Pachinko

Pachinko by Min Jin Lee

Pachinko tells the story of multiple generations of a Korean family in the 20th century. There is somewhat of a rags to riches story as they rise from great poverty in Korea to respectability in Japan. However, it is not quite that simple. Koreans were looked down upon by the Japanese in both Japan and Korea. During the occupation, Koreans were treated poorly at home and at Japan. Afterwards, they were still not treated well. They were not Japanese, even though they lived for decades in Japan. As a young girl, Sunja was impregnated by an older married Korean from Japan (Koh Hansu). She didn't want to be a mistress and took up a pastor's offer to marry her. She moved with him to Japan where he had Korean expatriate family. Koh continued to keep an eye on the family and clandestinely helped them out - but the help often ended up being a faustian bargain with negative things happening. (For example, his son with the woman ran off and did well while posing as a Japanese. Once his family found out, he committed suicide.) The story goes through World War II and includes a family member getting harmed by the atomic bombs. The family builds up businesses, including Pachinko parlors. Some later generations are educated in America. However some of the relationships continue to haunt them. The characters lived through key events in modern Korean history as commoners. The characters have roots in Pyongyang, they live through World War II and the Korean War. However, they do not control the events nor have much active participation. They are just trying to live their lives. 

Deep River

Deep River: A Novel by Karl Marlantes

This book explores the history of a few related Finnish people who came to the Pacific Northwest around the turn of the 20th century. They were primarily attracted by the logging industry. It was a tough industry with hard work and serious chances of injury and death. Men were attracted to the income with some looking at the chance of going on their own. One woman was attracted with the possibility of organizing a large union to help the loggers. The book slowly goes through their experiences and struggles with the local impacts of widespread events like wards, union activities and prohibition. At times it has interludes describing events instead of having the characters live through them. Even so, the book is quite long and it can be difficult to tell the characters apart. The historical settings can almost be identified, but even parts of that have been fictionalized. The female union organizer gets a bit too much coverage, while I would like to see more coverage of the evolution of the society from rough-and-tumble to legitimate towns.

The Most Dazzling Girl in Berlin

The Most Dazzling Girl in Berlin by Kip Wilson

In Weimar Germany, queer clubs were popular and somewhat accepted. This book paints Germany as an LGBT Utopia that was only brought down by the rise of Hitler and Nazis. The book paints a picture of revisionist history that was extremely black and white. It feels like a revisionist Germany painted to look like the modern world. It is pretty short.

The Nightingale

The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah

During German-occupied France, two girls tried to live their lives. Their lives were changed with the Nazi occupation and gradually clamping down on rights. They work in different ways to help the resistance. They help guide allied soldiers to Spain to return home and also shelter Jews in their home. One is caught and spent time in a concentration camp. The book is told as flashbacks from the modern woman who is in poor health. She has not told her children much about her efforts or her the assumed name she had. Her son only learns when they are there to talk with others. This provides a bit of sentimentality towards a past life, even when it is something you would like ot have forgotten.

Tortoise's Tale

The Tortoise's Tale by Kendra Coulter

A tortoise lives a long time. This book tells California history through the eyes of a tortoise. The tortoise was captured and taken to an estate in Southern California. This area changed through the years. Music changes. We run into random historical figures and events (like RFK assassination.) The tortoise lives on. The use of the land changes. The tortoise lives on. At first it feels like a disney animal tale. Then it shifts to  It is a "Forest Gump" style history.

March: Pulitzer Prize Winner (A Novel)

March: Pulitzer Prize Winner (A Novel) by Geraldine Brooks

The book is set primarily during the time of the civil war. The lead is teacher and chaplain. They manage to interact with many historical figures at the time. (It does feel that they are just trying to have anyone possible appear.) The book is historical "fan fiction", exploring the life of the father in Little Women as he was off to war. He has various struggles as we tries to work with the system and maintain his moral values while away from home. There was nothing very special.

The Island of Sea Women: A Novel

The Island of Sea Women: A Novel by Lisa See

Rural Jeju island in Korea had a somewhat matriarchal society. The women served as divers where they would skin dive to harvest sea creatures for food. They would do this even when the waters were cold. Men would stay home and watch he kids. The book tells the story of an old woman who is now gathering algae on the beach. She is created by some young children who would like to hear her story. The old woman had lived through the Japanese occupation and the American / Soviet partition. There were great atrocities and massacres committed on the island. Fellow Koreans in power would shoot their countrymen out of fear of ideological differences.  Americans would often turn a blind eye. They would even restore Japanese collaborators to power to the chagrin of the others.

Much of the book is flashbacks into the early life of the old lady. She had many challenges, including the deaths of her mother and the near-death of a friend while diving. She had befriended a daughter of Japanese collaborator and ended her friendship after she failed to help save her during a massacre. Only at the end does she learn that the children seeing her were descendents of that friend. The collaborator woman had struggled through her life with the grief of not being able to help her friend. 

The book deals with a quest for forgiveness as well as the struggles of historical cultures in the face of modernity. What culture should be preserved and how should it be maintained?

Malinche: Una Novela

Malinche: Una Novela by Laura Esquivel

Since this was in Spanish, I found I had to listen to at 1.5 speed instead of my usual 3x. The book is ostensibly historical realism. It focuses on Malinche, a native Mexican who served as a guide and spouse of conquistador Hernan Cortes. She was part of a neighboring group that had no love for the Aztec leaders. However, in this story, she feels she is brought along for the ride. She is concerned that Cortes has took things too far as he has conquered Mexico for the Spaniards. This is primarily a vehicle for a tapestry of magical realism. There is plenty of great imagery, but not a lot of historically accurate details.

The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion: Vol. 3

The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion: Vol. 3 by Beth Brower

This third volume rebounded back to the heights of the first volume. The main "event" is the annual performance of Julius Caesar in the town. It is a big event, but shrouded in secrecy. There are a number of clues that must be obtained in order to procure tickets. However, in true British fashion it is best to pretend you are not interested in the tickets as you proceed. Emma's deadbeat cousin is very into the process, and even gets up early in the morning to attend church to get a clue. They have crazy adventures in the clue search which culminates in the deadbeat eating his ticket. Emma also attends some social events organized by her controlling Aunt, with plenty of bizarre social encounters. There is plenty of great humor here.

Punch with Judy

Punch with Judy by Avi

A boy is orphaned and ends up with a traveling troop. This includes a girl, Judy. They find themselves in trouble with the law. They try to reach the New York state line, but don't quite make it before the law catches up with them. However, by the time they are reached must of the crimes are irrelevant. (Judy got married and now has a different last name.) Only Punch, being an underage orphan is in trouble with the law. However, they hatch an agreement that he will be free if they make the authority laugh. They put on a show that will use a "slapstick" as part of the comedy. The stick will make a loud sound by not hurt. However, in the middle of the show, the "block" that makes it work comes out, and Judy ends up slapping Punch for real. All is good because the cops have cracked up and they are now free. They were a "real life" Punch and Judy show. The historical setting made it a bit hard to get into.

Flight of Dreams: A Novel

Flight of Dreams: A Novel by Ariel Lawhon

This historical fiction work brings to life a fictional account of the lives on board the final voyage of the hindenburg. Germany and the United States were not on great terms, thus the airshop used Hydrogen instead of Helium. It was a "nice" way to travel, but the initial novelty and exclusivity had worn off. People were together for a long time onboard the ship. Thus, there were plenty of times for machinations. The book details some family squabbles, affairs as well as desires to escape the Nazis. Here the cause of the crash is an American seeking revenge on a German. He was willing to shoot and destroy the whole airship as a way to avenge a death. There is a bit of drama in the book, though the actually crash feels somewhat anti-climatic.

My Friends: A Novel

My Friends by Hisham Matar

A man from Benghazi, Libya leaves home to go study in the UK. While there, a friend encourages him to go down to a protest at the Libyan embassy. They are shot at from within the embassy, and he survives a a significant chest shooting. This upends his life. He hides the details from his parents and spends time in London. He later transfers to a school there and keeps the details hidden to not risk he or his family's lives. He expects government spies to be present and eager to find out who the protestors were. He does not return home for decades. He does eventually get asylum in Britain and communicates with family. They don't learn the truth until much later. The book comes to a conclusion with the fall of Gaddafi and the Arab Spring.

The other "friends" involved include one that becomes a political activist and others that have seemingly more mundane lives with various challenges (like cancer). The book is an interesting look at Libyan and immigrants lives.

The Forty Days of Musa Dagh

The Forty Days of Musa Dagh by Franz Werfel, translated by Geoffrey Dunlop and James Reidel

This is a somewhat controversial story of the Armenian genocide at the hands of the Ottoman Turks. The Turks were working to assert their independence and control over the region. The Armenians were Christian and thus did not belong. They had also done some bad things. This novel primarily deals with a small population and their resistance. They were forced out of their land (often based on some past wrong.) There were people that had differing views of resistance. There were also some internal struggles over property rights - even among those that had no properties. The book portrays the Turks in a bad light, and thus with America trying to keep a middle eastern friend, the powers that be were willing to limit the production of a film based on the book. The book itself is very long and reads similar to those covering Jewish ghettos.

Rachel Dyer

Rachel Dyer by John Neal

This tale is presented as a "true story" of the horrors of the Salem witch trials. Some events are seen as proof of witchcraft. People are brought before authorities and forced to confess under duress. Some observe the problems with this and the conflict with telling lies to coerce a confession. Later somebody observes that there are problems with some of the "evidence" submitted regarding witchcraft. However, even reporting issues with evidence could leave to trouble. This book exposes the evil that can result with mass hysteria. While "witchcraft" may not be a problem today, there are plenty of other "evils" that can be taken out of hand and lead to personal downfall.

Love and Madness

Love and Madness by Herbert Croft

I was not feeling it for this book. It was primarily about a murder, but the part that stuck most was talk about a forgery. Somebody was seemingly a great forger. But his forgeries showed significant skill that indicated he may be quite talented as himself. It also provided an identification that he was murdered and did not take his own life. If he had been forging, he could have just made new documents when he ran into financial challenges rather than commit suicide. There are many "letters" that are provided before and after this that tell the story in this book.

Light Perpetual: A Novel

Light Perpetual: A Novel by Francis Spufford

During World War II, London was bombed heavily. This novel starts with the bombing of London that incinerated a number of people. then it goes to explore the lives of some of the people involved as if they were not killed. I missed out on the key change, and just saw the going forward of people living lives in future London.

Magic Tree House: Haunted Castle on Hallow's Eve, Summer of the Sea Serpent, Winter of the Ice Wizard

Magic Tree House: Haunted Castle on Hallows Eve, Summer of the Sea Serpent, Winter of the Ice Wizard by Mary Pope Osborne

These Magic Tree House books were more magical and less historical. I had trouble getting into any of these books.

Haunted Castle on Hallows Eve

They start to learn their magic at a haunted castle

Summer of Sea Serpent

They meet Kathleen and go on an adventure.

Winter of the Ice Wizard

They try to rescue Merlin and Morgan

Magic Tree House: Eve of the Emperor Penguin, Moonlight on the Magic Flute

Magic Tree House: Eve of the Emperor Penguin, Moonlight on the Magic Flute by Mary Pope Osborne

Eve of the Emperor Penguin

They go to Antartica and are about to go on an expedition up a tall mountain. However, the leaders discover they are kids and they need to be sent back to their parents. Instead they get into trouble and get trapped in an ice cave. They use magic to get out and communicate with penguins. The penguins offer a quite orphan to them. They offer this to Merlin to make him happy. This is not the best of stories in the series.

Moonlight on the Magic Flute

They go back to Austria to try to find an artist. They are sidetracked playing with a boy named Wolfie. I just want to nudge them to say "hey, that is probably Mozart!" Sure enough it was. Jack had a magic flute that he was able to play to help get them out of trouble. They later see that Mozart wrote a Magic Flute work named after it. This one was better than the penguin one.

Magic Tree House Collection, Books 33-35

Magic Tree House Collection, Books 33-35 by Mary Pope Osbourne

33: Carnival at Candlelight. They travel to Venice. It is carnival time. They are dressed in costume. They find an artist and help prevent the city from flooding.

34: Season of the Sandstorms. They travel to the middle eastern dessert and meet some Bedouins.

35: Night of the New Magicians. They are in Paris a century ago and see the Eiffel Tower and magicians.

These were fairly average books in the series, with nothing standing out.

Magic Tree House: Dogs in the Dead of Night, Abe Lincoln at Last!

Magic Tree House: Dogs in the Dead of Night, Abe Lincoln at Last! by Mary Pope Osborne, illustrated by Sal Murdocca

46: Dogs in the Dead of Night They go to the Swiss Alps to a monastery with Saint Bernard dogs. The magic goes extreme and they turn in to dogs to help train a tough dog. It works and the dog helps save a person.  

47: Abe Lincoln at Last The kids go back to see Abe Lincoln. First, the first him when he is present. They see a small kid and go along with his games even though they want to see the president. It turns out he is the president's son and can get them to see him. Then they use magic to see Lincoln riding. They meet some guy named "Sam" who says he can take them to Lincoln. Sam gets injured and they try to help him, but don't do it well. They later find out that he is a young Abe Lincoln. This book was fun and explored the life of Lincoln in a memorable way.