Read the World: China

Books by authors from China or set in/about China.

Updated February 16, 2024
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Dragon seed
Buck, Pearl S. (Pearl Sydenstricker), 1892-1973.
Audiobook
One of the more political novels from the pen of Pearl Buck, Dragon Seed brings to light the tragedy of the Japanese invasion and occupation of mainland China during WWII. Centering her story around the fictional family of Ling Tan, Buck recreates the heart wrenching devastation that...
The story of paper
Compestine, Ying Chang.
Paper Book
Learn how the three fun-loving Kang brothers created paper, one of China's most famous inventions! This colorfully redesigned edition features a new bilingual Chinese translation. The three playful and creative Kang brothers (Ting, Pan, and Kùai) discovered four of China...
Homesick my own story
Fritz, Jean
Audiobook
Celebrated cases of Judge Dee = Dee goong an an authentic eighteenth-century Chinese detective novel
Gulik, Robert Hans van, 1910-1967
Audiobook
Long before Western writers had even conceived the idea of writing detective stories, the Chinese had developed a long tradition of literary works that chronicled the cases of important district magistrates. One of the most celebrated of these was Judge Dee, who lived in the seventh century a.d....
My Beijing four stories of everyday wonder
Jun, Nie, 1975- author, illustrator.
Paper Book
A 2019 Batchelder Honor Book Yu'er and her grandpa live in a small neighborhood in Beijing--and it's full of big personalities. There's a story around every corner, and each day has a hint of magic. In one tale, Yu'er wants to swim in the...
The piano teacher a novel
Lee, Janice Y. K.
Audiobook
In the epic tradition of The English Patient, this gripping tale of love and betrayal is set in war-torn Hong Kong. It is 1942, and Will Trusdale, an Englishman newly arrived in Hong Kong, has fallen headlong into a passionate relationship with Trudy Liang, a beautiful Eurasian socialite. But when...
Yeh-Shen a Cinderella story from China
Louie, Ai-Ling
Paper Book
Told with beauty and grace, this Cinderella story from Ai-Ling Louie is brought vividly to life by Caldecott Medal-winner Ed Young's soft, glowing illustrations. Half-starved and overworked by her stepmother, Yeh-Shen's only friend is a fish with golden eyes. When the stepmother...
The moon in the palace [electronic resource]
Randel, Weina Dai.
Ebook
"Randel's gorgeous debut novel seductively pulls back the curtain to reveal the heartbreaking world of...China."--Stephanie Dray, NYT bestselling Author of America's First Daughter A thrilling work of historical fiction, bringing romance, intrigue, and the unexpected rise of an Empress to...
Snow flower and the secret fan a novel
See, Lisa.
Paper Book
Lily is haunted by memories–of who she once was, and of a person, long gone, who defined her existence. She has nothing but time now, as she recounts the tale of Snow Flower, and asks the gods for forgiveness. In nineteenth-century China, when wives and daughters were foot-bound...
The kitchen god's wife
Tan, Amy.
Paper Book
Here is the eagerly awaited new novel from the author of The Joy Luck Club, the powerful and moving bestseller hailed by the Los Angeles Times Book Review as powerful . . . full of magic. Convinced that she is dying, an elderly Chinese woman living in San Francisco decides to reveal all the...
The song of everlasting sorrow [electronic resource] A Novel of Shanghai
Wang, Anyi, 1954-
Ebook
The classic story of a woman in post-World War II China. "[A] complex and penetrating portrayal . . . that best displays [Anyi's] gifts as a novelist."--The New York Times Infatuated with the glitz and glamour of 1940s Hollywood, Wang Qiyao--a girl born of...
Love in a fallen city [electronic resource]
Zhang, Ailing.
Ebook
Masterful short works about passion, family, and human relationships by one of the greatest writers of 20th century China.  A New York Review Books Original "[A] giant of modern Chinese literature" -The New York Times "With language as...

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