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Riverside Women's Book Club

Formerly the Orangecrest Women's Book Club, this club has been meeting regularly since 2008. We are a very casual club and welcome all women readers.

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BOOK OF THE MONTH

PACHINKO

By Min Jin Lee

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In this New York Times bestseller, four generations of a poor Korean immigrant family fight to control their destiny in 20th-century Japan-the inspiration for the television series on Apple TV+.

In the early 1900s, teenaged Sunja, the adored daughter of a crippled fisherman, falls for a wealthy stranger. When she discovers she is pregnant-and that her lover is married-she accepts an offer of marriage from a gentle, sickly minister passing through on his way to Japan. But her decision to abandon her home, and to reject her son's powerful father, sets off a dramatic saga that will echo down through the generations.

Profoundly moving, Pachinko is a story of love, sacrifice, ambition, and loyalty.

*Includes reading group guide*

NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF 2017 * A USA TODAY TOP TEN OF 2017 * JULY PICK FOR THE PBS NEWSHOUR-NEW YORK TIMES BOOK CLUB NOW READ THIS * FINALIST FOR THE 2018DAYTON LITERARY PEACE PRIZE* WINNER OF THE MEDICI BOOK CLUB PRIZE

Roxane Gay's Favorite Book of 2017, Washington Post

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * #1 BOSTON GLOBE BESTSELLER * USA TODAY BESTSELLER * WALL STREET JOURNAL BESTSELLER * WASHINGTON POST BESTSELLER

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544 pages

Average rating: 8.1

1,172 RATINGS

38 REVIEWS

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zlovestoread24

Nov 30, 2024

10/10 stars

Absolutely, a beautifully written book.

Mrs. Awake Taco

Nov 13, 2024

6/10 stars

While I enjoyed it, I was let down by the second half. It felt like it just kind of petered off. Great character development in the first half.

Spoilers

I really wanted Solomon to move back to Korea. I wanted there to be a big finish with him reconnecting with his Korean roots and be proud to be Korean! Instead it just kind of ended. I guess life does just that, but thatâs not what I want when reading fiction.

iz.ra

Oct 22, 2024

10/10 stars

Simply sobering. It took Lee thirty years to write this book, and it shows: the complexities of the characters, the scourge of discrimination captured in its recount of history... What does it mean to be a good mother? Daughter? Father, son? Where is your home, if not by birth or dwelling? Honestly the best book I've read in so long.

indyreads

Oct 15, 2024

9/10 stars

Great story telling, heart-pulling intergenerational stories. I also learned a lot about the history of Korea and Japan.

Anonymous

Sep 01, 2024

10/10 stars

I think this book did exactly what it aimed for. This wasn't a story meant to keep you on the edge of your seat necessarily, but to look deeper. I found it to be so insightful on topics of identity, culture, family, and love. The struggles of this Korean family resonate with you because it's so real and raw. I loved especially how human everyone felt. They all made mistakes, but realistic ones. On a personal level, I felt connected to the struggles of living through multiple cultures and discrimination. Not even just outward discrimination from others, but the inward kind, and the systemic kind. The questioning of who you are, but also the inevitability of your blood, gender, and past that creates your future. The struggles that these women faced were also different than the ones the men did, but both equally heart wrenching. A woman's value only found in her purity, beauty, and obedience. For men, the pressure to be great, to provide, only for it all to mean nothing just because you're Korean in Japan. Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful...