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| The Woman in the White Kimono |
Recently, one of the bloggers I follow, Lady Ella (her blog is a private one, so I won't post a link) had posted a review of a book she had read. She writes excellent book reviews! Based on her review, I recommended the book to my daughter, who loves all things Japanese. Then, I checked my library's online catalog. My neighborhood branch library didn't have a copy, but, the City's library system had several copies in other branch library locations; I put in a hold request on July 5 and asked that a copy be sent to my neighborhood branch library for me. A week later, on Wednesday, July 12, the library emailed me to notify me that the item I had requested was waiting for me at the branch library.
M was here on Wednesday morning, tending to the garden, but, Wednesday afternoon, I went to the library! It was the first time I had been to the library since the the pandemic and the first lockdown! I had driven to the library's parking lot to drop off my mail-in voter ballots, on a couple of occasions, but, I had not gone inside the building. I went in wearing my mask, went directly to the holding shelves located in the "reading area" with newspapers and magazines, picked up my book, checked it out, and was out of the building in about 5 minutes! I was not brave enough to browse in the stacks on this visit, although I was tempted to grab a few magazines that were right there, below the holding shelves. But, I might browse a bit when I go to return the book.
The book...First of all, I generally prefer non-fiction to fiction and when I do read fiction, I prefer historical novels (and love stories by a couple of favorite authors, both of whom are now dead!) Having said that, I came home from the library, sat down to read, and read until I had to stop reading because my eyes hurt from crying! I had read about 2/3 of the book by then. I had a few other things to do on Thursday and the book sat unread. But, I finished reading it on Friday.
I am not good at writing book reviews and have never been in a book club, but, I really enjoyed reading this book. It is a story (apparently based on several true stories) of two women, connected through their very different relationships with one man and family secrets. There are two narrators, one of whom is in 1957/58 Japan and the other in present day America, until the very end of the book, when they are both in present day Japan. But, there are parts of the story that could have been set anywhere else in the world at just about any time, even in the present day. The story really resonated with me for one reason or another.
I don't want to give away the plot, but, if you think you might want to read this story, I found it to be a very engrossing book, although, by no means "light reading". Apparently, it is the author's first novel; I think it was very well researched and on the whole very well written, too. Yes, I recommended it to my daughter. She was unable to locate it in her local branch library, but, she is planning to look for it at the main library.
Thank you, Lady Ella, for reviewing this book and getting me interested in reading it, too, And, yay me for taking a trip to the library, at long last!
Thank you for the recommendation. I went straight to my Libby app and put a hold on this book.
ReplyDeleteI hope you enjoy the book, Anne. I'd love to hear what you thought of it afterwards. :)
DeleteHow lovely that you enjoyed the book so much. There is nothing like a good book.
ReplyDeleteI haven't been to the library in ages. I am trying so hard to get through books I have at the house so I can declutter some. I have waaayy too many.
Hope you are having a good weekend.
Thank you, Sharon. It's been a while since I last read a book that I enjoyed as much!
DeleteI, too, need to get through the books on my shelves. I don't have many novels among them, though. I've stopped buying books, so, nothing new is coming in. :)
Oh wow, this sounds like a very good book! I'm so glad you got to pop into the library again!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed the book, Mandy. I used to go to the library at least once a week, sometimes twice, because there was a library branch near my office, as well. And I used to go to the adjoining city's library, too, as I had a card for that library, as well! Then came Covid and the lockdown and I stopped going to the library. I might start going more often, again. :)
DeleteThat's nice that you really enjoyed the book and yay to being brave enough to visit the library.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Eileen. I missed going to the library and look forward to going back more often. :)
DeleteI use an online library service. I have just been able to read a sample, and if I want, I can reserve this book. It looks fascinating!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading this book, Angela. If you read it, let me know what you think of it. :)
DeleteI'm glad your were comfortable enough to venture out to your library.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like your book was wonderful. It is so enjoyable to get really wrapped up in a book isn't it?
I read a lot (mainly fiction) and have read some very enjoyable books this year and used the library for all of them. The library transfer system is like book shopping for free. lol
Thank you, Debra. Yes, I am finally starting to venture out a little bit. Our Covid testing positivity rate has increased to over 6% (it was under 3% a couple of months ago), so I'm taking calculated risks! But, if I can put a book on hold, then, the actual time in the library is rather minimal and there is an outside book drop, if I don't want to go inside to return the book.
DeleteIt's been a long time since I read a book I've enjoyed as much. Maybe, if you have the time, you can suggest a couple of the books you've enjoyed reading and I can look for them in my library?
Nothing like a good book that grabs you. I put this on my list for when I'm ready for an emotional ride. I'm not always in a mood for that. Libraries are wonderful resources, and it's wonderful that you popped in again. Have you considered electronic books? You can check those out from the comfort of your home.
ReplyDeleteI hope you will enjoy the book once you decide you are ready to read it. I'm not sure if everyone will find it to be quite as emotional as I did, but, parts of the story really resonated with me.
DeleteI fully agree with you that libraries are wonderful resources. I used to work (part time) in one when I was at college and I used to go the library regularly, at least once a week, prior to covid. I have tried electronic books a couple of times, but, didn't like it that much (I was trying to read them on my old cell phone which had a tiny screen; I haven't tried reading them on my laptop). Maybe something to consider trying again. :)
I see that this book is available in one of our local libraries so I will look out for it when I'm ready for a new book.
ReplyDeleteI hope you will enjoy reading it, Bushlady. I certainly did! :)
DeleteI will reply to your email separately, but glad that the library trip went well, and that the book hit the spot for you. There is a lot to think about for sure. You really went through the wringer! In fact, it sounds as if it meant much more to you than it did to me. I too usually favour non-fiction but lately I have begun exploring more fiction and enjoying it. I hope that, if your daughter gets hold of it, she enjoys it too. (I assume you have warned her about the sad bits!)
ReplyDeletePS Let me know when she starts, as there is a quote I want to try to locate, which I haven't been able to find by browsing!
Thank you, Lady Ella; it felt good to go to the library, again! In fact, I've requested two more books, "Empress of the Nile" by Lynn Olson and "On the Curry Trail" by Raghavan Iyer (neither of which are currently available) to be put on hold for me.
DeleteThe same book can affect us differently, based on our own experiences; this particular story really touched me.
I will definitely let you know when she starts reading the book, but, it might not be for a couple of weeks, at least. In the meantime, I still have the library book and, if you wish, I'd be happy to look for the quote for you.
Enjoy your other books when you get them! Nice to be able to get back into reading/library visits after so long.
DeleteYes, different books affect different people in different ways, and the same book can also affect the same person differently, depending on when they read it. Same with films; I find myself responding differently to books and films, and finding different things in them, now, compared with, say 20 years ago. I am still thinking about re-reading TWITWK now, as I am in a very different state of mind than I was three months ago... I think I missed a lot.
Thank you for finding that quote! I will email you about it later (or soon!) as I had some more thoughts about it. In fact, when I saw it again I remembered why I wanted to go back to it. Yes, my edition is different from yours but as you included the chapter number I was able to find it easily by re-reading that chapter. :o) I shall definitely forgive you about the oleander!
Oh, and I don't think you are "not good" at book reviews; you summarised well - I would say better than I did.
Thank you for forgiving me about the oleander! :D
DeleteThank you, too, for saying that I summarized the book well - I didn't want to give away too much about the plot in case others wanted to read it, too.
By the way, I requested a third book from the library! The East Indian by Brinda Charry. There are several copies available, so, I anticipate I'll be able to pick up a copy fairly soon.