The Mother's June Reads

Happy Summer months, everyone! Hope you are all enjoying your reading and tea choices during these hot summer days. Please read on below to see what I have been reading this month.

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A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki

“It’s about discovering home in the moment, and also discovering home within ourselves.”

A small stack of letters, a bound book with a faded red cover, an antique wristwatch with a luminous dial; all found inside a Hello Kitty lunchbox that washed up on a remote island in the Pacific Northwest. The content’s owner is Nao Yasutani. The content’s finder is Ruth. And so begins this combination of complex storytelling with a probing investigation into the purpose of existence.

Synopsis: A Tale for the Time Being alternates between the voices of two protagonists. There is sixteen-year-old Naoko “Nao” Yasutani, the author of the diary whose writings detail her beautiful and difficult life in Tokyo during the early 2000s. And, there is Ruth, a Japanese-American novelist living on an island off the coast of Western Canada. As Ruth reads Nao’s lost diary, she becomes transfixed, determined to find out what happened to Nao and her family. A Tale for the Time Being is a book that tries to cover a herculean amount of themes, but if you’re up to the task, it is a worthwhile read.

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Surviving Savannah by Patti Callahan

For all you historical fiction lovers, like me, this book fits the bill! Surviving Savannah is a gripping historical tale that weaves the past and present. In alternating timelines, between 1838 and the modern day, the novel is centered on the sinking of the ill-fated U.S.S. Pulaski, a catastrophic event that forever marred Savannah’s history. Surviving Savannah is a scrupulously researched novel that explores the metal of human spirit in crisis and runs fathoms deep on many levels.

Synopsis: On a beautiful day in June 1838, nine members of the Longstreet family (based on the historical Lamar family) — along with many of Savannah’s elites — board the U.S.S. Pulaski for what they expect will be an easy journey up the East Coast to Baltimore for the summer. Joining the Longstreets are Lilly Forsyth, her husband and infant daughter, their nursemaid Priscilla, and beloved aunt Augusta.

On the first night at sea an overheated boiler explodes. The Pulaski catches fire and sinks, taking more than half of its passengers with it.

180 years later, Everly Winthrop—a history professor in Savannah—is asked to curate an exhibition of recently salvaged artifacts from the recently discovered Pulaski. Through Everly’s eyes we dive into stories of the Longstreets, the difficult history of old Savannah, experience the tragic ship’s harrowing demise, and wince at the surviving passengers’ life-threatening aftermath.