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Showing posts with label Roselle Lim. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Roselle Lim. Show all posts
Monday, June 17, 2019
Despite Appealing Story Elements, Chinatown Foodie Novel Missing Some Ingredients
6:45 PM
(Image from Barnes & Noble)
Natalie Tan has grown up hearing fond tales about her immigrant grandmother, an excellent cook who operated one of the most successful restaurants ever to exist in San Francisco's Chinatown. Those who knew her rave about the magic that emanated from her signature dishes, an enchantment that brought the neighborhood together to be fed, belly and soul. Growing up with her agoraphobic mother in the apartment above her grandmother's long-abandoned restaurant, Natalie dreamed of reviving the establishment, a fantasy that led to an 8-year estrangement between mother and daughter. When Natalie's mother dies unexpectedly, leaving her only child everything she has, Natalie is shocked to realize that she now has everything she needs to finally make her dream come true—except the mother with whom she never reconciled.
Wracked with grief and guilt, Natalie vows to reopen the restaurant, not just to achieve her own dream but also to help revive the deteriorating neighborhood she once loved. Armed with her laolao's recipe book, Natalie tries to recapture the magic that her grandmother wielded through the food she served to her friends and neighbors. When Natalie's best-laid plans go terribly awry, she must search her family's past for clues as to how to save the future, not just for herself but for the once vibrant neighborhood she still loves so well.
Natalie Tan's Book of Luck & Fortune, a debut novel by Filipino-Chinese author Roselle Lim, offers lots of fun story elements—tantalizing food descriptions, the promise of family secrets coming to light, a drizzle of magical realism, and some good, old-fashioned mother/daughter drama. A very appealing mixture. Unfortunately, though, these different story threads just aren't woven together well enough to produce a cohesive whole. The plot slogs on without enough tension to keep it exciting, the characters are underdeveloped and bland, and Lim's prose is way more tell than show. I agree with other reviewers who say this one is missing something. I wanted to be completely be-spelled by this novel and I just ... wasn't. In the end, I found Natalie Tan's Book of Luck & Fortune to be an okay read, nothing more.
(Readalikes: Reminds me a little of The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan and a bit of the Noodle Shop Mystery series by Vivien Chien [Death By Dumpling; Dim Sum of All Fears; Murder Lo Mein)
Grade:
If this were a movie, it would be rated:
To the FTC, with love: I received an ARC of Natalie Tan's Book of Luck & Fortune from the generous folks at Penguin Random House. Thank you!
Tuesday, May 21, 2019
Top Ten Tuesday: Hands-On Reading
8:35 AM
Welcome to another edition of my favorite bookish meme! I love Top Ten Tuesday, even if today's topic—Books That I Refuse to Let Anyone Touch (too special/valuable/fragile/etc.)—doesn't really apply to me. I'm not interested enough to collect rare books, not sentimental enough to keep nostalgic reads (at least not old, fragile copies), and not cautious enough not to let family and friends borrow my books. So, yeah, for this topic? I got nothing. Instead, I'm going to spin it a little and list the Top Ten Books I'm Hoping to Touch This Summer (or, My Summer TBR List). This will actually be the subject of the TTT list on June 25, but since I'm constantly biting off more than I can chew (er, read), I will no doubt be able to come up with another, entirely different list in a month. No problem.
Before we get to that, though, I want to encourage you to join in the TTT fun. It's a simple way to spread the love around the book blogosphere while adding to both your blogroll and your TBR
Top Ten Books I'm Hoping to Touch This Summer (or My Summer TBR List, Part I)
1. The County of Ross: A History of Ross County, Ohio, from the Earliest Days, with Special Chapters on the Bench and Bar, Medical Profession, Educational Development, Industry and Agriculture, and Biographical Sketches by Henry Holcomb Bennett—Since February, I've been working hard to fulfill the first requirement in the process of becoming an accredited genealogist through ICAPGen. It involves writing a lengthy research report on four generations of a family who lived continuously in the part of the world in which you are seeking to specialize. For me, that's the Great Lakes region, where most of my ancestors settled after immigrating to the U.S. from England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland. The specific family I'm researching has lived in Ross County, Ohio, for generations. Thus, I'm reading this 785-page gem, which was published in 1902. It's more scintillating than I thought it would be. I actually stayed up until midnight the other night reading it! #genealogynerd
That being said, The County of Ross is hardly the kind of page-turner that I'm going to be reading cover-to-cover just as fast as I can. I'll be reading chapters in between other books (probably mystery/suspense novels that I will want to consume at warp speed) so it will likely take me all summer to finish this hefty tome. I've got time since my report isn't due until August ...
2. The Good Neighbor by Maxwell King—I bought this Fred Rogers biography after seeing the excellent documentary Won't You Be My Neighbor? in the movie theater. I found the film so inspiring that I wanted to learn more about this iconic figure whose t.v. show was a daily part of my early childhood.
3. Educated by Tara Westover—This memoir about a woman's unconventional childhood and education has gotten all kinds of buzz since it was published. It's been sitting on my physical TBR pile for months and I still haven't gotten to it. Soon, I will.
4. Because of the Rabbit by Cynthia Lord—I love Lord's poignant children's books, so I'm excited to read her newest. This slim novel is about a girl who's going to public school for the first time after being homeschooled and the rescue rabbit who helps her cope with all the challenges she's facing. Sounds sweet.
5. Amina's Voice by Hena Khan—I found this MG novel, which I've heard good things about, while browsing at the library yesterday. The story revolves around a Pakistani-American Muslim girl and her struggles with friendship, culture clashes, etc.
6. After the Lights Go Out by Lili Wilkinson—This Australian post-apocalyptic novel sounds intriguing. This is one I'd really like to get my hands on, but I can't find it anywhere, even though it was published last year. It's not available at my local libraries and it's not for sale on Amazon. Anyone know how to get a hold of this elusive volume without traveling to Australia?
7. Natalie Tan's Book of Luck and Fortune by Roselle Lim—I'm reading this one for a blog tour and it looks really fun. It's about a chef who wants to revitalize the Chinatown restaurant she inherits from her estranged mother.
8. The Spies of Shilling Lane by Jennifer Ryan (available June 4, 2019)—I pre-ordered this WWII novel, which concerns a disgraced divorceé who travels to London to reunite with her estranged daughter. When she discovers that, in the chaos of war, her daughter has gone missing, she launches her own investigation to find her vanished child.
9. Her Daughter's Mother by Daniela Petrova (available June 18, 2019)—An expectant mother who becomes an unwitting stalker of the "anonymous" egg donor responsible for her pregnancy is the star of this forthcoming thriller. When the donor disappears, the woman launches her own investigation to find out what happened to the woman to whom she owes so much.
10. My Sister's Grave by Robert Dugoni—I came across an intriguing-looking series by Dugoni while perusing the mystery/thriller section of the library yesterday. My library didn't have the first installment, My Sister's Grave, so I requested it from another branch. It's about a homicide detective who's determined to solve her sister's disappearance and alleged murder.
What do you think of my summer reading list? Have you read any of these titles? What books are on your summer TBR? If you did today's topic, which books do you refuse to let anyone touch? I'd truly love to know. Leave a comment on this post and I will happily return the favor on your post (please make sure to leave the URL so I can find you).
Happy TTT!
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