First Line Friday is a bookish meme hosted by Hoarding Books where you post the first line of a book. This week I want to show off my current read, Natalie Tan’s Book of Luck and Fortune by Roselle Lim.

I’m only about one-third of the way through Natalie Tan’s Book of Luck and Fortune, and I’m already in love with it. It’s full of vivid food descriptions, and just thinking about it makes me hungry.

The First Line(s)

“A horned lark perched on the concrete balcony outside my window, framed against the colorful paifang of Montreal’s Chinatown. Ma’am, who shared my love of birds, would have gasped at the sight of it.”

Goodreads Description

“At the news of her mother’s death, Natalie Tan returns home. The two women hadn’t spoken since Natalie left in anger seven years ago, when her mother refused to support her chosen career as a chef. Natalie is shocked to discover the vibrant neighborhood of San Francisco’s Chinatown that she remembers from her childhood is fading, with businesses failing and families moving out. She’s even more surprised to learn she has inherited her grandmother’s restaurant.

The neighborhood seer reads the restaurant’s fortune in the leaves: Natalie must cook three recipes from her grandmother’s cookbook to aid her struggling neighbors before the restaurant will succeed. Unfortunately, Natalie has no desire to help them try to turn things around–she resents the local shopkeepers for leaving her alone to take care of her agoraphobic mother when she was growing up. But with the support of a surprising new friend and a budding romance, Natalie starts to realize that maybe her neighbors really have been there for her all along.”

Have you read this book? Is it on your TBR? Let me know in the comments! And if you’re interested in joining in on the First Line Friday fun, check out Hoarding Books for all of the details and to add your blog to the list!