THis was one of my top reads in 2010, so when I got stuck with the letter X in the "A is for Author B is for Bookray" bookray, I thought it would be a lovely story to share with the next person on the lsit. I hope you enjoy it!

I'd almost forgotten about this ray and I wasn't expecting anything through the post so this was a lovely surprise. It looks highly amusing and I'm sure I'll enjoy it. Thank you Lizzy and poor you for landing up with 'X'!

Now I'll have to find a 'Y' author. Nothing on my shelf so I'll have to go shopping.

I thought there was something familiar about this book when I saw the cover and partway into it I realised that I've already read it in a bookring a couple of years ago! It doesn't matter because I will pass it on eventually to another bookcrosser - when I am in funds! It was clever of of Lizzy to find an X book and I don't think there are many others around any way.

Here's my old journal entry from when I read it:

"I wasn't sure whether I would enjoy this book written in broken English but I loved it. Poor little Z living in a foreign country, having to learn a strange and difficult language and get used to our strange customs. She grew up and became a woman in the year she was in the UK and her grasp of English did improve a lot by the end of the book. This book was funny, sad and thought provoking in its portrayal of a different culture and a different way of looking at things and I'm very glad I read it.I will be contacting the next person in the ring and sending it off ASAP.Thank you themadjock for including me in this ring."

And here is an Amazon Review:
Language and love collide in this inventive novel of a young Chinese woman's journey to the West and her attempts to understand the language, and the man, she adores.Zhuang – or “Z,” to tongue-tied foreigners – has come to London to study English, but finds herself adrift, trapped in a cycle of cultural gaffes and grammatical mishaps. Then she meets an Englishman who changes everything, leading her into a world of self-discovery. She soon realizes that, in the West, “love” does not always mean the same as in China, and that you can learn all the words in the English language and still not understand your lover. And as the novel progresses with steadily improving grammar and vocabulary, Z's evolving voice makes her quest for comprehension all the more poignant. With sparkling wit, Xiaolu Guo has created an utterly original novel about identity and the cultural divide.


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Decided to make a ring of this book - it's too good not to share.

Here is the order of the ring. Will be sending out soon:

1. minesayn - USA
2. JudySlump612 - USA
3. Kally93 - Canada
4. Originalmulli - UK
5. JemmaJ - UK
6. dutch-book - Netherlands
7. Jo_an_a - Finland
8. Foxears - Sweden
9. Icila - France
10. bewise1 - New Zealand
11. Mozette - Australia
12. goldenwattle - Australia

Enjoy everyone!

Posting this off to the first reader, minesayn, tomorrow.

Received via the post from madmadge...thanks for the opportunity to read this one. Because my son is a Chinese linguist, I expect to find it fascinating and maybe learn something to surprise him. According to him, the Chinese language is a level 5 language to learn while English is a level 6...no wonder communication is so difficult!

Will read and pass on!

Bookring book being passed onto the next reader, JudySlumpy612. Thanks to madmadge for allowing me to be the first to read it. Very interesting story of young Chinese woman who comes to London to learn how to speak English. She finds love and loss as well as continually improves her English. Rather sad ending for Zhuang or Z as she is known to friends since her name is difficult to pronounce.

Arrived safely today, on a day with the highest heat index on record here. It's going to be good to stay indoors and just read!

This was an excellent look at culture shock. At first, 'Z' was resistant and disapproving of all Western habits, such as calling her English teacher by her first name as requested. But as her language skills improved, so did her understanding and tolerance of the assumptions of the people she was living among. This led to what was, to me, the most interesting part of the book: her comparison, either by her own introspection, or in discussions with her lover, of the attitudes towards privacy and the role of the individual.

Since they had so many differences, it was never credible to me what brought the two lovers together, or kept them together. Still, the relationship was a good narrative frame for the year 'Z' spent in England, and also of course gave her someone to hold those dialogues with.

Mailed today to Kally93

Received today in the mail. Thank you for sending it JudySlump612 (card arrived a few days earlier) and madmadge and everyone else along the way.

I really enjoyed this book! I love how the narrator's English starts out very poor at the beginning of the story and improves as the story goes along. The author really does a great job of describing not only the differences between languages and cultures but also the differences between men and woman. Thank you for sharing this book with me!

Sent today to Originalmulli. Enjoy!

Received this several days ago but didn't have a chance to journal it before going away, sorry! Looks fascinating, really looking forward to getting into it.

This was indeed very interesting, but I can't say I enjoyed it! The relationship felt really destructive to me, it seemed to just age them both in a very sad way. The description of porn in the middle surprised me! I think I lost my taste for it a bit after that really, and her solitary travels felt very bleak. And it was dragging a bit towards the end in my opinion.

I thought the improvement in Z's English (how sad to call her that!) was very cleverly done - it was gradual and subtle, as it would be.

Thank you for the opportunity to read this, I'm always interested in things to do with the learning of languages. Have PMed JemmaJ so this should be moving on very shortly.

Off to JemmaJ today.

Arrived this morning...looks exciting! I am almost finished another book and then this one will be next

All I can say is what a clever book; the author was amazing! I would love to read this book again when I have more time! PM'ed Dutch-book for address!

It's here. Looks great. The cover is promising!

Finished it. Sorry for taking so long with it. First I had some problems with the poor English, but I just had to get used to it. I found it to be an okay read. Sometimes I found it to whiny. That's probably because I have no clue or idea of how it is to experience and learn an entirely different culture and language.
Will pass on to Jo_an_a.

Traveling to Jo_an_a.

Received the book today, looks interesting!

Wow, I just finished reading this book and I feel out of breath.

I really enjoyed reading this, the love story, the struggle and frustration with language... I too moved to London when I was young, and this book brought back a lot of memories. The writing was also hilarious at times, I am in tears laughing when I think about Z's birthday dinner with the language school friends. Also the heaviness, sadness and the pain of an impossible relationship made me love every page of this book.

Thank you for including me in this bookring, I have emailed Foxears for address.

I have posted this book to Foxears.

Arrived safely to Beijing today! Already started to read it out loud with my roommate, and we're having a really good time, I'm positive this book will be great! Best so far is "Big Stupid Clock".

I loved that her level of English got better and better through out the book (as well as her tolerance and understanding for the cultural differences). And I also appreciated a lot of the cultural differences she pointed out. As a western person in China I hear about and notice a lot of cultural differences, but it is interesting to hear the opposite from a Chinese person in the west. I liked the book as a whole, but agree with Originalmulli above that the relationship in the book felt a bit destructive. On the other hand I am not surprised that it was.

This book is now in the hands of the Chinese post system. I had some problems to get to the post office that's why I haven't been able to mail it before, but it is now on its way to France!

Waouh, this particular book posted from China ! It was waiting for me at home with my husband and some other BC books.
Thanks a lot all of you, I'm looking forward to reading it.

It really amaze me how a young chinese woman from a small town can get through the western system by herself.
Thanks for sharing.

bewise1 - New Zealand was never active. The book w'll fly to Mozette asap.

On its way to Mozette in Australia.

This little red book has arrived in Australia! And just in time too! I'm about to take off on a week's holiday to house sit at Brighton over near the Port of Brisbane for my brother and his family. So, this book will be coming with me.

This arrived today. Thank you Mozette for posting it to me and Madmadge for starting this ray. Mozette I hope you enjoy your holiday at Brighton.
I see I am the last one on the list. If I get the book read in time I could take it to the Uncanvention here in Canberra in a fortnight. If that's okay with Madmadge.

ADDED: Just noted this is a ring, not a ray. Ignore that last comment. I'll post it back to Madmadge. Shame, would have made a good release for the Uncanvention, and I don't have many spare books as I release, not keep.

Not a bad read, but I had difficulty 'liking' the main character, Zhuang. I found her a boring, dependant, clingy person, although by the end she had found her independent self a LITTLE. She has a talent for languages, but beyond that her mind seems closed to curiosity, exploration, etc. - much else in and of the world. Places she does go to see she is virtuously forced to, either with her lover, or at his insistence that she go away alone for a time. Even then she can't be independent, and goes with men.

I am the last in this bookray. Madmadge, do you want the book returned to you, or can I release it? I could try releasing it first at our next local BC meet, or if no-one there wants it, only then wild release it. Let me know what to do with this book.

ADDED 8/1/2013: I had a PM from Madmadge. It's okay for me to release the book, rather than post it back. I will attempt first to find a new reader at our next local BC meet.

Released at the Bookcrossing meet in King O'Malley's Pub in Civic, ACT. Enjoy.

Beli-jg took the book.

Picked up at Canberra Book Crossers monthly meet up at King O'Malleys - now on the to be read pile.

An interesting read. Released at the Canberra Book Crossers monthly meeting.

This book returned to our local Bookcrossing get-together, held this month at Benedict House, Queanbeyan, NSW, but no more readers selected it from the books on the table. Therefore as I am planning a small trip, I took this to release somewhere during my travels.

Photographs: Images taken inside Benedict House.

Left leaning against the post on the steps in the centre of Ford and Camp Streets, Beechworth, Victoria, during the market. Later when I passed this again I saw the book was gone.

If you take this book the previous readers would really appreciate if you could please log your find. That way we can all follow the book's journey. Bookcrossing is spam free and your details are private, or you can log the find anonymously. Thank you and enjoy the read.


To the finder, enjoy, and I hope you will write a journal entry so that previous readers will know that this book has been found (even anonymously). It is always a joy to find where it has gone. Once you've read this book, pass it on to a friend, or set it out "in the wild" for someone else to find as you did.
You can remain anonymous but if you are interested in joining please consider using - Goldenwattle as your referrer.
When you pass this book along, please make a release note to let others know where you left it. Thank you.
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