Comments on: China Challenge: Embracing Roots

By: mee

mee — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 12:45:21 +0000

JoV, the same here, I don’t know many people who are doing the challenge. I guess it’s not a very active challenge. Next year I think I won’t be joining any challenge that is longer than a few months. The excitement often dies down pretty quickly and we never hear much from the host or from the other participants again!

My goal for the challenge is 5 books and I’ve completed it, so I’m going to wrap up pretty soon too. Of course I still intend to read more books from the list.

By: JoV

JoV — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 21:41:37 +0000

Didn’t know you signed up for the China Challenge! There weren’t many sharing of reviews over at Jennie’s blog. I seem to be the only one, and at first I was a bit worried. Out of your list I would like to read:
1.Waiting by Ha Jin (1999 PEN/Faulkner and National Book Award)
5.Binu and the Great Wall by Su Tong
6.Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See
7.Wild Swans by Jung Chang (memoir) – Read 10 years ago, my hubby is reading it now.
8.The Good Women of China by Xinran (memoir)

I was about to wrap up the China Challenge. Given the time frame looks like I can’t go for 10 books now. Interesting list!
[JoV´s last blog: Bel Canto by Ann Patchett]

By: Bookie Mee | The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck

Bookie Mee | The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 12:50:31 +0000

[...] China Challenge (book #4), Book Awards IV (book #5), Read the Book See the Movie (pair [...]

By: China Challenge – Absorbed in Words

China Challenge – Absorbed in Words — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 23:38:58 +0000

[...] Life recently invited me to join this. A few days later, I got even more excited when I read Mee’s post for this challenge, which also talks about her Chinese roots. So now here I am writing [...]

By: Waiting by Ha Jin | Books of Mee

Waiting by Ha Jin | Books of Mee — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 11:23:21 +0000

[...] China Challenge (book #3), Book Awards IV (book #1), Women Unbound (book #4): for a glimpse into women’s [...]

By: mee

mee — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 10:46:22 +0000

Yea I read your review on Mr. Muo and I remember you disliked it, but I do have to try Dai Sijie and Ha Jin, you’d understand, would you? :) Lol your post of Wild Swans IS long. Forgive me for not reading it now (I did read the first couple of paragraphs), because the book sounds like something I wanna read with as little information as possible. I’m glad to hear that you loved both Snow Flower and Peony in Love. I read not so great reviews for Peony (in comparison to Snow Flower), so I’m so glad that there’s another opinion that says it’s better. Great list you have there! I will come back a few more times to check it out for sure!

By: Eva

Eva — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 10:18:50 +0000

Wow-thanks for sharing the story about your family. I joined this challenge too! I will say I disliked both Ha Jin and Dai Sijie-they both felt pretty anti-women to me (I read Waiting, Balzac & the Little Chinese Seamstress, and about 150 pgs of Mr. Muo’s Travelling Couch). Wild Swans is INCREDIBLE: I wrote a ridiculously long review of it because it was so good (http://astripedarmchair.wordpress.com/2008/04/05/the-long-awaited-wild-swans-post/)! And I enjoyed Snow Flower and the Secret Fan-though I enjoyed Peony in Love even more. :) I have Xinran in my pool too! I annotated my list, if you want to get suggestions from it. :) (http://astripedarmchair.wordpress.com/2009/08/29/whats-better-than-challenges-more-challenges/)

By: Betty

Betty — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 03:55:04 +0000

I’m certainly not promoting myself because I am not the author, but thank you for leaving my comment, because I really loved that book.

By: mee

mee — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 22:31:31 +0000

Hi Betty, to be honest the website and the recommendations at Amazon’s site look a bit dodgy (many many 5 stars – looks a lot like self promotion to me), but I leave your comment here for everyone to decide for themselves if they wanna pick up the book or not. It could be a very good book!

By: Betty

Betty — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 16:03:15 +0000

Thanks for the Chinese historical fiction book recommendations. I'm putting a few on my TBR list as I find them fascinating. I've started reading a book based on a real love story that took place in China during the nineteenth century. It's called My Splendid Concubine by Lloyd Lofthouse. It's a dramatic, romantic adventure and a love story. It takes place in China during the Opium Wars and the Taiping Rebellion. It seems to explore/explain the clash between different cultures. I'm really enjoying it.