Tag Archives: China

For all the Tea in China

Posted on October 28, 2021 by smellincoffee

For all the Tea in China: How England Stole the World’s Favorite Drink and Made History© 2010 Sarah Rose272 pages A love of tea is one of the great English stereotypes, at least in the United States, so I thought … Continue reading →

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Death and madness in China

Posted on February 22, 2021 by smellincoffee

The Cultural Revolution: A People’s History© 2016 Frank Dikotter433 pages In twenty-five years of reading history, I know of no man who has instigated more human suffering and death at a broader scale than Mao Tse-tung, the rebel turned architect … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , | 13 Comments

Junkyard Planet

Posted on December 6, 2019 by smellincoffee

Junkyard Planet: Travels in the Billion Dollar Trash Trade © 2013 Adam Minter 304 pages I once encountered a pair of supermarket clerks unloading cases of bottled water from their pallet jack to the shelves where the water awaits the … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics and Civic Interest, Reviews | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

LikeWar

Posted on January 9, 2019 by smellincoffee

LikeWar: The Weaponization of Social Media© 2018 P.W. Singer & Emerson T. Brooking412 pages The digital world is not simply one in which people can tweet restaurant reviews from the very table at which they’re ignoring their dinner date.  It … Continue reading →

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Factory Girls

Posted on December 20, 2017 by smellincoffee

Factory Girls : From Village to City in a Changing China© Leslie Chang420 pages China as a whole may have a third more men than women because of the one-child rule and a preference for male children, but in Dongguan … Continue reading →

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Country Driving

Posted on December 12, 2017 by smellincoffee

Country Driving: A Journey through China from Farm to Factory© 2010 Peter Hessler448 pages First things first: that statue on the cover intrigued me enough that I bought both books that used photographs of it.  Emperor Far Away made nary … Continue reading →

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The Emperor Far Away

Posted on November 30, 2017 by smellincoffee

The Emperor Far Away: Travels at the Edge of China© 2014 David Eimer336 pages The Emperor Far Away takes readers on a journey along China’s outer rim, beginning in the western steppes where the ‘Chinese’ are a minority,  and following … Continue reading →

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Are We There Yet?

Posted on November 25, 2017 by smellincoffee

(I am officially curious about that statue/statues…) This year my study series has been the Discovery of Asia, with a stated goal of reading two books in Asian (primarily Indian and Chinese) history per month.   Other challenges and themes have cut … Continue reading →

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China, Japan, and New Mexico

Posted on November 24, 2017 by smellincoffee

In the last couple of weeks I’ve finished some books  that haven’t gotten full reviews. Here are some quick shots! First up: New Mexico, A History. This is…exactly what it says it is, a history of New Mexico. Published to … Continue reading →

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Wild Swans

Posted on September 28, 2017 by smellincoffee

Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China© 1991 Chang Jung525 pages (My edition uses Chang’s family name first, following the Chinese custom.) Read the records of the 20th century totalitarian states, and the number of lives destroyed numbs the brain. Eleven … Continue reading →

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