Book Beginning: If You Are Lonely....A Short Story by Yiyun Li

 

If You Are Lonely and You Know It by Yiyun Li
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Genre: short story

Gordon, a single divorced man, has as his only companions a foster pit bull disliked by the neighborhood, and an elderly widow who rents him the bungalow on her property. These contacts seem to be enough for him at the moment, as he goes out of his way to avoid conflicts with the neighbors re his dog, and continues taking care of his crochety landlord by doing her chores and creating a garden on the property. 

An interesting slice of one man's life.

 

Book beginning:

"She should've given you a different name," Gordon said. "No offence, but Ajax is a terrible name. A terrible role model for anyone. What about Odysseus, with some brains at least?"

The dog's eyes, limpid and devoid of self-doubt, did not show any recognition of the misfortune of his name.... 

Would you read on?

 Visit Book Beginnings at Rose City Reader for this meme. 

End of Year Book Meme, Using Books Read in 2022

 I've done this meme several years, but not recently. 

Thanks to The Boston Bibliophile for sharing and reviving the meme this year. I'm using her outline. 

Use titles of books you read in 2022 to answer the questions:

 

Describe yourself: Killers of a Certain Age

 

How do you feel? Girl in Ice

 

Describe where you currently live: The Paris Apartment

 

If you could go anywhere…? Two Nights in Lisbon

 

Favorite form of transportation: The Phone Booth at the Edge of the World

 

Your best friend is: The Ingenue

 

You and your friends are: The Wild Girls

 

What's the weather like? Beach Read

 

Your favorite time of day is: Bark to the Future

 

What is life for you? At Least You Have Your Health

 

You fear: The Lioness

 

Best advice: Stay Awake

 

Thought for the day: In the Dark We Forget

 

How you would like to die: Breathless

Chinese Asian American Authors: Literary Fiction

 

The Book of Goose

by 

Yiyun Li, 

September 20th 2022 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Genre: friendship fiction, literary fiction 

Fabienne is dead. Her childhood best friend, Agnès, receives the news in America, far from the French countryside where the two girls were raised—the place that Fabienne helped Agnès escape ten years ago. Now Agnès is free to tell her story.

(publisher)

The Book of Goose is a haunting story of friendship, art, exploitation, and memory by the celebrated author Yiyun Li.

See my full review on Goodreads.

Yellowface

by 

R.F. Kuang, May 16, 2023, William Morrow, NetGalley

Genre: satire, literary fiction

(Definition of yellowface

"the practice of white actors changing their appearance with makeup in order to play East Asian characters in movies, plays, etc." from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

This title seems to fit the novel, as a non-Chinese, June Hayward, steals an unpublished manuscript from her famous Chinese-American author friend, Althea Lui, passing it off as completely her own. 

As Althea has died, June profits from the manuscript's publication, gaining fame and wealth, while she also pretends to be of Chinese origin, taking advantage of the publishing world's current interest in diversity in authors and books they publish.  

My complete review of the book is here 

Four Treasures of the Sky by 

Jenny Tinghui Zhang , April 5, 2022, Flatiron Books

Genre: historical novel, Chinese folklore, literary fiction

Daiyu is kidnapped and smuggled across an ocean from China to America. (She) must relinquish the home and future she imagined for herself. Over the years that follow, she is forced to keep reinventing herself to survive. (publisher)

I have finished reading the second of the three books, and am currently reading the first, The Book of Goose. Do you have a favorite Chinese author that is not popularly known? 

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: First Books of the New Year and Last Books of the Old Year

 

Wishing you lots of great books in 2023!

For the very first read in 2023, these three are on my list! Which would you choose?

1) a thriller

The Personal Assistant (review)

by 

Kimberly Belle

2) A beach rom com for winter! 

People We Meet on Vacation

by 

Emily Henry

3) A psychological thriller with a unsocial main character

Safe With Me

by 

K.L. Slater

4) Gothic suspense set in Italy

The Villa

A Novel

by Rachel Hawkins

My last books in 2022 were:

Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

April 5, 2022; Doubleday
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Not exactly historical fiction, as this novel is set in the 1960s, but it does detail how old fashioned attitudes to women discriminated against them in all areas. It shows that misogyny and inequality prevented many women from advancing in their careers, especially in the sciences. Also, abuses, physical and mental, they had to endure that put and kept them down.

The story is moving and infuriating both, and we cheer on the main character, Elizabeth Zott, who struggles after the death of her very supportive husband to raise a gifted child on her own as well as fight for her career in chemistry. The story is bittersweet and I loved the ending.

The Secret Mother

by 

Shalini Boland

Tessa is separated from her husband and still suffering from  the loss of twin babies years before. She comes home one day to find a five-year-old boy in her home, saying that she, Tessa, is his new mommy, brought to her by an angel.

I loved the suspense of the plot, the mystery behind the boy, and Tessa's search for the truth, to clear her name of kidnapping the boy, and to find who he really is.

I guessed the ending but still enjoyed the slow revealing of the mystery. 

This will be my very last read/listen for this year: 

The Kimono Tattoo 

by 

Rebecca Copeland

Audiobook 

I love the intricate quality of this novel - its plot, descriptions of kimono design, and traditional tattoo motifs. A translator, Ruth, travels to Kyoto to work on a new manuscript by a long forgotten Japanese writer. The discovery of a nude body of a woman on the banks of a river covered only in intricate, almost full body tattoos, adds to the intrigue and mystery of what turns out to be a look at the "underside of Tokyo."

The narrator was excellent, the plot added suspense and atmosphere to Tokyo by day and night, and the kimono tattoos on the body of the woman, as well as tattoo sketches found by Ruth and her friends, made this an intriguing novel. The unearthing of dark secrets in this unseen side of the city made this novel of suspense worth listening to.

Which books were your last in 2022? And your first for 2023?

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: Another Rom Com and a Thriller

 Outside it's in the single digits. Inside, it's warm and cozy. 

Merry Christmas/ Happy Holidays. Be grateful, mindful, and stay warm and well wherever you are. 

Indoor winter reading: 

Crash

by Tamara Lush

Pub Date 24 Jan 2023 Wattpad WEBTOON Book Group, Netgalley

Genre: romance, romantic comedy, contemporary fiction

This romance uses many of the rom com tropes: a fake engagement to fool the family of the wealthy guy; a bedroom with only one bed while they are at the family mansion; a romantic love between the two fakers that it takes the entire book for them to acknowledge.

Nevertheless, the tropes work in this story, the way it's written. how the plot and main characters are developed. It was an enjoyable novel, with enough humorous moments to be labeled romantic comedy. 

My only reservations about the book: the open door sex descriptions were a bit overly graphic and descriptions could be way shortened. We got the idea in the first several paragraphs.  

The Only Survivors: A Novel

by 

Megan Miranda 

Publication: April 11, 2023; Scribner, Netgalley

Genre: thriller, suspense

A thrilling, suspense novel where a group of nine high school classmates bond as survivors of a school van crash that had sent them hurling into a raging river in the Tennessee mountains. Now in their twenties, the group continues to meet for a week every year at an isolated house, strengthening their bonds and their pledge to each other to keep the secrets of that horrific van crash that had killed 12 of their other classmates. 

After two of the group die, the rest are uneasy and don't know if they can still trust each other, suspecting that one of them might be a murderer. 

I like that the story of the crash is told in bits and pieces throughout the book and we get the full and complete story of what happened only at the end,  This way of telling the story adds to the suspense and kept me guessing. The ending was not a total surprise to me, but still a good one. 

Stay well, especially if you're in the middle of the snow bomb!

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: Argentina Wins the World Cup

 Watched the final World Cup game between France and Argentina. It was called the best game in World Cup history. Both sides fought hard, and it was a bitter defeat for France. 

  Lionel Messi and the Argentina team win the World Cup trophy.                                         

On the reading front, I finished two Icelandic thrillers and started a third.

Outside

by 

Ragnar Jónasson

About: When a deadly snowstorm strikes the Icelandic highlands, four friends seek shelter in a small, abandoned hunting lodge.

Four friends. One night. Not everyone will come out alive . . .

Cold as Hell

(An Áróra Investigation #1)

by 

Lilja Sigurðardóttir,

 

Quentin Bates  (Translator)

About: Icelandic sisters Áróra and Ísafold live in different countries and aren't on speaking terms, but when their mother loses contact with Ísafold, Áróra reluctantly returns to Iceland to find her sister. But she soon realizes that her sister isn't avoiding her … she has disappeared, without a trace.

 

Started: 

The Darkness

(Hidden Iceland #1)

by 

Ragnar Jónasson, 

Victoria Cribb (Translator)

About:  The body of a young Russian woman washes up on an Icelandic shore. The death is declared a suicide and the case is quietly closed.

Over a year later Detective Inspector Hulda Hermannsdóttir of the Reykjavík police is forced into early retirement at 64. But before she leaves she is given two weeks to solve a single cold case of her choice - the mystery of the Russian woman.

 

Comments: These two Icelandic authors write straight forward thrillers, with not too many side stories or side characters, and are refreshing to read, from that point of view. 

They also leave room for a follow up to the novels, by leaving something or someone in the novels with unfinished business. 

Did you watch the world cup game today? 

What are you reading/listening to 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: Fractured Soul by Akira Mizubayashi, historical fiction

 An historical novel set in Japan and France, with music and restoration as its themes. 

Fractured Soul

by 

Akira Mizubayashi,

 

Alison Anderson (Translator)

Expected publication: April 4th, 2023 by HarperVia

My review:

An anti-war/anti-imperialism novel set in Japan before and during WWII and in France post war. I was overwhelmed by the sorrow of the 11-year-old Rei as he witnessed/heard his father Yu being arrested at a private concert recital and his father's treasured violin smashed by the boots of a Japanese corporal.

The story is moving and yet sentimental; it links classical music, its performance on stringed instruments, and the loss Rei feels when his father disappeared after the arrest. I thought it fitting that Rei becomes a maker/restorer of quality violins in his own shop in France, where he was raised by a French couple who were friends with his missing father Yu.

Rei spends his life trying to overcome the fractured soul he had become from memories of the violence to his father and to Yu's beloved violin. How Rei heals is a story that is eventually soothing, as he connects with others from his past, piecing together what had happened,  in an effort to heal all those who shared his distress.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this amazing historical novel of music, love, loss and restoration.

Currently reading:

Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers

by 

Jesse Q. Sutanto

Genre: mystery comedy, multicultural interest

About: Vera Wong is a lonely little old lady, a widow who lives above her forgotten tea shop in San Francisco's Chinatown. Then one morning, Vera trudges downstairs to find a dead man in the middle of her tea shop. (publisher)

My review: I really enjoyed the personality of the quirky yet forceful main character, Vera, the teashop owner. I loved how she decides to solve the murder mystery herself and how she goes about drawing possible suspects to her teashop.

That the people she helps will later help her in turn is an excellent plot feature. There were a few personality inconsistencies with Vera, however, in how she takes care of her own shop versus how she takes care of other people and their homes.

Overall, an enjoyable read.

Finished reading:

The Love Wager

by 

Lynn Painter

Genre: romantic comedy

About:

 Jack and Hallie make a wager to see who can find true love first, but when they agree to be fake dates for a weekend wedding, all bets are off. (publisher)

My review: There is a lot of back and forth in this lover-to-friend- to-lover relationship between Jack and Hallie. I just couldn't understand why they insisted on remaining "just friends," when the chemistry between them is so intense.

The trope of being a fake couple and sleeping in the same hotel room to fool friends and family works in this novel for some reason, and I didn't mind the slow build up of the attraction between the two friends/lovers. The book was well written and the plot is a rom com to the nth degree

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for access to these ARCs.

What are you reading/listening to 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