I don’t quite remember what led me to Anchee Min’s Pearl of China, published earlier this year, in the first place. I probably noticed the Chinese author’s name in a book list and looked further into the synopsis. Once I realized it is about Pearl S. Buck and recalled quickly how Buck’s The Good Earth was a spectacular read, I put it on my library request list.
Aside from many an Asian’s initial surprise that a novel that studies in-depth a Chinese peasant’s story at the beginning of the last …

Another 2010 book down. I pat myself on my back to have started borrowing books from the library, even when they are still “ON ORDER”, paying attention to recommendations from AAM, and getting Google Alerts about “asian american literature”!! From the latter, the most consistent recommendations have come from Asian American Literature Fans, a Livejournal blog, an article from which nearly spoiled the novel for me if I hadn’t closed the browser tab as soon as it started to delve into plot points.
I had begun reading Jean Kwok’s 2010 debut novel, …

I try to recall the media furor over the captivity of Laura Ling and Euna Lee last year but I can’t really separate in my mind “actual” coverage by mainstream news and the re-coverage and opinion by bloggers. I followed Angry Asian Man and he echoes a lot of Asian-American-related news for his readers’ benefit and this news story just didn’t go away. Then the highest levels of American government finally got involved and it was finally all over mainstream American news.
I don’t suppose many people knew who Laura Ling …

Oh boy, the way in which I figure out the next novel I will read scares me, and is a testiment to how much of an Internet junkie I can be. I was listening to the podcast, M and MX Radio, the episode in which Hugh Jackman regales you (at the 4-minute mark) by singing a Chinese folk song. It’s hilarious! He learned this song because he is starring in the movie adaptation of Snow Flower and the Secret Fan. The movie, due out in 2011, also stars Vivian Wu …

I feel like I just got back from a two-week tour of China’s Must-Sees with the women in my family. I guess that means Deanna Fei’s A Thread of Sky was good!
My Google Alerts set up for “Asian American literature” alerted me to a Huff Po article by author Deanna Fei, I Called Amy Tan A Dirty Word–And Then She Friended Me. In turn, I learned that Fei published her first novel, A Thread of Sky, in early April. I requested it from the library and actually read a book …

In the spring, I spent ten Thursdays going to the downtown UBC campus for Adobe courses and quickly acquired a routine: briskly walk down after work (30 minutes), often listening to a podcast or talking on the phone with my sister, stopping by the Chapters (bookstore) just next to campus for a quick browse through the bargain books and to pick up my tall non-fat chai latte to nurse through three hours (I drink really slowly).
One day, screaming from the bargain books table, I saw this book–the “Asian font”, the …

I think I’ve made a good start at what I hope to be able to dub my Summer of Asian American Literature. Even though summer has not yet begun, I have gotten through two novels and hopefully have the momentum to get through several more.
Only recently, I set up alerts to for Asian American literature so Janice Y.K. Lee’s one-year-old novel, The Piano teacher, only caught my eye this year when I saw it on a table at Chapters (bookstore). The beautiful evergreen dress against lily white skin on the …

I suppose I had vaguely noticed that a book had been published in May last year with the catchy title, “I Love Yous are for White People” from promotion on the Angry Asian Man blog but I dismissed it as a cheeky humourous book not worthy of my further attention.
I even downloaded the VisualizAsian podcast interview with Lac Su–author of what I thought was a funny novel, but a published author, nonetheless–and it took 6 months for me to find the podcast again and listen to it! And while I …

In a wyn-style nutshell: Gowalla and FourSquare are “games” you play primarily from a GPS-enabled smart phone to make your mundane and exotic activities more fun. When you arrive at a venue (from school to the supermarket to a nightclub to a lowly subway station), you can fire up Gowalla or FourSquare applications and “check in” to the location, i.e., tell the game and your friends where you are; then you can potentially see how many other game-savvy people are/were around and get some cool deals that may be offered by …

I was annoyed because all I have to drink at work from my personal stash of tea is green tea and black tea. I wish I had an endless supply of the seemingly discontinued (from Costco) London & Co. Fruit & Herb Strawberry and Vanilla Fool tea. As it stands, I have 3 more divine tea bags remaining and save them for “special occasions” like savouring it with NPY who likes strawberries.
Then I looked down at the cardboard tab of my “Awake” (blend of black tea leaves) tea bag and …