China Books Review
@chinabooksreview.com
A digital magazine on all things China and bookish, publishing reviews, essays, excerpts, lists and more. Organizer of the Baifang Schell China Books Prize
https://chinabooksreview.com/
https://chinabooksreview.com/
The best China books of 2025, across nonfiction and literature, as selected by experts and the editors.
Read the full list: chinabooksreview.com/2025/12/18/b...
Read the full list: chinabooksreview.com/2025/12/18/b...
December 19, 2025 at 1:00 PM
The best China books of 2025, across nonfiction and literature, as selected by experts and the editors.
Read the full list: chinabooksreview.com/2025/12/18/b...
Read the full list: chinabooksreview.com/2025/12/18/b...
Identity issues. Migrant stories. Company profiles. Lost daughters. Daddy issues.
The 2025 edition of our annual year-end round-up of notable China books in both nonfiction and literature, nominated by experts and the editors, is here.
Read the full list: chinabooksreview.com/2025/12/18/b...
The 2025 edition of our annual year-end round-up of notable China books in both nonfiction and literature, nominated by experts and the editors, is here.
Read the full list: chinabooksreview.com/2025/12/18/b...
December 18, 2025 at 1:01 PM
Identity issues. Migrant stories. Company profiles. Lost daughters. Daddy issues.
The 2025 edition of our annual year-end round-up of notable China books in both nonfiction and literature, nominated by experts and the editors, is here.
Read the full list: chinabooksreview.com/2025/12/18/b...
The 2025 edition of our annual year-end round-up of notable China books in both nonfiction and literature, nominated by experts and the editors, is here.
Read the full list: chinabooksreview.com/2025/12/18/b...
Donate to CBR and Receive Our Yearbook!
Support our work at China Books Review by giving a tax-deductible donation this giving season — we'll send you a complimentary issue of our printed yearbook.
chinabooksreview.com/2025/12/16/d...
Support our work at China Books Review by giving a tax-deductible donation this giving season — we'll send you a complimentary issue of our printed yearbook.
chinabooksreview.com/2025/12/16/d...
chinabooksreview.com
December 16, 2025 at 1:00 PM
Donate to CBR and Receive Our Yearbook!
Support our work at China Books Review by giving a tax-deductible donation this giving season — we'll send you a complimentary issue of our printed yearbook.
chinabooksreview.com/2025/12/16/d...
Support our work at China Books Review by giving a tax-deductible donation this giving season — we'll send you a complimentary issue of our printed yearbook.
chinabooksreview.com/2025/12/16/d...
Join us at Asia Society tomorrow, Dec. 16, at 6:30pm for a special event: Shakespeare, Tyranny and China
Stephen Greenblatt joins Nan Z. Da to discuss her book "The Chinese Tragedy of King Lear" in a conversation moderated by Orville Schell.
Ticket available now: asiasociety.org/center-us-ch...
Stephen Greenblatt joins Nan Z. Da to discuss her book "The Chinese Tragedy of King Lear" in a conversation moderated by Orville Schell.
Ticket available now: asiasociety.org/center-us-ch...
December 15, 2025 at 5:15 PM
Join us at Asia Society tomorrow, Dec. 16, at 6:30pm for a special event: Shakespeare, Tyranny and China
Stephen Greenblatt joins Nan Z. Da to discuss her book "The Chinese Tragedy of King Lear" in a conversation moderated by Orville Schell.
Ticket available now: asiasociety.org/center-us-ch...
Stephen Greenblatt joins Nan Z. Da to discuss her book "The Chinese Tragedy of King Lear" in a conversation moderated by Orville Schell.
Ticket available now: asiasociety.org/center-us-ch...
Read Zheng Churan's review of "From Forest Farm to Sawmill: Stories of Labor, Gender and the Chinese State" by Shuxuan Zhou: chinabooksreview.com/2025/12/11/s...
December 12, 2025 at 1:02 PM
Read Zheng Churan's review of "From Forest Farm to Sawmill: Stories of Labor, Gender and the Chinese State" by Shuxuan Zhou: chinabooksreview.com/2025/12/11/s...
When a state-run sawmill privatized and eventually closed, its female workers were denied fair compensation. Its story doubles as an alternate history of China’s feminist protest movement.
Read Zheng Churan's review of From Forest Farm to Sawmill: chinabooksreview.com/2025/12/11/s...
Read Zheng Churan's review of From Forest Farm to Sawmill: chinabooksreview.com/2025/12/11/s...
chinabooksreview.com
December 11, 2025 at 1:01 PM
When a state-run sawmill privatized and eventually closed, its female workers were denied fair compensation. Its story doubles as an alternate history of China’s feminist protest movement.
Read Zheng Churan's review of From Forest Farm to Sawmill: chinabooksreview.com/2025/12/11/s...
Read Zheng Churan's review of From Forest Farm to Sawmill: chinabooksreview.com/2025/12/11/s...
2025 has seen a bumper crop for Chinese literature in translation. We recommend five recent titles, from gritty tales of the northeast to conjoined fiction from Hong Kong.
Read Jack Hargreaves' latest Translated Chinese Literature column: chinabooksreview.com/2025/12/09/t...
Read Jack Hargreaves' latest Translated Chinese Literature column: chinabooksreview.com/2025/12/09/t...
December 10, 2025 at 1:02 PM
2025 has seen a bumper crop for Chinese literature in translation. We recommend five recent titles, from gritty tales of the northeast to conjoined fiction from Hong Kong.
Read Jack Hargreaves' latest Translated Chinese Literature column: chinabooksreview.com/2025/12/09/t...
Read Jack Hargreaves' latest Translated Chinese Literature column: chinabooksreview.com/2025/12/09/t...
2025 has seen a bumper crop for Chinese literature in translation. We recommend five recent titles, from gritty tales of the northeast to conjoined fiction from Hong Kong.
Read columnist Jack Hargreaves' latest Translated Chinese Literature column: chinabooksreview.com/2025/12/09/t...
Read columnist Jack Hargreaves' latest Translated Chinese Literature column: chinabooksreview.com/2025/12/09/t...
chinabooksreview.com
December 9, 2025 at 1:01 PM
2025 has seen a bumper crop for Chinese literature in translation. We recommend five recent titles, from gritty tales of the northeast to conjoined fiction from Hong Kong.
Read columnist Jack Hargreaves' latest Translated Chinese Literature column: chinabooksreview.com/2025/12/09/t...
Read columnist Jack Hargreaves' latest Translated Chinese Literature column: chinabooksreview.com/2025/12/09/t...
Our best-seller list for November has dropped! "Breakneck" leads the pack for the fourth month running, with "Apple in China" still going strong, a revival for "Strangers in the Land" and a new entry in the top five for Michael McFaul's "Autocrats vs. Democrats."
chinabooksreview.com/bestselling-...
chinabooksreview.com/bestselling-...
December 8, 2025 at 1:02 PM
Our best-seller list for November has dropped! "Breakneck" leads the pack for the fourth month running, with "Apple in China" still going strong, a revival for "Strangers in the Land" and a new entry in the top five for Michael McFaul's "Autocrats vs. Democrats."
chinabooksreview.com/bestselling-...
chinabooksreview.com/bestselling-...
Read Lijia Zhang's profile of Jung Chang, author of "Wild Swans," only at China Books Review: chinabooksreview.com/2025/12/04/j...
December 5, 2025 at 1:01 PM
Read Lijia Zhang's profile of Jung Chang, author of "Wild Swans," only at China Books Review: chinabooksreview.com/2025/12/04/j...
Jung Chang, the author of “Wild Swans” and its new sequel, made her name by introducing China to readers through personal history — but her later biographies were criticized for historical inaccuracy.
Read Lijia Zhang's profile of the "grande dame": chinabooksreview.com/2025/12/04/j...
Read Lijia Zhang's profile of the "grande dame": chinabooksreview.com/2025/12/04/j...
chinabooksreview.com
December 4, 2025 at 1:04 PM
Jung Chang, the author of “Wild Swans” and its new sequel, made her name by introducing China to readers through personal history — but her later biographies were criticized for historical inaccuracy.
Read Lijia Zhang's profile of the "grande dame": chinabooksreview.com/2025/12/04/j...
Read Lijia Zhang's profile of the "grande dame": chinabooksreview.com/2025/12/04/j...
Listen to Bruce Rusk and Christopher Rea talk about their new translation, "More Swindles from the Late Ming," on Episode 27 of the China Books Podcast: chinabooksreview.com/2025/12/02/e...
December 3, 2025 at 1:02 PM
Listen to Bruce Rusk and Christopher Rea talk about their new translation, "More Swindles from the Late Ming," on Episode 27 of the China Books Podcast: chinabooksreview.com/2025/12/02/e...
This Giving Tuesday, consider supporting our work at China Books Review with a tax-deductible gift: chinabooksreview.com/donate/
Help us keep showcasing those who tell China's story best.
Every gift of $50+ receives a complimentary copy of our 2024 yearbook in the mail!
Help us keep showcasing those who tell China's story best.
Every gift of $50+ receives a complimentary copy of our 2024 yearbook in the mail!
Donate | China Books Review
Support our work at China Books Review, a non-profit endeavor, with a tax-deductible donation, or a recurring monthly or annual gift. All one-time gifts of $50+ qualify to receive a complimentary…
chinabooksreview.com
December 2, 2025 at 5:02 PM
This Giving Tuesday, consider supporting our work at China Books Review with a tax-deductible gift: chinabooksreview.com/donate/
Help us keep showcasing those who tell China's story best.
Every gift of $50+ receives a complimentary copy of our 2024 yearbook in the mail!
Help us keep showcasing those who tell China's story best.
Every gift of $50+ receives a complimentary copy of our 2024 yearbook in the mail!
Tales of trickery were popular in the late Ming dynasty.
We invited Bruce Rusk and Christopher Rea, translators of "More Swindles from the Late Ming" by Zhang Yingyu, to guide us through this literary underworld.
Listen to Ep. 27: chinabooksreview.com/2025/12/02/e...
We invited Bruce Rusk and Christopher Rea, translators of "More Swindles from the Late Ming" by Zhang Yingyu, to guide us through this literary underworld.
Listen to Ep. 27: chinabooksreview.com/2025/12/02/e...
chinabooksreview.com
December 2, 2025 at 1:01 PM
Tales of trickery were popular in the late Ming dynasty.
We invited Bruce Rusk and Christopher Rea, translators of "More Swindles from the Late Ming" by Zhang Yingyu, to guide us through this literary underworld.
Listen to Ep. 27: chinabooksreview.com/2025/12/02/e...
We invited Bruce Rusk and Christopher Rea, translators of "More Swindles from the Late Ming" by Zhang Yingyu, to guide us through this literary underworld.
Listen to Ep. 27: chinabooksreview.com/2025/12/02/e...
Five times a year, we hold a free book club in both NYC (Asia Society) and DC (JF Books), discussing the latest Chinese fiction in translation. On Jan 21/26, we're branching into nonfiction to discuss Hu Anyan. Email info@chinabooksreview.com to save your seat! More info: chinabooksreview.com/club
December 1, 2025 at 1:02 PM
Five times a year, we hold a free book club in both NYC (Asia Society) and DC (JF Books), discussing the latest Chinese fiction in translation. On Jan 21/26, we're branching into nonfiction to discuss Hu Anyan. Email info@chinabooksreview.com to save your seat! More info: chinabooksreview.com/club
We're off for Thanksgiving this week, but regular posting will resume next week. In the meantime, why not save your spot for our next book talk at Asia Society NYC on December 16, with Nan Z. Da and Stephen Greenblatt talking about Shakespeare, China and tyranny? asiasociety.org/center-us-ch...
November 24, 2025 at 1:02 PM
We're off for Thanksgiving this week, but regular posting will resume next week. In the meantime, why not save your spot for our next book talk at Asia Society NYC on December 16, with Nan Z. Da and Stephen Greenblatt talking about Shakespeare, China and tyranny? asiasociety.org/center-us-ch...
Read our excerpt from "You Must Take Part in Revolution" by Melissa Chan and Badiucao: chinabooksreview.com/2025/11/20/r...
November 21, 2025 at 1:01 PM
Read our excerpt from "You Must Take Part in Revolution" by Melissa Chan and Badiucao: chinabooksreview.com/2025/11/20/r...
In a graphic novel depicting a dystopian future Hong Kong, three former democracy activists struggle to come to terms with a dark new reality.
Read our excerpt from "You Must Take Part in Revolution" by Melissa Chan and Badiucao: chinabooksreview.com/2025/11/20/r...
Read our excerpt from "You Must Take Part in Revolution" by Melissa Chan and Badiucao: chinabooksreview.com/2025/11/20/r...
chinabooksreview.com
November 20, 2025 at 1:01 PM
In a graphic novel depicting a dystopian future Hong Kong, three former democracy activists struggle to come to terms with a dark new reality.
Read our excerpt from "You Must Take Part in Revolution" by Melissa Chan and Badiucao: chinabooksreview.com/2025/11/20/r...
Read our excerpt from "You Must Take Part in Revolution" by Melissa Chan and Badiucao: chinabooksreview.com/2025/11/20/r...
Read Na Zhong's latest "What China's Reading" column:
chinabooksreview.com/2025/11/18/w...
chinabooksreview.com/2025/11/18/w...
November 19, 2025 at 1:02 PM
Read Na Zhong's latest "What China's Reading" column:
chinabooksreview.com/2025/11/18/w...
chinabooksreview.com/2025/11/18/w...
Read Na Zhong's latest "What China's Reading" column, her bimonthly roundups of the latest in sinophone literature. This edition takes us around Malaysia, Taiwan, Indonesia and elsewhere — each work grappling with escape from confinement: chinabooksreview.com/2025/11/18/w...
November 18, 2025 at 1:01 PM
Read Na Zhong's latest "What China's Reading" column, her bimonthly roundups of the latest in sinophone literature. This edition takes us around Malaysia, Taiwan, Indonesia and elsewhere — each work grappling with escape from confinement: chinabooksreview.com/2025/11/18/w...
What do King Lear, Mao Zedong, Richard III and Donald Trump have in common? Join us to hear literary scholar Nan Z. Da, author of “The Chinese Tragedy of King Lear,” in conversation with Shakespeare expert Stephen Greenblatt, moderated by Orville Schell.
Register:
Register:
Shakespeare, Tyranny and China
Register to join us for a discussion between Nan Z. Da and Harvard University Professor Stephen Greenblatt on the Chinese Tragedy of King Lear, which pulls readers from the Cultural Revolution to…
asiasociety.org
November 17, 2025 at 1:02 PM
What do King Lear, Mao Zedong, Richard III and Donald Trump have in common? Join us to hear literary scholar Nan Z. Da, author of “The Chinese Tragedy of King Lear,” in conversation with Shakespeare expert Stephen Greenblatt, moderated by Orville Schell.
Register:
Register:
Check out NüVoices' virtual writing workshop with essayist and academic Yangyang Cheng on December 6! You may have seen her work in China Books Review, The New York Times or WIRED — and now you can learn directly from her writing process, too.
Reserve your spot: nuvoices.com/2025/10/27/v...
Reserve your spot: nuvoices.com/2025/10/27/v...
November 14, 2025 at 5:02 PM
Check out NüVoices' virtual writing workshop with essayist and academic Yangyang Cheng on December 6! You may have seen her work in China Books Review, The New York Times or WIRED — and now you can learn directly from her writing process, too.
Reserve your spot: nuvoices.com/2025/10/27/v...
Reserve your spot: nuvoices.com/2025/10/27/v...
Read Rana Mitter's review essay on The Party's Interests Come First by Joseph Torigian: chinabooksreview.com/2025/11/13/x...
November 14, 2025 at 1:01 PM
Read Rana Mitter's review essay on The Party's Interests Come First by Joseph Torigian: chinabooksreview.com/2025/11/13/x...
Xi Zhongxun, an early communist revolutionary, tried to balance reformist instincts with loyalty to the Party. His failure left an indelible mark on his son, Xi Jinping.
Read Rana Mitter's review essay on The Party's Interests Come First by Joseph Torigian: chinabooksreview.com/2025/11/13/x...
Read Rana Mitter's review essay on The Party's Interests Come First by Joseph Torigian: chinabooksreview.com/2025/11/13/x...
chinabooksreview.com
November 13, 2025 at 1:00 PM
Xi Zhongxun, an early communist revolutionary, tried to balance reformist instincts with loyalty to the Party. His failure left an indelible mark on his son, Xi Jinping.
Read Rana Mitter's review essay on The Party's Interests Come First by Joseph Torigian: chinabooksreview.com/2025/11/13/x...
Read Rana Mitter's review essay on The Party's Interests Come First by Joseph Torigian: chinabooksreview.com/2025/11/13/x...
Read @jeremiahjenne.com latest Archive Pick, "From Heaven Lake," a travelogue by the acclaimed Indian novelist Vikram Seth's recounting his overland journey from Nanjing to New Delhi via Tibet in 1982: chinabooksreview.com/2025/11/11/h...
November 12, 2025 at 1:02 PM
Read @jeremiahjenne.com latest Archive Pick, "From Heaven Lake," a travelogue by the acclaimed Indian novelist Vikram Seth's recounting his overland journey from Nanjing to New Delhi via Tibet in 1982: chinabooksreview.com/2025/11/11/h...