The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
A great read for celebrating Mother's Day and Asian Pacific American Heritage Month
Hello, listeners!
I’ve had a hard time finding the motivation to read recently. Luckily for me, binging Hulu’s Normal People and getting to chat about books with Chelsey are keeping me feeling literary in spite of my book slump.
Today on the podcast, we have an episode about Amy Tan’s The Joy Luck Club, a book Chelsey and I both adore. While we didn’t exactly plan this, it’s a great book to launch us into May, which is Asian and Pacific Islander American Heritage Month. Tan’s interwoven short stories are beautiful illustrations of family, friendship, grief, and hope that also depict experiences of immigration. Of course, this book is also hailed as one of the seminal books about mother-daughter relationships so it’s a perfect book to read (or gift!) for Mother’s Day too.
This episode doesn’t get too spoilery, so we think you’ll love listening regardless of your familiarity with the book. In our discussion, Chelsey and I chat about the reasons we love the structure of this book so much, our favorite characters and stories, and why it’s the novel’s friendships that make us swoon. We also deep-dive into the importance of reading hopeful books and how we think The Joy Luck Club fits into the landscape of immigration literature.
Looking for more reading to deepen your appreciation for this wonderful book? Here are some links:
Read an excerpt from The Joy Luck Club, the short story “The Rules of the Game”
Amy Tan reflects on the 30th anniversary of her smash debut
This list is a great place to start if you’re looking for more books about mothers and daughters
Some of these links are Bookshop affiliate links. We earn a small commission when you make a purchase using these links (plus, you support independent bookstores).
Coming This May:
Next week we’ll release a bonus episode revealing the six classics we’ve chosen to read for our summer season. It’s a really fun and varied mix, and we hope you’ll find a novel or two to read along with us! We also have an upcoming episode on Beloved by Toni Morrison. It’s one of my favorite books of all time, and I’m very excited to discuss it with Chelsey. We’ll end the month with a seasonal wrap-up sharing the best books we read this spring. Make sure you’re subscribed to the podcast so you don’t miss out!
Currently Reading:
As mentioned, reading has been a *bit* of a struggle this week. I did finish my book club book, Young Jane Young, and my students’ book club book, The Night Circus. I really enjoyed both! Young Jane Young tackles the important and timely topic of political sex scandals and abuse of power in a humorous, heartfelt, and thoughtful way. And The Night Circus is simply magic—I’m kicking myself for not including it as a pairing for our Romeo and Juliet episode! I also picked up Emily Henry’s Beach Read at Chelsey’s suggestion. After a lot of false starts with other books, it was the first one to truly grab my attention.
I have quite a few audiobooks in my *Libro.fm queue already, but I’m in the mood for something a little different. I think I might try You Never Forget Your First, Alexis Coe’s biography of George Washington. I’m somewhat of a history nerd and a fresh take on a founding father sounds weirdly appealing to me right now.
*Listeners, we’re excited to be partnering with Libro.fm to offer you three audiobooks for the price of one. Just click this link to get three audiobooks for $15 all while supporting the pod and independent bookstores!
Where to find us:
Download episodes of Novel Pairings wherever you get your podcasts. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter. Find me at @fictionmatters and my blog. Find Chelsey at @chelseyreads or @hereadsheread. We love hearing what you’re reading so feel free to tag us!
We declare after all, there is no enjoyment like reading! How much sooner one tires of any thing than of a book!
Have a lovely week, everyone!
-Sara