I read the paperback edition of this book.
Was Soo-Jan going to be a traditional Korean woman or a modern one? This was a fascinating post Korean war story of Soo-Jan who gave up her dream of becoming a diplomat, not willingly, but because of her father and expectations. She meets Yul who she loves the night before her hurried marriage. She hopes that her life will be better and she will be able to fulfill her dream. Instead she is now under the rule of her husband and her life is not better. Now she is dealing with the choice that she made and the situation that she finds herself in. She often thinks about what might have been with Yul instead of her husband.
I found it interesting in that each of us deals with the choices that we make and sometimes we regret them, but have to live with our decisions. I would recommend the book to reading groups, book clubs and anyone that has dealt with or is dealing with choice and what is expected of you verse what you want.

I found this to be an interesting read. I think book clubs could read it and have an interesting and thought-provoking discussion. Reading it made me think about people that attended college with me and how their various lives have turned out. Some that you expected to be very successful have not been, and others have done very well.

An interesting book about a Ghanaian born woman who is a secretary at the Ghanaian embassy in Washington, DC. who become King in a Otuam, a small Ghanaian village. The villagers feel that the ancestors have selected her as King despite her being in the US. Initially, she is reluctant to accept this role. She does decide to become King even though she is a woman. She goes to the village and finds that it has many needs including running water. Once back in the US she is tells the story of the village and its needs. The pastor of Shiloh Baptist church goes to the village and sees it needs. Members of his church are to go over to the village to help the village get a school and a library among other things.

While this is Peggielene Bartels story and is being told by her, it is not written in the first person. I would have liked it to be written in the first person.

I would recommend this book for book clubs that deal with travel, world cultures or the role of women.

Enjoyable quick read. The storyline is fairly predictable, but keeps your interest. At times, I wanted to scream at one of the main characters and say have confidence in yourself and leave. Many of us deal with problems of dysfunctional families and want to just walk away. I found the handling of an addiction/recovery believable.

Would recommend this for a book club for a thoughtful discussion about having a teenager and dealing with the teen years, living with someone and not being married, ex-wife, and insecurity.

It took me some time to get in the flow of the book. I got through the opening chapters where both parents have died and the 3 children are left alone. Each of the children has a story to tell and does it in their own style. Initially, I found it distracting to have the parents in the afterlife discussing the lives and mistakes of their children. I feel that it would be a good book for a book club or discussion group to read. Interesting discussions would center around this book.

I read “A Box of Dreams” with interest. Sally Ryder Brady was brave to write the book. While it was well written, this memoir of a marriage left me with questions. How could she be married to Upton Birnie Brady for over 40 years and not have some idea that he was homosexual? Does ones love of someone allow them to be abused both verbally and physically?

I am not certain how I happened to decided to download this book on to my Kindle to read a sample chapter. But I was hooked once I read the chapter.

I did not realize initially that this was a true story about a man born in Syria, Abdulrahman Zeitoun who moved to New Orleans. He marries a southern woman Kathy, who is much younger than he and they have children. Together, they develop a successful painting and construction company. Zeitoun does the work and Kathy keeps the business end of it. He paints his construction truck with a rainbow on it, not realizing the significance of the rainbow sign for gay and lesbians in the US. Once informed he says, “if someone has a problem with the rainbow design, they would have a problem with him being a Muslim”.

As Hurricane Katrina moves into New Orleans, his wife and his children leave to go to her relatives in Louisiana and then to Arizona. Despite the pleas of his wife, he will not leave with them. Initially, he stayed to take care of his home and rental properties. But as the flooding increases he takes care of senior citizens, animals and others. The book tells about his struggles because of the flooding and his experiences, including being jailed and given pork to eat, which was against his religion.

I found the book to be insightful about the Katrina floods, the lack of real government intervention to help people, and the general chaos that surrounded the people, mainly poor and black

I was happy to read the first book of fiction, “A Cup of Friendship”, by Deborah Rodriguez. Rodriguez, is also the author of the non-fiction book “Kabul Beauty School”. Several years ago, I read her nonfiction work. I did feel that despite one being a work of fiction and one being nonfiction, they were similar.

I found this book to be an easy, fast moving read. I enjoyed reading this book about contemporary Afghanistan. For me, this novel was thought provoking. How I value the freedom that I as a woman have. At times, I felt as if I was actually in the coffee shop witnessing some of the events as they were happening. The novel deals with Afghani issues and culture regarding the roles women, friendship, family, country decisions and of course, some romance. While reading the novel, I felt love and sympathy for three of the main characters, Sunny, Yazmina and Halajan.

Having spent some time in Azerbaijan, I am aware of some of the elements of being a Muslim and the role of women in Muslim culture. I gained more information about Muslims in this novel.

I highly recommend this book.

I had a hard time getting into the novel. The book went back and forth between the present and the past, from the time Annabelle met her husband and then married him etc.

I found the relationships between Annabelle, her mother and her daughter interesting. These relationships touched on the dimensions of relationships that women have over the years and how some things change and some things remain the same.

I feel that it takes a mature person to understand the decisions that Annabelle made and why she might have made them.