Interviews Weina Dai Randel burst onto the literary scene a number of years ago with her duology about Empress Wu Zetian, China’s first woman leader. After winning the prestigious Rita Award in 2017 and seeing her novels translated into seven languages, she is back now with a new historical novel set in 1940s Shanghai. Keeping with her love of strong women characters, her new book, The Last Rose of Shanghai, centers on a nightclub owner named Aiyi Shao who falls for a Jewish refugee who had recently escaped Nazi Germany. Through their love of jazz, they develop a forbidden bond set during one of Shanghai’s most volatile and exciting eras. Randel is the first Chinese American author to write about Shanghai Jewish refugees, although there have been dozens of memoirs, narratives, and novels about this phenomenon from Jewish authors. We recently spoke over Zoom about what made Shanghai so special and why it matters now, along with the reasons Jews escaped to Shanghai during World War II and how Chinese and Jewish traditions are so similar. Susan Blumberg-Kason: It seems that the popularity of 1930s and ’40s Shanghai rose both in China and the US about twenty-five years ago. Can you talk about the appeal of this time and why it’s so special, both to people in the US and China? Weina Dai Randel: I think many aspects of Old Shanghai appeal to us today. From the late 1920s to the early 1940s, the period of Old Shanghai was a symbol of... Continue reading at 'World Literature Today'
[ World Literature Today | 2022-01-20 14:33:49 UTC ]
Barnes & Noble has been revamping its digital audiobook offerings, and yesterday announced the launch B&N Audiobooks. The new service has a catalog of more than 300,000 titles, and has two buying options. Customers can buy audiobooks individually or enroll in a new subscription service... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-04-08 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Barnes & Noble finally has a direct answer to Amazon's purchase of Audible. The bookseller has launched a B&N Audiobooks service in the US that lets you either buy recordings or pay $15 per month for a subscription that offers one recurring monthly credit. You'll have access to more than... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2022-04-07 16:21:47 UTC ]
More news stories like this
‘Chickamauga’ is an 1891 short story by the American author Ambrose Bierce, who is also remembered for his witty The Devil’s Dictionary and for his mysterious disappearance in around 1914. ‘Chickamauga’ is a war story, but is unusual in focusing on a young child who is a bystander to the […] Continue reading at Interesting Literature
[ Interesting Literature | 2022-04-07 14:00:45 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Today’s edition of Mystery Daily Deals is sponsored by the audiobook edition of The Resting Place. `the audiobook edition of The Resting... Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2022-04-04 14:37:45 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Even though we both love middle grade books, it turns out that my nephew is looking for different things from an audiobook than I am. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2022-03-29 10:30:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Today’s edition of Mystery Daily Deals is sponsored by the audiobook edition of The Darkest Place. `the audiobook edition of The Darkest... Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2022-03-28 13:53:26 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Get the skinny on the best audiobook subscription services, pricing, as well as some pros and cons of each. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2022-03-28 10:38:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
The best YA ebook deals, sponsored by the audiobook edition of The Lost Dreamer. `the audiobook edition of The Lost... Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2022-03-26 10:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
To see on primetime television the activists who fought for disability rights in the 1990s was a profoundly moving momentBefore we even reach the opening titles of Then Barbara Met Alan – the BBC’s one-off drama depicting the fight for the 1995 Disability Discrimination Act (DDA), which aired on... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2022-03-22 06:00:48 UTC ]
More news stories like this
‘Two Kinds’ is a short story by the American author Amy Tan (born 1952), published as part of her book The Joy Luck Club in 1989. The story is about a young American girl born to Chinese parents; her mother pushes her to become a child prodigy, but the daughter […] Continue reading at Interesting Literature
[ Interesting Literature | 2022-03-08 15:00:22 UTC ]
More news stories like this
The 27th Audie Awards honored winners in 25 categories in a 70 minute digital awards program with Kal Penn hosting. The post Awards: The ‘Project Hail Mary’ Audiobook Wins the 2022 Audies appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2022-03-05 15:15:51 UTC ]
More news stories like this
'Project Hail Mary' by Andy Weir and narrated by Ray Porter was named the Audiobook of the Year at the 2022 Audie Awards held March 4. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-03-05 05:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Over half a decade later, a new Kickstarter campaign has finally eclipsed Pebble's crowdfunding record on the website. Fantasy and sci-fi author Brandon Sanderson set up a campaign to raise $1 million within 30 days to fund four secret books he intends to release every quarter next year. It... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2022-03-04 12:57:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Duvall Hecht, audiobook pioneer and founder of Books on Tape, died on February 10 at his home in Costa Mesa, Calif. He was 91. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-02-24 05:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Listen to an audiobook or bookish podcast while piecing these together to celebrate your book love and block out the stresses of the world.- Danika Ellis Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2022-02-20 11:35:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
The founder of Audible Inc., a leading force in the booming audiobook industry, will be honored in May at PEN America’s annual gala Continue reading at ABC News
[ ABC News | 2022-02-18 15:03:22 UTC ]
More news stories like this
A look at six of today's biggest and most interesting YA audiobook performers, with a little about who they are and some of their best work. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2022-02-12 11:31:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Women’s ministry president Lysa TerKeurst takes two spots on PW’s Religion Nonfiction Bestsellers; the film adaptation of Francine River’s ‘Redeeming Love’ boosts the 17-year-old Western romance to #2 in Religion Fiction. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-02-09 05:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
In They Said They Wanted Revolution: A Memoir of My Parents, Iranian American author and Vice journalist Neda Toloui-Semnani reconstructed the story of her parents as young, leftist Iranian activists radicalized at Berkeley in the late ’60s and who came to see communism as the political answer... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2022-02-08 12:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
An all-new Black library is opening in London, Ont., at the end January. It will feature books written by Black authors from Canada and around the world. Continue reading at CBC
[ CBC | 2022-01-28 10:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this