Wednesday, March 24, 2021

March Book Review

Two books this month:

 Two Trees Make A Forest by Jessica J. Lee


This book was on the Canada Reads list, although not the winner.  It is a non-fiction book about this Canadian author's family history in Taiwan.  I actually didn't know it was non-fiction when I picked it up, I thought it would just be a story about Taiwan and since I know very little about that area, then I decided to buy it.  

There are a number of beautiful passages in the book and I really enjoyed learning about the history of Taiwan, her family's experience of leaving China for Taiwan, and then later leaving for Canada.  The author spends time in Taiwan itself and gets to experience the natural beauty through hiking and I found that really interesting.  I don't often think about how lucky I am to have just been born in Canada and never having to leave or being denied the right to return to my home (save for that darn Atlantic Covid bubble!).  There are so many people that have to flee their homes and then just never get to go back, or never choose to go back even when they are able to.  

Now, because it is a non-fiction book, there are several parts that get a little too text book-y for me.  I know the author wanted to give a good background and some of it was appreciated but some was a little thick for the type of read I wanted. I admit I skimmed a few parts of it. I was more interested in the story of the author's grandparents. 

I would be interested in finding out what the Canada Reads people had to say about the book so I will check that out.


The Little Bookshop on the Seine by Rebecca Raisin.

I feel like I hadn't read an easy to read fiction book for awhile, my last fiction book was in December and it still had some pretty heavy topics, so this book was a refreshing change.  On the other hand, it was so simple and easy to read, I thought it was somewhat mediocre in comparison to my other recent book topics. 

This book follows a woman who owns a bookshop in small town United States, and then is offered the opportunity to do a book shop swap (like The Holiday) with her friend in Paris who owns a bookshop there.  They agree to move to each other's towns for a few months.  The book is only about the American, it does not jump back and forth between the two book shop owners, but I would have been interested in that.  It kept my interest and I loved hearing about Paris (when she was actually able to enjoy it instead of having to deal with the bookshop). 

So if you want something fun and easy, this is a good one to check out.




4 comments:

  1. I keep trying to read The Little Bookshop On The Seine because it seems like the kind of book I would love and I just CANNOT get into it. Boo. At some point I want to read all five Canada Reads books but that hasn't happened yet...

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  2. I'm always excited about books about bookshops!

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  3. I really need to check out the Canada Reads books!!

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