Read That? Read This! Journalism

Are you a reader who enjoys reading nonfiction? Specifically, nonfiction books that serve as part memoir & part journalism & maybe a sprinkle of True Crime? In this edition of Read That? Read This! We are going in depth discussing authors who began as reporters and still are reporters!

 Tokyo Vice, Tokyo Noir & The Devil Takes Bitcoin by Jake Adelstein

 What all three books have in common is they take place in Japan and there is true crime involved. Tokyo Vice & Tokyo Noir, discuss Jake’s investigations with Yakuza and other brutal crimes as well as his personal life in and out of the reporting. The Devil Takes Bitcoin has no yakuza, but we join Jake and his friend Natahlie Stucky as they try to clear Mark Kepeles’s name after he was accused of stealing half a billion in bitcoin. All three books have kept my interest! Here are a few interviews I’ve done with Jake!

https://booknotions.com/qa-with-jake-adelstein/

https://booknotions.com/behind-the-book-tokyo-noir-with-jake-adelstein/

Let Only Red Flowers Bloom by Emily Feng

Late 2024, I received an early arc of Emily Feng’s Let Only Red Flowers Bloom. Let Only Red Flowers Bloom details Emily’s time reporting in China. The book details the interesting people Emily has met in China, one of my favorites is the bookseller that had to uproot his life and go to Taiwan since the government didn’t like the books he was selling. The book touches on everything people who are paying attention to what’s happening in China want to know about. Here is a Q&A I did with Emily a year ago, and I hope to interview her again for an Author In the Media Q&A discussing her journalism career & being a NPR correspondent.

https://booknotions.com/qa-with-emily-feng/ 

The Mountains Are High by Alec Ash

The Mountains Are High by Alec Ash is also part memoir and part reporting. In 2020 Alec Ash left the city life behind as a journalist in the bustling town of Beijing to Dali, a rural valley in China’s Yunan Province. There are mountains and a beautiful lake. Alec had come to Dali to find space and perspective after a heartbreak from a broken engagement & escaping city life. While in Dali, Alec meets a cast of wonderful characters from political dissidents, those seeking some sort of religious freedom to those living the hippie life. Those in Dali tell Alec, it’s easy to change your environment but much less easy to change your own mindset. While it’s not as fast paced as Jake and Emily’s books, the writing flows well and its from the point of view of a journalist. Here is the Q&A I did with Alec

https://booknotions.com/qa-with-alec-ash/