Category Archives: 8Books

8Books: Congrats to Viet Thanh Nguyen on his Pulitzer!

Posted on April 19, 2016 by Lily

So many congratulations to Viet Thanh Nguyen who just won the Pulitzer Price in fiction for his debut novel, The Sympathizer! I was jumping up and down in my office chair when I saw the news yesterday. I devoured this book last … Continue reading →

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8Books: “Have They Run Out of White Poets Yet?” by Franny Choi

Posted on April 12, 2016 by Lily

I’m giving Franny Choi the post title because of her amazing poem responding to the latest in a long string of poems by white people that shouldn’t have been published. Calvin Trillin’s poem “Have They Run Out of Provinces Yet?” ran … Continue reading →

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8Books Review: “Serve the People” by Karen Ishizuka

Posted on April 5, 2016 by Lily

Serve the People: Making Asian America in the Long Sixties highlights the stories and voices of activists who spearheaded the Asian American movement of the 1960s. Complicated, multi-pronged, and geographically diverse, the movement marked a profound political and social shift for Asian … Continue reading →

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8Books Review: “The Queen of the Night” by Alexander Chee

Posted on March 29, 2016 by Lily

Alexander Chee’s long-awaited second novel, The Queen of the Night, is luscious and captivating and please read it. Perhaps I am biased, and I will tell you why in a minute, but this is the rare book I considered not finishing before … Continue reading →

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8Books Review: “The Expatriates” by Janice Y.K. Lee

Posted on March 1, 2016 by Lily

The Expatriates, Janice Lee’s long-awaited second novel, poignantly captures the lives of three American women in Hong Kong. Transplanted into a new locale, they struggle with some of the cliched tropes (seeking escape, finding meaning) but also with some unexpected ones. What … Continue reading →

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8Books Review: “Beyond the Tiger Mom” by Maya Thiagarajan

Posted on February 23, 2016 by Koji Steven Sakai

I’ve always seen myself as a Tiger dad. I know saying that has a lot of negative connotations. But I have big dreams for my toddler. First, he’s going to get into Harvard, then either make the NBA or play … Continue reading →

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Ringing in the Lunar New Year with Books

Posted on February 9, 2016 by Lily

Growing up, Lunar New Year meant sweet lotus seeds and coconut strips, a big family meal, and my mom visiting my elementary school classroom to teach about the holiday. At some point, I learned the story of the Chinese zodiac animals … Continue reading →

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8Books Review: Essential Japanese Grammar

Posted on November 10, 2015 by tinabot

After having gotten hooked on learning some legit Japanese for my trip to Japan last year, I’ve been rarin’ to continue my Japanese language skills for a future return trip to Kyoto study tea ceremony traditions. Thus, when given the … Continue reading →

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8Books Review: “The Making of Asian America,” by Erika Lee

Posted on November 3, 2015 by Lily

Erika Lee’s The Making of Asian America is a masterful work that surveys hundreds of years of Asian American history, taking an expansive view of both Asian and America, to the benefit of all. Lee investigates histories of race relations locally, … Continue reading →

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8Books Review: “Japanese Kanji and Kana” by Wolfgang Hadamitzky and Mark Spahn

Posted on October 15, 2015 by Mitchell K. Dwyer

I Flunked JPN 101 in College. Twice. I studied Japanese formally for about eight years, but it was really eight years of the same three years’ worth of material, so while I know the elementary-level stuff really well, my comprehension … Continue reading →

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8Books Review: “In the Country,” by Mia Alvar

Posted on October 1, 2015 by Lily

Mia Alvar’s beautiful collection of nine short stories, In the Country, is one you don’t want to miss. Her stories traverse the Filipino diaspora, from Bahrain to Manila, to New York and back. But it is Alvar’s lyrical language that is the most compelling, … Continue reading →

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8Books: Jenny Zhang on Michael Derrick Hudson

Posted on September 17, 2015 by Lily

Included in this year’s edition of The Best American Poetry, edited by Sherman Alexie, is a poem worthy of significant controversy. It is a poem by one Yi-Fen Chou, the Chinese pen name of a white writer named Michael Derrick … Continue reading →

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