George Takei on his Childhood

They Called Us Enemy by George Takei

In graphic novel format, illustrated by Harmony Becker’s graytone illustrations, Takei tells the story of when his family was imprisoned by the United States government during World War II. George, his brother and sister, and his mother, were all born in America. Japanese-Americans, 120,000 of them, lost their businesses, homes, and were only allowed to take with them what they could carry. The story also tells how Takei became an actor and activist for LGBTQ rights. A powerful and moving story.

December's Books

Agatha Raisin, a fifty-something retired public relations director, now runs a private detective agency. On her way to investigate a case of industrial espionage, she finds what looks to be a severed leg along the roadside. While her case goes sideways, she becomes a national celebrity from her encounter with a bad-tempered donkey. She also discovers that her off-again on-again love, Sir Charles Fraith, has become engaged. Latest in a long-running series by a master of the humorous British cozy.

 


An Accidental Woman by Barbara Delinsky
Fat Ollie's Book by Ed McBain
They Called Us Enemy by George Takei
Hit Me by Lawrence Block
Beating About the Bush by M.C. Beaton
Tricky Business by Dave Barry
The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes
Crime Travel edited by Barb Goffman

The Return of Olive

Olive, Again by Elizabeth Strout

In a follow-up to “Olive Kitteridge,” a Pulitzer Prize winner, the overbearing, judgmental math teacher is a widow. For years she was married to Henry, a well-liked and patient man, a pharmacist in the small town of Crosby, Maine. They had one son, Christopher, who clashed with his mother. Henry had a stroke and died years later.

In “Olive, Again,” the reader is surprised that Olive has remarried. Who would want to spend time with Olive on purpose? Jack is a retired Harvard professor who left under a cloud. Olive tries to get along with her son and his family, she delivers a baby in a parked car, and deals with Jack’s problems and her own.

Olive  is infuriating but is dealing with universal problems of health, death, family problems, and friends and neighbors. While may have irritated much of the town, she is not to be forgotten.