Recently, I realized I hadn’t been keeping track of my reading here like I used to. I’ve read so much and it’s hard to keep track. So today, I’m taking some time to look all the way back to September and some of the great reads I’ve come across. Some were brilliant, others made me reflective and all of them brought a new way of looking at things. That’s one of the things I love about reading. The chance to step into a new world or the mind of the author and see things differently. Sometimes I agree with what I’ve read, other times it’s just nice to see things from someone else’s point of view. I’ll always welcome an opportunity to say, “I never looked at it that way before.” Here are the books I read in September. In some way, they all left their mark on me.
This book is made up of 16 interwoven stories about the conflict between Chinese mothers and their American raised daughters. The story centers on one daughter, Jing-mei and her trip to China. After her mother dies, she takes her place in a weekly mahjong game her mother had started in China and revived when moving to San Francisco. The group is called the Joy Luck Club.
While filling in her mother’s spot, Jing-mei learns things about her mother that she never knew and begins to feel like she didn’t really know her at all. This is a common theme in all the other stories as well. While at these weekly games, Jing-mei learns that her mother has two other daughters that she was forced to leave behind when fleeing China. The women have been found and her mother intended to return for them but died before she was able. Now Jing-mei is being convinced to make the trip to meet half sisters who don’t know their mother is dead.
This is a really interesting read and gives a glimpse of what is lost when seeking something better, different. The stories all spoke of the benefits and drawbacks to immigrating to the States. The disconnect between mothers and daughters is definitely one of them. When one generation of your family doesn’t value your traditions in the same way and embracing other traditions more readily – it can cause a lot of mutual misunderstanding and resentment.
The Final Revival of Opal and Nev
Read this book!!!! This was remarkably written and so creative. This book covers race, music and family secrets over the course of five decades. It’s so much more than that though.
It’s told through the pen of a journalist named Sunny. She’s just been named editor in chief of a Rolling Stone type magazine and is the first African American in the role. She decides she’ll make her mark by writing a book length piece on an iconic, interracial rock duo of the past – Opal and Nev. Through her storytelling, we follow their rise and fall.
The duo are attempting to recreate the magic, decades later, for one last tour. Sunny, who happens to be the daughter of the drummer for the duo, is interviewing the group as they embark on their comeback. They are not aware of this when they agree to be interviewed by her. The backstory – Sunny’s father was killed defending Opal, during a racial riot at a concert. Also, he was having an affair with Opal. Plot. Twist.
While she’s interviewing them for this journey we get an in depth view at the history of this duo. How they came together, what their lives were like growing up, what led them to each other. Nev is from England and Opal is from Detroit. When they come together it’s magical. They hit so many pitfalls, it’s amazing they’re around to tell their story.The details in this book are so real that I had to keep checking to make sure this wasn’t a true story.
The author includes dates, historic events, song lyrics, editors notes, letters and footnotes that read like true life! The imagination, time and research that went into writing this book is phenomenal! A must read!
The story centers around a Korean teenage girl named Sunja and Pachinko parlors. Pachinko parlors are gambling halls that have a criminal element. Any wealth made there is looked at as dirty money.
Sunja is the daughter of a crippled fisherman who adores her. When he passes away, she helps her mother in a boarding house that they rent and run. Sunja falls for a wealthy stranger while doing laundry at the seashore. He makes grand promises about the kind of life he can offer her. Soon, she becomes pregnant and when she tells him, he’s happy. It’s soon revealed that he’s married and has a family in Japan. He says she can be his Korean wife and he’ll take care of her. She wants nothing to do with a married man.
She’s feeling foolish and like she’s disgraced her family. A sickly Pastor comes to the boarding house to stay on his way to Japan. He soon notices Sunja’s situation and offers to marry her and give the child his name. Her mother feels like this is too good to pass up – even though it means her daughter will be moving far away to Japan.
Sunja’s life in Japan is hard. It’s a completely different experience than what she’s used to at home. Koreans in Japan aren’t welcome and are easily discarded. Sunjya has to grow up quickly to be a wife and mother and eventually breadwinner in her family. The wealthy man who fathered her first child is keeping tabs on her and their child the whole time. It creates a lot of hard decisions for Sunja – many of which center around educating her children and keeping them out of the pachinko business. This was just made into a movie and is on Apple Plus.
August is 23 and running away to New York City for a fresh start. She’s from Louisiana and has floated to various universities looking for where she fits. She’s also trying to escape her mother who is a pseudo detective obsessed with one decades old case – a missing brother.
August enrolls in a new university, finds a job at a pancake diner and an apartment with an interesting mix of roommates and is ready to settle into this new life. What she didn’t plan for is falling for a random girl on a train. This isn’t some regular girl though. She’s Jane Su. She shows up everyday on the same train, in whatever car August hops on. It’s not a coincidence.
She and August had a connection on the train when August was a wreck. She’d fallen – hard – on the icy New York streets while running late to class and then spilling hot coffee on herself to top it off. Jane had pity on her and offered her scarf to keep her warm. That was enough to tether her to August.
Jane is a punk rocker from the 70s stuck in time. She’s stuck on the Q train and can’t get off. She and August end up spending a lot of time together on that train and eventually falling in love. Now August and her motley crew of friends have to figure out how to free Jane from this life on the train. If they can, will she stay in their decade or will she go back to her time, leaving August behind?
The Secret Lives of Church Ladies
Nine stories. Nine Black women. They show up, flaws and all to detail the sometimes complex relationship between the church and the Black community. The book opens with the story of two women who are lifelong best friends. They’re in their 40s and feeling like maybe they should be on the fast track to settling down. Well, at least one of the women feels that way.
At some point their friendship turned sexual. One of the ladies wants to move beyond friendship and the other wants to find and marry her good, churchgoing man and raise a family. Obviously, they are at a crossroads.
Another story tells of a middle school teacher who embraces therapy. No big deal, right? Well it’s still a big deal in communities of color and in the church. She’s trying to work her way through fears related to her mother. She’s struggling to allow herself to be loved as a result.
Then there’s the story of a girl coming to terms with her mother being the mistress of the Pastor. Her mother is cold toward her but makes a peach cobbler every week just for the Pastor when he visits for one of their trysts. She won’t allow her daughter to have any and won’t tell her how to make it. Her mother even goes so far as setting the daughter up to tutor the Pastor’s son at his home. Spoiler: It doesn’t end well.
There are no perfect people in this book. That’s exactly the point. There’s so much that goes on in the private lives of people. What we see is what they want us to see. People don’t showcase the things they struggle with or the things they fear won’t be accepted.
