Stuck on a holiday gift idea? NBC recommends my book, along with the work of four other talented Asian-American authors, for the holidays, and who am I to argue? For more details on all five books, visit the NBC link. Here’s the excerpt for “China Girl”:

The short stories that make up author Ho Lin’s “China Girl” range from a tale about a political dissident traveling with his minder to the story of the China girl of the book’s title — a young model trying to navigate the culture (and men) of modern Beijing.

“‘China Girl,’ as you’d expect from the title, is partially about China and partially about women. But it’s also about the connections and collisions between East and West,” Lin said in an email.

“The stories in this collection have been gathered from over a decade’s worth of work, and were inspired by my life and travels around Asia the past few decades,” he added. “Each story is influenced by a place, or a time, or a film, or even a song — some are personal, and some are fantastical.”

Ready to order a copy? Hop on over to Amazon.