The Kitchen God's Wife | 
pickIt‘s no Joy Luck Club but I did enjoy it. There were a few parts where I lost interest but then it picked right back up.
I chose this book because my cousin gave me a reading challenge for Christmas. It‘s like an advent calendar with little gifts but each door has a challenge. This book satisfies having been untouched on my shelf for over a year. I picked it up at a thrift store near our house and I‘m at least the third owner. I love used books.
“This is not true, she has a good heart. It‘s only her mind that is rotten.”
Ahhh, applicable to so many!
I read The Kitchen God's Wife at least three times when I was about 18-20 years old. I can hardly remember any of it now or why I was so into it; but I think about revisiting now from a different life stage.
Have read An Echo in the Bone and Written in my Own Heart's Blood four times, all rereads by audio. 🎧
#Littenswanttoknow @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks
@Laughterhp @wanderinglynn @sprainedbrain @BookwormAHN
Tallied up my 2021 stats and I'm pretty happy with them. My focus for 2022 will definitely be reading down the tbr! At least it did go down this past year...barely haha. (I just keep track by +/- acquired/read, total numbers are too intimidating lol).
Tagged my last read of 2021 which is one of my favourites of the year - ended on a strong note!
It's been a while since I read Amy Tan, and I'm enjoying this one so far. Hoping to read a good chunk of it today.
Book 6 of #20in4 #readathon and book 5 of #AmyTan #AuthorAMonth
33 hour 39 minutes total
@Soubhiville @Andrew65
At 46-57% for #20in4 #readathon
Working on finishing this #AmyTan for #AuthorAMonth
@Andrew65 @Soubhiville
pickAmy Tan calls this her favorite book. I might agree with her. I also may have read this before but it has been a long time so it felt like a mostly new story. The #audiobook is well done. The narrator sort of sings the Auntie Du (I have no idea how her name is spelled) part and it's awesome. She might be my favorite character in the book.
#AuthorAMonth with @Soubhiville
pickThe often indescribable bonds between mothers and daughters is a frequent theme for Tan, yet each story stands on its own because of the rich characterizations and through the careful weaving together of history and culture. Winnie, her best friend Helen, and Winnie‘ daughter Pearl are a delight to know. Their secrets bind them but also render them hope and and redemption.
#authoramonth2021 @Soubhiville
#bookspinbingo #bookspin @TheAromaofBooks
#AuthorAMonth - August - Amy Tan: Two of my favorite stories are credited to this author. After reading The Joy Luck Club and The Bonesetter‘s Daughter, I thought that I would be a voracious reader of her books, but to this day those two remain the only books of hers that I have read. So it‘s good to participate in the Author-A-Month Book Group for this month. Hopefully, I can add one or two more to the “have read” list starting with this book.
pickWhat a book! Amy Tan sure knows how to draw you in....
Book 2 for May Book club! I'm super late starting it. But thats OK! 💯
#iloveamytanbooks
pickI can forgive myself for not reading this book when published because I had neither the wisdom or experience to appreciate the powerfully harsh and descriptive story Winnie was finally able to tell her daughter. If only I could sit at a table and her the story of my mother as she would want to tell it.
so-soThis was good. It was told at the start and end by Pearl, but the majority of the book, in the middle, is Winnie relating her story – her life in China – to Pearl. It‘s written as if the reader is Pearl. I liked Pearl‘s portion of the story, but when we switched to Winnie it took a while for me to warm up to the story and become as interested as I ended up being. Ultimately, Winnie‘s story was the “meat” of the book.
#augustauthors #amytan
Another collection of a favorite author. I‘ve read many of her books and have loved them all.
so-so#AugustAuthors #AmyTan
I always feel I learn a lot from Tan's books about Chinese culture & history her books never quite grab me the way I want them too. It might be her choppy clipped writing style but through out this book I never feel like I grasped who any of the characters were. The storyline itself is good & takes you through the Chinese-Japanese conflict, just felt some emotion was missing.
@OriginalCyn620 @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks
#weeklyforcast. Fist of a 2 week vacation and it is 100 degrees outside. Hoping to get through both my #bookspin and #diublebookspin before my hiking trip next week.
pickI reread this one between May 20 & 21. And I gave it 4 ⭐️. It‘s been a long time since I had read this book but it remains a favourite. It largely tells the story of Winnie and her struggles in China just before, during and just after WWII. I do wish that we had seen more of Pearl or even had some of Helen‘s story but that is a relatively minor complaint.
Having a hard time focusing on reading - keep checking my phone and keep getting tons of text messages so have been so distracted - but I am enjoying this one and going to hide all my electronic devices and try to lose myself in a book and not the craziness of the 🌎.
1 Amy Tan, Agatha Christie (I know there are a few problematic things here), Danielle Paige (at least her _Dorothy Must Die_ series)
2 Malala Yousafzai, Elizabeth Warren, Wendy Davis, Michelle Obama...
3 Bunmi Laditan‘s Twitter feed
4 A local indoor playground, a local freezer meal business, a local restaurant chain (the woman is a co-founder of this, another restaurant, and a publishing company)
@4thhouseontheleft @howjessreads #friyayintro
“This is from Grand Auntie," my mother explains. "She told me 'If I buy the cheap tea, then I am saying that my whole life has not been worth something better.' A few years ago she bought it for herself. One hundred dollars a pound."
"You're kidding." I take another sip. It tastes even better.
#tea #QuotsyDec19
Today has been an awesome mail day! My #LMPBC selection from the last round is back! I so look forward to reading all of your thoughts on this one! @suvata @Kaila-ann @Hooked_on_books 💕 Kaila, I'm a little late sending out The last Romantics but it will be on it's way home to you Monday.
#lmpbc
#LMPBC Round 6 - #GroupB
@mynameisacolour
I am putting your book in the mail this afternoon. You should have it back in a couple of days.
#LMPBC Round 6 - #GroupB
@mynameisacolour @Kaila-Ann @Hooked_on_books @suvata
I am very sad to say goodbye to Round 6. This was great group that picked great books. Thanks, ladies.
Now on to Round 7 ....
pickPearl Louie Brandt is a contemporary Asian-American and Winnie is her Chinese born mother. Except for the beginning and ending chapters, most of the story documents Winnie‘s extraordinary and brutal life in China. Parts of her story are difficult to read and, frankly, cringe-worthy — but all of it had to be told. Overall it‘s a very touching story about the relationship between a mother and daughter and hidden secrets kept by both.
7 days. 7 covers you love. No explanation. Tag a new person to participate each day.
#7covers7days #coverlove Day 2
@TheBookHippie Wanna play?
so-soThis book starts as an exploration of the relationship of a mother and daughter then turns to the mother‘s story, becoming an adult in WWII-era China. I struggled with the shift in tone when the focus shifted but felt the book came together for me in the last 100 pages. And I totally want to color in this cover! #groupB #LMPBC
My latest #LMPBC has touched down! I‘ve enjoyed Amy Tan before, so I look forward to reading this. And the pups think it smells fascinating! 😂 #groupB
bailedI‘m afraid I‘m bailing #unpopularopinion it‘s not that I don‘t like it ... I just don‘t like it that much to invest time in it ... 🤷🏻♀️
Home from town with my library books. When I finish my present read I will start the tagged one .... inspired to try it after @TrishB review 👍🏻😊
pickThis book . . . wow. The relationship between Pearl and Winnie and then Winnie‘s story . . . pretty rough. There were parts that were incredibly hard to read but Amy Tan did an amazing job of keeping you wanting to know more. As hard as this story was to read at times it was also very beautiful. That ending . . . ❤️❤️❤️.
It‘ll be on its way to Hawaii soon. #LMPBC #groupb
pickI don‘t know how Amy Tan‘s books have passed me by, but they have. I loved this, the cultural aspect, the history, but mostly just the family and friend dynamics. These are very cross cultural, we all have similar issues and concerns, though we obviously haven‘t all been through such dramatic circumstances. A good read 👍🏻
Thanks Kate 😘
Thank you Kate - such a lovely surprise 😁😘 I‘ll look forward to reading this, it looks fab and has great reviews.
#jbuk ♥️
I should have guessed that reading this was going to end up leading to some serious food cravings! I love when authors incorporate food into the story, it just makes it that much more real imo. This isn't the same kind of noodle soup mentioned in the story but close enough! 😋 #bookNlunch
pickOoof! In a very similar vein to Khaled Hosseini's "A Thousand Splendid Suns" (you have been warned!) parts of this book are brutal but it's the matter-of-fact way in which Weili/Winnie tells her story that makes it so devastating. Wen Fu is all the more horrendous for not being introduced as a fully-fledged villain but rather growing steadily more deplorable as the story progresses.
Does anyone write the mother/daughter dynamic quite like Amy Tan?
To my fellow group B'ers: here are a few selections on my TBR that are 400 pgs or less. Do any of these sound interesting to you? If not there are more where this came from 😊 @EmilyM @suvata @Kaila-ann
#lmpbc #round6 #GroupB
pickLoved this!! A story of one young woman‘s cry against patriarchy and injustice. Winnie tells her grown daughter the truth about her life in China before coming to the US just before the communist takeover. Fascinating account of war and of a horrific, abusive marriage, and of friendship and secrets. https://cannonballread.com/2019/04/the-kitchen-gods-wife-elcicco/
#wife #ANewChapter Seems odd , I loved the Joy Luck Club and this one has been in the stash a long time , yet still on my TBR.Maybe this year!
pickThis is another beautiful Amy Tan but very sad. Probably not ideal for anyone easily triggered by domestic abuse and rape, although there are no graphic descriptions. It was often hard to read but once again Tan masterfully paints a picture of the everyday lives of Chinese people, this time during and around WWII. The ending makes up to a large extent for all the sadness.
Been up since 4:20 and my littlest finally went into theatre for dental surgery. Tired and hungry and emotionally exhausted already! Plus this book is very emotional but a good read.
Help Littens! I loved the 2017 #LitsyAtoZ challenge so I decided at the beginning of 2018 to do it again but without purposefully choosing books for the list. I finally did the tally and I seem to be in better shape this year than last by the end of October. I only have FIVE books to go but the hardest letters. I‘m doing titles only. I‘d appreciate ideas for J, Q, X, Y and Z. Thanks y‘all!!
I‘m almost halfway through this audiobook. The current chapters are set in WWII China, and is an intimate look at what life was like for girls and young women/wives around this time. The narration is beautiful. I‘ve bad insomnia tonight and wishing I could listen to it at 3:15 am without waking the husband. Oh well...
