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The Restaurant Critic's Wife
The Restaurant Critic's Wife | Elizabeth LaBan
14 posts | 21 read | 16 to read
People magazine included The Restaurant Critic's Wife on their Great New Fiction list and hailed it as "thoroughly entertaining."Lila Soto has a master's degree that's gathering dust, a work-obsessed husband, two kids, and lots of questions about how exactly she ended up here.In their new city of Philadelphia, Lila's husband, Sam, takes his job as a restaurant critic a little too seriously. To protect his professional credibility, he's determined to remain anonymous. Soon his preoccupation with anonymity takes over their lives as he tries to limit the family's contact with anyone who might have ties to the foodie world. Meanwhile, Lila craves adult conversation and some relief from the constraints of her homemaker role. With her patience wearing thin, she begins to question everything: her decision to get pregnant again, her break from her career, her marriage--even if leaving her ex-boyfriend was the right thing to do. As Sam becomes more and more fixated on keeping his identity secret, Lila begins to wonder if her own identity has completely disappeared--and what it will take to get it back.
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DebinHawaii
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#QuotsyFeb20 #fondue

“I had fondue the other night at that new place, The Hot Bowl,” he says still in a daze. “My cheese fondue was supposed to be an elegant blend of Swiss and French cheeses. But it dawns on me now, standing here, that there was cheddar in it. I know I tasted cheddar.” I just stared at him.

I spent most of the book wanting to smack the MC‘s husband. The author‘s husband is a food critic but she claims he isn‘t as “quirky.”😉

Kappadeemom I‘ll take all the cheese, quite frankly! 🥰 5y
Megabooks Interesting! Love cheese!! 😋😋😋 5y
ValerieAndBooks I‘ve had this stacked for a long time— his restaurant reviews are in our local newspaper! (And I ❤️ cheese fondue)! (edited) 5y
51 likes3 comments
blurb
DebinHawaii
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#RockinMay #scenesfromanitalianrestaurant My first thought for this prompt was movie-related, one of my foodie favorites--Big Night--full of scenes from an Italian restaurant. Then my second thought was for these two novels featuring restaurant critics-full of scenes at all kinds of restaurants. All of those restaurant scenes inspired some tasty food on the blog too.📚🍝❤️ #litsycooks #foodiebooks

Cinfhen I read Food Whore, the food descriptions were insane!!!! I'm definitely going to read Restaurant Critics Wife...sounds like the perfect #palettecleanser 😙I need to watch the movie - and all of your inspired dishes look delicious 😋 (edited) 8y
Bks4Wrms You're so good at putting together photo collages! 8y
See All 9 Comments
DebinHawaii @Cinfhen It's a fun book although you'll want to strangle the husband! 😆 And Big Night is a must! 👍 @Bks4Wrms Aww.. ☺️ Thank you! I like to have fun with them! 💜😘💜 8y
LeahBergen I thought of Big Night, too! 💗 8y
Maggany I'm a relative Litsy newbie...where do I find these awesome prompts and hashtags? 8y
DebinHawaii @Maggany Usually the creator's feed is the easiest way. Most of them create their prompts for the month (I grab a screenshot to refer back to) & then repost it weekly to catch newbies. @cinfhen is doing the musical prompts #RockinMay & @RealLifeReading does #MayBookFlowers which are the two I am doing (there are other photo challenges but I have to limit myself!) so check them out & jump in. 👍😀 8y
DebinHawaii @Maggany If you see others you are interested in, most of the time people tag the creator in the post & if you click on them & check out their feed, you can usually find the prompts post fairly quickly. Hope that helps! And Welcome to Litsy!! 🎉📚👍😀 (edited) 8y
DebinHawaii @LeahBergen It's such a great film & soundtrack! ❤️❤️❤️ 8y
73 likes2 stack adds9 comments
review
mcipher
Pickpick

I really liked this. I had a lot of "YES" moments during some of the ponderings in marriage. The husband did drive me crazy, and I wanted her to grab him and shake him and say "Your family is more important than your job! And my job is just as relevant as yours!" But other than that, really good.

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mcipher
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Sitting in the Marriott where the closest Starbucks is, wearing my new red Chucks, reading, drinking a latte, and feeling absurdly pleased with myself for this sweet little moment. Good lunch break!

saresmoore ❤️ 8y
LauraBeth Nice! 8y
LeahBergen 👏🏻👏🏻 8y
57 likes3 comments
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mcipher
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Got to spend some reading time waiting at the vet today for this one. $355 of prescription food and treats, antibiotics, bladder meds, and pain meds later.... and then she peed on my husband's long underwear. Hopefully she gets over this UTI or whatever it is and stops peeing on things soon!!! #catsoflitsy

asiriusreader Aww man! Hope she feels better soon...for your sake and hers! 8y
mcipher @asiriusreader Thanks!! Me, too. 😉 8y
Mariposa_Bookworm Feel better! 🐾💕 8y
See All 10 Comments
Lmstraubie Awwww...Poor everyone 😔 Hope the medication works quick! 8y
TheLibrarian Aww poor kitty. Hope she feels better soon! 8y
MyNamesParadise Awww poor kitty cat! Hope she's better soon! 8y
CherylDeFranceschi So sorry for all! Poor fur baby. 😿 8y
Eyelit Sending happy healing vibes your kitties way! My cat just got over a mysterious (seriously they ran every test and best they could up with is unknown origin) and expensive infection... so I feel ya. 💚 8y
DebinHawaii Having just spent almost $300 & a few hours to get my 🐱 Max unplugged last week I feel for you too. Hopefully the meds will fix her up. Sending positive thoughts. 💜🐱💜 8y
mcipher @DebinHawaii @Eyelit It's the worst, right?!? Glad yours are better too!@CherylDeFranceschi @MyNamesParadise @TheLibrarian @Lmstraubie @Mariposa_Bookworm Thank you!! She seems okay today and she loves the new food, so that's a plus. (edited) 8y
55 likes10 comments
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mcipher
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On to my next book! Plus starting another knitted dishcloth, cookies in the oven, and I baked banana bread today. I feel so productive in a very domestic way. 😊

Lmstraubie Can we have the cookies & banana bread in the yoga room??? If so, I'll be right over! 😅 8y
mcipher @Lmstraubie Yes!!! I know, what a life huh? 8y
Lmstraubie 🙆 8y
54 likes1 stack add3 comments
review
WendyL
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Pickpick

I really liked this fun easy read. Lila is married to a restaurant critic. I couldn't decide if he was a bit neurotic or if he was just that wrapped up in himself. I kind of wanted to shake him. 😂

DebinHawaii I read this one for review when it came out & took part in a Facebook chat with the author who based the character on her husband who is an actual food critic. She said although some things were true, she did make the character more neurotic & annoying than her husband is! 😂👍 It's a fun book! 8y
38 likes2 stack adds1 comment
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WendyL
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What a fun book so far! The main character is entirely relatable and fun. I should get up and start my day, but laundry will still be here later.

DebinHawaii I really enjoyed this one! 👍📚 8y
33 likes1 stack add1 comment
review
DebinHawaii
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Pickpick

#recommendsday I don't know if this book is on sale places other than Amazon but thought I'd recommend it today after seeing the $1.99 e-book price. If you like foodie books alternating tasty food descriptions w/ snorts of laughter, this is a good one. I reviewed it for a book tour & took part in a Facebook chat w/ the author (her husband really is a food critic although not as wacky as Sam in the book). Fun! Link to blog review in comments. 🍴📚

Kappadeemom I enjoyed this one too! 8y
ValerieAndBooks Craig LaBan is our local paper's guy! I'll have to look into this. 8y
DebinHawaii @Kappadeemom It's a fun one! 😀👍 8y
DebinHawaii @ValerieAndBooks Oh you definitely need to read it then! Although she said he has some small quirks, she swears they are nothing like the husband/food critic in the book. 😉👍 8y
40 likes6 stack adds5 comments
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JacqMac
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It's a reading outside instead of doing housework kinda day.

Sparkpuppypup The best kind of day. 😊 8y
lilredhen Every day 😆 8y
5 likes2 comments
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Rhondareads
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Food a delicious story perfection💐

4 likes1 stack add