[WPF] A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki - 5 stars

[Sue]

I am quickly coming to the decision that the Who's PBT's Favorite may be my favorite challenge so far. Of course I love to play along and read the monthly tags and discuss books.

But I'm really here (as we all are) because I love to read good books. As I read from everyone's favorite authors, I may end up with one of my best reading years ever.

And A Tale for the Time Being is a fantastic book!

Ruth, an author in Canada, finds a Hello Kitty lunch box washed up on the beach. The lunch box seems to be debris from the Japanese Tsunami and contains letters, a diary, and an old watch.

Ruth feels an intense connection to the author of the diary - a young girl named Nao (pronounced Now).

The book covers so many themes ranging from WWII Kamakazi pilots, the dot com bubble, 9/11, suicide and bullying, religion, philosophy, quantum physics, history, personal responsibility, conscience. But the one overriding theme is that each of us has both our own unique story, and also a place in everyone else's story.

[Patricia]

Nice review! I'm glad you enjoyed this book:D

[NancyJ]

I'm so glad you loved it too. I adored this book. I suggested her for the game, but I felt bad for a while that I didn't pick someone more well known. So your comment makes me really happy. I think she's brilliant. There are so many interrelated themes and layers in her books. This is a book I will want to read again, and I'm sure I'll pick up something new.

I think she's a great author for the thought provoking tag. I'm going to read her debut book My Year of Meats. It's such a weird title, but I trust that she'll make it interesting.

[Patricia]

NancyJ wrote: "I'm so glad you loved it too. I adored this book. I suggested her for the game, but I felt bad for a while that I didn't pick someone more well-known. So your comment makes me really happy. I think..."

Yeah, you really gave it five stars and you really loved this book and maybe it's one of your favorites. It's this the first time you read her book? I'm glad you like the author of the book:D

[Sue]

@Nancy - We DO seem to like many of the same books! I've added My Year of Meats to my TBR list. Looks really interesting.

@Patricia - I'd love to see what you think of A Tale for the Time Being if you end up reading it.

[NancyJ]

Patricia wrote: "NancyJ wrote: "I'm so glad you loved it too. I adored this book. I suggested her for the game, but I felt bad for a while that I didn't pick someone more well-known. So your comment makes me really..."

Patricia, I read this book about a year ago and it was one of my favorite books of the year. I read another of her books in December. One of my favorite characters was Nao's grandmother who is a Zen Buddhist nun. The author has that background too. The cover makes the book seem like it's intended for younger readers, but I should mention that some of the topics are quite heavy (depression, suicide, war). It's very thought-provoking, and ultimately uplifting.

[Jen K]

This one surprised me, in a good way, as well when I read it last year. It is such and interesting approach to the story and covered so many topics.

I'm glad that the challenge has been so successful for you. I fear I haven't been as brave in venturing out to new authors and mostly have just read new books by already favorite authors.