TAIWANESEAMERICAN.ORG DISCOUNT CODES & AFFILIATE LINKS:
Save 10% at The Formosa Coffee with code “TAORG”
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Shop Miss Modi’s “Taiwan Street Food Collection” (10% of net proceeds benefit TaiwaneseAmerican.org at no additional cost to you)
Support independent bookstores and TaiwaneseAmerican.org by purchasing print books from Bookshop.
COZY DRINKS: A TASTE OF TAIWAN FOR THE HOLIDAYS
01. Us Two Tea | Authentic, loose-leaf Taiwanese tea sourced from second generation farms
“Us Two Tea represents the second generation of Asian Americans – an Asian founded and owned tea brand that promotes our culture, values, and lifestyle. We are a brand that represents quality, authenticity and unity. We want to inspire our next generation to be more confident about our culture and stay true and authentic to who they are – to be proud of being an Asian American.”
Pictured Editor’s Pick: Taiwanese Baozhong Tea | $11.25 for 12 tea bags
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02. Té Company Tea | Fine Taiwanese tea, sourced from small farmers & showcased in a casual, friendly atmosphere
“What we find so interesting about Taiwanese teas is how they are shaped by its people. A beautiful batch of tea comes from a wonderful marriage between the bounty of the land and the skillset of the tea maker. For example, historical events like the Japanese occupation had a major impact on Taiwanese culture and technological advancement, including tea making. Our Iconic Taiwanese Teas set consists of six teas that each represent a part of Taiwanese heritage, while some of our other teas showcase the innovation of a younger generation of tea makers.”
Pictured Editor’s Pick: Formosa Collection | $75.00 for 6 x 10g teas, illustrated cards
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03. Wild Rising | ‘Soulistic’ apothecary, fine blends inspired by classic Chinese & Western herbalism
“We are California grown, second gen Taiwanese-American kids that were raised on Chinese herbs and alternative healing. Through this humble little online shop, we hope to carry out a heart-centered mission of love, heritage and high vibrations to serve your soul.”
Pictured Editor’s Pick: ‘Formosa’ Herbal Elixir Tea | $22 for 3oz.
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04. The Formosa Coffee | Taiwan-grown, New York-roasted coffee
“The coffee beans we use come directly from our farms on the mountains of central Taiwan at an elevation of 3,500-4,000ft. Grown in volcanic soil, our beans produce an exquisitely smooth taste without the bitterness and strong acidity. It is a mild coffee perfectly balanced in flavor and aroma. We roast every order on the day of shipping in New York, which means you always get the freshest coffee at peak flavor.”
Use code TAORG for 10% off
Pictured Editor’s Pick: Premium Taiwan Coffee | $20 for 8oz.
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The Formosa Coffee, interviewed by TaiwaneseAmerican.org
GIFTS THAT KEEP ON GIVING: TAIWANESE AMERICAN SMALL BUSINESSES WITH SOCIAL IMPACT
05. Brave Gals | An empowering community where moms can feel safe and supported to chase their dreams
“We’re a company that seeks to innovate motherhood. We empower moms to know that their dreams, time, passions are all valid. We also want to bring the community together to raise awareness and give back to something very dear to our hearts, which are foster care and adoption. 10% of our proceeds will be donated to foster care and adoption. These causes help kids and young adults receive the support they need as they are in the search of their families.”
Pictured Editor’s Pick: ‘Rosa’ Earrings | $25.00
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06. Project Formosa | High schooler-founded, proceeds donated to Vox Nativa
“Over the summer of 2019, we volunteered for Connexpedition, an organization that brings high school students to indigenous areas of Taiwan to teach underserved children English. Specifically, we were a part of the Vox Nativa branch of the program. Vox Nativa is a children’s choir and school based in the mountains of the Nantou Province of Taiwan. Most of their students are aboriginal kids ranging from elementary to middle school from villages around the area with the voices of angels. Founded in 2008, they have two simple goals: to improve the lives of those within the poverty stricken aboriginal communities and to promote aboriginal culture and pride through the voices of these gifted children. Throughout this experience, we’ve built connections and bonds that will last a lifetime and have inspired us to give back to these children and the program. With Formosa, our mission is to continuously sell products where we can donate profits to these children who have touched our hearts forever. All of our scrunchies are handmade with love and care, and we hope you enjoy them as much as we enjoyed the process of making them!”
Pictured Editor’s Pick: Handmade scrunchies | $3
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Project Formosa, interviewed by TaiwaneseAmerican.org
LITTLE & LUXE: SMALL LUXURIES FOR LOVED ONES (INCLUDING YOURSELF!)
07. Formosa Fine Chocolates | Belgian technique, American artistry, Taiwanese hospitality
“We at Formosa Chocolates proudly produce luxury chocolates in the San Francisco Bay Area with Belgian technique, American artistry and tastes, and Taiwanese hospitality and gift-giving tradition. Whenever possible, we use local sustainably-sourced ingredients. We aim to create a stylish and sophisticated chocolate experience that gifters will be proud to present to recipients.”
Use code TAORG for 10% off
Pictured Editor’s Picks: Formosa Fine Chocolate Gift Set | $37+ / Coffee Caramel Bonbons | $7.50+
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08. ILHA Candles | Fragrant, hand-poured soy candles, made with love in Queens, NY
“Shop our custom scent we created in collaboration with TaiwaneseAmerican.org, an organization that connects and represents the diverse experiences of the next generation of the Taiwanese American community.”
Pictured Editor’s Picks: ILHA Candles Jasmine Green Tea | $25 / ILHA Candles Amber & Moss | $25
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GIFTS FOR FOODIES
09. Cathy Erway’s “The Food of Taiwan: Recipes from the Beautiful Island”
“Acclaimed author Cathy Erway offers an insider’s look at Taiwanese cooking–from home-style dishes to authentic street food. While certain dishes from Taiwan are immensely popular, like steamed buns and bubble tea, the cuisine still remains relatively unknown in America. In The Food of Taiwan, Taiwanese-American Cathy Erway, the acclaimed blogger and author of The Art of Eating In, gives readers an insider’s look at Taiwanese cooking with almost 100 recipes for both home-style dishes and street food. Recipes range from the familiar, such as Pork Belly Buns, Three Cup Chicken, and Beef Noodle Soup, to the exotic, like the Stuffed Bitter Melon, Oyster Noodle Soup, and Dried Radish Omelet. Tantalizing food photographs intersperse with beautiful shots of Taiwan’s coasts, mountains, and farms and gritty photos of bustling city scenes, making this book just as enticing to flip through as it is to cook from.”
Order from Bookshop
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10. Yun Hai Shop 雲海 | Premium ingredients for Taiwanese pantries
“Yun Hai 雲海 offers a selection of premium ingredients for Chinese and Taiwanese cooking. We source directly from artisans, farms, and soy sauce breweries in Taiwan. Terrain, technique, history, and humanity come together in the traditional foods we distribute.”
Pictured Editor’s Picks: Su Chili Crisp 甦香麻辣油 | $14 / Amber River Soy Sauce 濁水琥珀黑豆醬油 | $22
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11. Mama Liang’s | Bringing Taiwanese comfort food to your home
“Our family passed down traditional and popular Taiwanese recipes over two decades ago and we shared with patrons at our Cupertino restaurant, Liang’s Village. Our classical flavors draw inspiration from a heritage of family recipes and creative innovation. Our brand is part of the Taiwanese food revolution and we want to set the standard for those who are not afraid of bold cultural dishes of creative innovation. We are the leaders in bringing modern Taiwanese food out into the open for those to enjoy conveniently at home and can’t wait to keep everyone’s bellies full.”
Pictured Editor’s Pick: Extra Spicy Chili Oil 辣油 | $8.50
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12. Yoseka Stationery | Curated Asian stationery in Brooklyn, NY
“Yoseka Stationery is the US branch of Yoseka, which was founded in 1981 in Taoyuan, Taiwan, where I (Neil) grew up. My wife (Daisy) and I started Yoseka Stationery in 2017 as a way of introducing Asian stationery to the US. ”
Pictured Editor’s Pick: Rice Cooker Pin | $8.50 / Mango Ice Pin | $8.50
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13. 886 | New York influenced Taiwanese food with locally sourced ingredients
“886 is Taiwan’s international calling code. A concept by Eric Sze and Andy Chuang aiming to fuse their Taiwanese upbringing with American modernization.”
Pictured Editor’s Pick: Sze Daddy Chili Sauce | $8
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STOCKING STUFFERS
14. Miss Modi | Handcrafted enamel earrings
“I realized there are a lot of talented women jewelry designers from my Asian heritage who aren’t able to cross the cultural gap to America. So I started Miss Modi to serve as that bridge. As food is typically the first bridge between cultures and given the worldwide popularity of Boba and Xiao Long Bao, our Taiwanese Street Food collection literally flew off the shelves when we debuted it in Los Angeles last year. For me as a Taiwanese American, it truly made me so proud to see that these little things that bring back sweet, warm memories of my life in Taiwan were now so widely loved and accepted by non-Taiwanese here in America.”
Pictured Editor’s Picks: Taiwanese Chicken Cutlet ( Ji Pai) Enamel Stud Earrings | $25 / Braised Pork On Rice Enamel Stud Earrings | $25 / Rainbow Taiwan Enamel Stud Earrings | $32
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15. Mogutable | Curated, well-made objects for everyday life
“We are Yingchi and Yuchen, the people behind Mogutable. Originally from Taiwan, we are a Brooklyn-based sister duo. Our shop features a selection of unique, well-designed, aesthetically-pleasing objects, sourced from our favorite artisans, locally and internationally.”
Pictured Editor’s Pick: Kinto Travel Tumbler in Khaki | $35
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16. tê-bí 茶米 | Handmade polymer clay earrings
“Thoughtful and lightweight jewelry from my hands and heart to your ears.”
Pictured Editor’s Pick: Chamomile Dangles in Emerald | $28.50
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17. Glowie Co | Authentic Asian beauty products from Taiwan, Japan, and Korea
“Having come from seven years at Sephora HQ, Annie brought extensive experience working on launches for brands such as Dyson and the Ordinary. To bring T-beauty to the masses, she and fiancé Phil Tamaki, formerly in marketing at Taiwanese company ASUS, joined forces with two other co-founders whose existing importing and logistics infrastructure put Glowie Co instantly ahead of much of the competition. Glowie Co customers often rave on social media about the store’s prompt and professional shipping. In a market plagued by slow fulfillment times and frequent issues with vendor reliability, that’s a breath of fresh air.”
Pictured Editor’s Pick: Glowie Co Taiwanese Sheet Mask Starter Set | $14.99
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Glowie Co’s Annie Wang, interviewed by Jude Chao for TaiwaneseAmerican.org
18. Pink Agave Designs | Handmade Non-Medical Grade Face Masks
Pictured Editor’s Pick: Rewashable Adjustable Ditsy Floral Print Face Mask | $11.99
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19. Dear Botanicals | Handmade Artisan Soap
“This all began because I really needed to create something again. After working as a television documentary producer for over 10 years, I had taken an extended leave to parent full-time. While that experience has had its own magic, I can’t seem to quit producing one way or another. Now I produce the loveliest soap, and get to immerse myself in a world where art, science, and a little bit of alchemy collide. I grew up on the west coast of Canada, and now I live on the north shore of Massachusetts, so I harbor a deep love of mountains, trees, and nature. It gives me great pleasure to take inspiration from that, as well as from my Taiwanese heritage.”
Pictured Editor’s Pick: French Clay Soap | $12
Shop all from Dear Botanicals (etsy)
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GIFTS TO IMPRESS: SOMETHING SPECIAL FOR YOUR SOMEONE SPECIAL
20. The Wax Apple | A collection of handcrafted goods and everyday objects from Taiwan
“Grandmother had a driver who had taken her around for thirty years, and he was my ride too if I wanted to go out to the countryside. She would always want to come, though. Grandmother was never a homebody. I don’t think she’d spent a whole day inside her entire life. We’d go out to look around and she’d be on her phone calling people, like cousins and father’s accountant’s wife. How could they say no about joining us for lunch? She had been a teacher in the small town where she met my grandfather, and together they had traveled everywhere. One trip, she brought back gold rings with elephant hair embedded in them. She gave me one, and I found another rummaging through her things, and wear them both every day. If you went over to her house, grandmother would ask, “Did you eat yet?” and suddenly there would be pineapple cake or maybe a sliced wax apple, stuck with tiny forks. The Wax Apple is all the things that are like a day with my Grandmother in Taiwan.”
Pictured Editor’s Pick: Wax Apple sculpture container in Moss | $72
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21. Té Company Tea | Fine Taiwanese tea, sourced from small farmers & showcased in a casual, friendly atmosphere
Pictured Editor’s Pick: Pineapple Linzer Cookies | $20 for 6 cookies
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22. Mogutable | Curated, well-made objects for everyday life
Pictured Editor’s Pick: Dachun’s Red Quinoa Soap | $12
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23. Uniqlay Ceramics | Reimagining handmade tableware to celebrate diversity, culture, and deeply-rooted family traditions
“Though the food we eat is a big part of our identity, culture and heritage, tableware options available are falling behind. Even though so many brands have made loud statements on diversity, there isn’t a whole lot of action. Celebrating cultures and representing minority female artists underpins everything we do at Uniqlay Ceramics. I am a firm believer that your culture and how you eat should be a source of comfort and pride. ”
Pictured Editor’s Pick: Classic Plate – Emerald Quail | $48+
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GIFTS FOR LITTLES
24. Happy Masks | Face masks with sewn-in and washable nanofiber membrane
“Happy Masks has always been a family affair. Twenty years ago in Taiwan, my father partnered with a scientist (and family friend!) to develop a powerful nanofiber membrane filter. The SARs epidemic in 2003 then inspired them to create a face mask with this technology to protect against the airborne virus. We created Happy Masks because we wanted to make these masks available for all families. Whether it’s going to the grocery store or visiting a grandparent, our mission is to make it possible for you to do the things you love with the people you love.”
Pictured Editor’s Pick: Tiger Pro mask (multiple sizes available) | $24
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25. Bitty Bao | Bilingual board books, by Taiwanese American mamas
“In our own book finding experience, we found it difficult to come by many options for cute Chinese bilingual books, with pinyin, zhuyin, and traditional characters that showcase our culture while supporting language learning at all levels.”
Pictured Editor’s Pick: Bitty Bao Gift Pack | $64.99
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26. Hello Prosper | Building bridges for stories lost in the Asian diaspora
“Educated in the Quaker school system in small town outside of Philadelphia, founder & creative director, Kelly Lan, believed there is a light in everyone – and Asian women like herself – should be celebrated and seen in popular culture, history books and art. As a proud daughter of Taiwanese immigrants, she believed in order to prosper, one must feel grounded. Learning about the lost history of our ancestors through the arts can minimize the built up of confusion for our youth and the next generation to come. Kelly began mobilizing communities around a common purpose and shared vision of co-ownership. Hello Prosper was built out of necessity — to pursue the unanswered questions that society has overlooked and encouraging families to break the culture of silence. We make products and educational materials that serve the needs of our community and keep the value we create.”
Pictured Editor’s Pick: Digital Coloring & Conversation Sheets | $5
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27. [Preorder] Eyes that Kiss in the Corners by Joanna Ho, ill. Dung Ho
“A young Asian girl notices that her eyes look different from her peers’. They have big, round eyes and long lashes. She realizes that her eyes are like her mother’s, her grandmother’s, and her little sister’s. They have eyes that kiss in the corners and glow like warm tea, crinkle into crescent moons, and are filled with stories of the past and hope for the future. Drawing from the strength of these powerful women in her life, she recognizes her own beauty and discovers a path to self love and empowerment. This powerful, poetic picture book will resonate with readers of all ages and is a celebration of diversity.”
Pre-order from Bookshop
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28. [Preorder] I Dream of Popo by Livia Blackburne, ill. Julia Kuo
“From New York Times bestselling author Livia Blackburne and illustrator Julia Kuo, here is I Dream of Popo. This delicate, emotionally rich picture book celebrates a special connection that crosses time zones and oceans as Popo and her granddaughter hold each other in their hearts forever.
I dream with Popo as she rocks me in her arms.
I wave at Popo before I board my flight.
I talk to Popo from across the sea.
I tell Popo about my adventures.
When a young girl and her family emigrate from Taiwan to America, she leaves behind her beloved popo, her grandmother. She misses her popo every day, but even if their visits are fleeting, their love is ever true and strong.”
Pre-order from Bookshop
Follow Livia Blackburne on Instagram
Follow Julia Kuo on Instagram
BOBA LIFESTYLE: WE ALL HAVE THAT FRIEND…
29. Glowie Co. Annie’s Way Bubble Tea Sheet Mask Sampler | $19 / Glowie Co.
30. The Boba Kit (Matcha + Amber Rock Sugar) | $50 / The Boba Guys
31. Happy and Angry Reversible Boba Plushie | $25 / Boba Origin
32. A Jar of Pickles Boba Keychain | $16 / A Jar of Pickles
33. Miss Modi Boba Enamel Jewelry | $25 / Miss Modi
34. Boba-Themed Custom Return Address Stamp | $29.70 / Hope Prevails
STATIONERY
35. Sticky Rice Sisters | Unique and cute Taiwanese stationery
“We are two Taiwanese sisters sharing our love of cute stickers and stationery and we are bringing them straight to your mailbox!”
Pictured Editor’s Pick: Plain Deco – Geometric Shapes | $4
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36. Yoseka Stationery | Curated Asian stationery in Brooklyn, NY
“Yoseka Stationery is the US branch of Yoseka, which was founded in 1981 in Taoyuan, Taiwan, where I (Neil) grew up. My wife (Daisy) and I started Yoseka Stationery in 2017 as a way of introducing Asian stationery to the US. ”
Pictured Editor’s Pick: Hobonichi Tech Weeks 2021 – Doraemon | $30 / Ystudio Brassing Sketching Pencil | $100
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37. Fomato | Stationery by Taiwanese American Emmie Hsu
“I grew up in Kansas and spent several summers in Taiwan, where my sisters and I wandered around eating street food, petting stray dogs and scratching our 200+ mosquito bites, and then going into stationery shops and rubbing our grimy hands all over their beautiful cards, stationery and stickers. The interesting items we drooled over in those shops inspired me to start this line.”
Pictured Editor’s Pick: “Happy ‘Baothday'” Watercolor Card | $5.00 $2.50
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38. A Jar of Pickles | Stationery, stickers, stamps, & more
“Hi, I’m Kirstie! A Jar of Pickles is my small side business that I started as an Etsy shop in college.”
Pictured Editor’s Pick: Taipei Gift Set | $30
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39. Felicia Chiao | Industrial designer by day, illustrator by night
Pictured Editor’s Pick: Taiwan Art Print | $24.99
Visit Felicia Chiao’s Illustration Patreon
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BOOKS
(from left to right, top to bottom)
Rent a Boyfriend | Gloria Chao
To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before meets The Farewell in this incisive romantic comedy about a college student who hires a fake boyfriend to appease her traditional Taiwanese parents, to disastrous results, from the acclaimed author of American Panda.
Chloe Wang is nervous to introduce her parents to her boyfriend, because the truth is, she hasn’t met him yet either. She hired him from Rent for Your ‘Rents, a company specializing in providing fake boyfriends trained to impress even the most traditional Asian parents.
Drew Chan’s passion is art, but after his parents cut him off for dropping out of college to pursue his dreams, he became a Rent for Your ‘Rents employee to keep a roof over his head. Luckily, learning protocols like “Type C parents prefer quiet, kind, zero-PDA gestures” comes naturally to him.
When Chloe rents Drew, the mission is simple: convince her parents fake Drew is worthy of their approval so they’ll stop pressuring her to accept a proposal from Hongbo, the wealthiest (and slimiest) young bachelor in their tight-knit Asian American community.
But when Chloe starts to fall for the real Drew–who, unlike his fake persona, is definitely not ‘rent-worthy–her carefully curated life begins to unravel. Can she figure out what she wants before she loses everything?
Also by Gloria Chao: Our Wayward Fate / American Panda
Buy ‘Rent a Boyfriend’ from Bookshop
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Bestiary | K-Ming Chang
Three generations of Taiwanese American women are haunted by the myths of their homeland in this spellbinding, visceral debut about one family’s queer desires, violent impulses, and buried secrets.
One evening, Mother tells Daughter a story about a tiger spirit who lived in a woman’s body. She was called Hu Gu Po, and she hungered to eat children, especially their toes. Soon afterward, Daughter awakes with a tiger tail. And more mysterious events follow: Holes in the backyard spit up letters penned by her grandmother; a visiting aunt arrives with snakes in her belly; a brother tests the possibility of flight. All the while, Daughter is falling for Ben, a neighborhood girl with strange powers of her own. As the two young lovers translate the grandmother’s letters, Daughter begins to understand that each woman in her family embodies a myth–and that she will have to bring her family’s secrets to light in order to change their destiny.
Also by K-Ming Chang: Past Lives, Future Bodies
Buy ‘Bestiary’ from Bookshop
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K-Ming Chang, interviewed by TaiwaneseAmerican.org
Two Trees Make a Forest | Jessica J. Lee
A chance discovery of letters written by her immigrant grandfather leads Jessica J. Lee to her ancestral homeland, Taiwan. There, she seeks his story while growing closer to the land he knew.
Lee hikes mountains home to Formosan flamecrests, birds found nowhere else on earth, and swims in a lake of drowned cedars. She bikes flatlands where spoonbills alight by fish farms, and learns about a tree whose fruit can float in the ocean for years, awaiting landfall. Throughout, Lee unearths surprising parallels between the natural and human stories that have shaped her family and their beloved island. Joyously attentive to the natural world, Lee also turns a critical gaze upon colonialist explorers who mapped the land and named plants, relying on and often effacing the labor and knowledge of local communities.
Two Trees Make a Forest is a genre-shattering book encompassing history, travel, nature, and memoir, an extraordinary narrative showing how geographical forces are interlaced with our family stories.
Buy ‘Two Trees Make a Forest’ on Bookshop
Follow Jessica J. Lee on Instagram
Interior Chinatown | Charles Yu
2020 National Book Award winner – From the infinitely inventive author of How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe comes a deeply personal novel about race, pop culture, immigration, assimilation, and escaping the roles we are forced to play.
Willis Wu doesn’t perceive himself as a protagonist even in his own life: He’s merely Generic Asian man. Sometimes he gets to be Background Oriental Making a Weird Face or even Disgraced Son, but he is always relegated to a prop. Yet every day he leaves his tiny room in a Chinatown SRO and enters the Golden Palace restaurant, where Black and White, a procedural cop show, is in perpetual production. He’s a bit player here, too, but he dreams of being Kung Fu Guy–the most respected role that anyone who looks like him can attain. At least that’s what he has been told, time and time again. Except by one person, his mother. Who says to him: Be more.
Playful but heartfelt, a send-up of Hollywood tropes and Asian stereotypes, Interior Chinatown is Charles Yu’s most moving, daring, and masterly novel yet.
Also by Charles Yu: How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe / Sorry Please Thank You
Buy ‘Interior Chinatown’ on Bookshop
David Tung Can’t Have a Girlfriend Until He Gets Into an Ivy League College | Ed Lin
In David Tung Can’t Have a Girlfriend Until He Gets Into an Ivy League College, novelist Ed Lin conjures up “a fast-paced, acid-tongued, hilarious teen drama for our age,” says Marie Myung-Ok Lee, acclaimed author of Somebody’s Daughter and Finding My Voice. Both playful and wryly observant, Ed Lin’s YA-debut explores coming-of-age in the Asian diaspora while navigating relationships through race, class, and young love. David Tung, our nerd-hero, is a Chinese American high-school student who works in his family’s restaurant, competes for top grades at his regular high school located in an upscale, Asian-majority New Jersey suburb, and attends weekend Chinese school in NYC’s working-class Chinatown. While David faces parental pressures to get As and conform to cultural norms and expectations, he’s caught up in the complicated world of high school love triangles–and amid these external pressures is the fear he will die alone, whether he gets into Harvard or not!
Also by Ed Lin: Ghost Month / 99 Ways to Die / Snakes Can’t Run / This is a Bust / One Red Bastard
Buy ‘David Tung Can’t Have a Girlfriend Until He Gets Into An Ivy League College’ on Bookshop
Follow Ed Lin on Instagram
The Astonishing Color of After | Emily X.R. Pan
A stunning, heartbreaking debut novel about grief, love, and family, perfect for fans of Jandy Nelson and Celeste Ng.
Leigh Chen Sanders is absolutely certain about one thing: When her mother died by suicide, she turned into a bird.Leigh, who is half Asian and half white, travels to Taiwan to meet her maternal grandparents for the first time. There, she is determined to find her mother, the bird. In her search, she winds up chasing after ghosts, uncovering family secrets, and forging a new relationship with her grandparents. And as she grieves, she must try to reconcile the fact that on the same day she kissed her best friend and longtime secret crush, Axel, her mother was taking her own life.Alternating between real and magic, past and present, friendship and romance, hope and despair, The Astonishing Color of After is a stunning and heartbreaking novel about finding oneself through family history, art, grief, and love.
Also by Emily X.R. Pan: Foreshadow: Stories to Celebrate the Magic of Reading and Writing YA
Buy ‘The Astonishing Color of After’ on Bookshop
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Taiwan in 100 Books | John Grant Ross
Taiwan in 100 Books is the distillation of hundreds of titles and decades of reading into a riveting narrative of Taiwan from the early seventeenth century to the present. Long-time resident John Ross, the author of You Don’t Know China and Formosan Odyssey, delves into the most acclaimed, interesting, and influential books on Taiwan, along with some personal favorites. Most entries are non-fiction works originally published in English (translated Chinese-language books will be covered in a separate upcoming title). Relive Taiwan’s most dramatic historical event in Lord of Formosa and Lost Colony. Learn about the White Terror in A Pail of Oysters, Green Island, and Formosa Betrayed. Discover dated “time capsule” accounts such as Flight to Formosa and Taipei After Dark, and others like John Slimming’s Green Plums and a Bamboo Horse that have stood the test of time. Turn the pages of obscure books such as The Jing Affair and Dragon Hotel, undeserved best-sellers like the The Soong Dynasty, and some of the best academic works. Experience unique facets of life in Taiwan in Shots from the Hip: Sex, Drugs and the Tao and Barbarian at the Gate: From the American Suburbs to the Taiwanese Army. Follow authors on their quests, whether conservationists going undercover to expose the illegal wildlife trade, adoptees returning to find their biological parents, or foodies in search of the perfect beef noodle soup. Taiwan in 100 Books is an accessible introduction to works on the country and and an enjoyable shortcut to understanding the country’s history and culture. It’s also a bibliophile’s elixir packed with the backstories of the authors and the books themselves; there are tales of outrageous literary fraud, lost manuscripts, banned books, and publishing skulduggery.
Buy ‘Taiwan in 100 Books’ on Bookshop
Follow Camphor Press on Instagram
Becoming Taiwanese: Ethnogenesis in a Colonial City, 1880s to 1950s | Evan N Dawley
What does it mean to be Taiwanese? This question sits at the heart of Taiwan’s modern history and its place in the world. In contrast to the prevailing scholarly focus on Taiwan after 1987, Becoming Taiwanese examines the important first era in the history of Taiwanese identity construction during the early twentieth century, in the place that served as the crucible for the formation of new identities: the northern port city of Jilong (Keelung).
Part colonial urban social history, part exploration of the relationship between modern ethnicity and nationalism, Becoming Taiwanese offers new insights into ethnic identity formation. Evan Dawley examines how people from China’s southeastern coast became rooted in Taiwan; how the transfer to Japanese colonial rule established new contexts and relationships that promoted the formation of distinct urban, ethnic, and national identities; and how the so-called retrocession to China replicated earlier patterns and reinforced those same identities. Based on original research in Taiwan and Japan, and focused on the settings and practices of social organizations, religion, and social welfare, as well as the local elites who served as community gatekeepers, Becoming Taiwanese fundamentally challenges our understanding of what it means to be Taiwanese.
Buy ‘Becoming Taiwanese’ on Bookshop
More TaiwaneseAmerican.org Book Shop Lists:
Translated Taiwanese Literature
Taiwan & Taiwanese America Non-Fiction
Taiwanese American Literature for Children
OTHER GIFTS
Taiwanese United Fund
The Taiwanese United Fund is a non-profit organization dedicated to sharing Taiwanese culture and heritage, by organizing events that spread or support Taiwanese arts and culture, and by providing grants to people and organizations who share this mission of spreading Taiwanese culture and heritage. Find out more about TUF at their website.
Gifting a donation on behalf of someone this holiday season is a great idea for your friends or family who love supporting Taiwanese arts and culture, or just like to support the Taiwanese American community.
TUF is providing small tokens of appreciation for your support and generosity:
- Every donation over $10 will receive a Taiwanese winter-themed card featuring the artwork of Taiwanese-Canadian artist Jackie Chang.
- Every donation over $50 will receive a copy of a soon-to-be-published biography of Taiwanese-American community organizer and philanthropist Wu Li Pei.
Donations are tax-deductible.
TaiwaneseAmerican.org
TaiwaneseAmerican.org is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization registered in the State of California. We are run by an all-volunteer staff, and we are supported by personal funds and passion.
Please consider supporting TaiwaneseAmerican.org by making a monetary donation. All donations are tax-deductible, and letters acknowledging your donation will be sent by the end of the fiscal year.
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