AliCorbin reviewed Midnight at the Dragon Café by Judy Fong Bates
Review of 'Midnight at the Dragon Café' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
A good turn-out, of about a dozen people, with many newcomers. Most people found themselves (possibly against their will) drawn into the story. The child's voice rang true to most (albeit at the expense of creating more sympathy for the mother). The foreshadowings served well to build suspense, but the suspense never really came to a climax. There was much discussion, and disagreement, about the characters, with rather sharp divisions cropping up when talking about the merits of Annie's parents.
A larger than usual group, nearly all female (and with no Asians), with a facilitator borrowed from PSU for the evening. In general we liked the book, although several people were expecting better writing, or wished there had been a better job of editting it. The discussion ranged a bit, including the mention of several other good books on China, or on the immigrant experience. (So many books, so little …
A good turn-out, of about a dozen people, with many newcomers. Most people found themselves (possibly against their will) drawn into the story. The child's voice rang true to most (albeit at the expense of creating more sympathy for the mother). The foreshadowings served well to build suspense, but the suspense never really came to a climax. There was much discussion, and disagreement, about the characters, with rather sharp divisions cropping up when talking about the merits of Annie's parents.
A larger than usual group, nearly all female (and with no Asians), with a facilitator borrowed from PSU for the evening. In general we liked the book, although several people were expecting better writing, or wished there had been a better job of editting it. The discussion ranged a bit, including the mention of several other good books on China, or on the immigrant experience. (So many books, so little time.)
One woman told of a collegue who is currently teaching school in China. Apparently the job is growing difficult, because nearly every child is now an only child, and so is utterly spoiled by his parents. (And most children are now male, which is going to make things very interesting when they grow up.)