How to be an American Housewife by Margaret Dilloway

How to Be an American Housewife

This is the story of a Japanese woman who married an American soldier after the end of the Second World War. She then came to the US with him and raised two children. She follows a book called How to Be an American Housewife that was written to help Japanese brides with the culture of a different country. So, punctuated through the book are the excerpts from the guidebook. 

The book was in two halves and each part narrated by a different person - mother and daughter. In the second half of the book, the daughter goes to Japan to visit her relatives. While the book was a cute story, that was it, just someone's life story of moving to America from Japan. The book was meant to be fiction, but it was so close to the real story of the author, that it was more an autobiography.

Olive Ketteridge by Elizabeth Strout

Olive Kitteridge

This book was originally a collection of short stories that was then put together as a book. But in my opinion, it didn't work as the stories didn't flow into one story and stayed a little disjointed. The only flow through the whole book was Olive, no one else appeared more than once. By the end of the book you did get a feeling for the small town in which she lived, but it was still not my favorite kind of book. I mainly disliked the book because the main character, Olive Kitteridge, was just not a nice person.

The Orchard: A Memoir by Theresa Weir

The Orchard: A Memoir

Theresa Weir (who also writes as Anne Frasier) has written many successful books, but The Orchard is her life story. It's a story of a family farm and the use of pesticides on that farm. It was a fairly quick, easy read, but haunting. After I finished the book my mind was still on that farm, my thoughts directed to the story I had immersed myself in for the previous week. I can't say it was a pleasant read, or even that I enjoyed reading it, but it was certainly educational. 

I really like her writing style, and although I don't usually read the type of books she writes, I would love to read more from this author. My only criticism of the book is that it was a little short and I would have liked more detail. I could tell, however, that the author's emotions were very much in this book and she did say in the front cover that it took her a long time to write.

Where are you now? by Mary Higgins Clark

Where Are You Now?

This was not a typical book club book, but more of a summer reading book. Carolyn's brother disappeared 10 years ago, but every year he phones home on Mother's Day. Finally Carolyn decides to solve the mystery.

This was the first Mary Higgins Clark book I had read and my friends in book club said it was not typical of her writing, and that they had read books by her that they had liked better than this one. It's not really a book I would recommend as I got a little confused with the people in the plot and especially by the ending.

The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka

The Buddha in the Attic

The way this book was written was, well, different. I thought it was just the introduction, but the whole book is written in the same tone. The book tells the story of many Japanese women who came to the United States as picture brides, got married, had children and then left to go to the Japanese camps when the Second World War broke out. There are no names mentioned, and it is not the story of anyone in particular, but many.

Within book club we discussed the forced removal of the Japanese people and the fact that many of us weren't even told about it in school.

Here's another book discussing the same forced removal of Japanese people that we discussed in book club. Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet

Say You're One of Them by Uwem Akpan

Say You're One of Them

What attracted me to this book was the fact the stories were told by children. It is a collection of 5 stories that take place in Africa. So as I read the book for book club, I also read it aloud to my 10 year old. That was a mistake. The stories were full of very graphic violence that even I couldn't stomach. 

I admit I don't know much about the political scene in Africa with the fighting in Kenya, Rwanda, Nigeria and Ethiopia. I didn't even know where they were situated on a map! But the book didn't make me care for the people in those countries, it just repulsed me that the violence was more severe than I had ever come across previously. 

The week we discussed the book in book club, there was a really low attendance. I think because most people didn't like it, or didn't finish reading it. For those of us who were there, after we had all registered our disgust, one lady commented, "Well I really liked the book." I'm glad we don't all have the same opinion, because that's what really makes us human. 

I listened to some stories on the CD, and for some reason that wasn't obvious to me, the stories were in a different order. 

Dear Mad'm by Stella Walthall Patterson

Dear Mad'm (Women of the West)

This is the story of Stella Patterson who, in her 80s, decided to live in the wilds of California for a year. She did just that and wrote this book about her adventure. Everyone in book club loved the book because I think we are all wild at heart, but a little too afraid to do what Stella Patterson did. 

The book was too brief, and left us with too many unanswered questions like, what did she do after her year in the wilderness? I would have liked more details about her adventure. So I'm very pleased to see someone has done some research and produced the following book, which I have yet to read:

Dear Mad'm, Who Was She?