Book Review: Secrets of a Thousand Beauties by Mingmei Yip

The Friday 56: *Grab a book, any book. *Turn to page 56 or 56% in your eReader  *Find any sentence, (or few, just don't spoil it) that grabs you. *Post it. *Add your (url) post in Linky at Freda's Voice. Also visit Book Beginnings at Rose City Reader.

Secrets of a Thousand Beauties by Mingmei Yip
Published November 25, 2014; Kensington
Genre: historical fiction

Book beginning:

PROLOGUE 

It was my wedding day.
I was horrified.
Because my soon-to-be-lawful - and awful - husband was not even a man.
He was a ghost.

Page 56:

 "Now, watch carefully - I am going to use the 'wandering stitch' to show the mane of a galloping horse." 

My comments: On the day of her wedding as a ghost bride, Spring Swallow escapes from the family whose son she is betrothed to, a son who has died. Rather than live her life as as a widow in the home of a dead husband's family, she escapes to find a new life. She joins a group of embroiderers led by Aunty Peony, a woman who was once an embroiderer in the court of the Emperor.

The novel is told from Spring Swallow's point of view, but the story is also about Aunty Peony who once decorated the Emperor's robes with skillful and elaborate embroidery art, but who is now trying to piece together a living on her own. Aunt Peony's story is a sad one, reflecting the perilous and uncertain position of women during the Qing Dynasty and after its fall. In contrast, the younger woman Spring Swallow finds her way in a new era after the fall of the dynasty.

Intriguing historical setting and information about the centuries old art of embroidery in China. The author brings this art to life in her historical novel while telling the stories of these two women, Aunt Peony and Spring Swallow. An interesting novel, recommended for those interested in traditional culture and the arts in Chinese history.

Thanks to the author for a review ARC of this book.

Book Review: Meow If It's For Murder by T.C. LoTempio

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Meow If It's For Murder by T. C. LoTempio
Published December 2, 2014 Berkley
Genre: cozy mystery

My comments: A new series, A Nick and Nora Mystery, features Nick, a cat that nudges telltale books and Scrabble letters at the main character and helps solve crimes. Taken with a huge grain of salt, this cozy will work for serious cat lovers who are also mystery lovers.

Book description:

Nora Charles doesn’t believe in fate, even if she is a crime reporter who shares a name with a character from The Thin Man. In fact, she’s moving back to Cruz, California, to have a quieter life. But after finding an online magazine eager for material, and a stray cat named Nick with a talent for detection, Nora’s not just reporting crimes again. She’s uncovering them…

Back in her hometown, Nora reconnects with old friends and makes some new ones, like Nick, the charming feline who seems determined to be her cat. But not everything about Cruz is friendly. Writing for a local online magazine, Nora investigates the curious death of socialite Lola Grainger. Though it was deemed an accident, Nora suspects foul play. And it seems that her cat does too. 

Apparently, Nick used to belong to a P.I. who disappeared while investigating Lola Grainger’s death. The coincidence is spooky, but not as spooky as the clues Nick spells out for her with Scrabble letters—clues that lead her down an increasingly dangerous path. Whether fate put her on this case or not, solving it will take all of Nora’s wits, and maybe a few of Nick’s nine lives. (goodreads)

Thanks to the publisher for a review copy of this book. 

Book Review: Aground on St. Thomas by Rebecca M. Hale

Title: Aground on St. Thomas by Rebecca M. Hale
Published December 2, 2014; Berkley
Genre: cozy mystery

This was an unusual cozy as it involved local politics on St. Thomas Virgin Islands and St. Croix, a fictitious story, of course. The governor of St. Thomas is in hiding from U.S. forces which have landed to take over the government in the wake of massive island corruption. The story line is based on a true story of the British invasion of the Turks and Caicos Islands some time ago for similar reasons..

Interesting, unusual. I'd recommend it for a light read that takes you to the island setting and its atmosphere.

Book description:
The tropical paradise of St. Thomas is shut down as the FBI seizes control of the island to apprehend government officials on bribery charges. Tourists and locals are stranded until FBI agent Gabe “Friday” Stein can find the missing governor and two senators who have eluded capture.

 Innocent of any crime, Senator Julia Sanchez can only escape wrongful arrest with the help of eccentric Senator Bobo. As they try to blend in with increasingly hostile locals and make their trek across the island to safety, Senator Sanchez is only just beginning to realize the extent of the corruption behind the island’s idyllic façade. (goodreads)

Thanks to the publisher for a review copy of this book.

We Have a Winner!

Congrats to Suko on winning a print copy of The Demon Who Peddled Longing. An email has been sent to you.

The Demon Who Peddled Longing

Title: The Demon Who Peddled Longing by Khanh Ha
Published November 21, 2014; Underground Voices
Genre: multicultural fiction, literary fiction

This is almost a coming of age story as much as an odyssey, and a story of a young man's unholy pilgrimage to seek retribution for the wrong done to the young woman, his cousin. How he changes and matures toward the end of his journey is an intriguing part of the novel. Set in postwar Vietnam.

For my full review, visit http://bookdilettante.blogspot.com/2014/11/book-review-and-giveaway-demon-who.html

Thanks to everyone who entered the contest. Sorry there weren't books to give to everyone!

Sunday Salon: Autumn Reads

Welcome to the Sunday Salon where bloggers share their reading each week. Visit The Sunday Post hosted by The Caffeinated Bookreviewer. Also visit It's Monday: What Are You Reading hosted by Book Journey.
A few new books to share:

Cattle Cate

>Cattle Kate: Ella Watson is the only woman to be lynched in the nation as a cattle rustler. She and her husband were hanged on July 20, 1889, by prominent cattlemen. History portrays the lynching as a case of “range land justice,” with “Cattle Kate” tarred as both a notorious rustler and a filthy whore. Is this sordid story true? 

It was all a lie. 

Death with All the Trimmings

The only snow in Key West this Christmas is Hayley Snow, food critic for Key Zest magazine, who is not getting time off for the holiday…or time off from murder. 

Murder Served Simply

Amish quilt shop owner Angie Braddock has a lot on her plate this Christmas. But things only get worse after someone develops a taste for murder…

The Ghost and Mrs. Mewer

Wagtail, Virginia, the top pet-friendly getaway in the United States, is gearing up for a howling good Halloween—until a spooky murder shakes the town to its core . . .
What's on your desk this week?

Book Beginnings: The Language of Silence by Peggy Webb

The Friday 56: *Grab a book, any book. *Turn to page 56 or 56% in your eReader  *Find any sentence, (or few, just don't spoil it) that grabs you. *Post it. *Add your (url) post in Linky at Freda's Voice. Also visit Book Beginnings at Rose City Reader.

The Language of Silence

The Language of Silence by Betty Webb
Published August 5, 2014; Gallery Books
Genre: women's fiction

Page 56;
When the time was right, she'd run to the only place she knew where  woman could vanish so completely there was nothing left of her except a yellowed newspaper clipping, a gold tiger brooch, and enough conflicting stories to keep three generations guessing.

Book beginning, first chapter: It was the blackbirds that first told Ruth something was wrong. At exactly the stroke of non, they landed in the cornfield and commenced eating her corn as if they'd been the ones to stand in hundred-degree heat and chop the weeds out with a hoe. 

Publisher description:

Following in the footsteps of her tiger-taming grandmother, a woman flees her abusive husband to join the circus. A poignant portrayal of a woman on the edge seeking solace in the past.

Nobody in the family talks about Ellen’s grandmother, Lola, who was swallowed up by the circus and emerged as a woman who tamed tigers and got away scot-free for killing her husband. When Ellen’s husband, Wayne, beats her nearly to death, she runs to the only place she knows where a woman can completely disappear—the same Big Top that once sheltered her grandmother.

Though the circus moves from one town to the next, Wayne tracks it, and Ellen, relentlessly. At the same time, Ellen learns more about her feisty, fiery relative, and the heritage that is hers for the taking—if she dares. With her violent husband hot on her trail, Ellen must learn to stand up and fight for herself, to break the cycle of abuse, and pass down a story of love and redemption to her children.(amazon)

I don't like circuses as much as I did as a child and probably would not visit one today. But how does the idea of literally "running away to the circus" grab you as an ingenious though desperate attempt to escape domestic abuse?

Book Review: The Demon Who Peddled Longing by Khanh Ha

The Demon Who Peddled Longing

Title: The Demon Who Peddled Longing by Khanh Ha
Published November 21, 2014; Underground Voices
Genre: multicultural fiction, literary fiction

Opening sentences: Sometime in the night, the woman woke. The wind had died down and the rain had stopped and now she could hear something bang against the piles of the house. Sitting up in her cot, she listened.

Nineteen-year-old Nam of Vietnam, in the Plain of Reeds, takes a long journey after he is left homeless and without family when his uncle's fishing boat sinks in an accident, killing all the others on board. Nam finds employment with two different women in the flooded plain, fishing for them to earn his keep. He moves on to the coast and the seaside, in a determined quest to find the two brothers who had assaulted and murdered his cousin, his first love. His memory of his cousin drives him to try to exact revenge.

Lyrically descriptive, the book takes you to an unfamiliar land that gradually becomes more and more real. I was fascinated not only by the flooded plain of reeds, the taxing lives of the river fishermen, the intriguing preparation of fish and food, but also by the religious beliefs and the beliefs in spirits and ghosts.

This is almost a coming of age story as much as an odyssey, and a story of a young man's unholy pilgrimage to seek retribution for the wrong done to the young woman, his cousin. How he changes and matures toward the end of his journey is an intriguing part of the novel.

I enjoyed the writing, the plot, characterizations, and the cultural context. I heartily recommend The Demon Who Peddled Longing for its insight into character as well as for its fascinating story and setting.

Khanh Ha is the author of Flesh (2012, Black Heron Press) and The Demon Who Peddled Longing (November 2014, Underground Voices). He is a three-time Pushcart nominee and the recipient of Greensboro Review’s 2014 Robert Watson Literary Prize in Fiction. His work has appeared in Waccamaw Journal, storySouth, Greensboro Review, Saint Ann’s Review, Permafrost Magazine, Tayo Literary Magazine, Printer's Devil Review, Mount Hope, Thrice Fiction, and other fine magazines. Visit him at http://www.authorkhanhha.com
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Thanks to Virtual Author Book Tours and the author for a review galley of this book. See more reviews and the tour schedule.