Peachy Reads

This book received a lot of attention in the library several years ago, was featured as a popular book club choice, but was one I never personally got around to reading.  Now that the buzz has faded, I found that the eBook version was recently available from the library, so I checked it out to satisfy my curiosity. The subject is a compelling one.  Henry, who is Chinese American, meets Keiko, an American-born Japanese, and their friendship represents an unlikely bridge between two cultures.  Being Asian in 1940s Seattle was difficult enough, but being of Japanese descent was even more difficult when Executive Order 9066 dictated the forced evacuation of Japanese Americans to internment camps in the interior of the country.  Henry’s story is told in flashback mode—we first meet him in 1986 as an adult who has just lost his wife to cancer.  One day he walks by the Panama Hotel in former Japantown and learns that the basement holds suitcases and boxes of keepsa...

What could be more civil than a dinner among family at a highly-rated restaurant where the plates come out of the kitchen looking like works of art and the waiter describes the culinary creations in exquisite detail, pointing out the featured ingredients with his perfectly manicured pinky finger? As the courses are served, a horrible family secret gradually comes to light until an almost unimaginable ending is revealed. Paul is an unreliable narrator, so it isn't clear that his stories all ring true, and the reader is left wondering if he really is the monster that is suggested. No doubt there is a character flaw shared in his immediate family, an apparent genetic predisposition to violence and a cold removal from normal human compassion (reminding me a little of Patricia Highsmith’s character Tom Ripley).  I liked Paul's snarky tone at first, but then realized that he wasn't what he first appeared to be. This book came out a couple years ago.  Since my conscious deci...

A modern day Jack the Ripper is the subject of the third installment of the Cormoran Strike detective series. Definitely darker than the first two novels, it is nevertheless a worthy addition to the franchise (if you can stomach the violence and gore).  Cormoran and Robin’s professional footing is tested and her relationship to fiancé Matthew continues with its ups and downs.  Though the last scene is a wedding in Yorkshire, it has more than a hint of “The Graduate” with Strike stumbling in at the last moment.  We’ll have to wait until the next installment to see how this loose end is resolved.