Susan Blumberg-Kason
@susanbk.bsky.social
Author of BERNARDINE'S SHANGHAI SALON (Post Hill Press), WHEN FRIENDS COME FROM AFAR (Univ. of IL Press), GOOD CHINESE WIFE (Sourcebooks) and co-editor of HONG KONG NOIR (Akashic Books). Next book: bio of Golda Meir's childhood in Milwaukee and Denver.
“Tolkien brings 1930s Spain alive and shows the complicated relationship between the Anarchists and the Communists, both determined to fight the Fascists.” Susan Blumberg-Kason reviews the second in Simon Tolkien’s latest series. @susanbk.bsky.social worldliteraturetoday.org/2026/march/r...
Brenda Barker's Next Chapter: "A delicious pairing of words and wine." — Todd Shimoda, author of Oh: A Mystery of Mono no Aware. wendytokunaga.com #booksworthreading #writingcommunity #readingcommunity #novels #booksky
My latest in the LARB: how the hukou and gaokao systems converge.
Jeff Wasserstrom@jwassers.bsky.social · 7mo agoNew review of a pair of books on a system that can open a pathway to & a system that greatly constrains social mobility in contemporary China lareviewofbooks.org/article/mani... —essay by @susanbk.bsky.social
My latest review: The Room of Lost Steps by Simon Tolkien worldliteraturetoday.org/2026/march/r...
The Room of Lost Steps by Simon Tolkien
Lake Union. 2025. 379 pages.
worldliteraturetoday.org
Great review by @susanbk.bsky.social of the new novel from Kristen Loesch #fiction #China #BookSky 📚💜
Asian Review of Books@asianreviewofbooks.bsky.social · 12mo agoToday in the ARB: Susan Blumberg-Kason reviews “The Hong Kong Widow” by Kristen Loesch @penguinbooksusa.bsky.social asianreviewofbooks.com/the-hong-kon...
Happy birthday to Bernie Wong, cofounder of Chinese American Service League and the subject of @susanbk.bsky.social's biography, WHEN FRIENDS COME FROM AFAR! go.illinois.edu/f24blumberg
UI Press | Susan Blumberg-Kason | When Friends Come From Afar
At once intimate and broad in scope, When Friends Come from Afar uses one woman’s life to illuminate a bedrock Chicago institution.
go.illinois.edu
. @susanbk.bsky.social on @josephtorigian.bsky.social's 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑃𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑦’𝑠 𝐼𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑠 𝐶𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝐹𝑖𝑟𝑠𝑡: "Torigian reflects on Xi Zhongxun’s post–Cultural Revolution years—a single paragraph that encapsulates his decades-long career in the CCP..." ⧉ 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐡 & 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰: chajournal.com/2025/07/16/x...
'Tender, melancholic and evocative.' Lovely review of Elisa Shua Dusapin's new novel, THE OLD FIRE (tr. by Aneesa Abbas Higgins). Thank you, SBK and @asianreviewofbooks.bsky.social ! THE OLD FIRE is out later this month and you can pre-order here dauntbookspublishing.co.uk/book/the-old...
The Old Fire | Daunt Books Publishing
Daunt Books Publishing is an independent publisher based in London. Founded in 2010, we grew out of Daunt Books, an independent chain of bookshops in London and the South-East. We publish the finest a...
dauntbookspublishing.co.uk
Asian Review of Books@asianreviewofbooks.bsky.social · 9mo agoToday in the ARB: Susan Blumberg-Kason reviews “The Old Fire” by Elisa Shua Dusapin, tr from French by Aneesa Abbas Higgins @dauntbookspub.bsky.social @simonandschuster.bsky.social asianreviewofbooks.com/the-old-fire...
I'll be signing books at Printers Row this Sunday! For anyone in Chicago, please stop by!
I review 3-4 dozen books for the Asian Review of Books each year and this is one of my favorites so far in 2025: asianreviewofbooks.com/rabbit-moon-...
“Rabbit Moon” by Jennifer Haigh
A midnight phone call can mean one of three things: a wrong number, a robocall or a terrible emergency. When suburban Bostonian, Claire Litvak receives a phone call from someone at the American con…
asianreviewofbooks.com
Barbara Demick's new book is so compelling and eye-opening. Saying that I had fun reviewing it would be misleading. It's a depressing book, but one that's so important in this era of women losing our rights around the world.
Jeff Wasserstrom@jwassers.bsky.social · last yr.New review at @lareviewofbooks.bsky.social by @susanbk.bsky.social on a new book by Barbara Demick & the 10th anniversary reissue of one by @letahongfincher.bsky.social lareviewofbooks.org/article/daug... cc @chinarhyming.bsky.social @nuvoices.bsky.social
I had so much fun writing this! If you love Hong Kong, crime fiction, or just a fast-paced novel full of bright lights and big cities, you'll love Rented Grave by Charles Philipp Martin. Also the other books I mention that came before his in the world of Hong Kong crime fiction.
Cha: An Asian Literary Journal@asiancha.bsky.social · last yr.[𝗡𝗘𝗪 @asiancha.bsky.social 𝗙𝗜𝗥𝗦𝗧 𝗜𝗠𝗣𝗥𝗘𝗦𝗦𝗜𝗢𝗡𝗦] In her piece on Charles Philipp Martin’s 𝑅𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝐺𝑟𝑎𝑣𝑒, @susanbk.bsky.social explores Hong Kong’s rich legacy in crime fiction & considers whether the genre can endure in a changing cultural landscape. ⧉ 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞: chajournal.blog/2025/06/11/g...
"It was an era defined by visionary filmmakers like John Woo, Tsui Hark, and Johnnie To, who brought police dramas vividly to life on the big screen." @susanbk.bsky.social on the tradition and prospect of Hong Kong crime fiction.
Tammy Lai-Ming Ho@myetcetera.bsky.social · last yr.[𝗡𝗘𝗪 @asiancha.bsky.social 𝗙𝗜𝗥𝗦𝗧 𝗜𝗠𝗣𝗥𝗘𝗦𝗦𝗜𝗢𝗡𝗦] In her piece on Charles Philipp Martin’s 𝑅𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝐺𝑟𝑎𝑣𝑒, Susan Blumberg-Kason explores Hong Kong’s rich legacy in crime fiction & considers whether the genre can endure in a changing cultural landscape. ⧉ 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞: chajournal.blog/2025/06/11/g...
@susanbk.bsky.social Congratulations!
Martha Bayne@marthabayne.bsky.social · 2y agoOver the MOON to see two of my @illinoispress.bsky.social -- fully one-third of the list -- on this wonderful roundup of "required reading" from @chicagoreader.bsky.social. Huge congrats to authors Susan Blumberg-Kason and Matthew Ehrlich. Check them out! chicagoreader.com/books/book-r...
“Gertrude Stein and Alice Toklas’s salon is but one of the backdrops of Robert Archambeau’s new novel, an ingenious whodunit with a who’s who of 1920s Paris literati.” — @susanbk.bsky.social reviews “Alice B. Toklas is Missing” by @robertarchambeau.bsky.social evergreenreview.com/alice-b-tokl...
Review: Alice B. Toklas is Missing
Evergreen Review
evergreenreview.com
ICYMI: @susanbk.bsky.social discusses #AAPIMonth & her new book, WHEN FRIENDS COME FROM AFAR: The Remarkable Story of Bernie Wong and Chicago’s Chinese American Service League on @abc7chicago.bsky.social! abc7chicago.com/post/chicago...
Our Chicago: AAPI Heritage Month & Cultural Voices
May is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. The Chinese American Service League is hosting an inaugural event in its Cultural Voices series.
abc7chicago.com
New review at @lareviewofbooks.bsky.social by @susanbk.bsky.social on a new book by Barbara Demick & the 10th anniversary reissue of one by @letahongfincher.bsky.social lareviewofbooks.org/article/daug... cc @chinarhyming.bsky.social @nuvoices.bsky.social
Daughters Are Not Like Spilled Water | Los Angeles Review of Books
Susan Blumberg-Kason reviews recent books about the aftermath of China’s one-child policy and the experience of women in contemporary China.
lareviewofbooks.org
I am so honored to have a review in the latest issue of World Literature Today of Yardena Schwartz's brilliant book, Ghosts of a Holy War: The 1929 Massacre in Palestine That Ignited the Arab-Israeli Conflict www.worldliteraturetoday.org/2025/march/g...
Ghosts of a Holy War: The 1929 Massacre in Palestine That Ignited the Arab-Israeli Conflict by Yardena Schwartz
Union Square. 2024. 432 pages.
worldliteraturetoday.org
So excited about this event tomorrow in Highland Park, IL!
I love all these photos of Bernardine back in Shanghai at all the places she used to frequent! A huge thanks to Historic Shanghai for taking these photos!
The audio of my new book is now available for pre-ordering. I’m so thrilled Nancy Wu is reading the audio, which comes out 11/7, the same day as the paperback. www.audiobooks.com/promotions/p...
Seven more weeks until my biography of Bernardine Szold Fritz is out in the world!
