Yakuza Moon: Memoirs of a Gangster's Daughter by Shoko Tendo

I read this book in one go; considering I have never done that before, it says a lot for the intensity and breathtaking reality of the memoir. Though relatively short, it packs a powerful punch, an amazing debut. I was drawn into her story until I felt I was a part of it. The essence of a good writer is to be able to make that connection between reader and character, and Shoko Tendo has certainly done that. Way out of my usual genres, I was completely absorbed in her heart-wrenching memoir, an emotional rollercoaster told in a straight-forward, no-holds-barred manner. In the version I read, photos and a foreword have been added to the original publication. These contributed to the personality of Shoko.

Unfamiliar as I am with yakuza society (somewhat like a Japanese mafia), this book brought me into lifestyles I knew nothing about; I also learned to see a tattoo as a complete work of art, which in Japan it truly is. These tattoos are full-body canvases, extremely detailed and historical art. Shoko was the middle child in a family of three girls and a boy, her father a yakuza, in a life of plenty. Fearful of her father's rages, bullied at school, discriminated against and insecure, Shoko's lifestyle had already begun to change at the tender age of twelve when her older sister took her to a club and passed her off as 18. The next several years of her life are spent in drugged out sex, used and abused. When all goes wrong at home, her father resigns as a yakuza and is pursued by yakuza loan sharks. Shoko falls into the trap of one man, a former friend of her father. His false promises to help her father with his financial problems and his Jeckyl and Hyde personality drags her deep into his net. Misguided in what is expected of her, she sinks deeper and deeper.

Shoko does not try to lecture in her book, but is faithful to her memories. She does not dwell on her situation but writes with an honesty and thoroughness that through her worst times I could feel the disassociation she finally reaches. Intense, poignant, numbed and broken, she lays it all on the line. Her emergence from this darkness is wonderful to read and shows the strength of her true character. This memoir is a real eye-opener of horrendous abuse and the intimidation that denies escape. Exceptionally well-written for a debut. I highly recommend this book.

The Sky Rained Heroes: a Journey from War to Remembrance by Frederick E. LaCroix

This is a true story of two families, American and Japanese, and the fateful moment in WWII when they literally met head on. One lived, one died. At the beginning, I found this book to be a bit of a disappointment as far as the basis of the story goes. There is little said about the actual event of returning the Japanese flag to the descendants I was expecting. Rather, this event in the first half of the book felt more like an episode running in the background. I was mistaken in my judgement. It is a well-meaning story, certainly informative, and written in a consistent manner albeit switching time and location. This does not seem to hamper the flow.

Putting my erroneous perception aside, what we have is a very well-researched and constructed history of Japan and China, dynasties, culture, and methods and thought processes in the training of their military, written in verbose prose. I have not read so many convoluted words in a sentence since I retired from working for professors and typing manuscripts. I often use these overblown words of an earlier style myself, but rarely find it in books written today. This could deter some readers from carrying on, but it is well worth reading even if you might need an older dictionary alongside.

We also have a very well-researched history of American culture, approach to the war, and the training and thought processes of the military of the time. It is amazing to me that they were so far behind technically in 1939 and I got a new slant on why they entered the war so late. The speed at which they trained and improved is amazing. The use of personal letters, written home by the author's father, was brilliant, and definitely picked up the pace. I learned so much about the making of an American fighter pilot in these chapters, more personal and real to me than in other books.

The letters must be taken in the context of the time. The arena is the war in the Pacific. LaCroix has interspersed them with his research into each event or series of events, and this is where the original concept begins to take form and grows right to the end of the book. Some fascinating coincidences appear throughout the book, adding more personality. The author has invested time and self in the construction of a story before, during, and after the historic and disastrous meeting of the two men, Japanese and American. The reverberations of this event have affected both families an ocean, indeed a world apart. I felt that the final chapters of the book were very comforting and a fitting closure, and the Afterword is personal and enlightening.

Rich with historical research, there are many cites as endnotes. I chose to view these after reading the book as I didn't want to interrupt the flow. I believe this book has a lot to offer the reader.

It Can Happen to You by Lynn Crymble

A very unique style of writing in this debut novel. At first I had a feeling as though I were reading a screenplay, then thought it was more like a voice-over on a TV show for the blind. I will say I found it a bit unnerving originally, but the style remained consistent and I think it was important for the author to give the reader a feel for the character in the early part of the book in order to see the changes in her character later. For that alone, this reader felt a connection with Penny, the main character, which continued to grow.

A woman who has gone through life without really living it for herself is about to undergo many changes, some planned and directed, while other changes have been waiting in the wings, so to speak, for Penny to discover, and discover she does. Not only that, she grasps life and runs with it. As the plot went along I was drawn in and rooting for her toward the end. There are some humorous highlights in the book, as she fights to remain who she has been for so many years. Married to a much older man who is a philanderer is great fodder for a writer but the author chooses not to allow it to play a major part and it remains pretty much ignored by Penny. This is important to the cocoon she has built for herself. She has insulated herself to the point that she doesn’t even realize she has.

The subject and style are not the easiest for a debut, but the author has presented a smooth and compelling piece. My first impressions were blown away the more I read. It takes talent to build the framework of a fictional life and I felt I really knew this person. There are several characters in the book, all well-defined, individual, and focused (with the exception of Penny, who is definitely focused by the end of the book). I must give credit to Haggis, the Irish Wolfhound, a real hero and the prime mover to get Penny out of her rut. I think we could all do with a Haggis in our lives! Great job, Lynn! I enjoyed my trip into Penny’s life.

The African Queen by C.S. Forester

What can I really say about the book The African Queen that isn’t already well-known as an award-winning movie? Originally published in 1935, this exceptional book was fairly closely reproduced in the movie in 1951 with relatively minor changes, the most obvious being that the main male character, Charlie Allnutt, was (and is) written as a Cockney character, whereas Humphrey Bogart, who played the role, was unable to carry this accent off and the character was rewritten. The time period of the story is the WWI-era in what is now called Tanzania. This book is a wonderfully exhilarating and inspiring story of faith, craftsmanship, relationship and adventure; a veritable roller-coaster ride.

The characters are very consistent in their growth and change, and Rose, the missionary’s sister left alone in Central Africa when her brother dies, shows her true spunk, tenacity and passion previously hidden in the type of life she had led in the past. Allnutt also grows in creativity, strength of character, and realization of self. The combination is volatile, electric, and passionate by turns and the interaction plays out well. Rose’s determination to “do her part for the Empire” so to speak, clashes with Allnutt’s wish to remain alive. He knows the rivers and the delicate condition of his boat, African Queen. He also is aware that nothing except a canoe has ever even attempted to go down the miles of rapids and cataracts she is proposing to do in order to reach Lake Wittelsbach. This is where the German gunboat Konigin Luise is patrolling to keep the British from gaining access to the German colony in Central Africa. Her proposal includes the destruction of this vessel.

Allnutt eventually agrees and with his engineering experience and handyman abilities, he decides that he after all can create torpedoes from items at hand. So begins the adventure of a lifetime. Malaria, torrential rains, lightning most nights, mosquitoes, flies and other insects in vast clouds around them, and damage to the boat, nothing gets in the way of their determination. I absolutely loved this book, the action, drama, excitement, and character was so complete, I almost felt myself running the rapids with them. Having loved the movie, I was surprised and delighted to find that the book had been reissued in 2006 and immediately purchased it. I am so glad I did. Once you get used to the cockney wording when Allnutt speaks, it reads beautifully. Adventure is definitely the most obvious, but the evolution of the characters is marvelous! I highly recommend this book for all the above reasons.

A Promise of Hope: The Astonishing True Story of a Woman Afflicted With Bipolar Disorder and the Miraculous Treatment That Cured Her

The author: Autumn Stringam. I reviewed this book in 2006 and posted a short version of my full review. Still based on the proof I read than the final publication, I thought this book was worthy of posting the full review:

This book brings the reader inside the mind of a Bi-Polar Disorder patient in her own words. All the chaos, highs, lows, delusions, anger, and deep depression are felt in a way that could not ever be accurately described by anyone who has not lived the story. Autumn Stringam has lived the story. The depth of the urge to suicide is indelibly written. It is told with no holds barred in the still voice that is often seen in trauma victims describing what has happened to them. A distance that makes the story very compelling and true. There is nothing asked of us other than to believe the story and what it means. No requirement to sympathize with the writer for what she has gone through.

We see her life with her mother’s undiagnosed bi-polar swings and final suicide through a child’s eyes, never dreaming that the same terrors would one day be hers. The illness does not surface until she is an adult and married. From this point on, we travel through her own mind, while at the same time she finally begins to understand her mother. The family once again suffers the same fate as her younger brother also is diagnosed. There seems to be nothing to live for because nothing, no treatment yet used, could do more than remove them from a life into a stupor from which they dare not try to emerge.

Her father begins a quest to find a way to help his children in a way that he had not been able to save his wife. All he wants is for them to be safe. A chance meeting with an animal nutritionist eventually leads to trying a new way, a nutritional concoction of vitamins and minerals, based on the formula for quieting aggressive hogs, “tail biters”. Over the next few years we journey through the miraculous recovery of the siblings. Indeed, both now lead healthy and productive lives.

There are agonizing legal battles to get the product approved. The futile fights with the Canadian government are spelled out completely and succinctly and made me want to join in the fight! I can see it exactly as if I had lived it. I would strongly recommend this book for a number of reasons. For understanding of the bi-polar progress, for the discovery and preliminary trials to improve on any new medical discovery, and for how difficult it is to bring government acceptance of alternative medicine for many illnesses, are three main reasons. This is a real life, Autumn lived this life and tells the truth as it is, plain and simple, with suspense as to what will happen with the discovery, and the final outcome. Read it, you will be glad you did.

The Library Paradox by Catherine Shaw

This book is interesting in that it is a work of fictional mathematical mystery. That said, it is a murder mystery with a substantial history of the Jewish community, particularly in East London, in the 19th century. Catherine Shaw has done a great deal of research into this time period. Here we have a heroine very much ahead of her time, Vanessa Weatherburn, a young mother of two toddlers who is also an amateur detective. Fans of Anne Perry’s Charlotte Pitt series will relate to this character who has an ability to mix and mingle while collecting information.

The Library Paradox is not just the title of the book, it is an actual mathematical paradox concerning a catalogue of catalogues. In this case, the book title also represents the fact that the murder took place in a library and paradoxically no one could have done the crime. The murder victim is a fiercely, almost insanely anti-Semitic professor of high standing. With no witnesses to the actual murder but 3 witnesses to the aftermath and one person on the walkway heading the other direction when the shot was heard, no amount of tests of timing could put any of them on the spot at the exact moment of the shooting. The professor himself had an exceptional number of enemies, and therein lies the dilemma of discovering a suspect.

In the course of events, many real crimes against Jews are mentioned, including the Dreyfus Affair, famous in French history, and it is soon discovered that the professor had a hand in the conviction of two Jews in the "ritual" murder of an 11 year old boy, James Wilson. There are several seemingly unrelated issues throughout the book, but it holds itself together. The segments pertaining to tracking down an elderly rabbi, or rebbe as the Hasidic community refers to him, is quite entertaining in an odd way. Did I like the book? Yes, I enjoyed it enough that I would read another of Catherine Shaw’s books, but I personally felt it was a little dragged out in spots, particularly at the beginning, but it took all my attention once the actual drama began. Still, I recommend it for its adventures into a time and place we do not often hear about, and for a sound and satisfying mystery.

A Ghost of a Chance by Elizabeth Eagan-Cox

The first in the Shannon Delaney Paranormal Mystery Series; as one might expect there is time given over to the introduction of the main characters of which there are quite a few. I’ll be interested to watch further developments in later books. Solving a mystery that is over 130 years old may seem a daunting task, but interesting, especially when the mystery involves a famous magician, his old mansion and mysterious chest, handsome descendants, and a psychically sensitive heroine.

Working as a team, five main characters try to determine what happened to Eric Blackthorne, the magician of over 130 years ago; did he just disappear or was he really murdered? The story builds throughout the book as the team resurrect clues from varying sources. The excitement of discovery and meaning of each clue is contagious to the reader. Not least of the clues appear to come to Shannon in the night. Is she dreaming them or are they manifestations? Is there a ghost helping her? and are the hilarious appearances in the night truly clues? All these questions come to bear on the case and play their role in the mystery. I loved the author’s wily way of incorporating not only clues but humor in the mix! The story flows well, the discoveries of the past weave through the present day smoothly and build the reader’s interest. Hints of jealousy and romance appear throughout the story, and it seems to end with a promise of more about to blossom with the continuation of the series, but not without its complications.

I really enjoyed this first book and look forward to the growth of the series. I am definitely hooked on Shannon’s dreams! The cast of characters form a unique alliance, too. Once the first characters were established the book took off and took over, leaving me reading almost straight through at one go. Easy to read, strange quirks to throw us off balance, glimpses of life of the rich and of early San Diego, two families tied together in mutual interest in the case, all make for an effortless but exciting journey through a very “cold case”!