I love the bittersweet feeling as you are finishing a great book, when you finally find out the answers you have been waiting for….and you can’t stop turning the pages to put all the pieces together, and if you are lucky you even get a happy ending… but then you are done, and a bit sad, because you have completely enjoyed the story and characters and the book is finished. This is how I felt about Jamie Fords book, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet. This was an amazing love story…of first love…that took place during World War II. The story is about a young Chinese/American boy, Henry Lee and a Japanese/American girl Keiko Okabe during a time of great prejudice against the Japanese. During this time in America the Japanese were rounded up and sent to internment camps, taken from their homes and their lives. Keiko goes through this ordeal with her family and thousands of other Japanese and Japanese Americans. I learned about a new side of the war in this book and was also immediately drawn to the characters and the story. I highly recommend this book.

Buy Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet

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Philippa Gregory and her stories of the Kings and Queens of England are truly 0ne of my favorite time periods to read about and her newest book does not disappoint.  This is the story of 3 brothers who turn against each other in order to obtain the throne of England that they each believe is rightfully theirs. It is amazing to see how people/family react and the choices they make to get what they truly feels belongs to them.  Family betrayal is one of the most shocking betrayals and most difficult to understand. In addition to the war between the brothers, there is the story of the newly crowned “White Queen” , Elizabeth Woodville.  She is an average citizen, who catches the eye of the young King and becomes his wife, and the Queen of England, and as you can imagine this upsets many. The story is actually written from Elizabeth’s point of view so really it is her story.

As in her other books you will find many similar themes…the urgency to produce an heir to the throne, warring sides of those who also want to be King, the daily court life, the gossip and sabatage of the times and of course the enemies and allies, who is on your side and who can be trusted. In this story the enemies and allies are constantly flipping and changing so trust is a difficult to achieve, and the people never quite know where they stand and who is standing with them. These familiar themes are exactly what continue to pull you into her books. This book , like the others is also a novel however written as factual as possible based on the research  from the time. This book begins in the Spring of 1464 and takes us through Spring of 1485.  This is the author’s earliest time period so far and  the record keeping of this time period is more difficult to distinguish compared to more recent years. Ms. Gregory has had to fill in some of the blanks more so in this book then some of her others.

As you can tell I loved this book and highly recommend it. The best news of all is that this book is the first in her newest series so I will be anxiously awaiting her next book.

Buy The White Queen: A Novel (Cousins’ War)

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