10 Must-Read Books in Chinese for 2023 by Douban: Read Online, Download, and Audiobook

Check out this collection of recently published Chinese books recommended for intermediate-advanced learners (>HSK 5 level). While beginners may still find these books to be challenging reads in Simplified Chinese, these contemporary works offer rewarding reading material for those with fundamentals established and some fluency.

Douban’s Top Books of 2023 are:

• 1.《我在北京送快递》｜作者：胡安焉

• 2.《明亮的夜晚》｜作者：[韩]崔恩荣

• 3.《一百年，许多人，许多事》｜作者：杨苡/口述 余斌/撰写

• 4.《同意》｜作者：[法]瓦内莎·斯普林格拉

• 5.《我还能看到多少次满月升起》｜作者：[日]坂本龙一

• 6.《为了活下去的思想》｜作者：[日]上野千鹤子

• 7.《凯列班与女巫》｜作者：[意]西尔维娅·费代里奇

• 8.《赶时间的人》｜作者：王计兵

• 9.《多谈谈问题》｜作者：吴琦 编

• 10.《疼痛部》｜作者：[荷]杜布拉夫卡·乌格雷西奇

1. 《我在北京送快递》I Deliver Packages in Beijing | Author: Hu An Yan

Book:

The book “I Deliver Packages in Beijing” is a non-fiction work published in April 2023 and written by Hu An Yan. It’s an autobiographical recollection of Hu’s experiences and personal growth through a series of working-class jobs across China over the past decade.

It is a collection recalling Hu’s experiences over 19 different jobs he held in various places like Guangdong, Guangxi, Yunnan, Shanghai and Beijing over the past 10 plus years. These jobs range from hotel intern and service staff, bakery apprentice and convenience store clerk. With an almost camera-like perceptiveness, Juan vividly captures the fleeting “suspended” moments in his various working experiences.

The book also occasionally reveals Juan’s sharp dissection of his own self-awareness formation process. Through collisions with the outside world, he gradually carves out the rough edges and contours of his self-identity, using his own body to repeatedly verify, overturn and rebuild the order of the spiritual world conditioned since young, eventually reclaiming self-determination over his mental domain.

Stats:

Published in 2023

Total Characters: 160,000

Read Online:

https://weread.qq.com/web/bookDetail/51532c40813ab7c0ag019c84

Where to download the book:

《我在北京送快递》胡安焉.azw3

《我在北京送快递》胡安焉.epub

《我在北京送快递》胡安焉.mobi

《我在北京送快递》胡安焉.pdf

password: 526663

Where to buy the book:

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/%E6%88%91%E5%9C%A8%E5%8C%97%E4%BA%AC%E9%80%81%E5%BF%AB%E9%80%92-Chinese-%E8%83%A1%E5%AE%89%E7%84%89-ebook/dp/B0C6HY233V/ref=sr_1_1?crid=8N32QOCWDGS5&keywords=%E6%88%91%E5%9C%A8%E5%8C%97%E4%BA%AC%E9%80%81%E5%BF%ABbreeding&qid=1704165858&sprefix=%E6%88%91%E5%9C%A8%E5%8C%97%E4%BA%ACsong%27kuai%2Caps%2C1115&sr=8-1

Taobao:
https://detail.tmall.com/item.htm?spm=a21n57.1.0.0.4ea3523cZ39klV&id=708371500651&ns=1&abbucket=4

Audiobook:

https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1su411G7Ey/?vd_source=837778088ec9dadde8b377c83b0c2a6e

2. 《明亮的夜晚》Bright Nights | Author: [Korean] Eun-Ryoung Choi

Book:

This is a cross-generational saga exploring the connections between the narrator and the women in her family tree, bonded by universal themes of womanhood.

This book tells the story of a 31-year old divorced woman who unexpectedly encounters her estranged grandmother when she moves to the seaside town of Xilin. After initial awkwardness and silence, their lonely hearts gradually connect as they become confidantes.

In her grandmother’s old photo albums, she discovers a girl bearing striking resemblance to herself nestled next to her teenage grandmother. One vivid face after another emerges from the black and white photos, touching letters, and distant memories, traversing through eras where women’s lives drifted like duckweed and hung by a thread.

The stories passed down from her great-grandmother, grandmother and mother finally reach her. As their life journeys replay before her eyes, she wonders if she can truly reach them now, just as countless past selves have shaped her present self. Can she also see the multitude of her previous selves?

Stats:

Published in 2023

Total Characters: 288 pages

Read Online:

https://www.pilisf.com/wapbook/8588.html

Where to download the book:

《明亮的夜晚》崔恩荣.azw3

《明亮的夜晚》崔恩荣.epub

《明亮的夜晚》崔恩荣.mobi

password: 526663

Where to buy the book:

Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/Bright-Night-Chinese-Cui-Enrong/dp/7516835269/ref=sr_1_2?crid=XHYRHI2CAJ0&keywords=%E6%98%8E%E4%BA%AE%E7%9A%84%E5%A4%9C%E6%99%9A&qid=1704166093&sprefix=%E6%98%8E%E4%BA%AE%E7%9A%84%2Caps%2C397&sr=8-2

Taobao:

https://detail.tmall.com/item.htm?spm=a21n57.1.0.0.4ea3523cZ39klV&id=708371500651&ns=1&abbucket=4

Audiobook:

https://www.amazon.com/Bright-Night-Chinese-Cui-Enrong/dp/7516835269/ref=sr_1_2?crid=XHYRHI2CAJ0&keywords=%E6%98%8E%E4%BA%AE%E7%9A%84%E5%A4%9C%E6%99%9A&qid=1704166093&sprefix=%E6%98%8E%E4%BA%AE%E7%9A%84%2Caps%2C397&sr=8-2

3. 《一百年，许多人，许多事》 One Hundred Years, Many People, Many Events | Author: Su Ouyang (narrator), Bin Yu (writer)

Book:

It is a personal witness to Chinese history in the 20th century told through the life story of a centenarian female intellectual.

This book “One Hundred Years, Many People, Many Events” is the only oral autobiography of Ms. Su Ouyang, told to and written by Professor Bin Yu of Nanjing University over 10 years. It is the growth story of a woman, spiritual history of a generation of intellectuals, and modern Chinese history witnessed through an individual’s lens in the past century.

Through patient listening resisting forgetfulness and capturing details towards historical authenticity, people and events of an era slowly unfold in Ms. Ouyang’s narration – family history, jade-like youth, journey of learning, figures across the land. With composure as if having seen it all, Ms. Ouyang recollects growing up in a scholarly family, attending Tianjin Nankai School, and her unforgettable experiences studying hard at National Southwestern Associated University.

As a peer of the May Fourth Movement activists, Ms. Ouyang lived through warlord strife, Anti-Japanese War, Liberation War, founding of new China and more in her hundred years. From attending private school as a child to receiving modern education at Nankai, listening to masters’ teachings at SWAU, many ordinary people and matters have rippled colorful ripples in the calm lake of her heart. With clouds-and-wind-like smoothness, the book narrates with warmth the relatives, friends and lovers who have stirred her soul.

Stats:

Published in 2023

Total Characters: 220,000

Read Online:

https://yd.qq.com/web/bookDetail/ae032550813ab775fg017117

Where to download the book:

https://url12.ctfile.com/f/402712-837042645-62c9bd

password: 2024

Where to buy the book:

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/%E4%B8%80%E7%99%BE%E5%B9%B4%EF%BC%8C%E8%AE%B8%E5%A4%9A%E4%BA%BA%EF%BC%8C%E8%AE%B8%E5%A4%9A%E4%BA%8B%EF%BC%9A%E6%9D%A8%E8%8B%A1%E5%8F%A3%E8%BF%B0%E8%87%AA%E4%BC%A0/dp/7544792749/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2PIIM4HIQEZS6&keywords=%E4%B8%80%E7%99%BE%E5%B9%B4%E8%AE%B8%E5%A4%9A%E4%BA%BA%E8%AE%B8%E5%A4%9A%E4%BA%8B&qid=1704166778&sprefix=%E4%B8%80%E7%99%BE%E5%B9%B4%2Caps%2C516&sr=8-1

Taobao:

https://detail.tmall.com/item.htm?abbucket=4&id=740134662828&ns=1&spm=a21n57.1.0.0.2fac523cAUfYlx

Audiobook:

https://m.ximalaya.com/sound/624054801

4. 《同意》Le Consentement Author: [FR] Vanessa Springora

Book:

Consent is the story of one precocious young girl’s stolen adolescence. Devastating in its honesty, Vanessa’s painstakingly memoir lays bare the cultural attitudes and circumstances that made it possible for a thirteen-year-old girl to become involved with a fifty-year-old man who happened to be a notable writer. As she recalls the events of her childhood and her seduction by one of her country’s most notable writers, Vanessa reflects on the ways in which this disturbing relationship changed and affected her as she grew older.

Drawing parallels between children’s fairy tales and French history and her personal life, Vanessa offers an intimate and absorbing look at the meaning of love and consent and the toll of trauma and the power of healing in women’s lives. Ultimately, she offers a forceful indictment of a chauvinistic literary world that has for too long accepted and helped perpetuate gender inequality and the exploitation and sexual abuse of children. 

Stats:

Published in 2023

Total Characters: 219 pages

Where to download the book:

https://url06.ctfile.com/f/40655006-817530613-feac21?p=9080

password: 9080

Where to buy the book:

Dangdang: https://e.dangdang.com/products/1901320992.html

5. 《我还能看到多少次满月升起》How Many More Times Will I See the Full Moon Rise | Author: [Japanese] Ryuichi Sakamoto

Books:

This book is the conclusive autobiography from legendary Japanese musician Ryuichi Sakamoto, where he chronicles his final years after an end-stage cancer diagnosis while sharing his philosophies on art, his family history and bonds, as well as reflections on the world he will leave behind.

In December 2020, Sakamoto’s doctor gave him six months left to live if no treatment was taken. However, there were still some things that needed to be said before that fateful day comes. Following his previous memoir “Music is Freedom” covering up to age 57, this book documents Sakamoto’s footsteps in life’s final chapter, intended as a parting gift for the future.

Stats:

Published in 2023

Total Characters: 322 pages

Read Online:

https://weread.qq.com/web/reader/79432840813ab8684g019b84kecc32f3013eccbc87e4b62e

Where to download the book:

https://pan.baidu.com/share/init?surl=O_Ujt4joz0K7t9-neLIPRA&pwd=imor

password: imor

Where to buy the book:

Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/Many-More-Moons-Hardcover-Chinese/dp/7521755758/ref=sr_1_1?crid=7WAP9TXDPGNH&keywords=%E6%88%91%E8%BF%98%E8%83%BD%E7%9C%8B%E5%88%B0%E5%A4%9A%E5%B0%91%E6%AC%A1%E6%BB%A1%E6%9C%88%E5%8D%87%E8%B5%B7&qid=1704168188&sprefix=%E6%88%91%E8%BF%98%E8%83%BD%2Caps%2C382&sr=8-1

6. 《为了活下去的思想》 Thoughts for Living On | Author: [Japanese] Chizuko Ueno

Book:

this book is Ueno’s theoretical examination of gender in the context of national violence, while asserting feminism as giving power to the powerlessness as a way for the weak to endure and survive.

She begins with 9/11 ushering in this violent century after the last, then traces back to the comfort women lawsuits of the 20th century and the ensuing Gulf War. Through these acts of violence, Ueno contemplates the uncertain role gender plays in the new matrix of state and violence. With the added element of gender in this bond between nation and violence, we are forced to confront the dilemma of “men and women participating together in violence”.

From 9/11 to the comfort women, spanning the 20th century “century of war and destruction” to the 21st, Ueno issues the call to “escape, live on!”. She further affirms and elaborates on the idea that “feminism is a way of thinking that demands the weak be respected in their weakness.”

Stats:

Published in 2022

Total Characters: 320 pages

Read Online:

https://weread.qq.com/web/bookDetail/f9c327d0811e7df45g0142fc

Where to download the book:

https://url06.ctfile.com/f/40655006-996129616-1a8715?p=9080

password: 9080

Where to buy the book:

Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/%E4%B8%BA%E4%BA%86%E6%B4%BB%E4%B8%8B%E5%8E%BB%E7%9A%84%E6%80%9D%E6%83%B3-%E6%97%A5-%E4%B8%8A%E9%87%8E%E5%8D%83%E9%B9%A4%E5%AD%90-%E8%91%97%EF%BC%8C%E9%82%B9%E9%9F%B5%EF%BC%8C%E8%96%9B%E6%A2%85-%E8%AF%91/dp/7559660495

Audiobook:

https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV13u411n7yV

7. 《凯列班与女巫》Caliban and the Witch Author: [Italian] Silvia Federici

Book:

This book seeks to address the core question of how to explain the hundreds of thousands of “witches” executed in early modern Europe, and why the rise of capitalism coincided with a war against women.

It is structured in five parts: everyday struggles of peasants and workers before the 15th century; the impacts of land privatization and expansionist population policies; the ascendancy of mechanical body concepts; the great witch hunts across continental Europe; and the replay of witch hunting strategies in the Americas met by the resistance of native women.

Through revisiting this 300-year history, Federici argues that the witch hunts manifested capitalism’s need to rationalize social reproduction, providing necessary support for two organizing principles of modern society – labor power and self-ownership. In other words, control over women’s fertility and bodies, represented by the attack on witches, was a critical step for capitalism to achieve primitive accumulation.

Stats:

Published in 2023

Total Characters: 392 pages

Read Online:

https://weread.qq.com/web/reader/35c32b60813ab7f62g0167a4

Where to download the book:

https://url12.ctfile.com/f/402712-947334246-6267d2

password: 2024

Where to buy the book:

Taobao：https://www.taobao.com/list/item/720020226594.htm?spm=a21wu.24122187.recommend-goods.2

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/%E5%87%AF%E5%88%97%E7%8F%AD%E4%B8%8E%E5%A5%B3%E5%B7%AB-%E5%A6%87%E5%A5%B3%E8%BA%AB%E4%BD%93%E4%B8%8E%E5%8E%9F%E5%A7%8B%E7%A7%AF%E7%B4%AF-%E7%B2%BE-%E6%84%8F-%E8%A5%BF%E5%B0%94%E7%BB%B4%E5%A8%85%C2%B7%E8%B4%B9%E4%BB%A3%E9%87%8C%E5%A5%87/dp/7542680528

Audiobook:

https://seeyouinchina.com/?album/77151940

8. 《赶时间的人》 People in a Hurry | Author: Jibing Wang

Book:

this book is a compilation of Wang’s on-the-ground poetic depictions of the experiences and consciousness of the urban working class in contemporary China.

This book “People in a Hurry: Poems by a Delivery Rider” is a first published collection of poetry written by Jibing Wang, a delivery rider in China who witnesses the struggles of other ordinary laboring people like migrant workers, cleaners and nannies trying to survive and make a living in the city.

Like a wandering poet emerging from the underclass of China, Wang records the indignities but also the dignity of workers like himself hustling against time. His poems composed on the fly on cigarette boxes and scrap paper offer a vivid, unvarnished perspective from the frontlines of manual labor – organic folk songs of toil and resilience.

Stats:

Published in 2023

Total Characters: 33,000

Read Online:

https://weread.qq.com/web/bookDetail/b1f32a60813ab7d62g018665

Where to download the book:

https://url06.ctfile.com/f/40655006-938303325-548198?p=9080

password: 9080

Where to buy the book:

Taobao: https://www.taobao.com/list/item/705365343538.htm

9. 《多谈谈问题》 Let’s Talk More About Issues | Editor: Qi Wu

Book:

this book compiles long-form dialogues between contemporary Chinese thinkers on fundamental issues facing society and individuals in the face of intersecting global and domestic crises. The focus is on problem-raising rather than problem-solving.

This book “Let’s Talk More About Issues” consists of 9 long-form interviews by authors such as Xu Zhiyuan, Guo Yujie, Bolin, Yang Xiao and Ye San. They pose questions on enduring issues to scholars and practitioners across different fields – Zhong Shuhe, Dai Jinhua, Jing Kaisun, Luo Xin, Xiang Biao, Michael Sandel, Lü Zhi, Lao Dongyan, Cui Qinglong and Zhang Qiumu.

These questions touch on the many crises we face today – from internet polarization, spiritual confusion amongst ordinary people, historical narrative misuse, elite education inequity to ecological deterioration; as well as how individuals can initiate rebuilding from the smallest unit. In this “sinking era”, the editors believe “raising questions is a way to maintain basic dignity”.

Stats:

Published in 2023

Total Characters: 432 pages

Read Online:

https://yd.qq.com/web/bookDetail/09932a20811e7e628g018384

Where to download the book:

https://url12.ctfile.com/f/402712-883194162-82e36e

password: 2024

Where to buy the book:

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/%E9%80%9F%E5%8F%91-%E5%A4%9A%E8%B0%88%E8%B0%88%E9%97%AE%E9%A2%98-%E5%8D%95%E8%AF%BB33%E8%AE%BA%E6%97%B6%E4%BB%A3%E5%9B%B0%E5%A2%83%E7%BD%91%E7%BB%9C%E6%9A%B4%E5%8A%9B%E5%A4%A7%E6%95%B0%E6%8D%AE%E5%8E%86%E5%8F%B2%E7%83%AD%E6%BD%AE%E5%A4%A7%E8%B1%A1%E5%87%BA%E8%B5%B0%E8%BA%BA%E5%B9%B3%E7%8E%B0%E8%B1%A1%E5%90%B4%E7%90%A6%E4%B8%BB%E7%BC%96%E6%96%B0%E5%A2%9E%E6%BC%AB%E7%94%BB%E6%A0%8F%E7%9B%AE%E4%B8%8A%E6%B5%B7%E6%96%87%E8%89%BA%E7%A4%BE%E4%BC%9A%E7%A7%91%E5%AD%A6%E6%96%87%E9%9B%86%E8%AF%AD%E5%A2%83%E3%80%90%E6%AD%A3%E7%89%88%E6%96%B0%E4%B9%A6%E3%80%91-Wu-Qi/dp/753218675X/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3FH7PI8P4RM6E&keywords=%E5%A4%9A%E8%B0%88%E8%B0%88%E9%97%AE%E9%A2%98&qid=1704179306&sprefix=duo%27tan%27tan%27wen%27ti%2Caps%2C347&sr=8-1

Taobao: https://detail.tmall.com/item.htm?abbucket=4&id=708970617842&ns=1&spm=a21n57.1.0.0.429f523c7BeXOl

10. 《疼痛部》 The Ministry of Pain | Author: [Dutch] Dubravka Ugrešić

Book:

Having fled the violent breakup of Yugoslavia, Tanja Lucic is now a professor of literature at the University of Amsterdam, where she teaches a class filled with other young Yugoslav exiles, most of whom earn meager wages assembling leather and rubber S&M clothing at a sweatshop they call the “Ministry.” Abandoning literature, Tanja encourages her students to indulge their “Yugonostalgia” in essays about their personal experiences during their homeland’s cultural and physical disintegration. But Tanja’s act of academic rebellion incites the rage of one renegade member of her class—and pulls her dangerously close to another—which, in turn, exacerbates the tensions of a life in exile that has now begun to spiral seriously out of control.

Read Online:

https://book.qq.com/book-read/48272942/1

Where to buy the book:

Taobao: https://www.taobao.com/list/item/728925729718.htm