Bustle Reads 2016 discussion
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10. Read a Book About an Immigrant or Refugee to the US
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Jennie
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Jan 09, 2016 10:57AM
Lots of titles that are mentioned here: The Buddha in the Attic, City of Orphans, The Namesake, and The Book of Unknown Americans. There have to be tons more, too. What can we add?
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I'm currently reading Girl in Translation. Both the main character and the author are from Hong Kong and immigrate to Brooklyn, where they both work(ed) in sweatshops. Reading about the language barriers really opens your eyes to the struggles immigrants face when coming to America.
I just finished How the García Girls Lost Their Accents for this task and I did enjoy it. I read the house on mango street last year Lisa . Nice little book I thought.
I read The Girl With Ghost Eyes by M H Boroson. It's set in the late 1800's, about a immigrant woman in San Francisco's Chinatown. The story is action packed and full of magical realism. She kicks butt, man and monster.
This list was great: "https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/..."- it showed me all the books on my to read list that qualified. I picked Americanah. After reading the sample I was hooked.
If you are interested in a non-traditional take on a story about moving to the US set in 1899, The Golem and the Jinni (written by a woman no less!) is one of my favorites.
Another favorite of mine is Daughter of Fortune.
Happy reading!
I read Zeitoun for this task. It is the true story of a man (who is an immigrant from Syria) and his experiences in NOLA immediately following Katrina.
I read The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears, about an Ethiopian immigrant running a corner store in DC.
I love Zeitoun! My favorite book set in New Orleans!I read Vermilion by Molly Tanzer for this challenge. It's a steampunk alternate history book about a cross-dressing exorcist in the mid 1800s. The protagonist herself is not an immigrant - but she is the child of immigrants and the plot revolves around the Chinese immigrant community (specifically their involvement in the construction of US railroads) and almost every other character in the book is an immigrant to the United States.
While the book started off incredibly well, about 1/2-2/3 of the way through it spiraled into nonsense and cliches. So honestly, I can't recommend it.
Melody wrote: "I love Zeitoun! My favorite book set in New Orleans!I read Vermilion by Molly Tanzer for this challenge. It's a steampunk alternate history book about a cross-dressing exorcist in..."
It's a shame that you don't recommend it, cuz I was reading your description and definitely getting intrigued. I hate it when books start with good ideas and then go silly places with them.
Riah wrote: "It's a shame that you don't recommend it, cuz I was reading your description and definitely getting intrigued. I hate it when books start with good ideas and then go silly places with them."Yeah! It drives me crazy when that happens, lost potential is almost more disappointing then a book that's mediocre all the way through. Maybe I would just read the first half of the book and then imagine an ending? Really the first half is quite quite good.
Books mentioned in this topic
The House on Mango Street (other topics)Vermilion: The Adventures of Lou Merriwether, Psychopomp (other topics)
Vermilion: The Adventures of Lou Merriwether, Psychopomp (other topics)
The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears (other topics)
Zeitoun (other topics)
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