Thursday, August 11, 2011

book club: The Samurai's Garden

Once a month I host a book club at my home with a select group of awesome ladies. We each take turns choosing the book and leading the discussions. This has been good for me because I have a chance to read books I normally wouldn't pick up for myself, and since I usually just read YA, it takes me out of the teenage zone for a change of pace once in awhile.


Tonight we talked about THE SAMURAI'S GARDEN by Gail Tsukiyama led by Pam. I haven't read any of the author's other books, and since it is adult historical fiction-ish I kinda was dreading reading it. I do, however, like reading books about other cultures, so I dove in reluctant but hopeful. After diving for about a third of the book, I finally quit yawning and felt like I could paddle around and enjoy myself a bit.

The narrator of the story is a rich and sickly 20 year old man that I could care less about, really. But it is through his eyes that the real characters of the book unfold, and how we discover their mysterious story. Without giving too much away, they are absolutely wonderful characters. I liked the glimpse into Japanese culture.

I am left a little wanting at the end for a little progress, update, action, something. And I very much wish the story moved along faster. But I think that is just the YA writer/reader coming out in me. I'm sure many of you are a lot more patient than I am.
And of course book club is not complete without treats. Pam brought a molten-chocolate-warm-gooey-creamy-dessert-thingy. It wasn't anything close to Japanese food, but it was to die for. Speaking of Japanese food, since I grew up in Hawaii, I ate a lot of it. Japanese is my favorite kind of food. And this book mentions specific foods quite a bit. And I was hungry drooling over the foods as I read. Just warning you.
One of these days I will remember to take a picture of these lovely ladies. I'll try for next month.

Speaking of next month, we will be discussing LIFE AS WE KNEW IT by Susan Beth Pfeffer. I am SO excited about reading this one, I've heard so many amazing things. DO NOT TELL ME WHAT HAPPENS. I don't want to know. Seriously. Death stares here. Feel free to read it and tell me what you think. But not until next month. I'm not kidding. Threats and stuff. :{

1 comments:

Lindsay said...

So sad I missed it. Ben is making outings rather difficult. I am crossing my fingers that I will make it again next month. I need to come get a book. Or could you bring one to co-op for me?