Sunday Salon: A New Book and Recently Read

 

Mud Lilies

by 

Indra Ramayan, p

ublished May 21st 2022 by Cormorant Books

Genre: urban fiction, literary fiction 

Source: publisher review copy

About the book: The night fourteen-year-old Chanie Nyrider ran away from her abusive parents, she was saved by an older woman who  offered Chanie a new life working as a prostitute. With nowhere to turn, Chanie was drawn into Edmonton’s dark underbelly, where she survived until arrested four years later. She was given two options: jail or a high school program for troubled youth. Mud Lilies is the powerful story of a young woman finding a path of hope in the darkest of places and defiantly choosing to pursue it.

“Harrowing, hopeful, and informed by Ramayan's own experiences as a runaway to Edmonton, Mud Lilies is a hymn to the power of one young woman's defiant spark of life, a story of grit and wisdom set against a backdrop of cruelty and indifference.” — Grace O’Connell, Open Book

Recently read:

HARVEE’S RECENT UPDATES on Goodreads

Harvee rated a book it was amazing The Family Chao by Lan Samantha Chang (Goodreads Author)	Read My rating: 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars[ 5 of 5 stars ]
It's amazing that a chance encounter with a stranger, Zhang Fujian, carrying a small fortune in his bag would lead to the downfall of the Chao family patriarch, owner of the Chao restaurant, and lead to suspicion falling on the three sons. I enjoyed the characterization of each son, so different from one another, and the denouement of the plot in this domestic drama. There is a murder to be solved, also, but I liked that the brothers join together in the face of being children of immigrants in a small American town, and in the face of possible, pending tragedy.
Harvee rated a book  Lemon by Kwon Yeo-Sun   Read My rating: 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars[ 4 of 5 stars ]5 of 5 stars This turned out not to be a detective novel as it first seemed, but a look at high schoolers then and seventeen years later in relation to the murder of a female student. There are hints as to what could have happened in the murder but the students and their interactions are the important elements of the novel. Character driven rather than plot driven, this was an unusual but very interesting look at adolescents.

Harvee rated a book   The Boy With the Bookstore by Sarah Echavarre Smith (Goodreads Author)

Read My rating: 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars[ 4 of 5 stars ]5 of 5 stars

The romance between Max and Joelle began and blossomed early in the book, which surprised me, as I wondered, where the story would go from there. I liked that family plays such an important role in Joelle's life and that Max comes to value the idea of family as something he never had. I also liked that problems with Max's bookstore and Joelle's bakery also moved the story forward. The romance could have had more internal challenges, however, instead of all from outside conflicts. Also, the constant praises for Joelle as a dutiful daughter, praises from Max and from her family were a little overdone throughout the book. But overall, this was a pleasant read, a contemporary young romance novel.

What are you reading this week? 

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  

Book Review: The Family Chao by Lan Samantha Chang

 

The Family Chao by Lan Samantha Chang

Published February 1st 2022 by W. W. Norton Company

Genre: Cultural heritage fiction, mystery, literary fiction 
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

It's amazing that a chance encounter with a stranger, Zhang Fujian, carrying a small fortune in his bag would lead to the downfall of the Chao family patriarch, owner of the Chao restaurant, and lead to suspicion falling on the three sons. James, the youngest son, helping an old Chinese man at the train station began the turmoil of events. Little did anyone know that the man's blue bag, forgotten in the back of a car, would be removed and transported to different places and cause a major problem for the Chao family.

How the three brothers - master chef Dagou, industrious and ambitious Ming, and college student James - stick together, facing the insults and disdain of their overbearing father during the illness and the death of their mother, and how they rally in each other's defense is admirable. Family secrets also prove fatal in this story.

I enjoyed the characterization of each son, so different from one another, and the denouement of the plot in this domestic drama. There is a murder mystery to be solved, also, but I liked that the brothers join together in the face of being children of immigrants in a small American town, and in the face of possible, pending tragedy.

Critics have called The Family Chao a reimagining of  The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoevsky.

View all my reviews

Book beginning: 

For thirty-five years everybody supported Leo Chao's restaurant. Introducing choosy newcomers by showing off some real Chinese food in Haven, Wisconsin. 

At 56% of ebook: 

Then after Winnie died, someone - one of his brothers, or even one of this parents' friends -would have carried the blue blag out of the hospital and loaded it into a car. And then what? 

 

Memes: The Friday 56. Find any sentence that grabs you on page 56 of your book. Post it, and add your URL to Freda's Voice. Also visit Book Beginnings at Rose City Reader.

Sunday Salon: New Book Arrivals

 New book arrivals:

The Bone Flower by

Charles Lambert

Publication: August 22, 2022, Gallic Books

Genre: Fiction + Literature Genres

About the Book

A young gentleman in Victorian London is drawn into a dark and dangerous world when he falls for a beautiful flower seller. What follows is a ghost story, a Gothic mystery and an uncanny love story from Polari Prize-shortlisted author Charles Lambert.

Rock of Ages

(Junior Bender #8)

by 

Timothy Hallinan

Publication: June 7, 2022, Soho Crime

About the Book

Junior Bender, Los Angeles burglar and off-the-books detective to the felonious, is reminded that rock and roll will never die, no matter how fervently he wishes some of it would, when Hollywood's most dangerous geriatric mobster, Irwin Dressler, retains Junior's investigative services to solve a rather unharmonious problem.

The Case of the Married Woman: Caroline Norton and Her Fight for Women's Justice

by 

Antonia Fraser

Published May 3, 2022, Pegasus Books

About the Book

Portrayal of a courageous and compassionate woman who refused to be curbed by the personal and political constraints of her time, the 19th century.

Provisions... such as the right of a mother to have access to her own children, owe much to Caroline Norton, who was determined to secure justice for women at all levels of society

What are you reading this week? 

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  

Sunday Salon: New Books and a Book Review

 New arrivals

Fish Swimming in Dappled Sunlight

by 

Riku Onda,

 

Alison Watts (Translator)

Publication June 16, 2022, Bitter Lemon Press

Set in a Tokyo flat over the course of one night, Aki and Hiro spend one last night together before going their separate ways. Each believes the other to be a murderer and is determined to extract a confession before the night is over.

The Martins

by 

David Foenkinos,

 

Sam Taylor (Translator)

Publication June 16, 2022, Gallic Books

‘Go out into the street and the first person you see will be the subject of your next book.’

This is the challenge a struggling Parisian writer sets himself, imagining his next heroine might be the mysterious young woman who often stands smoking near his apartment … instead it’s octogenarian Madeleine.

Book Review

Four Aunties and a Wedding

(Aunties #2)

by 

Jesse Q. Sutanto, March 29, 2022, Berkley

Genre: romantic comedy, romantic mystery, multicultural interest

Meddy Chan's wedding day in Cambridge couldn't get more complicated. Wedding vendors distantly related to her family have threatened her and her family if she interferes with their plan to kill someone they are targeting at the wedding. Armed with the zaniness and the determination of her four aunties, Meddy tries to stop anything from ruining her elaborate and well planned wedding day .

The Chinese-Indonesian aunties steal the show with their outrageous wedding outfits, their misuse of British slang, and their behind the scenes activities to stop a potential murder, all on behalf of their beloved niece, Meddy. 

Written with spunk and a clever use of dialogue, character, and setting, Four Aunties and a Wedding is clearly a romantic comedy winner.

Book from NetGalley.

 

What are you reading this week? 

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  

Sunday Salon: Icelandic Mystery and Rom Coms

 New Books Reviewed:

Kalmann  by J

oachim B. Schmidt,

 

Jamie Lee Searle (Translator), May 19, 2022 

Genre: mystery, crime thriller

I was delighted to receive this mystery novel from Bitter Lemon Press as I have enjoyed reading other Icelandic thrillers.  

The book features Kalmann Odinsson, 34, the narrator, who lives in the tiny village of Raufarhofn in north Iceland.

 

The publisher describes Kalmann as "neurodiverse." Kalmann says the townspeople see him as someone who thinks backwards or as not progressing past age six. But he is liked and humored as he describes himself the protector and Sheriff of Raufarhofn, dressing in a cowboy hat, a sheriff's badge, and a defunct Mauser pistol,  a gift from his American father, whom he doesn't know. 

 An avid shark hunter, Kalmann has life skills taught him by his grandfather, who is now in a home for dementia patients. 

The mystery begins when Kalmann discovers a large pool of fresh blood in the snowy hills at the same time as the richest man in the town goes missing. A patient and understanding female police officer from the city interacts with Kalmann to investigate the mystery, with a surprise for the reader at the end. 

Well plotted, suspenseful, with distinct and memorable characterization and setting, I find Kalmann another excellent Icelandic crime novel. 

The Beach Trap

by 

Ali Brady

Publication June 14, 2022, Berkley. Source: NetGalley. 

Genre: romantic comedy

This is the story of two 12-year-olds who became friends at summer camp only to suddenly discover they had the same father. Kat never answered Blake's letters after camp and after this revelation, but both girls grew up knowing they were half-sisters,  forced to meet about 15 years later when they jointly inherit a beach house from their father.

The plot showing how they dealt with this situation, both sisters needing the money that a sale of the house would bring, is quite a good one. The complications of having to fix up the house themselves to realize a good price for it is a clever twist that carries the plot to the next level. Add to that the new love interests, the beach setting, their different home lives, and the novel becomes  a very enjoyable read, though with a somewhat predictable ending. 

What are you reading this week? 

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  

Sunday Salon: In The Mail and a Book Review

 In the mailbox:

Cashmere Comes from Goats by S. Portico Bowman, May 1, 2022, Stonehouse Originals

Genre: women's fiction, contemporary romance

Source: review copy from Saichek Publicity

As Robin contemplates a sabbatical to see puffins in Newfoundland, a fateful google search puts everything on hold.

Letters to Singapore by Kelly Kaur, May 1, 2022, Stonehouse Originals

Genre: women's fiction, contemporary fiction, multicultural

Growing up in Singapore, Simran always knew what was expected of her: to learn how to be a good mother and wife. The only problem? Simran has no interest in any of this.

Review:

The Favor by 

Nicci French, October 18, 2022, William Morrow Paperbacks

Genre: thriller, suspense

When Liam seeks out Jude after 11 years and asks for what seems like a simple favor, Jude inexplicably agrees. Liam was her high school sweetheart eleven years earlier, but after a terrific car accident, they went their separate ways, until now, when he returns to ask for The Favor.

Thrilling and suspenseful, the book leads you to the links between the two very different people and Liam's strange request. The favor leads Jude into Liam's present life, revealing a strange assortment of uninhibited arty types all living together in a large rundown house that Liam inherited. 

 Well plotted and written, this is another of Nicci French's thrillers I truly enjoyed.

What are you reading this week? 

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

Book Review: Fault Lines by Emily Itami

 

Fault Lines by Emily Itami, September 7, 2021, Custom House

Genre: contemporary women's fiction, multicultural

Setting: Tokyo

Source: library book

 

Review: 

Fault Lines is about a mother and wife feeling trapped in household duties with young children, having no career of her own and an indifferent often absent husband who seems to take little interest in her home life. Mizuki has no other outlet outside of  being a perfect Japanese mother and wife, and misses the days when she was single and worked as a singer.

Enter Kiyoshi, whom Mizuki begins a friendship with that becomes more serious as they spend many days and evenings together exploring the vibrant city that is Tokyo.  Her outings happen during the school hours and on the  evenings when her children are asleep with a babysitter and her husband is working late at the office.

The cultural aspects of being a traditional woman, mother, and wife in Japan stood out for me. The rigorous expectations of society for women are difficult for Mizuki as she has lived in the U.S. and experienced more freedom and life choices. That she finds comfort in a friendship outside of her marriage is not a surprise. The outcome of this friendship could go both ways, as Mizuki is influenced by her culture and her love for her children. She describes the fault lines in herself as similar to the ones that lie beneath the city of Tokyo, always threatening to plunge the city into a catastrophe. 

I enjoyed touring Tokyo by day and night through the book, visiting the various sights, restaurants, and museums and the crowded and busy main streets. The story was excellently told to reveal a place and culture that many Westerners don't know or may not understand very well. 

Book beginning:

The whole Kyoshi situation started a long time before he was ever in the picture. The way a calligraphy painting begins before the first black stroke makes it onto the page. 

Page 56: 

The bar was in Shinjuku, and though places were closing, the streets were still full of people.

The Friday 56. Find any sentence that grabs you on page 56 of your book. Post it, and add your URL to Freda's Voice. Also visit Book Beginnings at Rose City Reader.