The vote this month had a very clear winner as you’ll see below. Before we get to that we’d like to share our favorite comment submitted with the vote: “As I read through the descriptions of the books, with each book I’d think, ‘This one. I want to read this one.’ Then, I’d go on to the next description and think the same thing. What a great list! I screenshot the titles and will come back to them, no matter which book is chosen.”
We’re so glad you are excited to read all of the books. We feel the same as it was such an interesting list this month.
BUT WHAT BOOK ARE WE READING for the club and what country?
Usually, we curate a list of 6 books from a particular country to choose from. This time, we focused on 3 SE Asian countries each with their own cultures & languages across different literary landscapes because there weren’t enough books to compile a list of 6 on their own. .
For November, the chosen book is from the Republic of the Union of Myanmar (aka Myanmar formerly Burma). But don’t worry, the other two countries will go back into rotation so we can read them in the future.
In this electric debut essay collection, a Myanmar millennial playfully challenges us to examine the knots and complications of immigration status, eating habits, Western feminism in an Asian home, and more, guiding us toward an expansive idea of what it means to be a Myanmar woman today.
What does it mean to be a Myanmar person—a baker, swimmer, writer and woman—on your own terms rather than those of the colonizer? These irreverent yet vulnerable essays ask that question by tracing the journey of a woman who spent her young adulthood in the US and UK before returning to her hometown of Yangon, where she still lives.
In You’ve Changed, Pyae takes on romantic relationships whose futures are determined by different passports, switching accents in American taxis, the patriarchal Myanmar concept of hpone which governs how laundry is done, swimming as refuge from mental illness, pleasure and shame around eating rice, and baking in a kitchen far from white America’s imagination.
Throughout, she wrestles with the question of who she is—a Myanmar woman in the West, a Western-educated person in Yangon, a writer who refuses to be labeled a “race writer.” With intimate and funny prose, Pyae shows how the truth of identity may be found not in stability, but in its gloriously unsettled nature.
“A fresh and insightful debut.” —The New York Times Book Review
“Readers are gifted a funny, insightful, and beautifully written collection of essays . . . A must for your bookshelf . . . Incisive and exciting.” —Sarah Neilson, Shondaland
“Decisive and deft . . . Reading You’ve Changed is akin to conversing late into the night with an intelligent friend.” —Jisu Kim, LIBER: A Feminist Review
“A vivacious debut nonfiction collection showcasing wise-beyond-her-years insight (she’s 25 in her first essay), biting impatience, and plenty of unfiltered humor . . . Illuminating, entertaining essays about coming of age between languages, cultures, and born-into and chosen families.” —Booklist (starred review)
“Thought-provoking, poignant, and a delight to read . . . A refreshingly honest, original exploration of personal identity.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
(A special thank you to book club member, Karen Van Drie for the suggestion.)
Happy reading! (If you want to read & discuss the winning book together, join our online book club on Facebook.)