Portrait of a Thief: A Novel | 
pickThis was an interesting read. The heist was the secondary plot, the focus was Chinese diaspora for 5 Chinese American college students. I do wish more focus was put on the heists as I enjoyed the Fast and Furious/Oceans Eleven style robberies. It was thoughtfully written. How each person experiences diaspora, identity, and belonging in different ways was well done. This book also made me think about ownership of art when it comes to museums.
June 5, 2023 Ik I have been gone for a little bit but I was busy. No excuse to mention that but the truth is the truth. Anyway, during the summer, I will try to post more updates but I just wanted to share that. I started Portrait of a Thief in honor of AAPI month but feel like I should start Meet Me at the Lake by Carly Fortune because I really liked her last book Every Summer After. I feel like all romance books sound the same. Lmk...
pickPortrait of a Thief is like The Breakfast Club meets Ocean‘s Eleven — with an intellectual & moral question at its heart about how to take back history from the conqueror. A group of Chinese-American college students is hired to steal China‘s art back from the nations & museums who have refused, time & again, to give it back. This book has more plot than I‘m used to. Even so, it‘s more of a character study; nothing was sacrificed. 👇🏻
“McDonald‘s at five in the morning always felt like a liminal space.”
This wall unit functions as my bedside table. I‘ve only hit my head on it once. 😅
pickA fun book where I didn‘t have to think too hard and could enjoy the heists with a good twist. I read about their trip to Paris while I was on the way to Paris which was a treat!
5 Chinese-American college students stealing Chinese art from museums to get it back to China. WHERE IT BELONGS. intimate look at children of immigrants living in the diaspora and coping with familial pressure, while also being international art thieves on the DL. I was intrigued the whole time and surprised multiple times by where the plot went. Loved this book. Like seriously. Read it.
pickI loved this read! Such an interesting story from the perspective of the 5 members of the crew organized to steal back Chinese art that was stolen long ago. 5/5
pickThere's a lot of food for thought here and I enjoyed that. The heist aspect required significant, and ongoing, suspension of disbelief, which grew tiring. I liked the 5 MCs but I wanted a little more out of them. They all seemed a little flat. I liked the results of the last theft and I tend to like books set in the art world so this is a soft pick for me.
panI really don‘t want to pan this; there‘s a great story here, but the execution is endlessly repetitive and little more than generic platitudes. The five main characters, despite Li constantly telling us that they are different, all feel like the same person. Maybe, in a novel where the focus is more about Chinese American‘s diaspora than the heist plot it‘s framed within, that‘s the point Li is making, but it makes for an exhausting read.
pickThis was a fun read with some layers! There are a lot of main characters and chapters switch their POVs but it was worth it to get to know everyone. (Lily was my favorite). It turned out differently than I expected too. Extra fun that it is partly set in Durham, which is close to where I live. This was my #BookSpin for August.
Did some more audiocrafting today. This one was a bit out of my comfort zone, it didn't turn out exactly as envisioned, but I gave it my best.
Inspired by a photo taken by Austrian photographer Julian Rad.
#audiocrafting #litsycrafters #rockpainting
Read in July 2022 ...
#suvataReads #Bookly #BooklyApp #Bookstagram #MMDBookClub
pickModernMrsDarcy.com 2022 Summer Reading Guide #MMDSummerReading
#StoryGraph: fiction contemporary lgbtqia+ thriller emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced
384 pages
From the Publisher:
This was how things began: Boston on the cusp of fall, the Sackler Museum robbed of 23 pieces of priceless Chinese art. Even in this back room, dust catching the slant of golden, late-afternoon light, Will could hear the sirens. They sounded like a promise.
pickFive Chinese American students decide to steal from Western museums Chinese art stolen from China centuries ago. It was an interesting read and definitely enjoyed it, but not loved it.
pickFinished! Picked this one up bc I heard it was about heists but it ended up being less exciting than I thought. Instead, it was a much more somber read and dealt more with character growth and relationships with our family and roots. Also, I heard this was a #queer title so was excited about that but idk, it felt pretty bland, their dynamic only showing closer to the ending. Still a good read and even some unexpected twists, 3.5 for me
pickI loved the characters and the themes of identity and purpose and belonging. While the heist plot was interesting enough, I do think there could have been a faster pace and more obstacles thrown in.
pickI had so much fun reading this book! It wasn't just the story and the storytelling though -- I have to admit that I appreciated the scenes set at Duke University. It definitely had me feeling nostalgic for my beloved alma mater!
I managed a bit of reading in between arriving and walking around. It's so hot just now, 32 degrees!
I am going to Florence for a long weekend starting tomorrow and taking these books with me. Already started the tagged book already.
This week's book recommendation videos feature Asian American authors in honor of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month! This week and next I'll be highlighting great YA and adult books by wonderful authors! Please give them a view and a like! I appreciate all the support! 💙 📚
YA Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3bZ0FZ-AHk
Adult Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FyRnhcfBpD0&t=61s
so-soI anticipate a heist book to be sharp, funny, snarky - where I root for the criminals to get one over on selfish museum curators hoarding undeserved riches. There‘s story and history here that could work and with tweaking be successfully adapted to screen, but as is, these 5 Chinese-American interconnected Ivy League Gen-Zer‘s desire to return Zodiac Heads to China in exchange for $50 million, fell flat for me.
Chaplin and I are hoping to finish this one soon - it is EXCELLENT so far! 😍 #catsoflitsy #littenkitten #chaplin
so-soThis book was a disappointment. It has a fun premise, but the author makes it feel derivative rather than believable, then drags out the second half for no apparent reason. There are moments of brilliance here, and I feel like this could have been a really good book if the editor had pushed the author more. This felt like a early draft.
Starting this one next! 💕📚💕 I keep seeing it being talked about everywhere, do I thought I'd give it a try! 😃 Happy Monday, littens! #catsoflitsy #littenkitten #rumpel
Finished two books today! Excited to have freed up my reading to start Love on the Brain and Siren Queen though tbh 😅
Little man just reached up to hold on to my overalls and is making it very hard to concentrate on my book (which, if I'm being honest, I was having a hard time concentrating on anyway).
so-soThe slick Chen siblings assemble a group of fellow college students to pull off a great art heist to reclaim looted Chinese artwork to China. With five narrators and some unfortunate head-hopping and uneven pacing, this isn‘t quite the novel I expected. But some scenes really shine and I especially enjoyed Daniel‘s arc. The romances are easy to see coming but some of the angst gets repetitive. A good conversation starter for sure! Available now!
panUgh! I should‘ve listened to Cindy! This book DRAGGED and devolved into angsty whining at the end, which sealed the pan. The #audiobook production is really poor, too.
Five Chinese-American college students set out to steal back the artifacts from the Summer Palace in Beijing. The palace burned during colonial times and the artifacts sit in Western museums. What could‘ve been a great heist caper or a look at colonialism was neither and sucked!
A wide range of genres this weekend, which is pretty typical for me: a heist novel, a memoir, romance, and contemporary fiction.
#WeekendReading @Andrew65
Reading with my favorite little man
1. Portrait of a Thief and Where the Wild Ladies Are
2. Both, for sure!
3. I Kissed Shara Wheeler by Casey McQuiston
#WeekendReads
pickRepresentation matters and as a Chinese American child of first gen parents, I feel so seen. Also, the story was fun and the twist was both expected and unexpected. Very minor quibbles, but I will say the Chens seem a wee toxic. Hopefully they‘ve changed.
