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Aug 25, 2007

Joy rated it:

I chose to read this book because I’m currently living in Okinawa, Japan where part of the story takes place. Actually, at the time I was reading the part where the main character was on a plane from Okinawa, up to Tokyo, I was also on a plane taking the very same path. I think that’s why I enjoyed reading the book. The author shows a glimpse into military family life and the surroundings of Okinawa… some of the descriptions where dead-on and others were a bit exaggerated. The plot was good, More...

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Apr 01, 2007

steffie rated it:

I grew up on Air Force bases, and have always looked for a story that matches my childhood. This came somewhat close.

Unfortunately, the book was pretty much all details (the ramshackle military housing, Officer's wives, shopping for crap at the Commissary and the Base Exchange) and little else for me.

I try to care about Bird's characters. I really do. But, as with Alamo House, I just find so many of her characters predictable, one-dimensional, and just not funny (even th More...

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Dec 14, 2010

Kathy rated it:

Reading over the reviews of this book, I see that there is a definite split between people who lived on military installations (especially in Japan) and those who didn't with respect to this book. Did I love the characters and get sucked into the story mostly because the author is so dead on in her characterization of life on base? Maybe so. Whatever the reason, I really enjoyed this book. If you lived on base in Japan (and yes, I did - went to high school in Yokosuka, lived in Yokohama), yo More...

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Sep 27, 2009

Heather rated it:

This novel was my book club's selection for September, chosen mostly because it takes place on Kadena Air Base in Okinawa, Japan, where many of us currently live. I had few ideas of what to expect from this book, but I closed its final pages glad that I'd taken the time to read it.

The Yokota Officers Club A Novel takes place in two decades: the present is during the Vietnam war era; the other is during the post-WWII occupation of Japan by Americans during the Cold War. From the pe More...

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Jan 01, 2012

Frederick rated it:

A novel about military brats set in the 1960s. Bernadette "Bernie' Root arrives after her freshman year of college in Okinawa, where her family is stationed. Her father is an Air Force officer who is shuffled from one base to another, dragging along his wife and 6 kids.They had been stationed at Yokota Air Base near Tokyo several years previous. During their stay, a maid named Fumiko worked for her family. The book insinuates all along that something mysterious and unhappy occurred between More...

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Oct 04, 2010

Elaine rated it:

This book was incredible. I had a really difficult time putting it down. It was so well written-- smart, witty, poignant, rich, riveting-- everything you could want from a novel. The characters were all so realistic and so multi-dimensional (with the exception of Bobby Moses, who is supposed to be a caricature, thus satirizing the USO concept of military life). I felt like I was there with the narrator, and that I was there in Japan, even though I've never been there. Bird's use of language, the More...

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Apr 23, 2010

Glenn rated it:

Well, it had to happen. This is now my favorite book. For anyone that has been stationed on a military base, been part of a military or diplomatic life, this story will speak to you, especially if you spent time in Asia.

Bird's representations of situational language, from the comic to the profane are magnificent. Her sense of humor is wry and and her eye misses nothing in a scene. Every passage has a smell, a taste and a texture.

Even though the story takes place in Japan, it More...

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Dec 07, 2011

Ramona is currently reading it

I'm enjoying this book so far. It is a story of a military family - which has always held my interest. Living abroad - always seemed exciting to me. The voice of the story is from one of the children, who is currently a college freshmen home for the summer. It's set in the early 70's when life in the military was losing it's "luster" during the Vietnam War. The story toggles back to the "glory" days of the military in the late 50's/early 60's to the early 70's. Quite int More...

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Feb 06, 2011

Paul rated it:

This book jumped off the shelf and into my hand. The title's what got me: I know the Yokota Officers' Club. This is the story of a military brat whose father was an Air Force pilot. I was a military brat, and later in life an Air Force pilot with a couple of military brats of my own. Sarah Bird has it down. I was charmed, amused, and totally transported back to the itinerant life of the military family and the marvels of military life. I didn't want this book to end, ever. Remember The Gr More...

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Oct 13, 2007

Laura rated it:

Sarah Bird was one of my favorite authors when I was a wee young whippersnapper in the early nineties. Boyfriend School? Loved it. Alamo House? I lived it: the protagonist's college experience plus working in a library spoke to my life at the time. Plus, Bird was really funny and had an affection for society's misfits. And interwoven with the humor at the absurd characters was emotional depth; you could laugh at these people and be heartbroken at what happens to them. So when I ran across an ess More...

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Jan 17, 2009

Jennifer rated it:

One of my favorite books ever. What made it even more special was a phone chat with Sarah Bird. A wonderfully personal story about her mother and the antics and tragedies that went on in her childhood with her father in the Air Force.

When the oldest daughter, Bernie, returns from college in the US to her family on Kadena AFB in Okinawa she is mortified to find that her mother (a nurse) used to drug her sisters and brothers on long car rides so they would sleep.

Great w More...

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Jan 06, 2012

Camz rated it:

I found myself loving the book's characters despite many reviews to the contrary. The story do lag sometimes, and if you're looking for something fast-paced, you might not like this book. Despite some holes in the story (mostly inconsistencies in the chronology), it is deeply moving and definitely a beautiful narrative of a bunch of oddballs trying to survive a harsh, nomadic lifestyle. I especially liked the ending: bittersweet, poignant, and deeply sincere.

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Mar 23, 2010

Alexandra rated it:

I liked this because it was a learning experience, but really fun to read as well. Sure it was extremely sad, but I didn't realize the full extent of how much pressure the military places on the people involved. A 'military brat' was a foreign concept to me, but I felt like I almost understood Bernie, and how she felt. I've always had an interest in Japanese culture, so that part was interesting. I thought it was incredibly sad how Hara Rose died, Fumiko's baby, in the way she did. Horrible.

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Aug 05, 2009

Brittany rated it:

As a military spouse I enjoyed reading a book about another military dependent. The book was good but not great, IMO. The climax of the story was really interesting, but I feel like there was a lot of "filler" material to get to it that wasn't really central to the story. Overall I liked the novel and loved the story, but I think it could have been told a little better.

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Nov 03, 2011

Jeanne rated it:

This is one of my all time favorites and one of the few books I've read more than once. Bird writes with humor & gusto and brings all her characters to life. When Bernie dances to Van Morrison's "Brown Eyed Girl" one can just feel the beat, hear the music. Be sure to read Bird's latest novel, "The Gap Year." It's another winner!

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Aug 31, 2007

Johnsergeant rated it:

Listened to the audiobook from Recorded Books.

Narrated By: Carine Montbertrand

Sarah Bird authors brilliant, introspective novels of bittersweet reminiscence tempered with humor. The Yokota Officers Club is a tale both courageous and touching--a journey of the heart that speaks volumes of the transient, isolated lifestyle of military families. Having grown up at the Yokota Air Base in Japan, and having moved six times in the last eight years, Bernadette "Bernie" More...

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Dec 26, 2009

Mie rated it:

Our book club read for January 2010.

I got a good insight to how it must be living as an Air-Force family, moving around from base to base. All the difficulties with adjusting to new school and new friends. Mother "Moe" who has to find herself among her fellow military wife's and her friendship to their Japanise maid, Fumiko. Father "Mace" being the head of the family, out on military spy-missions most of the time, so mom has to be the one in charge at all times an More...

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Dec 17, 2008

Thebestdogmom rated it:

This was one of those books that people in book clubs read. Several people recommended it. I thought it was just ok. The story line seemed weak to me. Started out interesting but rambled on and on about things that didn't seem relevant to the story line. Nothing I would recommend to others.

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Nov 05, 2011

Melissa rated it:

A good book, after a bit of a slow start. And once it got into Fumiko's story, it got riveting. I never really understood why Kit and Bernie were at such odds, I think that dynamic could have been explored a little deeper. But a good book overall.

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Feb 16, 2010

Ashley added it

I stayed up until 3 a.m. reading this book, but didn't love it enough to finish it. I thought the characters were interesting and the story was engrossing, but it wasn't worth another lost night of sleep. While it was good, I guess I just didn't care what happened next.

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Mar 01, 2009

Cindy rated it:

I'd give it a 3.5 rating if I could. It was very interesting because my husband was military and we caught the tail end of the very political stuff. The author nailed a whole lot of it.

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Aug 07, 2011

Marysue rated it:

Familiar point of view -- college girl returns to military family on Okinawa. Funny, touching. On the nose descriptions of many 60s and 70s military brat experiences.

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Feb 02, 2012

Debdanz rated it:

Really liked this- might have been Air Force but the time period was right and it was like looking back in time to when I was growing up as an Army brat.

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Apr 08, 2010

Judy rated it:

Bird's novel gave me insight into what "military brats" go through and the culture of the Air Force, post-WW2 (though I'm not sure it's changed much).

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Jan 07, 2010

Margie rated it:

Recommended for Air Force dependents. It really captures the flavor of that milieu. It's not especially well-written, but it's not terrible either.

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Jan 28, 2009

M rated it:

I listened to this book as a download from Netlibrary. I enjoyed it very much, especially the narrator. I think it'd be a great read, too.

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Dec 18, 2008

Martha rated it:

I read anything that Sarah Bird writes - I like her dry humor and writing style. This book was more nostalgic and was an entertaining read.

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Aug 08, 2011

Chris rated it:

As an Army brat, this book was almost heartwrenching. Sarah Bird nails the description of the life of the third-culture kid.

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Apr 09, 2011

Pattie rated it:

I had a hard time getting into it, and it was just not an enjoyable read at all. I will say this: Glad officers spouses I've met are not like the ones in this book.

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Nov 23, 2009

Diane rated it:

I loved this book for the first third, hated the middle, and liked the ending. Sadly I see no reason for the stupid character of Bobby who dominated the middle of the book. The story is of a military family and I think the author gets it right - she must have grown up in a military family. My first husband was in the army at Fort Riley Kansas in the early 1970's during Viet Nam and much of the control the author describes was true - all of us were afraid that our actions or lack of following the More...

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