Bookspotting: Olympics Story Week

Nearly four years ago, my dad and I took the trip of a lifetime. I had received a fellowship from my university (Colgate in New York) that allowed me to travel anywhere in the world to conduct a research project. Previously, I'd attended the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. At the time, the burning question on everyone's minds was: "Will Greece be ready for this?" There is so much work that goes into preparing a city for the Olympics, and I wanted to know how Beijing's preparations would compare. I decided to go to China to study the effect that the Games had on the city. What I saw blew any hope of comparison out of the water.

When I returned to school to write the research paper and presentation required by the fellowship, I found that there was only so much about what I'd experienced that I could express in an academic format. I handed in my paper feeling there was more to say about Beijing and the impact it had on me. 

Three years later, when I had moved to Asia and started writing a travel memoir about my Hong Kong experiences, I felt that I'd finally found the appropriate format to talk about Beijing. After thinking about it for years, Nanowrimo and the writing skills I'd been learning gave me the motivation to sit down and tell this story. The result is my upcoming e-book, The Olympics Beat: A Spectator's Memoir of Beijing, an 88-page travel memoir about our adventures at the Games. I'm still pursuing traditional publication for my Hong Kong book, but I'm excited to launch this timely digital-only story on May 27th, exactly two months before the Opening Ceremonies of the London 2012 Games.

Now back to your regularly scheduled bookspotting...

This week I spotted a teenage girl on the MTR reading Twilight. The next day, I spotted a middle-aged man unabashedly reading Twilight in the train station. It seems Stephanie Meyer has finally made it to HK in force. Earlier in the week, a teenage boy on the MTR was reading Joseph Heller's Catch-22. Last night, I saw a woman reading a Kindle without a cover beneath the Escalator in Soho. On the other side of the street, I spotted a thick Eyewitness guidebook to China on a table by the window of a restaurant. I counted three Chinese books this week. Have you spotted any interesting books lately?

BIRD BY BIRD by Anne Lamott

THE GIST:

A bestselling author offers the same advice on writing and living that she gives to students in her writing classes.

THE VERDICT:

This is a relaxed book that reads like a warm talk with a friendly teacher or your favorite aunt. Anne Lamott has collected years worth of wisdom as a novelist. In this short guide, she shares the many tools of her trade, from methods for keeping track of ideas to meticulous plot treatments to shitty first drafts. Her suggestions are practical, and often come with thoughtful personal anecdotes. My favorite tidbit is that she keeps a one-inch picture frame by her desk and uses it to remind herself to focus only on one tiny step at a time.

Lamott writes about the challenges and unique joys of the writing life with a healthy dose of realism. She acknowledges the frustrations and misgivings that come with any creative pursuit while providing nuggets of encouragement for the frazzled writer. She insists that it is important to understand why you write because it will not be an easy road. The self-doubt and uncertainty never fully goes away, and publication will not make you a better, happier, smarter person than you were before.

Lamott's tone is casual, and she has a natural honesty and humility in her voice. Her charm comes from her openness, and it makes this a book to reread in delicate moments. For me, it was not a book that spurred me to action like Stephen King's On Writing did last year, but I can see why it is a writers' classic. It's also a book I would recommend to non-writers who find their solace and passion in other types of creative work because much of the encouragement still applies.

THE LINK:

An article by Anne Lamott on Salon.com

THE COST:

$11.99 for the Kindle edition

THE QUESTION:

What is your creative outlet? Is it something you can pursue full time? What are some of the challenges associated with that particular passion?

Just a reminder that I'll be launching my mini travel memoir, an e-book called The Olympics Beat: A Spectator's Memoir of Beijing during the week of May 27th.

Bookspotting: Announcement Week!

This was definitely a week for bookspotting in Chinese. I counted nine Chinese books, mostly on the MTR. That's a lot more than normal, and included two textbooks. I also spotted one guidebook to Hong Kong and Macau and a Kindle in a coffee shop, but I didn't see any other English titles.

In last week's Bookspotting post, I announced the launch of my new author website: ShannonYoungWriter.com. Thank you to everyone who went over there for a visit and signed up for my email list. I also told you that I'd have a bigger announcement this week. I'm releasing an e-book! This is not my Hong Kong travel memoir, but a separate piece that is far too short to be a book and far too long to be a magazine article (88 print pages). The official launch will be on May 27th, exactly two months before the Opening Ceremonies of the London Olympics. I'll tell you more about it in the coming weeks, but here's the blurb and the book cover by the amazing Joanna Suen.

The Olympics Beat: A Spectator’s Memoir of Beijing

The drama, the variety, the spectacle - Shannon can't get enough of it. She is an American student who has always been fascinated by the Olympic Games; her father has a lifelong love affair with China. They team up for the Beijing games and the adventure of a lifetime. Without the filter of a small screen, Shannon and her father are hypnotized by the passion of a great nation unveiling itself to the world. This mini travel memoir is a picture of a new China and the experiences that would change one American girl's life forever.

Coming soon to an e-book store near you!

THE EARTHQUAKE MACHINE by Mary Pauline Lowry

THE GIST:

An American teenager goes on the run through the Mexican desert, searching for a man named Jesus.

THE VERDICT:

This is a strange book, and I had a hard time figuring out what to write about it. Rhonda, an American 14-year-old, experiences a series of traumatic events and runs away to Mexico. She takes the name Angel and searches for her family's Mexican gardener, Jesus. Along the way, she encounters a lively, fairly unrealistic cast of characters who help her on her journey to find Jesus, and to find herself. On the surface, this sounds like a cheesy allegory, but the reality is quite different. This tale is not a conversion story and Rhonda experiments with many different ideas of God, spirituality, sexuality, and feminism.

Rhonda experiences pain and self-loathing on her journey, and her self-destructive behavior can be painful to watch. However, the backdrop of the rich, nuanced Mexican culture and the ever-changing landscape give the book an upbeat edge. The plot moves quickly, and each character is vividly drawn. The use of religious imagery is surprisingly sophisticated and original. There is a strange sort of beauty in this story, and it's unlike anything I've read before.

This is a book that could easily offend and could just as easily change someone's life. The author does not shy away from dealing with uncomfortable subjects with a frankness that I believe would appeal to a lot of young women. Rhonda's coming-of-age is rife with the experimentation, uncertainty, and passion of a real girl, even though most of the events of her journey would never happen. That being said, I found the conclusion troubling and I'm not sure I could recommend this book to anyone too young. Still, this is a fearless novel that will keeping you thinking about it long after you finish reading.

THE LINK:

Mary Pauline Lowry's website 

THE COST:

I received a complimentary copy of this e-book from the author.

THE QUESTION:

What's a book that you've had mixed feelings about? Do you recommend it to people? What's your favorite coming-of-age story?

Bookspotting: Author Website Week

My new author photo by the lovely and talented Joanna Suen

This week I spotted yet another Hunger Games reader on the MTR. She may have actually been reading Catching Fire, the second book in the series, but it was hard to tell. A man on the train was intently studying Love and Respect: The Love She Most Desires, The Respect He Desperately Needs by Emerson Eggerichs. I spotted a teenager carrying a Nora Roberts book through Central and another woman reading an English paperback with a blue cover. I counted four Chinese books and one guidebook.

This week I also had the opportunity to meet Susan Blumberg-Kason, one of the most faithful readers of this blog. Susan is an American writer who lived in Hong Kong for much of the 1990s. She returned to the city for her first visit in years and I got to have lunch with her! She is blogging about her return to HK at her terrific site: SusanBKason.com.

In other news, I would like to announce the launch of my new writer's website: ShannonYoungWriter.com. This blog will continue to be about books and Hong Kong, but if you are interested in my other writing, you can check out the site and sign up for my email list. I have another exciting announcement coming up soon, so stay tuned!

Have you spotted any books this week?

THE BOOK THIEF by Markus Zusak

THE GIST:

Death narrates the tale of a German girl during World War II. She likes to steal books.

THE VERDICT:

This story is a love letter to words in content as well as form. The main character arrives in an unassuming German town unable to read, and throughout the story she discovers the dignity and passion that the written word can provide. The usual World War II themes are present in this book, but the connections that develop between people through the act of reading are particularly powerful. Language can save and destroy, and the author explores this theme with poetry and compassion.

The narrative is not strictly linear, and it took me a little while to get into the book. Using Death as a narrator seems gimmicky at first, but the character actually provides a take on the tragic events of the period that is both poignant and refreshing. He insists on giving away details about the ending from the very beginning, so the reader's focus is on the souls of the characters, not on the plot points. The ending still managed to bring me to tears right in the middle of the MTR.

This story is special because of the language. Zusak has a gift for playing with words in a loving, surprising manner. The unexpected metaphors and sophisticated anthropomorphisms force you to pay attention to Zusak's imagery. He does have a tendency to overuse sentence fragments and odd, capitalized declarations. I know this is intended to emphasize powerful statements and images, but reading too many of these punctuated moments can be exhausting. They start to lose their impact. Overall, the real power of Zusak's language comes from the joy of invention and play that comes out in the writing.

THE LINK:

The UK website for this book is quite snazzy.

THE COST:

$9.99 for the Kindle edition

THE QUESTION:

When is a time when you've seen reading bring people together? Are there other writers you enjoy who use unconventional forms or narrative techniques?

Bookspotting: Week 65

Welcome back to another episode of Bookspotting in Hong Kong! This week I spotted a woman reading an English paperback on the MTR. When she left the train, I saw a flash of bright blue on the cover, but couldn't read the title. Another woman was reading Lionel Shriver's We Need to Talk About Kevin and a man was carrying Gazza: My Story by Paul Gascoigne. Kindles are becoming more popular around here: I spotted three this week alone! It is, of course, World Book Night, so I was also treated to the sight of my school's 600 students reading together in the hall this afternoon. Most of them read in Chinese, but I spotted a few English titles here and there. I brought along Madeline in case any of them forgot a book. Two guidebooks made an appearance on the streets of Hong Kong this week, along with four other Chinese books.

What are people reading in your town? Did you do anything special for World Book Night?