Since November 2021, I’ve been receiving the monthly Literati Book Subscription. Each month I choose a Luminary and then discuss their chosen book with other book club members. This online book club offers a book community where readers can engage in discussions led by the Luminary as well as other members. The book options are both fictional novels as well as non-fiction biographies, memoirs, or other books that offer learning opportunities in business, leadership, and self-improvement.
Once you become a member, you choose from one of the 17 Luminaries to join their club. You can stick with the same Luminary every month or bounce around based on their book choices. Since I tend to like a variety of different books, I have chosen to bounce around, choosing Luminaries based on the books they will be discussing.
Since November, I have read and discussed books with Cheryl Strayed, Susan Orlean, Atlas Obscura, Kelly McGonigal, Nicole Laeno, Richard Branson, and Elin Hilderbrand. I think my favorite book choices so far have been THE PUZZLER and THE READING LIST. This month I went back to Susan Orlean as my Luminary. I chose her in April with another WWII book WE GERMANS. I also read her book, THE LIBRARY BOOK back in 2020. You can read about my other Literati Book Choices, HERE.
Check out this month’s Literati choice:
THE BUDDHA IN THE ATTIC by Julie Otsuka
The acclaimed author of When the Emperor Was Divine tells the story of a group of young women brought from Japan to San Francisco as “picture brides” a century ago in this “understated masterpiece … that unfolds with great emotional power”
In eight unforgettable sections, The Buddha in the Attic traces the extraordinary lives of these women, from their arduous journeys by boat, to their arrival in San Francisco and their tremulous first nights as new wives; from their experiences raising children who would later reject their culture and language, to the deracinating arrival of war.
Julie Otsuka has written a spellbinding novel about identity and loyalty, and what it means to be an American in uncertain times.
Susan Orlean is a best-selling author whose words leap from the page into your heart (and sometimes to the big screen). Her unique humor colors her prose and paints literary murals full of meticulous detail.
A NOTE FROM SUSAN
By now, you know that when a book takes my breath away, I need to talk about it immediately. The Buddha in the Attic is one of those books. It’s a rare work of historical fiction that invites the reader to consider past events through an unexpected lens.
Julie Otsuka writes this novel from the perspective of a group of characters—a chorus. Through this thought-provoking narrative, written in graceful, flowing prose, we learn about the lives of a group of Japanese “picture brides.” They have come to America to be married and seek the promise of a better life. We walk along with them as they try to assimilate into their new lives and culture, while trying to hold on to the familiar heritage and customs that help define them.
This novel, with its unique structure, will open your eyes wider to the experiences of Japanese Americans during the early part of the twentieth century and through WWII—when neighbors and friends were forcibly taken away to internment camps, families separated, and lives changed beyond comprehension.
I chose this book for a number of reasons. I noticed it was a shorter book at just shy of 150 pages. I love learning about different time periods in our history (especially the WWII era) and other cultures. Plus, it has been a best-seller and won the Pen/Faulkner Award for Fiction.
The Literati box includes a hardcover copy of the book, a bookmark, and a note from Elin Hilderbrand about why she chose this book.
Click HERE to check out Literati
By becoming a member of Literati, you can get access to the following features:
- Access to all Literati Book Clubs
- New book recommendations each month
- Active in-app discussions with thoughtful readers
- Exclusive invites to author Q & As
- Members-only pricing on any book
- One curated book delivered monthly
- Exclusive printed content with each book
- Interactive online group discussion with the Luminarie that chose the book
Join a Literati Luminary book club for $26 a month. Save 20% on a yearly subscription by becoming an annual member and enjoy Literati membership for $22 a month. The membership will be active until 12 books are delivered. Literati Luminary membership includes access to all book clubs in our app.
Your book club’s Luminary will get the discussion started each month in the Literati app. Open your Literati app to dive into a book discussion. Discuss specific chapters or reply to a thread. We also have monthly Ask The Author events, which are held live on YouTube. There are also lots of ways to continue the discussion with other Literati members that are part of your same Luminary book club while using the Literati app.
Click HERE to check out Literati.
You can see my previous Literati posts by clicking, HERE.
This review is my personal opinion. Literati has gifted this subscription to me, but I receive no commission for sharing this book club.
Posted Under book club, Book Review, historical fiction, Japan, Julie Otsuka, Literati, Subscription Box, Susan Orlean, WWII