Just read
The Red String of Fate is an East Asian concept based on Chinese mythology. The belief is that a red string connects two people in life, regardless of place or time or circumstance. Finding the person at the end of your string means finding your soul mate or life partner. The string may stretch or tangle, but it never breaks.
In Red String Theory aspiring artist Rooney Gao meets Jack Liu while they celebrate the Lantern Festival during the Lunar New Year in New York.
They are both handed a large paper lantern to light and release into the air, and on a whim, they follow the path of the lantern floating above the New York streets.
Rooney keeps wondering if Jack is the person at the end of her string, her string mate, the one she is meant to be with in life. Jack is a NASA engineer who is all science and hard facts and he doesn't believe in myths or legends.
This is also the story about artist Rooney who uses red string to create her art, both small and large. How she moves away from the shadow of her famous artist mother to establish herself as an independent artist is one of the main themes of the book.
Love and her belief in the red string of fate leads her on in her quest for artistic independence. She and Jack try to test if fate and destiny are real, as opposed to hard and scientific facts. They create the Red String Theory, a list of activities to see if or how fate does intervene. The first activity is to do something they wouldn't normally do, and see where it leads.
A cute and entertaining romance with myth and belief in old traditions leading on the two characters, Rooney and Jack. A five star read, for all the cleverness in character delineation and plot devices.
Now reading
Lunar Love by Lauren Kung Jessen, published January 10, 2023; Forever
Genre: romance, contemporary fiction, Asian traditions
I decided to read the author's first book, Lunar Love, which is independent of the second novel I reviewed above, with different characters. It uses Chinese astrology and traditions for its theme.
The publisher's description:
This sweet, enemies-to-lovers debut rom-com (is) filled with Chinese astrology
Always a matchmaker, never a match...
Olivia Huang Christenson is excited/terrified to be taking over her grandmother’s traditional matchmaking business. But when a new dating app threatens her Pó Po’s Chinese zodiac approach, she becomes furious. Especially when L.A.’s most-eligible bachelor Bennett O’Brien is behind the app that could destroy her family’s legacy . . .
As the two businesses go head to head, Bennett and Liv make a deal: they’ll find a match for each other—and whoever falls in love loses. But Liv is dealing with someone who’s adept at stealing business ideas . . . so what’s stopping him from stealing her heart too? (publisher)
Chinese tradition: it's Moon Festival time now in September, when the mid-Autumn Festival with the Harvest Moon is celebrated with moon cakes. Moon cakes are made of sweet red bean paste and an egg yolk to represent the harvest moon. Some moon cakes are made with lotus seed paste, which is yellow in color.
I got my tin of four moon cakes from Costco! I wanted to get more as I found them not as sweet as the traditional red bean cakes. But still delicious!
What's on your reading schedule this week and/or the rest of the month?injuly202
Memes: The Sunday Post hosted by The Caffeinated Bookreviewer. Also, It's Monday: What Are You Reading, and Sunday Salon, Stacking the Shelves, Mailbox Monday.
