Child 44

I have to preface this by saying that I know almost nothing about Communist Russia. I wish that I did, so I could tell how far from impossible (and I hope it's really far) this story is. This book was an engaging and suspenseful read. The story involves the search for a mass murderer in a society where murder is alleged to never occur. Each of the individual murders was pinned on an easy target, even when it became clear that they were connected. The powers that be could not admit that they were all committed by one man. Instead, the murderer was sought by one disgraced cop who was considered a traitor. In the end, the connection was a little too close for anyone's comfort. In this story Russia is a dystopian society were everyone is a potential traitor who could be murdered for the slightest infraction. The downside of the book...it reinforces the communism=inherently bad myth. Other than that, it's a good read.

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet

#31! It's April 16, and I've read more books than I read last year!

This was a good one. This story provides a glimpse into Henry Lee's life during two distinct time periods.

During the first, 1942-1945, Henry is 12-15 year old Chinese American boy growing up in Seattle. He is caught in a cultural divide between his traditional Chinese parents and the American society into which he was born. His father is extremely anti-Japanese due to extensive war and conflict between China and Japan. Meanwhile, Henry slowly falls in love with a Japanese classmate named Keiko. She and her family are removed from Seattle and forced to live in internment camps. Miraculously, Henry manages to visit Keiko and maintain some contact with her until Henry's father stops their correspondence. Toward the end of this time period, Henry met Ethel, a Chinese American girl, falls for her, and proposes because he is afraid that he will never be able to find Keiko again.

The second time period is 1986, although some elements that the author mentions (e.g., online support groups) are not consistent with 1986. In this portion of the story Ethel has been dead for six months. Henry has a strained relationship with his 21 year old son Marty, which is improved during this story after the introduction of his White fiancee Samantha. In 1986 the belongings of numerous Japanese American families that were removed to internment camps were found in an old hotel in Japantown. Henry, Marty, and Samantha go sleuthing through these items and find some items of Keiko's. Marty and Samantha use the internet (which was not so well developed in 1986) to find Keiko, and Henry visits her in New York City.

During the book, these stories are interspersed, so each is unfolding simultaneously. The story itself is both bitter and sweet. It is truly disturbing that the US government locked up US citizens in the 1940's due to their ethnic heritage. The story reminds me a little bit of The Boy in the Striped Pajamas in its illustration of how children are not born with discriminatory beliefs but these have to be taught. Clearly then, we can teach children otherwise.

I recommend this sweet, sad book. It's a quick read and will touch your heart.

Pillars of the Earth

Okay, I finally have another book to add. I am feeling like a slacker since this is the first one in April, and April is half over. Granted, this book is just shy of 1000 pages long, and I've been super busy with life stuff, but I like to move through the books a little faster than this. On the upside, this is the 30th book of 2012. This important since I vowed to read more this year than last year, and last year I read 30 books. I basically only need to read one more to beat last year. Of course, I'll be reading more than that in 2012.

I really liked this book. It takes place in the Middle Ages in England. It follows the family of Tom Builder, his allies, and their opponents over four decades. Priests, monks, earls, knights, kings, and craftsmen are all integral to this story, and the story involves lies, murder, rape, and any number of smaller offenses. Much of the story revolves around Prior Phillip's desire to have a large cathedral built at his priory, Kingsbridge. He initially hires Tom Builder to build it, but he was killed in a raid. His son, Alfred Builder, takes over, but his design collapses. After several years, Tom's disgraced stepson, Jack Jackson, returns to Kingsbridge and eventually builds a church like has never been seen in England. Although the book is long and a few passages about architecture get boring, it's an engaging read overall.

I was reading it at the hotel 2 weeks ago, and a guest mentioned that there was a mini-series based on the book. I looked it up last night after finishing the book and discovered that, sadly, the 8 part series is not on Netflix, Hulu, or YouTube. That's a little disappointing, but the book is probably better anyway.