Book Reviews
Book Reviews
Welcome to the Reading Chinese Book Review Network, a collaboration between Writing Chinese and our partners at Penguin China and Balestier Press. Reviewers who join the network receive a copy of selected titles, and you can read their reviews by clicking on the images below. (Please note that we are only able to send out e-copies of books at the present time.)
If you are interested in applying to join this network as a reviewer, click here for the application form. And to get you started with writing reviews of translated fiction, you can read some tips from leading translator Nicky Harman on our blog here.
If you are a publisher interested in partnering us in this part of the project, please contact us at writingchinese@leeds.ac.uk for more details! And if you are a school interested in setting up a school bookclub, please see our Schools page for more details, and to read reviews of books for young people.
NEW: If you ever wonder how the reception of books in translation compare with those of the original, click here for reviews translated from Chinese.
Ghost Town, by Kevin Chen
translated by Darryl Sterk
(Europa Editions, 2023)
Cocoon, by Zhang Yueran
translated by Jeremy Tiang
(World Editions, 2023)
The Borrowed, by Chan Ho-kei
translated by Jeremy Tiang
(Head of Zeus, 2018)
Love and Murder in the Time of Covid
(Severn Books, 2023)
Sons of Red Lake, by Zhou Daxin
translated by Haiwang Yuan and Thomas Bray
(Sinoist Books, 2022)
A Catalog of Such Stuff as Dreams are Made On, by Dung Kai-cheung
translated by Bonnie S. McDougall and Anders Hansson
(Columbia Press, 2022)
Faraway, by Lo Yi-chin
translated by Jeremy Tiang
(Columbia Press, 2021)
Hunter School, by Sakinu Ahronglong
translated by Darryl Sterk
(Honford Star, 2020)
Selected Stories, by Xue Mo (Audiobook)
translated by Nicky Harman
read by Sarah Lam
(Beijing Ruxue Media and Sodalite Productions, 2021)
Whisper, by Chang Yu-ko
translated by Roddy Flagg
(Honford Star, 2021)
Stories of the Sahara, by Sanmao
translated by Mike Fu
(Bloomsbury, 2020)
The Membranes, by Chi Ta-wei
translated by Ari Larissa Heinrich
(Columbia University Press, 2021)
Crystal Wedding by Xu Xiaobin
translated by Nicky Harman
(Balestier Press, 2016)
Distant Sunflower Fields, by Li Juan
translated by Christopher Payne
(Sinoist Books, 2021)
More than One Child, by Shen Yang
translated by Nicky Harman
(Balestier Press, 2021)
I Live in the Slums, by Can Xue
translated by Karen Gernant and Chen Zeping
(Yale University Press, 2020)
A Hero Born: Legends of the Condor Heroes, by Jin Yong
translated by Anna Holmwood
(MacLehose Press, 2020)
Second Sister, by Chan Ho-kei
translated by Jeremy Tiang
(Head of Zeus, 2020)
That We May Live, Natascha Bruce and Jeremy Tiang (eds)
Various authors and translators
(Two Lines Press, 2020)
Shadow of the Hunter, by Su Tong
translated by James Trapp
(Sinoist Books, 2020)
In the Name of the People, by Zhou Meisen
translated by Emily Hein
(Sinoist Books, 2020)
A Perfect Crime, by A Yi
translated by Anna Holmwood
(Oneworld Publications, 2015)
The Debt Collector, by Wang Shou
translated by John Frederick Franz
(Penguin Classics, 2020)
The Book of Shanghai, by Dai Congrong and Jin Li (eds.)
Various authors and translators
(Comma Press, 2020)
Faces in the Crowd by Feng Jicai
translated by Olivia Milburn
(Sinoist Books, ACA, 2020)
The Postman by Bi Yu
translated by Jesse Field
(Penguin, 2019)
Life by Lu Yao
translated by Chloe Estep
(Amazon Crossing, 2019)
Broken Wings by Jia Pingwa
translated by Nicky Harman
(ACA Publishing Ltd, 2019)
Lotus by Lijia Zhang
(Henry Holt & Co, 2019)
The Road Home by Ai Wei
translated by Alice Xin Liu
(Penguin Specials, 2019)
The Handsome Monk by Tsering Dhondrup
translated by Christopher Peacock
(Columbia University Press, 2019)
My Travels in Ding Yi by Shi Tiesheng
translated by Alex Woodend
(ACA Publishing Ltd, 2018)
Goodnight, Rose by Chi Zijian
translated by Poppy Toland
(Penguin Specials, 2018)
Fleeing Xinhe Street
translated by Ana Padilla Fornieles
(Penguin, 2019)
Empires of Dust by Jiang Zilong
translated by Christopher Payne and Olivia Milburn
(ACA Publishing, 2019)
The Chilli Bean Paste Clan by Yan Ge
translated by Nicky Harman
(Balestier Press, 2018)
Wedding in Autumn and other stories
translated by Darryl Sterk
(Balestier Press, 2018)
Wild Fruit by Sheng Keyi
translated by Shelly Bryant
(Penguin Viking, 2019)
Lonely Face by Yeng Pway Ngon
translated by Natascha Bruce
(Balestier Press, 2019)
Petulia's Rouge Tin by Su Tong
Translated by Jane Weizhen Pan and Martin Merz (Penguin Specials, 2018)
The Ventriloquist's Daughter by Lin Man-Chiu
Translated by Helen Wang (Balestier Press 2017)
The Invisible Valley by Su Wei
Translated by Austin Woerner (Small Beer Press 2018)
Young Babylon by Lu Nei
translated by Poppy Toland
(Balestier Press, 2015)
Cantonese Love Stories by Dung Kai-cheung
translated by Bonnie S. McDougall and Anders Hansson
(Penguin Specials, 2017)
Confessions of a Jade Lord by Alat Asem
translated by Bruce Humes and Jun Liu
(Aurora Publishing LLC, 2017)
Unrest by Yeng Pway Ngon
translated by Jeremy Tiang
(Balestier Press, 2017)
The Kite Family by Hon Lai-chu
translated by Andrea Lingenfelter
(East Slope Publishing, 2015)
Northern Girls by Sheng Keyi
translated by Shelly Bryant
(Penguin, 2015)
The Rainbow of Time by Jimmy Liao
translated by Wang Xinlin and Andrea Lingenfelter
(Balestier Press, 2018)
The Civil Servant's Notebook by Wang Xiaofang
translated by Eric Abrahamsen
(Viking, 2015)
Massage by Bi Feiyu
translated by Howard Goldblatt
(Penguin China 2016)
Masked Dolls by Shih Chiung-Yu
translated by Wang Xinlin and Poppy Toland
(Balestier Press, 2016)
Marrow by Yan Lianke
translated by Carlos Rojas
(Penguin China, 2015)
The Tree Fort on Carnation Lane by Horace Ho
translated by Darryl Sterk
(Balestier Press, 2017)
As Flowers Bloom and Wither by Chang Ying-tai
translated by Florence Woo
(Balestier, 2017)
Flock of Brown Birds by Ge Fei
translated by Poppy Toland
(Penguin China, 2016)
Again I see the Gaillardias by Li Tong
translated by Brandon Yen
(Balestier Press, 2016)
Radish by Mo Yan
translated by Howard Goldblatt
(Penguin, 2015)
Happy Dreams by Jia Pingwa
translated by Nicky Harman
(Amazon Crossing, 2017)
Mastiffs of the Plateau by Yang Zhijun
translated by Jiang Lin
(ACA Publishing Ltd, 2018)
The Pidgin Warrior by Zhang Tianyi
translated by David Hull
(Balestier Press, 2017)
State of Emergency by Jeremy Tiang
(Epigram Books, 2017)