A Cup of Light: A Novel

This is the third book i've read by Nicole Mones - I started with The Last Chinese Chef (a MUST read - loved it) and then Lost in Translation (not the same plot as movie by same name - MUCH better than that), and now Cup of Light. It was slow starting, but i guess that was establishing the backstory of the main character. Although each book has different characters i'm beginning to see a similarity between the main female characters - which is fine because they, and the story woven around them, are interesting and worth exploring. There is only one Nicole Mones left, sadly, and i hope she writes more books.Cup of Light provides an amazing look into the history of porcelain in China and the smuggling trade. Once you get a bit past the beginning the book picks up and by the middle it is completely addictive. so many parallel stories and POVs. Definitely worth a read IMHO.

SUCH a good book! I had zero interest in Chinese pottery at the start of reading this, but by the end I was totally entranced. Just beautifully written. Her Last Chinese Chef is also quite good, doing the same thing for Chinese cooking as this does for pottery, but this one is a sublime level higher.

Nicole Mones has a unique formula, and uses it to perfection. Her characters are always interesting, her stories unique, and the historical content nuanced and developed. This book is not the equal of Lost In Translation, but is nonetheless, excellent. Enjoyable to read, hard to put down, and perhaps, the greatest compliment, one wishes it were fleshed out more, and that it continued on. Nicole Mones, I am a fan of your writing. I have already ordered your third book, and will make it a point to stay abreast and read any and all books that you generate. These books are not classical works of art, but they are different from anything else, and wonderfully entertaining.

This author uses her long experience in China to show the same events from different sides and to contrast Western and Chinese thinking. Along the way she offers a very realistic picture of what it feels like to be an outsider in China. Nothing is quite what it seems, no one is telling anyone else the full truth, and perceptions are based on where you are coming from. Is a wonderful copy of a piece of exquisite porcelain a criminal fraud, or the mark of artistic respect? How do the products of art affect those who make, buy, sell, and appreciate them? The characters all ring true for those who think they know China.

A bit of steamy romance added to this wonderful peek into ancient art of pottery and memory tools in the page-turner tradition of Nicole Mones’ Lost in Translation and also The Last Chinese Chef. Three great immersions in Chinese culture with suspense, romance and great writing.

The author has a wonderful way of weaving history into a contemporary adventure. Hers are great books to take along if you visit China - perfect combinations of page-turners and history that will really set the scene for you! I read this one while visiting Kunming. In that city's tea market I was able to buy myself a Chenghua chicken cup....this memento of the book and the trip sits on my mantel today. Have given the book to two friends so far....

After enjoying the Last Chinese Chef I sought out Nicole Mones's other titles. This book is both educational about Chinese pottery or "pots" and another example of the implicit competency of professional women at work. After reading you will appreciate Chinese pottery, but become very cautious about paying high prices without consulting experts.

Very enjoyable book. Author clearly did her research on Chinese pottery - and made it very interesting for me to learn about it too, along with a nicely developed story of the relationships between people. Characters seemed real and believable.

It is a good read and It was fascinating learning about the different pots, and the market for fakes that are all part of the illegal smuggling of China's ancient heritage from the Forbidden City. I didn't believe in the "romance" though, somehow the chemistry of the couple didn't work, the affair was too brief. Not as good as Lost in Translation which was terrific.

I'm ecstatic about Mones's first book "Lost in Translation" (no relation to the film of that title). I eagerly read that one twice, made margin notes & cross referenced various pages in my delight to maximize all implications and nuances. I also pressed my copy on friends who went straight to cloud 9 with it."A Cup of Light", her second novel, is a real let down. It's too cookbook in its construction, too writer's workshop, too much assembling of plot elements on separate yellow pads and then we feel the dry duty of a writer gritting her teeth and methodically getting them in mechanical marching order. It reminds me of the final assignment in a Phd writing program.The lead-in subject was too didactic, too CONSIDERED, too "let's pretend we care". It was like a community college course in porcelain given by a world expert who's just passing through. As the complicated plot unfolds, the author has a lot to juggle and events are banged out for the sake of shoving scenery into place. The job interview comes to mind, predictable to the point of boredom, with Goa reduced to a straight man responding to her answers with ejaculations of "Amazing!" and the like. This segment is fifth rate writing & prosaic qualities abound in far too many stretches of the novel. The task is to get the pontoon bridges in place so we can splash ahead in the plot and, for that, hurriedly split planks will serve the purpose.I didn't stay on for the love story. By then I was already badgered by too many cardboard situations, too much mechanical assembly, too much laconic and unnuanced dialogue, too many Lego girders showing. Entire pages were cranked out in the service of getting sandbags into place.. Out of my eagerness to protect my scarce reading time, I bailed out of this one.Lucky is the writer who avoids trying to force what cannot be forced.

Chinesisches Porzellan ist ein Thema, das mich an sich nicht besonders interessiert, allerdings ist dieses Buch weit mehr als eine Geschichte über Porzellan. Sie handelt vor allem auch von Menschen und ihren Abgründen, von China, von Mnemotechnik u.v.m. Zudem ist sie in der Nicole Mones eigenen Art einfach wunderschön geschrieben: Man meint beim Lesen, das Porzellan selbst unter den Fingern spüren zu können, und begibt sich mit den Figuren gemeinsam auf ihre Reise.Ich bin definitiv kein Freund von detailierten, langatmigen Beschreibungen - doch auch in diesem Buch erweckt Nicole Mones durch ihre Worte Dinge und Menschen zum Leben. Absolut lesenswert!

What a beautifully written story. Wonderful descriptive use of the English language. Brilliant plot. A most intriguing look inside Chinese culture. Couldn't put it down till I'd finished. I've only discovered this author in the last week and have just read 3 of her books. It transports you to another world...another culture. LOVED it .

If you imagine that you are not interested in Chinese porcelain, this book will change your mind! Beautifully written and backed with painstaking research, A Cup of Light is exactly that - sensitive - but with the pleasure of the chase to intrigue