandoned, and adopted all during the uproar in China. Annuo grew up with two highly educated and revolutionary parents. Each of these people have their own very interesting tale about struggle and survival. Zia gives them each their own spotlight while intertwining their stories.

Reading Last Boat Out of Shanghai by Helen Zia in Houston | Asos Dress

I have so much to say about this book, but I would be giving the story away. I have a particular affinity for Annuo because she spent time in Ames, Iowa, and her brother earned a PhD from Iowa State University. Last Boat Out of Shanghai gives an emotional depth to the intense era. China was recovering and reacting from years of difficulty and occupation. Trying to find its way and identity to an ever changing world. Zia begins each person’s story before the communist revolution in their childhoods and follows them through their adolescence and adulthoods after fleeing Shanghai. Their lives began and ended differently, but they all went through the struggle.

I completely consumed this book. I have always had a love for history and the individuals who live and create it. These four people show their extraordinary resilience by surviving. Helen Zia is able to bring a humanity to the stories and history found in Last Boat Out of Shanghai, which was the General Gordon by the way.

Memorable Quotes
A message was sent via a photo “If he was standing, all was well. If he was sitting, things were bad. When he finally sent them a picture, he was lying down.”

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Title: Last Boat Out of Shanghai
Author: Helen Zia
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Copyright: 2019
ISBN: 9780345522320

Books, Fiction

American Spy by Lauren Wilkinson

March 9, 2019 RaeAnna

Reading American Spy on a cruise. | Cute and comfy one-piece swimsuit.

Worth A Read Meh
Length 304
Quick Review I wouldn’t read American Spy for the mystery, but I would read it for the nuance, depth of understanding, and style. Lauren Wilkinson makes an impression in her debut novel.

Lauren Wilkinson sets her novel, American Spy, against the backdrop of the spread of communism during the Cold War. Wilkinson writes a beautiful novel about the ferocity of a mother’s love.

Marie Mitchell is a former FBI operative of Caribbean descent. When her home is broken into late one night, her past compromises the safety of her children. Marie writes about her journey to the FBI and operations with the CIA to explain to her past and decisions to her two young sons. A love story unfolds as Marie, the American Spy, is pulled by country, love, duty, and relationships.

I really enjoyed reading American Spy, but I would not come for the mystery. It is absolutely predictable and not terribly interesting. Then again, I never have any difficulty predicting love stories or mystery plots. What is interesting is Wilkinson’s ability to weave a story and her ability to delve into the complexities of human nature, feeling, and personal history. She also utilizes French words and sayings to add authenticity to Marie’s Caribbean heritage. Wilkinson doesn’t over simplify the French but makes it accessible to non-francophiles.

American Spy has a really interesting organization. Time is not linear, nor is there any specific organization. It reads the way the diary of a distraught person would. A bit jumpy. Talking about the past, the present, important people, events, and minor tangents. It’s a brilliant way of transporting the reader into Marie’s mental state. The majority of the time, Marie is telling a story but often utilizes “you” referencing her two sons.

Wilkinson explores the complexities of human nature and racial charges. American Spy is charged with the difficulties of being a professional woman and a professional black woman in the white, good-ole boy club. Wilkinson demonstrates so many prevalent issues throughout her novel without ever seeming preachy or condescending.

I enjoyed reading American Spy; it is definitely a great vacation read.

Memorable Quotes
“My parents had nothing but their children in common.”
“I think that conclusion was drawn too neatly – people are too complex for such simple arithmetic – but I understand the purpose it serves.”
““I don’t like to say what I’ve read. That’s how you disclose the most about yourself. I never make notes in a book or underline passages either. That’s even more revealing.””
“But for you, for black American boys, the middle class can’t help guarantee your safety.”

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Title: American Spy
Author: Lauren Wilkinson
Publisher: Random House
Copyright: 2019
ISBN: 9780812998955

Books, Fiction

Torch Song Trilogy by Harvey Fierstein

February 5, 2019 RaeAnna

Read Yes
Length 320
Quick Review The original. The revised. Every once in a while, a book comes a long that is truly memorable. This is one of those books.

I have loved Harvey Fierstein since Mrs. Doubtfire. I’ve actually loved a ton of his movies, but I never realized it until reading Torch Song Trilogy because I didn’t really know who he was other than the guy in a bunch of movies I like. More than just an actor, he is an author and award winning playwright.

In the anniversary edition of Torch Song Trilogy, the original is featured along with the revised version. A forward by Fierstein starts the book off with a bang. It started off Broadway but eventually moved onto Broadway. There, Fierstein won a Tony for best play in 1983 and Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play. It was a sensation. After reading it, I can see why.

Fierstein combined three one-act plays into one three-act play for the amazing Torch Song Trilogy: International Stud, Fugue in a Nursery, and Widows and Children First! Each act centers on a different phase in Arnold’s life. Starting in the 1970’s, he is a gay, torch singer, drag queen, who is also a Jewish man living in New York City. The play runs about four hours long.

It starts with a moving and completely cynical soliloquy about the disillusionment of love. Shortly after, Arnold meets Ed, who is not secure in his bisexual skin. The second act surrounds domestic bliss with Alan a year later. The third act finds Arnold alone dealing with his mommy issues while raising a gay teenage son, David.

Almost forty years after it first debuted, Torch Song Trilogy was incredibly important at the time as it collided with the after affects of the Stonewall age. The U.S. has come a long way in triumphing gay rights, but so many of the issues Fierstein battles are still prevalent today as the LGBTQ community is under attack. The play is stunning in its own right, but held up against the backdrop of social justice it is ever more important.

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Title: Torch Song Trilogy
Author: Harvey Fierstein
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Copyright: 2017
ISBN: 9780525618645