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Days of Distraction
Days of Distraction: A Novel | Alexandra Chang
A wry, tender portrait of a young womanfinally free to decide her own path, but unsure if she knows herself well enough to choose wiselyfrom a captivating new literary voice The plan is to leave. As for how, when, to where, and even whyshe doesnt know yet. So begins a journey for the twenty-four-year-old narrator of Days of Distraction. As a staff writer at a prestigious tech publication, she reports on the achievements of smug Silicon Valley billionaires and start-up bros while her own request for a raise gets bumped from manager to manager. And when her longtime boyfriend, J, decides to move to a quiet upstate New York town for grad school, she sees an excuse to cut and run. Moving is supposed to be a grand gesture of her commitment to J and a way to reshape her sense of self. But in the process, she finds herself facing misgivings about her role in an interracial relationship. Captivated by the stories of her ancestors and other Asian Americans in history, she must confront a question at the core of her identity: What does it mean to exist in a society that does not notice or understand you? Equal parts tender and humorous, and told in spare but powerful prose, Days of Distraction is an offbeat coming-of-adulthood tale, a touching family story, and a razor-sharp appraisal of our times.
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she.hearts.horror
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Pickpick

What an incredible thoughtful and thought provoking read.

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TaraTLK
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The style is a little rambley, but I ultimately found it charming and relatable as the character struggles with the realities of discovering jobs that don't love you back along with new locales where your interracial relationship sticks out more, and the microaggressions are a little more common.

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Megabooks
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Pickpick

The last of my #AlgorithmExperiment ⬇️ is the best. A moving meditation on belonging and interracial relationships.

Jing is a tech journalist at a SF-based magazine. She and her white boyfriend relocate to Ithaca for his PhD program. She leaves her job and her Chinese friends behind for a very white area. She becomes less and less sure of who she is as her bf retreats into the lab. She makes a visit to her dad in China to help her reconnect.

Megabooks ⬆️ I bought four books I hadn‘t heard of that Amazon‘s algorithm thought I‘d like. Two were great, one was okay, and one I didn‘t care for. It was a fun way to shake up my reading, but if you want consistent recs, probably ask your local librarian or bookseller! 👍🏻 3y
vivastory Fun experiment! I agree though, nothing beats a recommendation from someone who knows you. Even a little bit, or a serendipitous find while browsing the shelves. 3y
Megabooks @vivastory that is the truth! So many of the best books I‘ve read over the last 5+ years have been gifts or suggestions from litsy friends. Browsing is wonderful, too. 3y
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Crazeedi I guess two out of four is pretty good, right? 3y
Megabooks @Crazeedi yeah, and I enjoyed the experience in general! 3y
Cinfhen Yay!! It‘s cool you gave it a shot!! I think it worked out pretty well 🙌🏻💞 3y
Megabooks @Cinfhen I agree!! 3y
88 likes1 stack add7 comments
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Megabooks
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More #bookmail! + golden hour w/ filter at 3:30 in my sunroom.

Story: these were the cheapest new hardcovers that Amazon thought I‘d like based on their algorithm. How well do you know me Amazon?? 🤨 I guess we‘ll see! #experiment

BarbaraBB Beautiful pic! And I hope Amazon is trustworthy 🤞🏽 3y
Cinfhen Can‘t wait to find out 3y
Megabooks @BarbaraBB @Cinfhen excited to see what I think. Great hashtag, Cindy! 3y
Megabooks @BarbaraBB thank you re: pick! 3y
76 likes5 comments
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kaysworld1
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Here an amazing Asian author if anyone is struggling to find any.
I have added one of her poetry book to my pile.
https://www.alexandrachang.com/
Alexandra Chang check out her amazing books on her website 👏

#readingasian21 #indonesia #china #reading #asianauthor #femaleauthor #readingthelibrary #bookworm #booknerd #book

30 likes2 stack adds
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Litsi
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Pickpick

Enlightening & engaging is this subtle gem. It could only have been written by someone of Chang‘s generation. It grapples with American culture‘s middle- aged ills and pains. It shows where we are & how we got here by telling the story of a first generation Chinese American along side the true texts of the history of Chinese Americans in the US. Hemingwayesque. Truly. Full review here https://www.facebook.com/1082882538/posts/10220820424435421/

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Nitpickyabouttrains
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Pickpick

A woman spends some time thinking about her job, her boy friend, her father, and how Asian Americans are viewed. Extremely revenant.

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mhillis
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Pickpick

Days of Distraction is the perfect title for this book. I loved it, especially the last chapter. The main character is a journalist and the parts about her research on Kim Yamei added an interesting layer to the story. I learned a new word, hiraeth, which means homesickness or nostalgia in Welsh. Ok so I have to admit that I lost track of things and finished this out of order for #bookspinbonanza 🤦🏻‍♀️
#nutsinmay 3/6

TheAromaofBooks haha the order seems to be a bit fluid for most of the people completing the challenge, so no worries 😂 4y
Andrew65 Doing a great job 👏👏👏 4y
mhillis @TheAromaofBooks 😂😂😂 4y
mhillis @Andrew65 Thanks for hosting! I like this format for a readathon 📚 4y
Andrew65 @mhillis I think it‘s one worth repeating monthly. 4y
55 likes1 stack add5 comments
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Liberty
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📚BOOK MAIL! 📚Over the last couple weeks, I have made several online purchases from indie bookstores around the country, and the books are starting to arrive now. I have read most of these and loved them, but didn‘t own physical copies, so I took this opportunity to correct that. I am very excited to read the rest. And there are still more to come! Do you see any favorites here? 📚❤️📚

106 likes1 stack add
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mhillis
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💛 Days of Distraction, The Far Field, Antony & Cleopatra
💛 No idea 😂 🤷🏻‍♀️
💛 Optic Nerve
#weekendreads

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Redwritinghood
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Pickpick

Days of Distraction captures that time in life when you‘re kind of settled in your job and start wondering how and why you got there. A cross-country move with a long-term partner makes the narrator start to analyze her life more, focusing on the cultural aspects of her mixed-race relationship. There is not a lot of action here, but I enjoyed following along as the narrator tried to sort out these big life puzzles. 4⭐️ #hoopla

54 likes5 stack adds
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ReadingEnvy
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Mehso-so

This book took me a while to read (I kept getting distracted, harhar) - the Asian American narrator is working in a job she is good at but doesn't necessarily like but also has her stuck unable to get a raise - and then she moves across the country with her boyfriend for his grad school.⤵️

ReadingEnvy She reflects on the living invisibility of not being white, in the tech world but also in her relationship. She examines the lives of some early Asian immigrants and wonders if she will ever be fully known. ⤵️ 5y
ReadingEnvy Most of the book is pretty light on plot and while I appreciated the thought piece I'm not sure it worked best as a novel, as everything but the narrator seems peripheral to the point. It moves pretty slowly up until when she visits her father in China and that gives her the chance to think about everything from a removed perspective (and to experience the discomfort of not fitting in where her family comes from since she was born in California.) 5y
46 likes1 stack add2 comments
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Bookalong
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Pickpick

5/5🌟Impressive debut! Follows a Chinese-American millennial, recently graduated and working in technology reporting. Her boyfriend gets an offer to transfer to upstate New York and she sees the move as an opportunity to run away. As the story progresses we get to see her explore her identity, and her past. Chang blew me away with her writing. It was funny and insightful. She explores big themes of race, family, love and work. #bookstagram