The Piano Teacher by Janice Y. K. Lee

This was our book club pick for January and it was another great find. The Piano Teacher is set in two separate time periods that are intertwined and trade off the narrative as the story progresses. The title character is Claire Pendleton, a newly married Englishwoman who relocates with her husband, Martin, to Hong Kong in 1952. There, after taking a job as a piano teacher to a wealthy Chinese family, the Chen’s, she meets Will Truesdale, their chauffer. As she and Will become closer, parts of Will’s past start to come out and it becomes evident that there is more to Will than meets the eye. It is Will who is the focus of the story told in 1941. There, also fresh off the boat to Hong Kong, he meets Trudy Liang, a beautiful and wealthy girl of mixed race, she’s half Portuguese and half Chinese. These two characters make for an interesting juxtaposition; mixed race people are usually looked down upon and slighted, however Trudy’s wealth allows her entrance into many places she would not otherwise be welcome. This was a tumultuous time, World War 2 was underway and everyone was impacted, especially Hong Kong, which came under Japanese rule. I love historical fiction in general, so I really enjoyed this book. It moves at a good clip and the stories, while not perfect, are intertwined nicely.

Been Here a Thousand Years by Venezia Mariolina

Been Here a Thousand Years follows the Falcone family over several generations. We are first introducted to Don Francesco Falcone, a powerful man who has six daughters with his mistress, Concetta, before she finally bears him a son. These women and their children are really the heart of this story. This story is mostly told through Gioia, the fifth-gernation Falcone through stories she heard over and over again as a child. Venezia paints a vivid picture of the Italian countryside and also deftly interweaves bits of Italian history into the story. This book was originally published in Italy and this is a translation; obviously I didn’t read the original but I do not feel like anything was lost in translation. It’s a powerful and moving story.

Amazon Kindle

This won’t be my typical book write up review, instead I’ve decided to review my new Kindle. This is the type of device that I would swear was invented with me in mind. I love to read, and I read fact. Because of that, I always take several books with me on vacation so I won’t run out of good reading material. Unfortunately, that leads to a lot of extra weight in my baggage, especially for a long trip. Enter the Kindle – I got it for Christmas and while it won’t replace the library for everyday reading, it’s already making my life easier for travel. I can take 10 books along with me in the same space as just one! That to me is just amazing. The Kindle isn’t perfect though, it can take up to ½ second to turn the page; not a lot of time, no, but still noticable. Also you can’t share books on the Kindle, which is, in my opinoin, the biggest downside. From what I understand of the competition, the Nook from B&N allows lending of books – while you lend it out, you cannot read it. That is an acceptable compromise to me, sicne if I lent out a real book, I couldn’t read it either. I am really hopefully that Amazon will jump on that bandwagon sooner rather than later. That said, I don’t know if I’d buy one for myself – I love it, don’t get me wrong, but it’s still pretty pricey at $259. which is why I’m happy mine was a gift – all the goodness, none of the guilt. If you’re like me, definitely consider the investment, or get someone to invest in one for you.