Review: You Have a Match (by Emma Lord)

My Rating:  4 stars

With only a few days left in the year, I didn't think I would have time to finish another book before the last day of the month.  But as I was planning my January and February "to be read" lists yesterday, I got a bit anxious over the insane number of books I have lined up for those 2 months, so in a moment of panic, I decided to get a head start on one of the January releases on my list.  In anticipation that I would likely be reading whichever book I chose through the new year break, I wanted something potentially light-hearted and fun, a relaxing read that wouldn't require me to do a whole lot of unpacking.  Scanning my lists, I came across Emma Lord's sophomore novel You Have a Match and after reading the summary, I knew this would likely fit what I was looking for.  I'm usually not much of a YA or romance reader and though I was aware of this author's much beloved debut novelTweet Cute (which was actually recommended to me a few times last year), I never got around to reading it, so going into this, her second book, I wasn't too sure what to expect.  It turns out this book was exactly what I needed at the moment – a cute, fun read that explores modern day sentiments (i.e. social media, adoption, LGBTQ relationships, complicated family dynamics, sibling rivalry, genetics and DNA testing, etc.) in a way that isn't heavy-handed, which I definitely appreciated.  Many reviews of the book mention the Parent Trap vibe of the story, which I completely agree with given the antics of the two sisters Abby and Savvy, though the story and characters also reminded me of other famous literary "sister" relationships such as Beezus and Ramona from the Beverly Cleary books (which I adored when I was a kid) and the Wakefield sisters from the Sweet Valley High series.  

As for the summer camp setting, it definitely felt like a throwback to my childhood days of camping with schoolmates and Girl Scouts, something I haven't done in decades, so it was fun to get to experience those memories again (even if it's only briefly through a few short scenes).  Reading this book actually made me nostalgic for those carefree days of youth, which isn't a bad feeling to have right now, to be honest.  

If you're looking for a feel-good read with endearing characters and an engaging story, I would recommend picking this one up. I actually surprised myself by finishing this book in two sittings, with the unexpected result of now being able to add another book I enjoyed to my 2020 recap.  

Received ARC from Wednesday Books via NetGalley

 

Review: Relish: My Life in the Kitchen (by Lucy Knisley)

My Rating: 4 stars

Lucy Knisley's Relish is a fun graphic memoir about growing up in a household surrounded by good food and good fun.  With a mother who is a chef and a father who knows how to appreciate fine dining, Knisley had a special relationship with food from an early age.  As a cartoonist, Knisley recounts various food-related moments from her life through amazingly rendered illustrations that vibrantly bring her love of food to life.  Unlike other books about food, this one bears a positive message about food that I really appreciated — the notion that all foods (from junk food to gourmet dishes) should be celebrated rather than shunned.  Food-themed books can be a hit and miss at times, as some (whether directly or indirectly) often come across as "preachy" and can take on a tone that feels like it is reprimanding readers for eating certain types of food. Knisley's memoir does the opposite in that it does not pass judgment on the merits of the food we decide to eat, but rather celebrates all food for its connection to life and environment.

I don't consider myself a foodie (despite the fact that I love food and love to eat), but I enjoyed this charming, funny memoir about food and definitely recommend it.  I'm not much of a cook so the recipes at the end of each chapter didn't do much for me, but it was still a lot of fun to read through them and see Knisley's witty spin on dishes both traditional and outlandish.  Seeing that this will likely be the last book I read this year and the last review before my year end recap, I'm glad it will be on a positive note with such a feel-good, delightful read!

Review: Mastering the Art of French Eating (by Ann Mah)

 

My Rating: 3 stars

I will admit that I was a bit torn over how best to rate this book, as I usually go into memoirs with an entirely different set of expectations than I do novels and it can be a “hit and miss” whether I’m actually able to connect with the author’s story or not.  When I first started this book, I was really into it, especially the first few chapters, as I felt there was a good balance between musings about food and the history of various dishes that the author Ann Mah had tried during her time in France, and the culture clash with her background as a Chinese-American wife of a diplomat whose job requires them to move constantly from one country to another.  The parts I enjoyed most were when Mah talked about her childhood as the daughter of immigrants growing up in the U.S. juxtaposed with her “fish out of water” experiences later on adjusting to a life of having to move to a new place every couple of years and having to learn its language, culture, cuisine, etc. each time.  I found the segments where Mah describes her “adventures” traveling to different parts of France to learn about various dishes and their history quite interesting, engaging, and a bit whimsical too.  With that said though, the tone of the book seemed to change after Mah’s husband Calvin left for Baghdad, where he was stationed for a year, with her having to remain behind in Paris until he returned (though he was able to fly back and visit her every couple of months).  The tone seemed to shift to a more wistful one, where it felt like Mah’s spirits were permanently dampened by the long separation from her husband and nothing could lift them again until he returned.  The second half of the memoir felt like it focused a little too much on Mah’s loneliness and how much she missed her husband, to the point that it seemed the earlier enthusiasm she had in discovering the whimsies and delights of a country (France) that she had been dreaming about living in since childhood, was no longer there.  This ended up detracting from the story a bit, at least for me. The writing also didn’t flow as well as I would’ve liked, as some sections seemed to be all over the place chronologically – I would be reading about the history of a certain dish one minute, then it would jump to something unrelated, then go back to the dish that was the focus of that particular chapter.  This made some of the chapters a little hard to follow, resulting in me having to re-read some parts in order to refocus my attention.

Despite the fact that I love to eat, I’m not much of a food connoisseur, so I don’t usually read a whole lot of food memoirs.  Don’t get me wrong – I’m not opposed to reading them, but it’s not really a priority for me, especially in light of all the other books out there that I want to read.   I decided to pick this one up because, aside from the fact that it was chosen for one of my book clubs this month, there’s also the shared cultural familiarity in terms of the author’s background (Chinese-American, daughter from immigrant family, grew up in the U.S., etc.) – but more than that though, I also have an interest in French culture and cuisine that stems from my school days (eons ago) when I had actually studied French for a number of years, even nearly majoring in it in college.  For all these reasons, I was excited to read this and even though in the end, it didn’t quite live up to expectations, I still liked it well enough overall for me to feel that it was worth my time.   In addition, I’m also interested in reading the 2 novels that Mah wrote, especially the one about Chinese cuisine, which she mentioned briefly in this book.   Hopefully, it’s something I’ll be able to get to next year.

 

 

Review: The Vanishing Half (by Brit Bennett)

 

My Rating:  5 stars

Brit Bennett’s The Vanishing Half is a book that I’ve had on my TBR list for a long time.  Earlier in the year, before the book became one of the “must-read” books of the year, I had actually received an advance reader’s copy and had every intention to read it before publication, but those plans unfortunately fell apart due how chaotic those early months were for me.  Now that things have settled a little bit, I was hoping to utilize these last 2 weeks of the year to catch up on a few of the books that I wasn’t able to get to earlier -- of course, this one was at the top of the list (I ended up reading a finished copy of the book that I bought later rather than the ARC copy).  I’m definitely glad that I was able to squeeze this one in, as it turned out to be a 5 star read for me (and pretty sure it will be on my year end “2020 favorites” list as well).  

Through a narrative about the twin Vignes sisters and how their lives turn out so differently after one of them decides to “pass” as white, Bennett weaves a compelling and well-written story that not only spans generations, but also explores aspects of our country’s history as it pertains to racism and social acceptance (among other things).  The story alternates between the perspectives of the two sisters, Desiree and Stella, as well as their daughters Jude and Kennedy, and through their struggles with identity and belonging, we are given keen insight into our society’s contentious attitudes toward people of color.   Even though majority of the story took place before my time, the characters and what they went through felt so real to me.  On an emotional level, I resonated most with Desiree and Jude and the challenges they had to face that impacted all the choices they ended up making.  On the other hand, it was harder for me to accept Stella’s choices – while I understand her motivation for “passing” as white to make her life easier, and even lying about her family and her past to corroborate her story, the part that I couldn’t come to terms with was her adopting a racist attitude (specifically in relation to her interactions with the Walker family), especially given what had happened to her own father.   As much as I wanted to sympathize with Stella, I found her very difficult to like – in contrast, I did feel for her daughter Kennedy and the impact that Stella’s decisions had on how her life turned out.  

This brilliantly written novel is on so many “best of” lists this year and deservedly so!   More than an exploration of racism and identity though, there is actually quite a bit to unpack with this one that goes beyond what anyone would be able to cover in a review, which is why I don’t want to say too much here. I definitely suggest experiencing this one for yourself, as Bennett’s storytelling is engaging and immersive, but more importantly, the story itself is timely and relevant to a lot of what has been going on in society this past year.   For me personally, one of the things that made this an even more interesting read was the familiarity of the setting, as more than half the story takes place in Los Angeles, where I grew up and currently still reside.  When I read, I love being able to make connections with aspects of the story, characters, setting, culture, etc., as it makes the experience more immersive for me – with this book, the experience was extra special because, in addition to all of the places in and around LA that I recognized, my alma mater (the college I graduated from) was also mentioned, which I almost never see in novels I read, so I definitely got a kick out of that!  I haven’t read Bennett’s debut The Mothers yet, but seeing how much I enjoyed this novel (her second book), I may end up moving that one further up my TBR list as a priority read for next year. 

Received ARC from Riverhead Books via Edelweiss.

Review: Fifty Words for Rain (by Asha Lemmie)

My Rating: 4.5 stars

This book was very nearly a 5 star read for me – that is, until the last 10 pages or so when I got to the ending, which frustrated me so much that my first reaction was wanting to throw the book against the wall (of course I didn’t do that, but only because I was reading on an electronic device and didn’t want to break it).   I think part of the reason why I reacted so strongly to the ending was because, up to that point, I was so emotionally invested in the story and the characters that it was hard for me to accept how things unfolded at the end.

As the main character, Nori stole my heart from the very first page, where we are introduced to her as an eight-year-old girl abandoned by her mother, left on the doorstep of her aristocratic grandparents’ estate in post-WWII Kyoto, Japan.  While Nori’s grandparents do take her in, they do so not because they care about her, but because they want to hide her from the world, as Nori’s dark skin is too obvious a reminder of the stain brought on the Kamiza family from their married daughter Seiko’s affair with an African American soldier.  Nori is banished to a life of solitary confinement in the attic, where her only companionship is the servant who sees to her daily needs.  Remembering her mother’s strict instructions to “obey in all things” and to do as she is told without question or resistance, Nori is obedient to a fault and does not fight whatever is done to her, whether it’s her grandmother’s monthly beatings or the chemical baths she endures daily in order to lighten her skin.  But all of that changes when the half-brother Nori never knew she had comes to live with his grandparents after his father dies -- as the legitimate heir to the Kamiza dynasty, Akira is doted on by a grandmother who is willing to give him the world as long as he takes his destined place in the family.   As Akira gets to know his half-sister, the siblings form a unique and close bond – a bond that their grandparents will try to break at all costs due to the impact it would have on the path that Akira is destined to lead.

Nori is a wonderfully-drawn character who came alive on the page for me — a character I couldn’t help rooting for from beginning to end.  I was drawn to her self-effacing charm, her curious nature, and most important of all, her strength in rising above the odds and defying the circumstances she was born into.  With everything she endures throughout the story, I admire the fact that Nori does not easily resign herself to her fate (which, for those who’ve read the book, would explain why I reacted to the ending the way I did).   Nori is one of those endearing fictional characters that I know won’t be easily forgotten, though I guess the same can also be said about her brother Akira, another character I absolutely adored.  I love the way the author, Asha Lemmie, wrote the dynamic between these two half-siblings who couldn’t be more different from each other, yet shared such a strong, formidable bond.  I was tremendously moved by their relationship and how special it was – it actually made me think about my relationship with my sibling and long for the type of bond these two had.  Needless to say, several scenes in particular brought me to tears – though I will also say that there were an equal number of scenes that made me angry, especially the ones involving the grandparents and the antiquated mindset that drove all of their actions.  It’s been awhile since I’ve read a book that made me smile, cry, and yell out in frustration, all within pages of each other.  This book invoked a myriad of emotions that actually still has me thinking about the story and its characters, even now, days after I’ve finished reading.  No doubt this is a story that will stay with me for a long time to come.

This is not an easy story to read by any means, but it is an important one, and despite the issues I had with the ending, I feel that Asha Lemmie did a fantastic job.  In all honesty, I’m still blown away by the fact that this is a debut novel because it definitely doesn’t read like one!  I don’t want to say too much more than I already have for fear of giving away the story, but I definitely highly, highly recommend this one, though with a caveat -- be prepared to experience an emotional roller coaster like I did.  I don’t know anything about Lemmie outside of what is in her bio, but I sincerely hope that this won’t be the only novel she writes – I am definitely looking forward to reading more from her. 

 Received ARC from Dutton via Edelweiss.

Review: Stories from Suffragette City (edited by M.J. Rose and Fiona Davis)

My Rating: 5 stars

I'm usually not a huge fan of short story collections and when it comes to books related to politics, I try to steer as far away as possible -- based on these two reasons alone, I most likely would not have picked up this book under normal circumstances.   However, I ended up being drawn to this anthology mostly because of the 13 authors involved, as several of them are among my favorites in terms of previous works of theirs that I've read and adored – plus this one being historical fiction definitely helped, since it's one of my favored genres to read.   Also, this anthology is different from the typical short story collection in that there is a distinct connection between all the stories:  the women's march for the right to vote that took place in New York City on October 23, 1915.   One of the things I loved about this collection was how each author was able to weave into each of their stories some of the themes from their own works, yet still have it tie so perfectly back to the theme of the collection and the specific events that took place.  I thought the flow of the stories was wonderful as well and I absolutely loved seeing some of the same characters "show up" in each other's stories, even if it was only for a small "blink and you'll miss it" scene.  I also loved the diversity of the women in the story and how they were from all different walks of life, with a variety of experiences and backgrounds, yet all were impacted by the suffrage movement in a meaningful way.   Overall, what blew me away with this collection was how well it was put together (especially given the confines of the premise):  the flow was seamless, the writing was stellar, the stories were compelling, and best of all, the characters were wonderfully drawn.  Of course, this should come as no surprise given the 13 authors involved with this collection are all accomplished writers at the top of their craft.  I went into this one with high expectations and it absolutely delivered!

 

As this book is meant to commemorate the 100^thanniversary of the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment, I found this to be a fantastic tribute to all the women who played a role (whether directly or indirectly) in helping our voices be heard.   With most short story collections, each reader will usually have certain stories that they enjoyed more than others, but for me, that wasn't the case here – I can't say which stories I liked more because, to be honest, all the stories stood out and I loved all of them equally.   I definitely highly recommend this one, especially to historical fiction fans whom I'm sure will find much to enjoy with this collection, regardless of whether you've read these authors' previous works or not.  For me though, reading and loving this collection has inspired me to seek out the works of the other authors that I'm less familiar with and add those to my TBR list!

 

Received finished copy from publisher Henry Holt via BookBrowse First Impressions program.