Eat a Peach by David Chang

I didn't realize I was going to be reading another Asian-American immigrant/child of immigrants story, after reading We Were Dreamers and Portrait of a Thief, but it turned out to be a part of Eat a Peach too. David Chang is a famous restauranteur who opened Momofuku in NYC in the early 2000s, and his memoir is unexpectedly candid about his flaws and his mistakes. He doesn't even spend a lot of time apologizing for what he's done; he just acknowledges them and talks about his mental health problems and the things he was going through at the time. He was blunt and sarcastic and definitely not a stereotypical memoir-type author, and I thought it was a really interesting view into the life of a professional chef.

That Sounds Fun: The Joys of Being an Amateur, the Power of Falling in Love, and Why You Need a Hobby by Annie F. Downs

This is another one of these unexpectedly Christian authors that I accidentally stumbled across and ended up reading her book. I liked the idea of the title, because I feel like books that are about hobbies and being an amateur sound up my alley, and will be motivating to help me try new things and get out of my ruts. And I thought this was a fine book, with cute essays and stories, but honestly nothing super shocking or brand new. It was only about 6 hours and I got through it super quickly and don't remember anything super concrete about it, even though it was just a few weeks ago. So it was so-so. 

We Were Dreamers: A Superhero Immigrant Story by Simu Liu

I honestly have no idea why I decided to check this book out--I'm not a big Marvel person, but I did really like Simu Liu in Shang-Chi and I have really had an interest in Asian stories lately. I was really surprised by Liu's openness about his experience as a Chinese-Canadian immigrant and what he dealt with in relation to his parents. It was definitely a hard childhood with extremely high expectations, and I couldn't help but think about all of the Asian kids I went to high school with, at a similar time as Liu, and wonder how extreme some of their lives were while we were in high school. He was super open and shared stories that I would have been tempted to gloss over. And I loved how he talked about his grandparents, and how his voice got choked up multiple times as he talked about them. He seems like someone I would like to be friends with in another life. 

Saints 3: Boldly, Nobly, and Independent: 1893-1955

My mom asked if we would read this book for her birthday and then we could all have a discussion about it. I didn't end up finishing it by her birthday, but did the next week before our discussion. It was a super interesting time period of church history, which I hadn't honestly learned a lot about before. There were a lot of great stories about different people in different countries over this wide time period, and I honestly just wished they would have delved a little deeper and maybe split this into two different books so they could have done more. I love that the Church is being really upfront about the things in our history, but there were a bunch of stories that are frustrating to read, like the treatment of black members for decades of our church history. 

I Take My Coffee Black: Reflections on Tupac, Musical Theater, Faith, and Being Black in America by Tyler Merritt

I basically only know about this guy because he is dating Jen Hatmaker, who has written several books I've read but also is one of the funniest people I follow on Facebook (maybe the only non-real life human I actually follow on Facebook). It seemed like he was kind of a public figure himself, although I'm still not exactly sure what for, and I basically saw that he'd written a book and thought I would read it. It was a fun read, kind of a memoir about his life growing up in Las Vegas and getting into musical theater and Christianity, but also filled with important info and discussion about racism and being black in America and being judged for the color of his skin. I really enjoyed it and his vulnerability and honesty about his past mistakes, but also his hilarious, relaxed, and simple writing style. 

Portrait of a Thief by Grace D. Li

I really liked this heist novel about some college students getting asked to steal the Chinese Zodiac heads from the Western museums where they've been held since being stolen from China 150 years ago. It was billed as an Ocean's Eleven-type book, and that comparison was what got me interested. But what I ended liking about it were the different characters and their interactions, and the history of Chinese art and what it's like being a Chinese immigrant, and the morality of museums keeping art that has been stolen. The plot definitely started off stronger in the first half of the novel than in the second half, where it started to get a little slow, but it was still a fun book. I was definitely rooting for them and hoping they would earn the 50 million dollars they were going for. 

Anne of Manhattan by Brina Starler

I actually really loved this Anne of Green Gables retelling except for a few sexy parts. I didn't want to read about Anne and Gilbert having sex--I wanted it to stay cute and pure like in the original series. But I did really like the premise of a modern-day Anne living in Manhattan and coming across Gilbert again after years of being separated. It was a great retelling.