Category: 2024 Books
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Jiaming Tang, Cinema Love, John Murray, 2024. 304 pgs. Cinema Love is the impressive debut novel by Chinese-American writer Jiaming Tang. The bookβs blurb and the opening chapters may…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] βGut-punching Melodrama: Jiaming Tangβs πΆπππππ πΏππ£πβ by Hongwei Bao](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/jiaming-tang-cinema-love-john-murray.jpg?w=975)
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πRETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπRETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Lauren Walden, Surrealism from Paris to Shanghai, Hong Kong University Press, 2024. 152 pgs. In Surrealism from Paris to Shanghai, Lauren Walden has done modern Chinese art history a…
![[REVIEW] βRecovering Shanghaiβs Lost Surrealist Tradition: Lauren Waldenβs ππ’πππππππ π ππππ πππππ π‘π πβπππβππβ by Paul French](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/surrealism-from-paris-to-shanghai.jpg?w=1024)
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πRETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπRETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS ClickΒ HERE to readΒ all entriesΒ in Cha on The Life of Tu Fu. Eliot Weinberger, The Life of Tu Fu, New Directions, 2024. 64 pgs. A flying goose dropping out of…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “A Fictional Autobiography: Eliot Weinberger’s πβπ πΏπππ ππ ππ’ πΉπ’” by Juan JosΓ© Morales](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/screenshot-2024-11-29-at-17.39.54.png?w=1024)
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πRETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπRETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Sanaka Hiiragi (author), Jesse Kirkwood (translator), The Lantern of Lost Memories, Picador, 2024. 224 pgs. What if, when you die, someone greets you with drinks and snacks, briefing you…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] βBetween the Living and the Dead: Sanaka Hiiragiβs πβπ πΏπππ‘πππ ππ πΏππ π‘ ππππππππ β by Aditi Yadav](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/sanaka-hiiragi.png?w=1024)
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πRETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπRETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Paul French, Her Lotus Year: China, the Roaring Twenties, and the Making of Wallis Simpson, St. Martin’s Press, 2024. 298 pgs. Wallis Simpson will forever be imprinted on British…
![[REVIEW] βRemembering WallisβPaul Frenchβs π»ππ πΏππ‘π’π ππππ: πΆβπππ, π‘βπ π
ππππππ ππ€πππ‘πππ , πππ π‘βπ ππππππ ππ ππππππ πππππ ππβ by Susan Blumberg-Kason](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/f09d90bbf09d9192f09d919f-f09d90bff09d919cf09d91a1f09d91a2f09d91a0-f09d918cf09d9192f09d918ef09d919f-f09d90b6e2848ef09d9196f09d919bf09d918e-f09d91a1e2848ef09d9192-f09d9185f09d919cf09d918ef.png?w=1024)
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TIFF 2024 β Introductionβ 8. Band of Outsiders: On Neo Sora’s Happyendβ 7. The Soul of an Artist: On Hong Sang-sooβs By The Streamβ 6. The Two Maidens: On TrΖ°Ζ‘ng Minh QuΓ½βs Viet and Namβ 5. The Master and Her…
![[TIFF 2024] βThe Two Maidens: On TrΖ°Ζ‘ng Minh QuΓ½βs ππππ‘ πππ πππβ by Nirris Nagendrarajah](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/viet-and-nam.jpg?w=753)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS ClickΒ HERE to readΒ all entries inΒ ChaΒ onΒ Kiriti Sengupta. Bibhas Roy Chowdhury (poet), Kiriti Sengupta (translator), Poem Continuous: Reincarnated Expressions, Hawakal Publishers, 2024.114 pgs. βMy reader, I dip into the water just…
![[REVIEW] “Mesmerising CollectionβBibhas Roy Chowdhury’s ππππ πΆπππ‘πππ’ππ’π : π
πππππππππ‘ππ πΈπ₯ππππ π ππππ ” by Malashri Lal](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/kiriti-sengupta-translator-poem-continuous-reincarnated-expressions.jpg?w=880)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Aruni Kashyap, The Way You Want to Be Loved, Gaudy Boy, 2024. 256 pgs. In the first story of Aruni Kashyapβs short story collection, the narrator, a writer of…
![[REVIEW] “The Ways to Belonging in Stories: Aruni Kashyapβs πβπ πππ¦ πππ’ ππππ‘ π‘π π΅π πΏππ£ππβ by Faith Ho](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/the-way-you-want-to-be-loved.jpg?w=971)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Tim Tim Cheng, The Tattoo Collector, Nine Arches Press, 2024. 72 pp. In case you hadnβt known that the British ruled Hong Kong until 1997 or needed sudden clarification…
![[REVIEW] βBlue Fires Burning in Tim Tim Chengβs πβπ πππ‘π‘ππ πΆππππππ‘ππβ by Michelle Suen](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/cheng-tim-tim-the-tattoo-collector.jpg?w=1024)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on Tapestry of the Mind. Aneeta Sundararaj, Tapestry of the Mind and Other Stories, Penguin Random House SEA, 2024. 272 pgs. Aneeta Sundararajβs Tapestry of the…
![[REVIEW] βA Powerful and Stimulating Collection: Aneeta Sundararaj’s πππππ π‘ππ¦ ππ π‘βπ ππππ” by Namrata](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/tapestry-of-the-mind-and-other-stories-aneeta-sundararaj.jpg?w=977)
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πΒ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπΒ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Sayantani Dasgupta, Brown Women Have Everything: Essays on (Dis)comfort and Delight, The University of North Carolina Press, 2024. 180 pgs. When you cheerfully but firmly believe that your brown-woman…
![[REVIEW] βExpanding Our World: Sayantani Dasguptaβs π΅πππ€π πππππ π»ππ£π πΈπ£πππ¦π‘βπππβ by Donna Miscolta](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/brown-women.jpg?w=970)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS San Lin Tun, Yangon Days: A Collection of Urban Short Stories, Penguin Random House SEA, 2024. 240 pgs. If the Yangon you used to think of as so full…
![[REVIEW] βOur Yangon: San Lin Tunβs ππππππ π·ππ¦π β by Peixuan Xie](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/yangon-days-a-collection-of-urban-short-stories.jpg?w=977)
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “The Tale of A Material City: Lau Yee-wa’s Tongueless” by Luca Griseri ClickΒ HERE to readΒ all entries inΒ ChaΒ onΒ Tongueless. Lau Yee-Wa (author), Jennifer Feeley (translator), Tongueless, The Feminist Press, 2024. 280 pgs. The…
![[REVIEW] “The Tale of A Material City: Lau Yee-wa’s πππππ’ππππ π ” by Luca GriseriΒ](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/tongueless_cha.jpg?w=938)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS ClickΒ HERE to readΒ all entries inΒ ChaΒ onΒ Tapestry of the Mind. Aneeta Sundararaj, Tapestry of the Mind and Other Stories, Penguin Random House SEA, 2024. 272 pgs. Aneeta Sundararajβs Tapestry of the…
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Pang Laikwan, One and All: The Logic of Chinese Sovereignty, Stanford University Press, 2024. 276 pgs. As I finish writing this review, we are a few days away from…
![[REVIEW] βQuest for Genuineness: Pang Laikwanβs πππ πππ π΄ππβ by Kaiqing Su](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/one-and-all_pang-laikwan.jpg?w=1000)
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] βStunning Memoir: Grace Loh Prasadβs The Translator’s Daughterβ by Susan Blumberg-Kason ClickΒ HERE to readΒ all entries inΒ ChaonΒ Translator’s Daughter. Grace Loh Prasad, The Translatorβs Daughter, The Ohio State University Press, 2024. 272…
![[REVIEW] βStunning Memoir: Grace Loh Prasadβs πβπ πππππ πππ‘ππβπ π·ππ’πβπ‘ππβ by Susan Blumberg-Kason](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/the-translators-daughter.jpg?w=880)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Ralph Jennings, 50 Useful Tips on China, from a Guy Who ALMOST Got It, Earnshaw Books, 2024. 260 pgs. Ralph Jennings is a seasoned journalist who has spent the…
![[REVIEW] βResonating with Anyone Who Travels Internationally: Ralph Jenningsβs 50 ππ πππ’π ππππ ππ πΆβπππβ by Susan Blumberg-Kason](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/50-useful-tips-on-china-from-a-guy-who-almost-got-it.jpg?w=971)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Read Madeleine Slavick’s “The Yellow Chair” HERE. Madeleine Slavick, Town, The Cuba Press, 2024. 132 pgs. Imagine a poet and a photographer collaborating. What will they create? Town is such…
![[REVIEW] βWhere Ripples Intersect: Madeleine Slavickβs Photopoetry Collection πππ€πβ by Aqua Kaiyun Zheng](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/town_madeleine-slavick.jpg?w=1024)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Salman Rushdie, Knife: Meditations After An Attempted Murder, Penguin Random House, 2024. 224 pgs. “Life is not what one lived, but what one remembers, and how one remembers it…
![[REVIEW] βAn Achingly Poignant Personal Trauma Narrative: Salman Rushdieβs πΎππππβ by Sudeep Ghosh](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/knife-salman-rushdie.jpg?w=1000)
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] βWondrous Challenges of Translation: Eric Reinders’s Reading Tolkien in Chineseβ by Raymond K. Nakamura Eric Reinders, Reading Tolkien in Chinese: Religion, Fantasy and Translation, Bloomsbury, 2024. 200 pgs. The availability…
![[REVIEW] βWondrous Challenges of Translation: Eric Reinders’s π
ππππππ πππππππ ππ πΆβππππ πβ by Raymond K. Nakamura](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/eric-reinders-reading-tolkien-in-chinese.jpg?w=1000)
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πRETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS πRETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Alexandra A. Chan, In the Garden Behind the Moon, Flashpoint, 2024. 432 pgs. On paper, Alexandra A. Chan seems to have it all. A doctor of archaeology, a professor,…
![[REVIEW] βRemembering Through Memoir: Alexandra A. Chanβs πΌπ π‘βπ πΊπππππ π΅πβπππ π‘βπ ππππβ by Susan Blumberg-Kason](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/in-the-garden-behind-the-moon.jpg?w=1000)
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] βLiving On: Xi Xiβs Mourning a Breastβ by Susan Blumberg-Kason Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on Mourning a Breast. Xi Xi (author), Jennifer Feeley (translator), Mourning a Breast, New York Review Books, 2024.…
![[REVIEW] βLiving On: Xi Xiβs πππ’πππππ π π΅ππππ π‘β by Susan Blumberg-Kason](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/mourning-a-breast_xi-xi_jennifer-feeley.jpg?w=938)
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] βLiving Life to the Fullest: Xi Xiβs Mourning a Breastβ by Lydia Kwa Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on Mourning a Breast. Xi Xi (author), Jennifer Feeley (translator), Mourning a Breast, New York…
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Hongwei Bao, The Passion of the Rabbit God, Valley Press, 2024. 81 pgs. There is this book on intimacy, belonging, histories, and motorcycles and leather jackets. It…
![[REVIEW] βSubverting Otherness from Within: Hongwei Baoβs πβπ πππ π πππ ππ π‘βπ π
πππππ‘ πΊππβ by Kika W. L. Van Robays](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/the-passion-of-the-rabbit-god_hongwei-bao.jpg?w=973)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on Yan Ge. Yan Ge, Elsewhere: Stories, Scribner, 2023. 304 pgs. I became interested in Yan Geβs work when I came across her on…
![[REVIEW] βThe Places We Would Rather Be: Yan Geβs πΈππ ππ€βπππβ by X. H. Collins](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/elsewhere-yan-ge.jpg?w=994)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Andreas von Buddenbrock, The Ink Trail Hong Kong, Blacksmith Books, 2024. 96 pgs. When I moved to Hong Kong in 1990, I arrived with a long list…
![[REVIEW] “Intricate Sketches: Andreas von Buddenbrock’s πβπ πΌππ πππππ π»πππ πΎπππ” by Susan Blumberg-Kason](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/the-ink-trail.jpg?w=1024)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Leslie Shimotakahara, Sisters of the Spruce, Caitlin Press, 2024, 234 pp. Set in the backdrop of World War One, Leslie Shimotakahara‘s Sisters of the Spruce is…
![[REVIEW] “Powerful Storytelling: Leslie Shimotakahara’s πππ π‘πππ ππ π‘βπ ππππ’ππ” by Namrata](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/leslie-shimotakahara.jpg?w=900)
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS Editor’s note: Matt Turner recently read Anthony Tao’s new poetry collection, We Met in Beijing, and went to a reading of his in New York. He wrote a short “consideration” about it all…
![[ESSAY] “Anthony Tao at Sunset Bar” by Matt Turner](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/anthony-tao_cha-an-asian-literary-journal-1.png?w=1024)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Makoto Shinkai and Naruki Nagakawa (authors), Ginny Tapley Takemori (translator), She and Her Cat, Washington Square Press, 2024. 144 pgs. As a reader, Iβd never thought that Iβd be…
![[REVIEW] βUniversally Relevant Today: Makoto ShinkaiΒ &Β Naruki Nagakawaβs πβπ πππ π»ππ πΆππ‘β by Saliha HaddadΒ](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/she-and-her-cat.jpg?w=966)
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “A Historic Thriller Steeped in the Mythical Mists of Time: Yangsze Choo’s The Fox Wife” by Kevin McGeary Yangsze Choo, The Fox Wife, Henry Holt and Company, 2024. 400…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “A Historic Thriller Steeped in the Mythical Mists of Time: Yangsze Choo’s πβπ πΉππ₯ ππππ” by Kevin McGeary](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/the-fox-wife_yangsze-choo.jpg?w=974)
Cha 