Welcome to Litsy!

This is quite good. The author takes a historical fact and writes a story around it. It's like an adult version of Stacey Lee. It isn't cheerful, but I recommend it anyway. Read for my IRL book club.

#BookSpinBingo @TheAromaofBooks

I was instantly drawn in and engaged but by half way though I had fallen asleep multiple times while reading so...

#VolumesAndVocals

A #Treasure titled book from my Kindle. It seems like a golden star would‘ve a treasure of the sky…

✨💫✨
“Treasure, that is what you are
Honey, you're my golden star 🌟
You know you can make my wish come true
If you let me treasure you…”
✨💫✨

Oh Rachel ! Thank you thank you thank you for such a wonderful Christmas parcel of thoughtfulness and loveliness. The books are amazing, the socks are lush, the book darts amazingly useful - but the dibber! It‘s beautiful! I love it! Every seed in my garden this spring will be planted with it! Thank you sweet friend

Hate in America is still strong and alive, proof is the banning of these types of books in the schools.

Excellent storytelling.

I got my new #goldsborobooks edition of this amazing story! This is my heart being very happy

I wanted to love this. I find historical fiction most interesting when it exposes truths about the past, which this certainly does. From kidnapping and sexual slavery in China and San Francisco to the effect of the Chinese Exclusion Act on immigrant workers in Idaho, Zhang covers a lot of ground in the late 19th c Chinese-American experience. But the voice and thoughts of the MC just grated on me. Given all the great reviews, maybe it‘s just me.

#aapi #historical

Bookstore browsing

“When I am kidnapped, it does not happen in an alleyway. It does not happen in the middle of the night. It does not happen when I am alone.

“When I am kidnapped, I am thirteen and standing in the middle of the Zhifu fish market on Beach Road, watching a fleshy woman assemble whitefish the shape of spades into a pile.“

#FridayReads #FirstLineFridays

Beautiful but brutal. Tells the tale of a young girl kidnapped in China and smuggled to the US in the late 1800s. A Bildungsroman but also a story of the anti-Chinese violence of the time. Thoroughly researched and beautifully written. I struggled a bit with her (alter ego? Guiding spirit?) Lin Daiyu, Dream of the Red Chamber heroine, that she‘s named after. Lin Daiyu helps her through traumas, of which there are many.

I loved this book.

#bookmail

I learned a lot by reading this story of a chinese girl brought to the US in the 1880's and the anti Chinese laws of the time. Fascinating that this was written in 2020 as a reaction to Trump's hate-filled retoric around Covid. Was a complicated and eventful adventure tale. The writting reads like a first novel. I am glad I read the book but was not swept up by it. 3 🌟

I read this title for my #ballerinabookclub #isabellaboylston book club. I found this to be a wonderful historic read about the experiences of Daiyu a Chinese girl who‘s life is anything but easy as she finds her place in America during the 1800‘s. This book is both heartbreaking and uplifting. I feel this may be one of my favorite reads of this year.

Four hours into this audiobook and I'm bailing. If the book was shorter, I would have stuck with it but I still have 8 more hours to go. Life is too short, as they say.
It tells an important story (about the Chinese immigrant experience in the 1880s. The MC eventually lands in Idaho) But it's plotty in a way that gets on my nerves. I think that's a me problem, not a problem with this book. I suspect fans of historical fiction might enjoy it more.

Covering Children‘s until we close at 2, and so glad to have this beauty to keep me company! 😍 #fourtreasuresofthesky #jennytinghuizhang

This is historical fiction at its best. Set in Idaho in 1885 and chronicling the racism and violence that Chinese immigrants were subjected to - but more than that as well. It‘s the story of the resilient Daiyu who manages to find a little happiness in a life full of horror. Beautifully written. Out today.

March wrap up pt 2! The tagged book was spectacular and come out this Tuesday!

What an impressive debut novel! Rumors say this may be an April #BOTM pick & I hope it is! Daiyu‘s heartbreaking story will surely inspire lively discussions as it takes her from China to the American West in the late 1800s. This book covers a lot & is sure to open eyes about an ugly segment of history. The audio is spectacular- well-performed & with a gripping story & characters round this out to make an excellent new piece of historical fiction!

April BookPage! The debut featured on the cover (tagged) sounds really good. I‘m on the library hold list for Bittersweet since I enjoyed Cain‘s Quiet. And, of course, looking forward to the new Emily St. John Mandel.

This is a welcome addition to the growing number of books about the American West told from the POV of immigrants, in this case a young Chinese woman. Set in the 1880s against the backdrop of rising anti-Chinese sentiment, the story is replete with the challenges & hardships she faces as a foreign woman far from home with no family, no resources & few options. Infused with Chinese folklore, this is really good historical fiction. On sale 4/5/22

Saturday morning—just look at this gorgeous cover—book.