I Just Read...

I recently joined, well helped start really, a book club.  I love reading and had really gotten away from reading for pleasure in recent years, so I felt joining a book club would kick start me back into what was probably my only good habit...reading.  Well, I was right, and I just finished our club's fourth book selection, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, by Jamie Ford.  I haven't been crazy about all of the club's book selections, but I highly recommend this one.  In brief, the author tells the story of the relationship between two young friends, one Japanese-American and the other Chinese-American set in 1942 Seattle, following Pearl Harbor and the subsequent relocation of Japanese-Americans to internment camps.  I won't give away the book, but I will tell you it's a beautifully written story that will make you cry and laugh, and think.

Perhaps this story held particular interest for me because I was married to a second generation, Japanese-American and made many J-A friends while living on the Central Coast of California.  I remember hearing the stories of how their parents and grandparents suffered during the war, yet continued to love and serve this country, proud to be American citizens.  This book helped me see those times through the eyes of the children they were at that time.

Please let me know if any of you have books to suggest to my book club!

Cheers,

Sally