Review: The Colony of Unrequited Dreams

The Colony of Unrequited Dreams by Wayne Johnston
My rating: 5 of 5 stars



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Review: The Best American Essays 2024

The Best American Essays 2024 by Wesley Morris
My rating: 5 of 5 stars



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Review: You & a Bike & a Road

You & a Bike & a Road by Eleanor Davis
My rating: 4 of 5 stars



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Review: Green Festival Reader

Green Festival Reader by Kevin Danaher
My rating: 4 of 5 stars



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Review 548: Rental House

Rental House by Weike Wang
My rating: 3.25 of 5 stars


A relatively short book about a marriage, about navigating life and in-laws. We meet them when they meet each other, their last year in college. Keru comes from an immigrant family from China, an only child. While Nate is from a poor white family he calls himself white trash. He amazed his family by getting a full scholarship into this ivy league school, it was unexpected.

Both sets of parents, particularly the mother’s have the same sort of discussions of most families: when will you have kids, when will you visit, why can’t you live closer to me? The issue of will they have kids comes up between Nate and Keru several times. Instead of child they have a dog which is a character in the book as well, Mantou.

A few thorny issues are here in the book, such as race, but this and political type issues are raised it felt very natural. It was pushed into the story, but part of what life is about.

 
The book is split into two parts, with a very short three-page interlude between. There are some paragraph breaks, but no chapters.

I did have a copy of the print book, but I listened to the audiobook. I liked the way the narrator stressed some of the words and sentences. Not sure I would have print read it in the same way, so it added another dimension to the story.

Review 547: Beyond the White House

Beyond the White House: Waging Peace, Fighting Disease, Building Hope by Jimmy Carter
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

With the recent passing of former President Jimmy Carter I figured it was a good time to read one of the books I’ve had sitting on my shelf for awhile unread. This book was a good introduction to the work Carter and his wife Rosaylnn has been doing through the past several decades, and it is remarkable work.

The first chapter is a bit of an eye opener at the state of the Carter’s affairs after leaving the President’s office. They had to remove themselves from his farming business during his term and what had been a lucrative business free of debt was now over $1million dollars in debt. So he was broke. Plus needed to raise funds for a Presidential library, and left the office as an unpopular person. He decided to not use his experience for an monetary gain, but instead to be benevolent or work in some non-profit way. This became the impetus for starting The Carter Center.

The Carter Center has several aims and goals, which basically come down to improving people’s lives, particularly in impoverished areas. The book covers some of the work they have been involved in since the founding of the center. It’s quite impressive.

The list is long: such as being mediators in war zone areas, preventing or stopping wars, overseeing and helping democracy in areas previously run by dictators, trying to eradicate the overlooked diseases in poor nations, not to mention human rights, women’s equality and much more. Due to the amount of work and the many different countries Carter has worked in, the book feels more like a summary instead of a detailed account.

Or course, this work was not done by Jimmy Carter alone. There were many people that helped, interns at the Center, doctors that lead the charge in helping with the diseases, and partnering with Emory University. But his name and position has helped tremendously in some areas and places, allowing him access where others would be denied, or it would take much longer to get to a point of talking with other leaders.

An informative book about a remarkable man. Too bad more ex-Presidents would take his lead as an example of what that clout can do. Thankfully Carter had a long life and was able to make a lasting change in many people’s lives.

Review 546: A Gesture Life

A Gesture Life by Chang-rae Lee
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Franklin Hota known as Doc Hota around the quaint town of Bedley Run is our main character. This novel is mainly a character study. A Korean-Japanese immigrant to the United States, now living in a small town in New York. He sets up a shop of selling medical supplies, which is how he became known as Doc. He always tells people he’s not a doctor, but they insist on the moniker.

He adopted a daughter, Sunny, and named his business after her, but the relationship had never been a good one. As the book continues Franklin reveals more of his life during the war, where he served as a medic in the Japanese forces. His unit didn’t see much action, but they did have comfort women.

The book is not fast paced. There are a few people he becomes friends in town, particularly a neighbor he had a relationship with for a few years, but overall he seems to be a lonely person. Some of this stems from his childhood, where his parents sent him to live with an adopted family to become Japanese.

I never got a clear view of his relationship to his daughter while she was growing up. There were few snippets of that time, and she seemed to be removed emotionally from him. But without more to go on, it was hard to get a good sense.

There is movement of the daily life and things that happen, but overall no real plot. The story is propelled by the revelations of his time during the war and what actually happened.

The language and writing style was well done. I had this book sitting on my bookshelves for well over twenty years, not sure why I waited so long.

I started reading my print book. Around 40% through the book I wanted to read it faster, and sometimes I have more time to read via audio. I found the audiobook at my local library and finished the last 60% in a two days, where the first part took about a week. 

Review 545: The Note

The Note by Alafair Burke
My rating: 3.75 of 5 stars

Enjoyed this more than I thought I would. A mystery, thriller type book. Three long-time friends get together in person, in the Hamptons for the first time in person after the pandemic. They are the cancelled crew, each found themselves in the midst of a scandal that went viral in the past few years.

The main character is May Hanover, we get her point of view for over a third of the book, when it suddenly shifts and shows other character points of view. That was jarring.

The three now are trying to keep a low profile after going viral. For May it was a video where she became known as the Asian Karen, yelling mistakenly at a black man. Lauren is older than the other two friends, but seem to have been the glue to reuniting them all. Her scandal involved a married man who had influence to get her the job as the music director of the Houston Symphony and race plays into this as well. Then there’s Kelsey who’s husband she was divorcing was murdered. The suspect has not yet been found, and of course she was one of the main suspects, but has a solid alibi.

On this Hampton trip they find themselves involved in a mystery of a missing man.

There's more to this book than on first glance.