Coffee and Kung Fu: 6

"Coffee and Kung Fu" is an engaging story about Nicci Bradford, a Boston copywriter floating in a sea of mid-twenties angst. But if angst is the kind of thing that typically turns you off - which I can say for myself - don't be quick to walk away from this story. Nicci is a real heroine, with real ambivalence, and Brichoux puts her on the page in a way that is fresh and wholly endearing."Coffee" follows Nicci through a series of trials - a mysterious coffee guy who somehow knows her thoughts; a rich, attractive boyfriend who is the picture of everything she should want; a confused friend who puts Nicci in the middle of her toxic marriage. Through it all, Nicci relies on her store of Kung Fu movie knowledge to provide her with essential wisdom and perspective.The thing about "Coffee and Kung Fu" that makes it a great read is Brichoux's mastery of gentle pacing and subtle humor. Nicci's story is full of fresh flavors, perfect for curling up with by the fire on a rainy day with a cup of coffee and a Jackie Chan movie waiting by your side.

It has been a loooong time since a book has really spoken to me like this one - maybe never before! I picked this book up because I liked the cover, to be honest. Once I read the first few pages I couldn't wait to see how Nicci gets through. I totally related to her, in my opinion this is NOT your average lonely girl in the city novel, it speaks to the plights of young women everywhere. I am not a kung fu fan but there's only a paragraph or two in each chapter that relates a kung fu movie to her current situation, so don't let the kung fu thing stop you at all. The author Karen B is extremely talented at taking normal Nicci and her normal problems and situations and revealing the subtle life-chaning nuances in life's small moments that stun in hindsight. 'Coffee and Kung Fu' is a captivating, quick read, it is great and I've recommended it to all my friends. THIS BOOK WOULD MAKE A GREAT MOVIE!

hope this book does "The Nanny Diaries" thing in terms of sales...but I'm always worried when a book I discover from a new author has too much success -- I kind of like to keep the author "mine" for awhile.Karen Brichoux has a light touch in her first work of fiction, and her sense of humor is outstanding. But neither can hide the extraordinary uniqueness of her voice, and the way she can turn a phrase. She makes pictures with her words, makes thoughts come alive. She's a talent that I hope will not get caught up in a wave of "single girl fiction", and will turn her literary sights on different points of view, different settings, so that others can explore her way with words.Brichoux's got a single girl story, this one set in Boston, but Nicci, her heroine, is there in body alone. In mind she is flight, touching down on childhood, on life in the Phillipines, on Hong Kong, on loneliness. She defines herself as a "fringe person", but the depth of her is shown in the way others draw to her. She has a triangle in the book, and is forthright and knowing of the difference between who she makes love to and who she loves.Her relationship with her grandfather is crisp and genuine, and his personification of "shoes" with people is a generational version of her own "kung fu movies" with people's reaction to them. I thought for awhile I might be one of the few women to understand the difference between the meaning of Jackie Chan movies made in the Far East, in Chinese, and the slapdash kung fu movies he does for American audiences. Not so...and if you read "Coffee and Kung Fu", you will find it out for yourself.Brichoux's dialogue is believable, and scattered throughout the first person narrative in just the right amounts, and some of her literary comparisons will stay with you a long time, whether humorous: "Maybe it's because November drew Thanksgiving in the holiday lottery.....November got ripped off. What kind of holiday is it when you're supposed to celebrate genocide by stuffing yourself??"or poetic: "She's had the moment. A moment isn't a piece of time, it's a question. A realization. A trauma. The moment comes when you look up and see your life stretching out for seventy more years....Is this life good enough for the next seventy years?"Brichoux - she's a keeper! Read it, enjoy!!!

I thoroughly enjoyed Karen Brichoux's debut novel -- couldn't put it down. I become attached to the characters & simply had to know how the book ended before I feel asleep. Nicci Bradford is a complicated, unconventional woman trying to find her way in a quirky world. Her strengths & weaknesses appeal to everyone. Karen Brichoux does a marvelous job recreating Nicci's memories of Manila & the Philipines with her artistic prose. And the emotional interplay between the characters is insightful, humorous & witty. There's so much included that you could read it twice & find out things you missed the first time. Kudos to Karen Brichoux!!

What a wonderful book! COFFEE & KUNG FU blurs the lines between the Chick Lit genre and mainstream literature. While utilizing some of the Chick Lit conventions - urban setting, dead end job, Mr. Wrong - Karen Brichoux has portrayed her heroine, Nicci Bradford, with a thoughtfulness that delves much deeper than most books of the genre.Nicci Bradford is a young woman of unconventional upbringing who attempts - sometimes with a tinge of desperation - to adapt to a conventional lifestyle. Poignantly, and often humorously, Brichoux guided me through Nicci's journey to discover herself. I rooted for her, despaired with her, and finally exulted in Nicci's discovery of who she is and where she belongs.To this sensitive characterization, add a solid story line and prose that vividly portrays Nicci's background, and you come up with a winner. This is a deeply satisfying read - Chick Lit for the thoughful reader.