Book Review: The Last Chinese Chef by Nicole Mones

"I love that you got it about the food," he said, "that you understood it, that maybe - I hope I'm not projecting - you might even be on your way to loving it." (ch. 14)

Title: The Last Chinese Chef: a Novel by Nicole Mones
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, May 4, 2007
Genre: culinary history, fiction
Rating: 4.5/5

My comments: Maggie McElroy, a food writer in America, is on personal mission to Beijing, where her deceased husband Matt worked on and off as a lawyer. Someone has filed a suit against his estate and she must find out the truth. She is also sent by her editor to interview chef Sam Liang in Beijing for an article. Liang is translating a culinary book with his father from the old Mandarin - The Last Chinese Chef.

In Beijing, Maggie's personal problems are balanced by her new interest in the history of Chinese cuisine as she learns about food used as a way to develop community as well as a way to ease heart and mind. She learns about the combinations of texture and flavor to provide various meals categorized as extravagant, rustic, or elegant. She also discovers the difference between Chinese American food, meant to be familiar yet exotic, and true Chinese food, with each dish different and unique.

I found the book very informative and learnt to appreciate the time, skill, and thought that goes into classical Chinese cooking. The special dishes that were once created exclusively for the Imperial family are now enjoyed by all. I myself am a great fan of dim sum, the little dishes of amazing variety that once only the Imperial family were privileged to eat.

Book description: Nicole Mones takes readers inside the hidden world of elite cuisine in modern China through the story of an American food writer in Beijing. When recently widowed Maggie McElroy is called to China to settle a claim against her late husband’s estate, she is blindsided by the discovery that he may have led a double life. Since work is all that will keep her sane, her magazine editor assigns her to profile Sam, a half-Chinese American who is the last in a line of gifted chefs tracing back to the imperial palace. As she watches Sam gear up for China’s Olympic culinary competition by planning the banquet of a lifetime, she begins to see past the cuisine’s artistry to glimpse its coherent expression of Chinese civilization. It is here, amid lessons of tradition, obligation, and human connection that she finds the secret ingredient that may yet heal her heart. (Amazon)

About the author: Mones, award-winning author of Lost in Translation and A Cup of Light, and a contributor to Gourmet magazine, ran a textile business in China for 18 years at the end of the Cultural Revolution. She lives in Portland, Oregon. For more about her books, visit her at Nicole Mones.

© Harvee Lau 2011

Book Review: The Last Blind Date by Linda Yellin

He had a policy. "My kids have had enough disruption. I don't want them meeting someone, getting attahced, and then she goes away."
Goes away? Goes where? My stomach hurt, but not from seasickness.
He said,"It'd be too confusing for them." (p. 30)

Title: The Last Blind Date: A Real-Life Love Story by Linda Yellin
Paperback: 336 pages, Gallery Books, October 4, 2011
Genre: memoir, romance
Objective rating: 3.5/5

About the book: Linda and Randy are matched by their friends, even though Linda lives in Chicago and Randy in New York, and their match-making friends live in California. Randy makes the first contact with Linda by calling her and chatting for 45 minutes, during which time they interview each other about their lives and their likes and dislikes, to see if they would be a good "match."
 
They sleep together on their first date, but show their cautiousness about one another by sleeping with their underwear on. Randy and Linda go out for more than two years before Randy will let her meet his two children from a previous marriage. Linda is told she has to make little "sacrifices" to please the kids once they do meet, sacrifices such as throwing a game they are playing so the kids win. Linda also has to deal with the children's mother Susan, both before and after Randy and Linda do marry.  After their marriage, Linda has to get used to New York, find a new job and new friends and fit into her new life. The marriage survives, and things seem to be happy ever after.
 
Comments: The book is well written but reads like a private diary, a love story told chronologically. The romance and marriage do not have any of the really serious or strong conflicts that make a book challenging, or perhaps the author was being selective in what she wrote. I felt that this relatively uneventful story was probably the story of thousands of contemporary couples, people who get together and marry the second time around.
 
A complimentary copy of this book was provided by the publisher.  

The Ronin's Mistress, a Novel by Laura Joh Rowland

Title: The Ronin's Mistress: A Novel (Sano Ichiro Novels)
Hardcover: 336 pages, Minotaur Books; September 13, 2011
Genre: historical mystery

A servant knelt at the threshold of the bedchamber. "There's a message from the sosakan-sama. He wants your help with a new case." Hirata was intrigued and excited. He said to Midori, "Maybe this is what we've been waiting for." (ch. 2)

Book description: The Ronin's Mistress is set in 18th century Japan and draws on the story of the fabled 47 Ronin. Japan, 1703. On a snowy night, 47 warriors murder the man at the center of the scandal that turned them from samurai into masterless ronin two years before. Clearly this was an act of revenge--but why did they wait so long? And is there any reason they should not immediately be ordered to commit ritual suicide? Sano Ichiro, demoted from Chamberlain to his old post as Most Honorable Investigator of Events, Situations, and People, has mere days to solve the greatest mystery of samurai legend--while his own fortunes hang in the balance. (amazon)

About the author: Laura Joh Rowland lives in New York. This is the 15th novel in the award-winning series set in feudal Japan. Her website is at Laura Joh Rowland.

Teaser Tuesdays asks you to choose sentences at random from your current read. Identify the author and title for readers.

Book Reviews : Success Secrets of Sherlock Holmes; Dreaming in Chinese; The Guilded Shroud

What did you think of the books you read on Saturday for the Read-a-Thon?

Here are my comments on the ones I read:

Title: Success Secrets of Sherlock Holmes: Life Lessons from the Master Detective by David Acord
Paperback: 208 pages, Perigee Trade
Publication date: November 1, 2011
Rating: 4/5

I liked the descriptions of the working habits and methods of the famous detective, Sherlock Holmes, that made him so famous. Acord applies Holmes' rules for detecting to general success in life in this remarkable little self-help manual on how to reach your goals. There were also a lot of very interesting tidbits about the character Holmes and his creator, Arthur Conan Doyle.

Title: Dreaming in Chinese: Mandarin Lessons in Life, Love, and Language by Deborah Fallows.
Paperback: 208 pages
Publisher: Walker & Company (September 13, 2011)
Rating: 5/5

I didn't expect to be chuckling and laughing out loud reading this book on language and linguistics. Deborah Fallows writes about the three years she spent in China, diligently learning more about Mandarin and other Chinese languages and  about the culture - linguistic and otherwise. Misunderstandings because of pronunciation problems put her in amusing situations, such as when she asked for takeout in Chinese at a restaurant but mistakenly told the waiter she wanted a big hug. A brief overview of the history of Chinese language, oral and written, past and present, given in an easy and down to earth way, for the general reader.



Title: A Gilded Shroud (A Lady Fan Mystery) by Elizabeth Bailey
Paperback: 368 pages
Publisher: Berkley Trade; 1 edition (September 6, 2011)
Rating: 3/5

The book started out with a promising situation - a young woman  in Georgian England is hired as a temporary companion to Dowager Lady Pollsbrook and is urged to solve the murder of her employer's daughter-in-law and the disappearance of a valuable jeweled fan. However, the archaic language used at the beginning of the book made it hard to read. The unusual names of the main characters also were a distraction. The lady's companion Ottilia, the butler Cattawade, Mr. Triplow, and Lady Pollsbrook all triggered blips in my mind each time their names appeared on a page. I wanted to change Ottilia to Lia and Cattawade to Wade, or something much simpler. I also thought the book was a little too long.

Review copies of the books were sent to me by the publishers. A review copy of Dreaming in Chinese was sent by LibraryThing Early Reviewers program.

Read-A-Thon: End of Event Meme

To the organizers and helpers at Dewey's 24-Hour Read-a-Thon, thanks for the great experience!

I finished 2 1/2 books on my first Read-a-Thon! (I confess I didn't stay up all night to finish all three). The Read-A-Thon was fun and helped me finish those books much faster than I normally would have done. Thanks to all those who cheered me on!

Here is the last meme of the event:

1.Which hour was most daunting for you? The hour just before my normal bedtime.

2.Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year? There are so many....depending on the genres you prefer.

3.Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year? I think everything went well and I was so impressed by the work of the organizers and volunteers.

4.What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon? The cheering, the prize giving, everything really.

5.How many books did you read? Sad to say, only 2 1/2, this time....

6.What were the names of the books you read?
Success Secrets of Sherlock Holmes by David Acord - 4 stars
The Gilded Shroud by Elizabeth Bailey - 3 stars
Dreaming in Chinese by Deborah Fallows - 5 stars, so far

7.Which book did you enjoy most? Dreaming in Chinese, a book on language and linguistics that is surprisingly funny and clever.

8.Which did you enjoy least?
Sadly, The Gilded Shroud, an historical mystery and the first in the series for the writer.

9.If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders? They did a good job!

10.How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time? I'd love to participate again., perhaps donate a book for a prize,  but don't think I'd have enough time to be a cheerleader.

 

Read-a-Thon: Evening Update

I have rushed through my second book, The Gilded Shroud, an historical mystery and am starting a third book. I don't know if I'll be able to finish it by 8 a.m. tomorrow, though it's a short memoir/travel book.

 Wish me luck finishing Dreaming in Chinese: Mandarin Lessons in Life, Love, and Language by Deborah Fallows.
 
It's great having readers and cheerers cheering me on!

Read-a-Thon: After Lunch Update

I have finished one book, Success Secrets of Sherlock Holmes: Life Lessons from the Master Detective by David Acord, and enjoyed reading about the habits and methods of the famous detective that made him such a success. Acord applies Holmes' rules for detecting to general success in life in this remarkable little self-help manual on how to succeed. I really enjoyed learning more about Holmes and his creator, Arthur Conan Doyle.

I am still working on a longer book, The Gilded Shroud by Elizabeth Bailey, an English mystery set in the Georgian period. I hope to get this finished by this evening, so I can go on to Dreaming in Chinese: Mandarin Lessons in Life, Love, and Language by Deborah Fallows.

Wish me luck!