Welcome to Litsy!

It took me so long to read this book because even though it was enjoyable I could not really connect with the story and the characters.

I get what the author was trying to do, but her characters felt diluted and stereotypical.

Being that this is a debut novel I would give this author another chance in the future, the potential is there.

⭐️⭐️⭐️

My listen for #audiocanning.

While the narrator was excellent, I did find myself confused between present day and the past on more than one occasion. Better delineation between the two times would have been helpful. Other than that, this was a look at a complicated time for a couple of complicated families.

Book 2/4 for #SuperSeptember

There is a lot in this book that I appreciated, but sadly, I disliked all of the characters. The author presents a minority story that I feel many can relate to, but the characters and their connections are never fully fleshed out.

#curiouscovers #bird #littenlisten

This book is getting tough to read. Its characters are SO annoying! As you can see, I‘m taking a #PokemonGo break. I‘ll then have to decide if I want to finish this book. I‘ll probably try to continue it as it‘s a shared read for a #TIOLI challenge on #LibraryThing.

I‘m not sure about this book. I won a copy of it on #LibraryThing Early Reviewers, but it was never sent to me. I found a large print version of it in my library so I‘m reading it now. So far I hate all of its characters. I sure do hope this book gets better as it‘s set in my own city of #Rockville #Maryland!

Nothing to write home about but still an entertaining read about family dynamics & being in the restaurant business. ⭐️⭐️⭐️

I liked this just fine & was invested enough to read till the end, but I felt that it could have been better. I appreciated the depiction of a dysfunctional Chinese-American family & their restaurant business, but it did feel aggressively overwritten & workshopped to death, as others have mentioned. I felt the author's presence more strongly than I did the characters. A compelling look at family dynamics & the American Dream, but frustrating.

This one was a no go for me. Boring as fuck and I could have cared less about the restaurant. I wouldn‘t recommend it.🙄

#womensprize2019 It took me too long to finish this book! My biggest issue is that there are too many characters in the book and most of them were underdeveloped so that they came across as caricature or stereotypes. The story mainly centers around a family that owns a Chinese restaurant that succumbs to fire. Unfortunately, the author tries a little too hard to jazz it up instead of dealing with the intricate family dynamics more deftly. 3⭐️

Meh.
It was a nice little story about a Chinese family and their restaurant

My reading for the #womensprize continues...

Of the 16 books that made the Women‘s Prize for Fiction long list for this year, I had already read 5 and had 6 more on my tbr... so of course I decided to finish the whole list, and my many challenges/MtTBR can just wait a hot minute. 🤪

Tonight I finished 1/11, and I really enjoyed this audiobook! Well-written, with lots of drama and a whole cast of interesting characters, some that I loved and some that I despised.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

#womensprize2019

The intensity of close third-person narration in multiple characters‘ heads ... w h e w. The humor, the pathos, the deep truth of family and loss and essential natures - it‘s impressive that this is a first novel. So controlled and so bleakly funny and sad at the same time. And so, so good about the restaurant business, immigration, & much more. A pointed, compelling illustration of the idea of essential natures. #literaryfiction

In the middle of this one! A novel that‘s already covered arson, the planned takeover of a parent‘s house by her two sons, hush money owed and paid, adultery in the wake of a cancer diagnosis, and much more, with humor and almost with resignation at humanity‘s foibles. Can‘t say I particularly like it, but I‘m interested in what happens next.

Up next. Dysfunctional family plus food.

This book is like a train wreck you can‘t look away from or stop reading. Almost everyone is awful: self centred, ill humoured, broken and they make BAD choices because of it. Yet I kept hoping somebody, anybody would do the right thing, be kind, not be so cringeworthy. It‘s a testament to the writing that I stayed hooked to the end. It‘s not awesome but it has impact.

The complete opposite of a love story yet things are done in the name of love 🤦🏻‍♀️ Happy Valentine‘s Day Littens ❤️

Another from my Christmas haul

Meh. This was basically a big soap opera. I didn‘t like any of the characters enough to care what happened.

I‘m about 100 pages in and I‘m agreeing with the others that these characters are pretty unlikable. However, I “lived” the plot of a fire at a family owned/run restaurant about 9 years ago... so I‘m finding it oddly relatable.

I picked this book because it was on the best of list for npr this year. I would not have put it on a beat of list but it was an enjoyable read. It really explored an unlikable character in an unapologetic way. Overall I have not thought about it since I finished, though.

While I finished this book, I would have preferred to bail. I kept on reading going that there would be more, but there never was. The characters were not likeable. The ones that might be likeable, you just don't get enough time with.

I never did really get to empathize or like any of the characters too much. Just an ok for me.

I have been craving drunken noodles for WEEKS and these are just so good and I want to order another plate but I‘m worried the waitress will judge me. But I might do it anyway. As for the book...I didn‘t really like “Number One Chinese Restaurant.” There was nothing obviously wrong with it but I just never connected. I thought it was a boring and bloodless story about uninteresting people. My first pan of 2019 😑

Although it's hard to really root for anyone, Li does do a great job describing the motivations of the members of the Han family who run a well-respected and popular Chinese restaurant. As ambitions and greed take over, they soon see all of their hard work decimated. I enjoyed the inside look at immigrants trying to tackle the American dream, but there wasn't a lot of suspense to keep me inherently interested the whole time. 3.5 stars #Netgalley

There‘s nothing wrong with Number One Chinese Restaurant - some of the characterization and use of language is lovely - but, in the end, it was just a banal story about banal, sometimes awful people. It also had the highly polished but almost voiceless quality you sometimes get in highly workshopped novels and / or MFA program writers, which I don‘t, personally, enjoy. In the end it was good enough, but bloodless and definitely just so-so.

Between a pick and so-so for me. This was short and sweet, and was plot-driven in a way that I don‘t gravitate towards really ever. However, I heard an interview with Lillian Li on the podcast Racist Sandwich and I was intrigued enough to give it a go. I love reading about the restaurant business, and learning about career waiters and the family behind The Duck House was fun! This also got me very excited for my trip to Shanghai in March!

An enthralling and emotional family saga.
I enjoyed this one. It was very character driven. Author did a wonderful job developing these interesting set of characters. This one was slower paced but not in a bad way. It was full of drama and humour. Exploring relationships, their ups and downs, complications, and beauty. I also enjoyed the writing. I found her style unique. I found how she wrote about the family particularly well done.
#bookblogger

This book was supposed to be the IT book for summer book clubs but I found it to be a little underwhelming. There are so many great books on the market about the complexities of Asian American family life, I‘d reread Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet before picking this one up. Just my take!!

Thank you for doing this @TheLibrarian and CONGRATS on your 70K Litfluence!! 🎉💃💃

#70kgiveaway

I have also tagged my fav read of 2018 so far. It was tough but one's gotta do what one's gotta do! 😅

Expect family drama, complex characters and relationships, love, betrayals, sibling rivalries, and power struggles. This novel is what you'd get from a Chinese drama, featuring a wealthy business family. If only my mom loves reading as much as I do, I'd recommend this to her! Full review: https://hookedonbookzblog.wordpress.com/2018/09/21/numberonechineserestaurant-by... #NumberOneChineseRestaurant #lillianli

I could not get into this book at all. Need to leave this behind.

Home from vacation and unpacked. Gonna start this one, since it has to go back to the library soon.

Looking forward to starting this. I am so into families who own restaurants and the dynamics behind the scenes

😒🤦‍♀️👎 #Audiobook #Bummer

I got about 4 chpters in & just couldn't continue.

Maybe it was the deceiving bookcover or my preconceived assumptions, but all I know is that I'd been looking forward to some light hearted humor, likable characters & maybe a quirky story.

But I got oppressive, grimy feeling & just plain dull instead.

I considered trying it in print, but my coworker who did read it, said not to waste my time, so I won't. 🤷‍♀️

Such an immersive book! Great cast of mostly unlikable characters, but lots of heart and heartbreak. It ends a little abruptly and doesn‘t quite satisfy but overall, compelling. First book finished for #24in48!

Just got the toddler beast down for a nap so gonna try to get a little more reading in and then follow her lead. Readathon plus tiny human is tricky! #24in48

It's tough to make progress in @24in48 readathon when you keep getting commentary from the peanut gallery.
6 yo- Ha! Mom is reading a book about a duck!
Me- It's a book about a restaurant.
6yo- A DUCK WORKS AT A RESTAURANT?!?
Me- No. The restaurant serves duck.
6yo- The duck is trying to get away?
Me- All the ducks in this book are dead.
4 yo- (takes the book away). There's no pictures in there.
#readathon #24in48 #24in48readathon

First up for #24in48! Also have an audiobook queued up and a play date at the library‘s story-time on deck.

After doing Agatha Christie on audio for a bit for the @24in48 readathon, I'm gonna move on to a physical book! This cover is delightful 😃

#readathon #24in48 #24in48readathon

2. 29c/84F and 16c/60F
3. Penne with sausage, zucchini and asparagus
4. That‘s a funny question! Erm make 10 copies?
5. Cold barley tea
#humpdaypost

This wasn‘t a definite 🤘for me. We didn‘t exactly start out as best friends, this book and I. I was wanting more for our relationship, expecting book here to leave me salivating and craving Chinese food (yes, even Chinese-American food) so I was a bit disappointed. But our friendship grew as I realized this was a book about the drama of ordinary families, amid the struggles of a second generation running a restaurant. More 👇

I am thoroughly enjoying this book and all its complex characters!

I‘m still slowly making my way through this book! Lunch is leftovers of kimchi fried rice, soy garlic wings and one last spicy wing and don‘t worry I also had some vegetable soup. I‘m attempting to make a blackberry sorbet - I don‘t have an ice cream machine so am trying out the freezer method! Wish me luck!

I‘m a bit less than halfway through but am not really feeling this book. At first I thought maybe I was expecting a more quirky read (well I mean that cover) but now I realized it‘s because the book barely mentions food. It‘s here and there but it feels like it could do with far more.