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.

Sunday Salon: Romantic Comedies, a Memoir, and a Funny Thriller

 Currently reading

I'm into rom coms these days, in between reading psych thrillers for a break. See my review of The Wedding Crasher by Mia Sosa, author of other romances such as The Worst Best Man and Son of a Beach. 

My next read will be another rom com, Without a Hitch by Mary Holly Huddleston  and Asher Fogle Paul, Women in their 20s with a popular romantic theme - weddings. A wedding planner may eventually plan her own. 

Another library book is set in the Florida Keys, the 25th in the hilarious crime series by Tim Dorsey - Mermaid Confidential. Serge and his sidekick Coleman decide to try condo living but come across smugglers and gangs in this mystery/thriller. 

Finished reading: 

The Puma Years: A Memoir by Laura Coleman, June 1, 2021 publication

Source: World Book Day 2022 ebook

My goodreads review:

Laura Coleman and the puma Wayra are the main characters in this memoir of a friendship developed in a Bolivian wildlife sanctuary near the Amazon. Laura is one of many international volunteers at the sanctuary and her assignment is to handle and care for the puma. This involves sometimes terrifying regular walks in the jungle with the wild cat tethered on a long rope handled by Laura. The development of trust between the two over the years and Laura's subsequent dedication to wildlife conservation and writing is the heart of the memoir.

Life in the jungle sanctuary, though harsh, full of deprivation and lack of basic comforts, is embraced by many of the volunteers whose relationships with individual animals in their care keep them going on, some of them returning again and again to volunteer at the sanctuary. The interactions and affection that develop between the wild animals and humans is astounding.

I loved learning about these sanctuaries that care for wild animals rescued from abuse as tourist attractions. There are also environmental problems for the wildlife from the destruction of habitat by new roads, buildings, business developments, logging, and more. 

This informative book is written in a poetic style at times, while describing the jungle, the animals, and Laura's reaction to them. I thought the book could have been shorter as it was repetitive toward the end, with the same animal-human interactions described in detail. The poetry did not always ring true to me. 

The unusual relationship that the volunteers developed with the cats - puma, jaguar - remain with me as a wonderful and amazing part of this book.

Also read and reviewed:  The White Coat Diaries by Madi Sinha  Genre: women's fiction, contemporary fiction, multicultural interest

Medical students unsure about their careers would get a lot from reading this book. The grueling schedules of interns and residents are what stood out the most for me in this book, about Norah, a first year intern dealing with many sleepless hours and nights on call in the hospital. She also had to be constantly aware of hospital protocol and the code of medical ethics, and dealing with uppity residents, nurses, and attending physicians. The challenges that Nora faces from her coworkers and from patients are daunting, yet she persists, wanting to honor her deceased father, a well known physician himself. Medical mistakes, scandals, lawsuits, are all part what Norah sees as she struggles to decide if being a doctor is really what she wants to handle for the rest of her life. An excellent story about a woman on the way to finding her way to a fulfilling and well-rounded life, well told, and seemingly very authentic

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