The Friday 56 (226) & Book Beginnings: When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain by Nghi Vo

The Friday 56 is a weekly meme hosted by Freda's Voice where every Friday you pick a book and turn to page 56 or 56%, and select a sentence or a few, as long as it's not a spoiler. For the full rules, visit the the page HERE

Book Beginnings is a weekly meme hosted by Rose City Reader that asks you to share the first sentence (or so) of the book you're reading.

Synopsis from Goodreads...

The cleric Chih finds themself and their companions at the mercy of a band of fierce tigers who ache with hunger. To stay alive until the mammoths can save them, Chih must unwind the intricate, layered story of the tiger and her scholar lover—a woman of courage, intelligence, and beauty—and discover how truth can survive becoming history.... Nghi Vo returns to the empire of Ahn and The Singing Hills Cycle in this mesmerizing, lush standalone follow-up to The Empress of Salt and Fortune

Beginning: "The tavern was little more than a waxed canvas tent, tilted towards the south by the wind that rushed headlong down the mountain."

56: "Ahnfi was the child of Pan'er, which sunk beneath the waves, and the latter-day daughter of that great city lacked all the parent's grace and beauty."

Comments: I had such a great experience with The Empress of Salt and Fortune that I couldn't wait to start its sequel, When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain. This was another great installment in this series, and I loved it as much as the first. My 56 comes from page 54 instead, because every sentence was a major spoiler. What are you reading this week?