fbpx

{reading} books like resolutions

My current reading life reminds me a little of New Year’s resolutions. I started the year off strong, with excellent books that I was excited about reading. Now, in mid-February, my enthusiasm has dwindled; I haven’t loved what I read as much as I did at the beginning of the year. Unlike resolutions though, I’ll definitely keep going–I know my next great read could be one book away. I’m an eternal book optimist.

There are a couple of books I read that I did really like, I just didn’t love them the way I did the ones I talked about last month.

{The Woman in the White Kimono by Ana Johns} This novel alternates between a present day story and one set in Japan in the 1950s. An American soldier falls in love with a Japanese woman, but family, culture, and timing make it nearly impossible for them to be together. While fiction, the novel was based on facts, so learning about Japanese culture during that time period was fascinating. That part of the story was engrossing and heart-breaking at times. I couldn’t get quite as invested in the parallel modern day story, mostly because there were too many loose ends left untied in my opinion. My rating: 3.5/5 stars.

The Woman in the White Kimono

{Peace Like a River by Leif Enger} Reuben Land, and 11-year old boy with severe asthma, narrates this story of his family as they travel across the Dakotas one winter in search of his fugitive brother Davy. While that plot carries the story along, it does so quietly and at a slower pace. The focus is on relationships; I loved the sibling bond between Reuben and his sister Swede, and the way the children looked up to their father, Jeremiah. Enger’s writing is beautiful, and I love the way he weaves the miraculous into the everyday. My rating: 3.5/5 stars.

Peace Like a River

Have you read any good books lately? 

Disclosure: this post contains affiliate links.