Maura Elizabeth Cunningham ( of China in the 21st Century)

Maura Elizabeth rated a book liked it Secret Nights and Northern Lights by Megan Oliver (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Megan Oliver’s debut novel, Secret Nights and Northern Lights, is a fairly typical second-chance romance featuring secret high-school sweethearts Mona and Ben. After Ben broke up with Mona before their senior year, the two go 14 years without contact ...more
Feb 18, 2026 04:27AM · like · see review
Maura Elizabeth rated a book it was amazing Foreign Babes in Beijing: Behind the Scenes of a New China by Rachel DeWoskin	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Feb 18, 2026 04:26AM · like
Maura Elizabeth has read Foreign Babes in Beijing: Behind the Scenes of a New China by Rachel DeWoskin	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Feb 18, 2026 04:26AM · like
Maura Elizabeth rated a book really liked it Big in China: My Unlikely Adventures Raising a Family, Playing the Blues, and Becoming a Star in Beijing by Alan Paul (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Comfortably settled into a white-collar suburban life in New Jersey with his wife and three children, journalist Alan Paul never imagined that they would one day uproot it all and move to China. But when his wife, Rebecca Blumenstein, received a once ...more
Feb 16, 2026 03:27AM · like · see review
Maura Elizabeth rated a book liked it Last First Kiss by Julian Winters (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Last First Kiss is a cute MM romance about learning to be yourself when you’re not even sure who you are. Jordan Carter is an up-and-coming event coordinator in Atlanta, hoping to advance in his family’s business by planning the wedding of the year. ...more
Feb 12, 2026 07:50AM · like · see review
Maura Elizabeth has read The Wall Dancers: Searching for Freedom and Connection on the Chinese Internet by Yi-Ling Liu (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Ma Baoli found himself on the internet. It started one night, in 1998, when the young policeman from north China seated himself at a computer in a newly opened web cafe and searched for the word that was buzzing through his mind: “tongxinglian.” Homo ...more
Feb 07, 2026 03:12AM · like · see review
Maura Elizabeth has read This Was Funnier in China: An American Comedian's Cross-Cultural Journey by Jesse Appell	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Feb 06, 2026 04:18AM · like
Maura Elizabeth rated a book really liked it The Future Saints by Ashley Winstead (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
The Future Saints sends readers on an emotional roller coaster that mirrors one of the band’s dark new songs. The book starts off quietly, introducing us to co-narrators Hannah (lead singer/songwriter) and Theo (manager from the band’s label) and set ...more
Feb 05, 2026 11:42AM · like · see review
Maura Elizabeth rated a book really liked it Shanghai by Joseph Kanon (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
3.5 stars Joseph Kanon certainly did his research before sitting down to write Shanghai. Set in 1939 Shanghai, during the “Lonely Island” period when war between China and Japan surrounded the neutral International Settlement and French Concession, Ka ...more
Feb 04, 2026 04:11AM · like · see review
Maura Elizabeth rated a book liked it Is This a Cry for Help? by Emily R. Austin (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Is This a Cry for Help? was the first book by Emily Austin that I read, and I like that it’s just kind of a story about quiet adulthood. Darcy, a 32-year-old librarian, stumbles across her ex-boyfriend Ben’s obituary online. This sends her into a spi ...more
Jan 30, 2026 01:18PM · like · see review

Maura Elizabeth rated a book liked it

Secret Nights and Northern Lights
by Megan Oliver (Goodreads Author)

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Megan Oliver’s debut novel, Secret Nights and Northern Lights, is a fairly typical second-chance romance featuring secret high-school sweethearts Mona and Ben. After Ben broke up with Mona before their senior year, the two go 14 years without contact ...more

Maura Elizabeth rated a book it was amazing

Foreign Babes in Beijing by Rachel DeWoskin

Foreign Babes in Beijing: Behind the Scenes of a New China
by Rachel DeWoskin

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Maura Elizabeth has read

Foreign Babes in Beijing: Behind the Scenes of a New China
by Rachel DeWoskin

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Maura Elizabeth rated a book really liked it

Big in China: My Unlikely Adventures Raising a Family, Playing the Blues, and Becoming a Star in Beijing
by Alan Paul (Goodreads Author)

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Comfortably settled into a white-collar suburban life in New Jersey with his wife and three children, journalist Alan Paul never imagined that they would one day uproot it all and move to China. But when his wife, Rebecca Blumenstein, received a once Comfortably settled into a white-collar suburban life in New Jersey with his wife and three children, journalist Alan Paul never imagined that they would one day uproot it all and move to China. But when his wife, Rebecca Blumenstein, received a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to serve as Beijing bureau chief for The Wall Street Journal, the two decided that a three-year overseas assignment was just what their family needed. Paul recounts their 2005-2008 sojourn in Big in China, an enjoyable and (as far as I can tell) honest chronicle of his experiences as a trailing spouse in Beijing’s expatriate community.

Paul acknowledges that expat life comes with many privileges: an enormous house in a private compound, household staff, international school for his children. Paul tries hard not to let those luxuries seduce him into living in China but not living in China. He sees the foreigners “who spent most of their time trying to re-create their home life in China” and notices that they “were often seething with complaints and disappointments.” Instead, he does his best to immerse himself in Beijing and get to know the city during the chaotic, ever-changing years leading up to the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Unexpectedly, the way Paul becomes truly engaged in his China life is by getting a guitar repaired. A longtime hobbyist musician, his need for instrument repair brings Paul to the shop of Woodie Wu and the two soon build up a rapport. They begin playing together in a blues band (“Woodie Alan”—an obvious choice, but a name that rings a bit cringe today), and Paul’s musical hobby quickly becomes a major focus in his life. Woodie Alan plays one gig after another, gaining a following and eventually earning them the title of “Beijing’s Best Band” in a magazine contest. Getting to know Wu and the other band members helps Paul escape the English-speaking expat bubble and develop a more well-rounded picture of China during his time there.

Big in China is a solid expat memoir, differing from many others in that Paul was not the partner working as a full-time journalist (I’m sure Blumenstein’s version of their years in Beijing would be significantly different!). He nicely captures a period when, for both the country and himself, “growth and change were the only constants and anything felt possible.” ...more

Maura Elizabeth rated a book liked it

Last First Kiss
by Julian Winters (Goodreads Author)

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Last First Kiss is a cute MM romance about learning to be yourself when you’re not even sure who you are. Jordan Carter is an up-and-coming event coordinator in Atlanta, hoping to advance in his family’s business by planning the wedding of the year. ...more

Maura Elizabeth has read

The Wall Dancers: Searching for Freedom and Connection on the Chinese Internet
by Yi-Ling Liu (Goodreads Author)

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1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Ma Baoli found himself on the internet. It started one night, in 1998, when the young policeman from north China seated himself at a computer in a newly opened web cafe and searched for the word that was buzzing through his mind: “tongxinglian.” Homo ...more

Maura Elizabeth has read

This Was Funnier in China by Jesse Appell

This Was Funnier in China: An American Comedian's Cross-Cultural Journey
by Jesse Appell

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Maura Elizabeth rated a book really liked it

The Future Saints
by Ashley Winstead (Goodreads Author)

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1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

The Future Saints sends readers on an emotional roller coaster that mirrors one of the band’s dark new songs. The book starts off quietly, introducing us to co-narrators Hannah (lead singer/songwriter) and Theo (manager from the band’s label) and set ...more

Maura Elizabeth rated a book really liked it

Shanghai
by Joseph Kanon (Goodreads Author)

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3.5 stars

Joseph Kanon certainly did his research before sitting down to write Shanghai. Set in 1939 Shanghai, during the “Lonely Island” period when war between China and Japan surrounded the neutral International Settlement and French Concession, Ka 3.5 stars

Joseph Kanon certainly did his research before sitting down to write Shanghai. Set in 1939 Shanghai, during the “Lonely Island” period when war between China and Japan surrounded the neutral International Settlement and French Concession, Kanon’s noir thriller is stuffed to the gills with historical details. He fills the pages with descriptions of the city’s nightclubs, hotels, department stores, and other high-end attractions, as well as the small ghetto of Jewish refugees fleeing Europe in Hongkou. Shanghai is almost too much Shanghai—like Kanon couldn’t bear to leave any bit of his research behind and had to mention every last detail he learned.

The book follows Daniel Lohr, a Berlin Jew whose Uncle Nathan secured safe passage for him to Shanghai. Upon arriving in China, Daniel is sucked into Nathan’s dealings in the underworld as a nightclub owner. Daniel quickly learns the many competing factions of the city’s gangs, adeptly playing one mobster off another in an effort to keep himself and Nathan safe. In the background is Leah Auerbach, a fellow refugee whom Daniel had a romance with on the ship from Europe. The nightclubs, the gangs, Leah—all of this swirls together in Daniel’s life, with a sinister agent of the Japanese Kempeitai secret police hovering over everything.

For me, the most effective aspect of this novel is how Kanon conveys the sense of Shanghai as a place where people can change their identities and their fortunes on a moment’s notice. He also understands the Lonely Island period as a time when many people chose not to notice what was happening all around them, refusing to acknowledge that war would come for everyone sooner or later: “The chamber music, the ceramics were just veneer, part of what Island Shanghai used to insulate itself. But today the violence was all around them, the real city.”

Shanghai covers a relatively brief span of time in which an almost absurd number of events happen, Daniel nimbly negotiating all of them. I wasn’t especially interested in the nuances of the underworld plot—I had a pretty good idea of how the tension would be resolved and trusted Kanon to get me there, one way or another. (He did.) I appreciated Shanghai as a work of deeply researched historical fiction that captures a slice of the past not known to many. ...more

Maura Elizabeth rated a book liked it

Is This a Cry for Help?
by Emily R. Austin (Goodreads Author)

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1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Is This a Cry for Help? was the first book by Emily Austin that I read, and I like that it’s just kind of a story about quiet adulthood. Darcy, a 32-year-old librarian, stumbles across her ex-boyfriend Ben’s obituary online. This sends her into a spi ...more

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	China in the 21st Century: What Everyone Needs to Know by Jeffrey N. Wasserstrom, Maura Elizabeth Cunningham (Goodreads Author) 3.51 avg rating — 685 ratings — published 2010 — 25 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	China Stories (Los Angeles Review of Books - Digital Editions, Issue #10) by Jeffrey N. Wasserstrom (Editor), Helen Gao, Alec Ash (Goodreads Author) 4.50 avg rating — 4 ratings — published 2013	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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