Makai by Kathleen Tyau
The author caught my eye. She grew up on Oahu but now lives in Oregon. Her book follows the life of Alice Woo who grows up in Hawaii. She goes to Priory for school and meets her best friend Annabelle. Together, they survive the attack on Pearl Harbor, fall in love and grow apart. This is a true family story and most of the plot involves poor Alice living in the shadow of her best friend. And the food! Oh my goodness. I was horribly hungry all through this book at all the delicious foods of the islands were mentioned. My only regret with this book was that the ending just pettered out. It almost felt like the last few chapters were forgotten. Nothing signalled "the end". Instead, the words just stopped without tying up any ends. That was a bit disappointing but the rest of this novel was a wonderful story.
A Miracle for St. Cecilia's by Katherine Valentine
I picked this one up because it looked like a book in the Mitford vein. Unfortunately, it was a very pale imitation. It just couldn't capture the charm and fun of the Mitford books. Instead, it came of forced and preach-y. The priest here is catholic and trying to revive an ailing church. There's the required local characters and religious conversions but nothing that caught my attention.
The Red Tent by Anita Diamant
I've had this on my to-read shelf for years but never picked it up. Quite a few friends told me they didn't like this book so I was in no rush to give it a go. Perhaps because I had such low expectations, I was surprised how much I liked this book. Diamant takes a few lines from the bible about Dinah and fleshes out her story to cover her whole life. Her father, Jacob and brother, Joseph, are merely sideline players in this novel. I thought Diamant made Dinah a great character. Her portrayal of a woman's life and role in life was wonderful and sad at the same time. I really liked this book. Surprise, surprise!
A Wild Sheep Chase by Haruki Murakami
I can't decide it I like this book. I have a feeling I missed something important while reading it. Or maybe it's because it's a translation. I never seem to have much luck with translations.
Anyhow, this book is all about finding one special sheep. A man going through a mid-life crisis meets a woman with beautiful ears. He publishes a picture at the request of a long lost friend called the Rat, is contacted by a Big man, and sent on a chase into the cold mountains of Hokkaido to locate a single sheep from the photo. If he fails, everything he has or ever cared for will be stripped from him. This sheep inhabites people and takes over their mind leading them to greatness. Or something like that. I can't even summarize this book properly. I think it may be a "guy" novel as there was quite a bit of mid-life crisis and loss of selve throughout. But there was something interesting in this bizarre storyline and I just couldn't stop until the end.
So it you want to try something a little different, than perhaps this sheep chase will be right up your alley.