What I've Been Reading - 3/19/2021

 

What I’ve Been Reading

My intention was to read Amy Tan’s Where the Past Begins: Memory and Inspiration for this week’s blog but sometimes life has a way of intervening. I had the opportunity to get vaccinated against Covid-19 this week so I jumped at it and then spent the next day recuperating.

Plus, I haven’t been able to put down the mystery series I was reading and that has made it difficult to pick up the Amy Tan book.

I’m up to the fifth book in the Noodle House Mystery series from Vivien Chien. It’s a wonderful cozy mystery series with titles like Death by Dumpling, Dim Sum of all Fears, Murder Lo Mein, Wonton Terror, and Egg Drop Dead. They are funny and energetic, just a perfect cozy. I highly recommend them. Apparently, I have three more to go.

At the same time, I have made a start on Amy Tan’s memoir. I’m finding it fairly dense and a little more enjoyable as an audio book, with Amy Tan herself narrating. I found myself laughing out loud at the interjections by her editor during the introduction.

Tan: Even so, I did not miss a deadline, except one. The last.

Editor: Technically, she was always a day late, using the excuse of PST, to protest her PTSD.

Her description of the book as an “unintended memoir” filled with gleanings from her journals, anecdotal entries, she refers to as interludes and quirks, plus excerpts from abandoned novels, and letters she wrote to her editor, reminds me a little of Neil Gaiman’s collection, The View from the Cheap Seats: Selected Non-fiction.

I am very much enjoying hearing it all in her voice and think I will stick with the audio book. I’ll be sure to share my full thoughts on it in the next post.

I feel it would be remiss not to mention Ms. Tan’s plea this week on Facebook, in the wake of the Atlanta spa shootings. For the full post, you can see her Facebook page, but here are her ideas for action, in her own words.

“I encourage people to join in solidarity to denounce anti-Asian messages and violence. Many AAPI organizations are helping with this effort. One is AAPI Advocacy Fund, based in Georgia. I supported them during the Georgia run-off, and their GOTV activities made a huge difference in electing Warnock and Ossoff. You can donate or join in efforts or simply give a thumbs up on their Facebook page.

Another important organization is #TheAsianPacificFund based in San Francisco. They are like the United Way of many AAPI non-profits serving the AAPI community. I have been involved with them for many years. They have created a Solidarity Fund. Their actions and proposals have received national attention. Their approach to combatting anti-Asian hate ranges from providing psychological support for victims to recruiting businesses to voice intolerance to anti-AAPI hatelAnother facet is of elect more AAPI in state, local and national governments. And we especially need to look at how we pursue both social justice and criminal justice.

Other organizations: #AsiaSociety and #Goldhouse.

What you can do to show concern:

-Share this post, your own or those of others addressing AAPI hate

-Express solidarity and support the organizations I mentioned or others you know of—and please indicate what those organizations are.

- Visit the facebook pages of businesses expressing solidarity, and give them a thumbs up. e.g., Monterey Bay Aquarium.

-If you own a business, please consider voicing solidarity.

-If you work for a company, please consider asking that the business join in solidarity.

Thank you so much.”