Whoo! That was a lot in the title. I have gone from posting per book to doing a few at a time. I have also gone from reading a book per week during the school year to taking three weeks to read one now that school is out. I guess I was reading as an outlet during a crazy, stressful school year.
I have made milk bread before but not this particular recipe. From the article I read, milk bread is a Japanese bread that may have been invented by a British baker in Japan. There are some great recipes out there; however, I found one that I can do in my bread machine.
To the books…
First, Bellman and Black: A Novel… I did not enjoy this book. I actually got tired of reading it and skimmed to the ending then googled more about the ending. Diane Setterfield’s The Thirteenth Tale is one of my absolute favorite books; however, this one just didn’t do it for me. She is an incredible writer which is clearly seen in the book. The book has great imagery, great symbolism…but I felt the story would have been better as a short story (a rather Poe-ish feel if done as a short story). The story as a novel, though, just wasn’t for me. I read reviews on Goodreads and saw those who loved it and those who didn’t. So…it’s up to you to decide.
Now for the main book – Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet…
I really liked this book. I think it is a great read for any age – no bad language, no explicit sex scenes…just a great historical fiction story that gives you a glimpse into a really sad time in U.S. history – the Japanese internment camps.
I have never read any books on the Japanese internment camps so was excited when I learned about this one from a teacher friend. Although I do not teach history, I do teach Korematsu v. United States Supreme Court case to my students, which has been deemed as one of the worse SCOTUS rulings ever in our nation’s history. Here is the overview:
In the opening pages of Jamie Ford’s stunning debut novel, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, Henry Lee comes upon a crowd gathered outside the Panama Hotel, once the gateway to Seattle’s Japantown. It has been boarded up for decades, but now the new owner has made an incredible discovery: the belongings of Japanese families, left when they were rounded up and sent to internment camps during World War II. As Henry looks on, the owner opens a Japanese parasol.
This simple act takes old Henry Lee back to the 1940s, at the height of the war, when young Henry’s world is a jumble of confusion and excitement, and to his father, who is obsessed with the war in China and having Henry grow up American. While “scholarshipping” at the exclusive Rainier Elementary, where the white kids ignore him, Henry meets Keiko Okabe, a young Japanese American student. Amid the chaos of blackouts, curfews, and FBI raids, Henry and Keiko forge a bond of friendship–and innocent love–that transcends the long-standing prejudices of their Old World ancestors. And after Keiko and her family are swept up in the evacuations to the internment camps, she and Henry are left only with the hope that the war will end, and that their promise to each other will be kept.
Forty years later, Henry Lee is certain that the parasol belonged to Keiko. In the hotel’s dark dusty basement he begins looking for signs of the Okabe family’s belongings and for a long-lost object whose value he cannot begin to measure. Now a widower, Henry is still trying to find his voice–words that might explain the actions of his nationalistic father; words that might bridge the gap between him and his modern, Chinese American son; words that might help him confront the choices he made many years ago.
Set during one of the most conflicted and volatile times in American history, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet is an extraordinary story of commitment and enduring hope. In Henry and Keiko, Jamie Ford has created an unforgettable duo whose story teaches us of the power of forgiveness and the human heart.
Yes, it took me a few weeks to read this book but mainly because school was out and I was gardening. I honestly think this should be a must read for high schoolers, to coincide with U.S. History (or Advanced World Geography). I think it gives a great picture of culture conflict – when traditions clash with modern viewpoints (which is the struggle between Henry and his father) among other talking points.
One last thing… I am currently teaching summer school which is how I learned about this book. The teacher (from my school) who was telling me about this book said it was based on a real hotel in Seattle which she went to when visiting her sister. This hotel was boarded up for years. When the current owner bought it, a lot of Japanese items were found. These items were found exactly how they were left when the Japanese Americans were sent to the internment camps. This novel was created around this finding. Here is a site you may find interesting – The Panama Hotel. Warning – don’t visit this website until you read the novel because it quotes excerpts from the novel. Now, it doesn’t really give you spoilers but I think you will enjoy the stories and pictures (and film) more if you know the characters and the story. So…happy reading!
