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Book Review by Bobbi Cook from This Little Book Blog


I have to say that I chose to read this book both for its sentimental cover and clever title. I had a feeling that it would be softly romantic, perhaps tragic even. It definitely lived up to my expectations, and I was left quite satisfied for having read it.

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet is the story of Henry Lee. We meet him as he is rediscovering and remembering his past. He is searching for a long lost object that means as much to him as it did to the sweet girl that he had a crush on when he was in his childhood. His journey takes him back to a time and place that were both turbulent and formative on his young, innocent soul.

At age twelve, Henry lives in Seattle’s Chinatown during the beginning of World War II. His parents are traditional Chinese immigrants who want the best for their only son. They send him to an all white school where he is on a scholarship. There he meets Keiko who is in a similar position, also attending Rainier Elementary. The two become fast friends, sharing an interest in Jazz.

Although Keiko lives just blocks away from Henry, their worlds are very different. She is Japanese American and lives in Nihonmachi. Her family is friendly and open minded, whereas Henry’s family will have nothing to do with the Japanese (his father angrily followed the Japanese invasion of China). Henry and Keiko meet in secret, until their friendship is threatened by the government evacuating her family to an internment camp. He is left to sort out his feelings for Keiko, and to make difficult decisions about his future.

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet has been dubbed as a “wartime-era Chinese-Japanese variation on Romeo and Juliet” by The Seattle Times. I can understand the comparison. It is a story of young love, thwarted by societal prejudices, but I thought it was more than that. It made me really think about our history as a country, and the war-time decisions that were made that affected the lives of many thousands of Japanese American citizens. It also renewed my faith in the importance of love and friendship.

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Jamie Ford, author of HOTEL AT THE CORNER OF BITTER AND SWEET, exposes his inner "alpha-geek" by revealing the unlikely book that claimed the top spot on his Christmas wish list one year.


My most memorable holiday book moment is somewhat akin to a bikini wax --- painful and somewhat embarrassing, so I’ll just let ‘er rip.

It was (wait for it) a dictionary.

Yes, an honest-to-goodness New World Dictionary, College Edition, in all its hardbound, five-pound glory. I was twelve and I loved it. Then again, I was an alpha-geek, prone to reading the Encyclopedia Britannica for its entertainment value and actually wanted a real dictionary for Christmas, not one of those weak-sauce pocket versions.

Because when you think about it, back in Paleolithic times, before www.merriam-webster.com, this was the Marine Corp Manual of dictionaries. Not only did it have full-color “bonus” pages with all the state flags (to which my mom and I deftly added the capitals in the margins), but it also had pages dedicated to crustaceans, insects, jewels and gems, poisonous plants, identification charts for hardwoods, and that all-important diorama of the human anatomy --- sexless and sterile, much to my disappointment. Plus, there were guides to birds’ eggs, seashells, styles of painting, and even liverworts (liverworts, people!)

Granted, it’s a little dated. And sure, it doesn’t have trendy words like: dirty bomb, flash mob, and unfriend. But it still has the important swear words.

It’s ironic how some addle-minded schools will ban books like THE CATCHER IN THE RYE, but leave that fount of all things four-lettered --- the dictionary --- just laying around. Even today I can remember that a certain word was preceded by the word fuchsin --- a purplish-red aniline dye. Some day that bit of trivia will be my savior on "Jeopardy."

And that same dictionary still sits on my shelf. It’s like the family bible. I could write birthdays, wedding dates and funerals on the inside cover and pass it down.

But the best part is that my kids now use it. The cover is duct-taped, the pages are dog-eared, and we highlight the words we look up --- each person leaving a little hash mark on the page, mileposts on their own academic journeys.

And they still laugh at the inscription from my parents, presented December 25, 1980: "Batteries not included."

Wishing you a book-filled holiday season!

-- Jamie Ford


This afternoon, Lynne Hinton joins us with musings on the love of words and stories passed on to her from her late grandfather.

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Memorial Day weekend is the traditional kick off for the summer season.  For me, it’s also an excuse to eat more ice cream than I should and it marks the start of a new season of reading.  Although I probably read the most in the winter, when it’s cold outside and toasty warm inside, nothing is quite like a good book at the beach or under a shady tree in the park.

This summer my book club is reading Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, a debut novel by Jamie Ford.  I also hope to read two books I received for my birthday, The Zookeeper’s Wife and The Piano Teacher.   I’d like to finally get to the last two Harry Potter books as well. (I know I’m way behind the times on this one!)

My complete reading list would probably take me at least 5 years to get through, but still I’m always looking for more good reads.  I asked some of my colleagues what they were reading this summer.  A few were too shy to divulge their “fluff” reads.  (I think summer is the perfect time for some fluff!) Anna said that she’s taking the mystery Mudbound by Hillary Jordan to the beach and Rose said she will be reading Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Return of Sherlock Holmes and Alan Bradley’s The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie.

Bonnie is taking on the classics starting with A Tree Grows in Brooklyn followed by a long list that ends with A Farewell to Arms.  Now this is something I’ve always wanted to do but have never had the courage.  Like Bonnie, I somehow missed a lot of classic reading as a kid.

In addition to reading Hidden Kitchens by The Kitchen Sisters by Davia Nelson and Nikki Silva and The Black Book of Hollywood Diet Secrets by Kym Douglas and Cindy Pearlman (her fluff read), Caroline had some fun summer reading plans.  “I plan to read the Complete Adventures of Curious George to my two nephews.  Curious George is my favorite childhood reading and I want to share this anthology with the boys.”

So, what’s on your summer reading list?

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They say that whatever you do on the first day of the New Year tells how you'll spend your time that year.  I'm so hoping this is true for books, too, because the first book I read in 2009 was one of my favorites in a long, long time.

I'll apologize in advance for teasing - it's not out until late January - but I simply can't wait that long to talk about HOTEL ON THE CORNER OF BITTER AND SWEET by Jamie Ford.  I'd read a mention of it months ago on PubRants, the blog kept by Jamie's agent Kristin Nelson.  I was excited to read this one because I knew it was set in Seattle during the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II, and that's a time period that has always interested me. I expected an interesting trip through history, but what I got was so, so much more than that.

Henry Lee is still mourning the death of his wife when he learns that the belongings of Japanese Americans hidden in the basement of Seattle's Panama Hotel for decades have been discovered. Henry is drawn to the basement, and what he's searching for there opens a door he thought he had closed forever. The story switches back and forth between 1986 and the 1940s, when a 12-year-old Henry attending an American school (he's "scholarshipping" as his father likes to say) meets another international student working in the school kitchen. Keiko is Japanese American, the enemy according to Henry's father, but the two become best friends before her family is imprisoned in one of the relocation camps.


This book does a phenomenal job exploring the history and attitudes of this time period, and Ford's portrayal of Seattle's ethnic neighborhoods is amazing. But really, the thing that pulled me into this novel the most was the richness of the relationships -- Henry and Keiko, Henry and his father, Henry's mother and his father, and Henry and his own son. HOTEL ON THE CORNER OF BITTER AND SWEET looks at the best and worst of human relationships, the way we regard others, the way we find ourselves reenacting our relationships with our parents with our own children, the choices we make along the way. Mostly, though, this book reminds us that there is always room -- and time -- for forgiveness and redemption.

I finished this book in tears, moved by the people who came to life so vividly in the story and sad that it had to end at all. HOTEL ON THE CORNER OF BITTER AND SWEET is a perfect, perfect choice for book clubs or for anyone craving a compelling story about human nature at its worst and at its best. An amazing, amazing book. It will be one of your favorites, too, I can almost promise.

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