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Love, Amy: An Accidental Memoir Told in Newsletters from China
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Too often we believe that our stories don’t matter. They do. This the power of a life story unfolding over time. Amy Young quit her job, packed up her belongings, and moved to China to teach English, initially for two years. She anticipated making cultural faux pas, trying new food, seeing God at work, and growing in her knowledge of language and culture. What she could
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This book could not have come at a better time for me. I have always been intrigued by the missionary field, but scared of course of the difficulties it could bring. That combined with the fact that I never felt it was God's calling, but my own. Recently my daughter has felt the call, but she's only 15. She's going on her first missions trip this summer and has been praying that God will speak to her directly. As a mother, I have a lot of fears. My baby will be going away, and this could be the ...more
Love, Amy is a unique read – part memoir, part resource – but it very much captured and kept my attention throughout. Young’s writing style is conversational and engaging, and the stories she shares about life in China are eye-opening, inspiring and entertaining. The subtitle of the book – An Accidental Memoir Told in Newsletters from China – is a perfect description of what Young accomplishes by sharing a selection of nine years worth of newsletters that she wrote while teaching English to
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I truly enjoyed taking this journey to China with Amy as she grows in her faith and dedication to GOD. I loved her newsetters and I know I would have had serious culture shock. Amy was perfect for this job. She had the right attitude and didn' let much bring her down.
My favorite story was about the fish at the restaurant. I can not imagine the surprise on her face when this occured.
It was an adventure for sure. I love how clearly she writes and can picture her as she experiences the highs and ...more
My favorite story was about the fish at the restaurant. I can not imagine the surprise on her face when this occured.
It was an adventure for sure. I love how clearly she writes and can picture her as she experiences the highs and ...more
What a gift it was to read this book. I have always admired people who go to other countries to help those who are ill or want to read or just be able to survive. Amy writes a book that not only journals her gift of teaching English but opened her eyes to a country that had the same goals as we do. I can't imagine leaving the safety of America to travel overseas without having thoughts of danger in my head. I loved when she wrote, " I can't guarantee the road will be smooth from here on out, but
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The subtitle says it all - it’s an accidental memoir told in newsletters from China. This book does double-duty: it’s both a tool for helping cross-cultural workers write better newsletters to their supporters (with tips and tools at the end of each section), but it’s also an epistolary memoir of 9 years of living in China as a Christian. It’s one short newsletter per month, from the late nineties, through 9/11 and SARS, as it happened in real time. Amy demonstrates what makes a good newsletter
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Love, Amy is a distinctive memoir quite unlike many I’ve read. Here is a highly enjoyable read featuring the monthly newsletters created by TESL teacher, Amy Young, a cross-cultural worker/teacher who was indelibly changed by her years living and serving in China. As an ESL/TESL teacher living in a “foreign” country myself, I found Amy Young’s narrative especially relatable, heartwarming, relevant, poignant, funny, and memorable. This would be an excellent resource for anyone considering moving
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I enjoyed Young's book. Her letters to her supporters while she was in China are very informative and entertaining. I really like how she combines her personal experiences with changes happening in the culture, her emotional ups and downs, the people she met, and much more. It was also very interesting to read about the attitudes of the Chinese when an American president did something the Chinese did not like.
Young is a great story teller. I like the stories she told about the places she went, ...more
Young is a great story teller. I like the stories she told about the places she went, ...more
Here's an intriguing read, rather different from many that I blog about...it is a memoir (an "accidental memoir" as the cover calls it). I usually read fiction, but I do enjoy reading true stories, and especially enjoyed, and was both blessed and challenged by this one!
This book is quite literally, a compilation of letters written by Amy during her time in China. She purposed to be unusual from most missionaries--by writing newsletters that would be enjoyable to read. Throughout the entire book, ...more
This book is quite literally, a compilation of letters written by Amy during her time in China. She purposed to be unusual from most missionaries--by writing newsletters that would be enjoyable to read. Throughout the entire book, ...more
I am an avid reader of memoirs and really enjoy diving into diverse cultures. From battling mice to being operated on without anesthetic you are drawn into her world with her powerful storytelling. Her descriptions of China are amazing and you feel that you are really there along side of her. Proof that real life is so much more imaginative than fiction can be.
Amy Young grows as a person and she's not afraid to share her life with us. I was rooting for her and came to care about the people she ...more
Amy Young grows as a person and she's not afraid to share her life with us. I was rooting for her and came to care about the people she ...more
Amy Young invites us along on the journey she made as she experienced life in China in the late 1990s and early 2000s. It’s a journey of discovering the place and the culture, and of getting to know (and love) the people. It is also a very personal journey of learning and growing, of facing joys, challenges and questions.
Yes, it is an outsider’s view of the place and time, but that of an outsider genuinely seeking to learn and understand, and doing so with great humility and compassion.
Amy’s “ ...more
Yes, it is an outsider’s view of the place and time, but that of an outsider genuinely seeking to learn and understand, and doing so with great humility and compassion.
Amy’s “ ...more
This “accidental memoir” by Amy Young chronicles her first nine years in China through her newsletters. It is such an interesting and refreshing way to write a memoir! Amy Young is a gifted storyteller and draws the reader in with the first stroke of her pen (or keyboard, in this case). She relates so much fun and humor in being totally immersed in a new environment, language and culture. Her playful spirit and hard work to integrate into the Chinese culture are interspersed with heartbreaks and
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"Love,Amy" by Amy Young is a memoir that is told in actual newsletters that she wrote from China. The newsletters were interesting to read and some of it was quite fun to read! She wrote some of the newsletters so well that it was like seeing the events instead of just reading them, like the mouse stories.
I even tried answering the quizzes that she included in a couple of the letters.
There are tips to help with writing newsletters if you write them, I don't write newsletters but I read them ...more
I even tried answering the quizzes that she included in a couple of the letters.
There are tips to help with writing newsletters if you write them, I don't write newsletters but I read them ...more
Love, Amy
An memoir of her years in China told through letters. She had quite a time in China when she got sick and different times she had to go to the doctor/hospital. This was from 1995 to 2004, things were a lot different from the United States. She was a teacher there. She did go home to visit and also had visitors there. I wandered on how much time and planning when into that and the cost. I first I thought the book may not be my kind of book but I did find it very interesting. There was ...more
An memoir of her years in China told through letters. She had quite a time in China when she got sick and different times she had to go to the doctor/hospital. This was from 1995 to 2004, things were a lot different from the United States. She was a teacher there. She did go home to visit and also had visitors there. I wandered on how much time and planning when into that and the cost. I first I thought the book may not be my kind of book but I did find it very interesting. There was ...more
This is one of those books that are a hidden treasure. I was amazed at the details and the love that Amy put into her passion and mission in China. I think many of us are unsure and lacking knowledge about this area in the world, and Amy gives us a first hand experience of living her faith, sharing it and bringing light to many. It is a book that will touch anyone's heart and remind us that we all have the ability and calling to make a difference.
I was provided a copy of this book. I voluntarily ...more
I was provided a copy of this book. I voluntarily ...more
This was very well written. Amy really knows how to describe what was happening while she was in Chima. It was interesting to read how she saw the people in China. From her eyes Americans and Chinese are quite different. It would have been interesting to see how she regarded the people in 2018. I received a copy of this book from Celebratelit for a fair and honest opinion that I gave of my own free will.
Fantastic
Such a great book! It was super encouraging to me as I start loving overseas. I especially love that this book included all the smaller stuff of being a missionary overseas that memoirs/biographies often leave out. It is so encouraging to know that my time does not have to be spectacular to be fruitful. Thank you Amy!
Such a great book! It was super encouraging to me as I start loving overseas. I especially love that this book included all the smaller stuff of being a missionary overseas that memoirs/biographies often leave out. It is so encouraging to know that my time does not have to be spectacular to be fruitful. Thank you Amy!
I really enjoyed Love, Amy! It is quite an unusual book, but a great one. Amy Young subtitled her book, An accidental memoir told in newsletters from China. She compiled ten years’ worth of the newsletters she wrote from China, with tips for people who write newsletters after each year. I found these tips very interesting, as well as the letters themselves.
As someone who has spent the past 16 years outside the US, I very much related,to Amy's book. As a missionary on support, I greatly appreciated her new letter tips. They are incredibly helpful.
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