Peter Hessler, the author of "River Town" has a new book. It is "Oracle Bones" and follows the lives of five people since 1999 and how their lives have been affected with all the changes in China. A great read!

I actually just finished reading "Oracle Bones" earlier this week and had mixed feelings. The 60% of the novel that focuses on Peter's life as a freelance writer in China was wonderful. I loved the stories about Polat and his former students. The 40% that centered around China's Oracle Bones, or Chinese archeology was very dry.

I think had I not enjoyed Hessler's "River Town" so much, I wouldn't be as dissappointed.

I think you may be confusing two books. Peter Hessler, author of River Town, New Yorker correspondent, has written a MEMOIR, Oracle Bones, about modern China, in which he tells tells the tale of starting life as a journalist in Beijing. He also traces the stories of some of his former students and others, and explores Chinese archaeology. John Pomfret's book, Chinese Lessons, follows five classmates and how their lives have changed from the early 1980s to now. Both are excellent but the two are extremely different books.

I loved Peter Hessler's first book, "River Town" and have just purchased his 2nd book. A trip to China earlier this year stirred up a strong interest in reading about that country. I also just read and highly recommend "White Swans". It's not an easy book to read, but what a great insight into what's happened in China.

You don`t mean The Wild Swans, do you? An excellent book!

Yes I did mean Wild Swans. Thanks

I just finished "Red Dust, a Path through China" by Ma Jian. It is very interesting. Three years on the road by the author.