Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Summer Reading

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet is great read. This historical fiction follows the experiences of a Chinese boy and a Japanese girl living in Seattle during WWII. The young girl winds up in an internment camp and the Chinese boy struggles to get his father to understand how he could love someone Japanese. While the context of the story is harsh, it is fundamentally a love story; thus the title Bitter and Sweet. I really liked this book.


While I never saw the movie, Slumdog Millionaire is a fabulous book. Both tragic and hopeful, Slumdog tells the story of an impoverished young man who wins the million dollar prize on India's version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire. In explaining how he knew each answer, Jamal tells stories from his fascinating life. It's a great, compelling read.


The structure of The Guernesy Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society is interesting - you are reading the letters between all of the main characters. This historical fiction tells the story of a little British island that was occupied by the Germans in WWII. It's an interesting story of a small town caught in a hard time.


Battle Royale
I couldn't even finish. When I began reading it, it was because it was supposed to be the Japanese version of Huger Games, which I LOVED. And, yes, it's about a group a teens stuck on an island, forced to fight to the death. Thing is, there was SO much more gore. The human element of it all was interesting, but after reading about the sound and axe makes when being pulled out of a person's brain, I had to stop.
Super funny, but more than a tad crass, Wishful Drinking is the biography of Star Wars' Carrie Fisher. Fisher tells about her rise to fame, drug use, marriage to Paul Simon, and struggles with 'reality'. My sister thought it was too much, but I found it all very amusing. Who knew Princess Lia had such a great sense of humor? If you happened to have enjoyed Wishful Drinking, try Hypocrite in a Pouffy White Dress. Also a bit crass, but one of the funniest books I have ever read.

Right now I'm reading The Help and Big Stone Gap. I'll let you know what I think once I'm finished.

11 comments:

Jamie Ford said...

Thanks Ganelle! And I'm reading Hunger Games right now and can't put it down.

Julie Ramsay said...

I've wanted to see slumdog but maybe I should just read it! Thanks for the book ideas!!

Cheryl said...

Thank you for the reading ideas...I just want to know when you find time to read all these books???? You seem like a really busy lady is all that I'm saying.

Also, which one of these books was your favorite?

ganelle said...

I think I would rank them this way: Bitter and Sweet, Slumdog, Wishful Drinking, Potato Peel and a distant last, Battle Royale.

As for the time to read? I just LOVE to read. I sneak it in at the pool, at baseball practice, I read before bed, on vacation, etc. etc.

ganelle said...

OK!!! HOLY COW! The author of Bitter and Sweet commented on my blog! How TOTALLY COOL is that?

Vern said...

Cool enough that I think you might be too cool to be my friend now.

Then again, you've tasted poo so I guess I could stick around. You know, for YOUR sake.

Cheryl said...

That is cool that the author commented on your book...I didn't even realize that when I was reading the comment. That is so neat :)

Mom of Three said...

Sorry for giving you Battle Royale! What a bummer of a birthday present. I need to read Slumdog. Thanks for the list.

Mom of Three said...

OK, I just noticed that too! How cool is that. That makes me like his book even better, to know that he is such a normal guy.

FOX said...

I never know what to say when you post about books and or book clubs! More power to you!!!

In the next life I am going to love a good book!!!

Garity said...

You always have the best recommendations. You should put them on a list on the side of your blog so I don't have to go digging through your blog to find them...then again I could just write them down right away. "Wishful Drinking" is on my list to read. Have you read any of Jen Lancaster's books? She had me in stitches. That's pretty neat about Jaime Ford's book. If you liked his book I bet you'll also like "When the Emperor Was Divine". It takes place during the same time and is told from several points of view. I'm like you, I read any chance I get and always have a book with me. That's been one nice thing about recovering from surgery, lots of time to read! I need to place another book order and now I'm curious about "Hunger Games" Like I said, you have great recommendations!