Book Chatter

Hello, friends! Most of my mornings start off with coffee and a walk. Occasionally I have to wait until it warms up a bit. If it’s below 52 degrees then the pup doesn’t want to go. Lately, the mornings have been quite brisk so she has needed a little encouragement to get out the door. We always take a different path. Sometimes up a hill, sometimes around the school. Sometimes wherever her nose takes us. Today it was just around the neighborhood.

The Neighborhood

I never took advantage of morning walks before the pandemic. Sure, I was physically on-campus and not tooling around the neighborhood but my campus is a pretty pleasant place to get your steps in. I hope to continue my morning walks once we return to campus.

The weeks keep ticking on by, don’t they? I went to the mall for the first time in a year. I had to get my favorite candle and our new coffee maker melted so we had to get another one. I was in and out because I felt so closed-in and overwhelmed. It was right before Valentine’s Day so there were quite a few people shopping. They all looked so normal. Like they didn’t have a care in the world but so many of the shops have gone out of business so there was this dark cloud looming over the place. Every restaurant with outdoor dining was bustling. I am happy for them. I worry about spread but I also want them to stay open and for their employees to be able to make a living.

I got my Capri Blue candle though. Anything to make the day a little more pleasant.

I am currently reading The Midnight Library and then probably Joshilyn Jackson’s new one, Mother May I. My next two book club reads are books I’ve already read so that frees me up to read other books. Doing well with my review copies too. So many good reads coming out.

How are you all doing? There’s talk of schools opening back up again, at least at the K-5 level. I don’t see how that can happen until the teachers and staff are vaccinated but it’s a hot button topic here for sure. I would just like to know if ANY plans will be made for high school graduation. Even if it’s a drive by like last year. With a high school senior and the other one graduating from university, I need to know if there will be any conflicts.

Anyway, that’s it from me. Check in if you can.

The Night Tiger
By Yangsze Choo
Flatiron Books, 9781250175465, January 2020, 384pp.

The Short of It:

There is an awful lot going on in this story and honestly it was rather exhausting to read.

The Rest of It:

Ji Lin is an apprentice dressmaker. It’s an honest living but doesn’t pay enough to help pay her mother’s Mahjong debt so she takes a job working in a dance hall. These places have poor reputations so she spends much of her time hiding this job from her family and friends. One night, as she is dancing with a rather mysterious man, a glass vial falls out of his pocket. Thinking it might be valuable, Ji Lin quickly tucks it away, desperately hoping she isn’t accused of being a pickpocket.

Inside the vial is a shriveled up finger, preserved in salt. What does it mean? It is used for magic? Has it been cursed? Where did it come originally? This finger lures her down an adventurous path in search of its meaning.

When I said earlier that this book had a lot going on, man, I wasn’t kidding. Ji Lin has to deal with her mother’s constant inquiries about male suitors, her abusive step-father who takes his anger out on everyone, including Ji Lin’s mother and her step-brother, Shin. Ji Lin would love to be a nurse and yet she spends her days fighting off men who want to do more than dance with her.

With all this going on, there is also a houseboy who sees death, people going missing, a rogue tiger is said to be the cause, and doctors going back and forth about missing body parts and people dropping dead from poisoning.

My main issue with this story is that it jumped all over the place. I didn’t get to spend time with any one character for long and overall the story was fantastical and not believable. The other issue I had is the one thing that WAS carried throughout the story, the attraction between Shin and Ji Lin, step-siblings. Not related by blood but still. I could not get past the cringe factor.

This is a book club pick and I know many readers who found this book quite entertaining. I, however, did not. It was just okay for me. If the story had focused on one main character and really delved into his or her story, I’d be more invested but with all the running around and fantastical elements (ghost tiger) I was over it.

Source: Borrowed
Disclosure: This post contains Indiebound affiliate links.

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