Welcome to J-Sei’s Virtual Book Club
Our next book that we’ll be reading together is
SPEAK, OKINAWA (2021) by Elizabeth Miki Brina
Book Club members will have a two-month window in which to read the book (it’s about 300 pages long). Along the way, you will be encouraged to add your input to the J-Sei Book Club blog and engage with other readers. Sometime in March, we’ll meet as a group to discuss what we’ve read.
ENGAGING IN BOOK CLUB
Join the Club, Buy the Book
JOIN BOOK CLUB – Join the J-Sei Virtual Book Club and connect with others as we delve into a different book each season. For those interested in participating, send inquiry here (please include “Book Club” in your email’s subject line).
BUY THE BOOK – We have arranged with Eastwind Books to handle book sales. Just order the book online at the discounted price of 10% off. You can elect to pick up at the store, arrange for shipping, or designate J-Sei for delivery/pick-up in your order (include this in the “Note to Seller” box when you place your order).
READING – Read the book at your own pace. While you’re reading, you’ll be notified when a posting has been updated as a check-in and to solicit your feedback.
REFLECTING – As you’re reading, you can access the secure J-Sei Book Club webpage (password-protected) anytime. On this Members-only webpage you’re free to submit observations, opinions, and questions in the Comment area as it strikes you and share your impressions with fellow Book Club members. Check back regularly to read comments submitted by the moderator and by other Book Club members.
CHAT – For a real-time online chat with fellow Book Club members, connect to DISCORD. Instructions to connect to the J-Sei Discord server are provided on the Members-only webpage.
DISCUSS – After allowing time for members to finish reading the book, we will schedule a Zoom meeting to get together and hear everybody’s thoughts about the book. Other special events may occur; members will be notified in advance. Thank you for your interest in J-Sei Book Club. Happy reading!
— Kathy Hashimoto, moderator
In Speak, Okinawa: A Memoir, author Elizabeth Miki Brina writes with a devastating candor about her life as the only child of a mother born and raised in Okinawa, Japan, and a father who was briefly stationed in Okinawa during his U.S. military service in Vietnam. Growing up as the only biracial person in upstate New York suburbia, Elizabeth struggles with identity and self-worth and with the complex but loving relationship she maintains with her troubled parents. A movement towards acceptance and reconciliation begins to occur once Elizabeth learns more about the history and culture of her mother’s homeland and meets relatives who still live on the island. All readers will relate with this personal story about family ties and belonging, while also learning more about Okinawa and the continued U.S. military presence there.
One of NPR’s Best Books of 2021: “A hauntingly beautiful memoir about family and identity.”
“With searing honesty, Brina accomplishes the task of any great memoir: to make the singular speak for many . . . SPEAK, OKINAWA is a comfort to anyone who has felt foreign in their own skin, family, or society . . . Brina’s writing shines.” —The Japan Times
About the Author
Elizabeth Miki Brina received her MFA in creative writing from the University of New Orleans and her BA in English and Philosophy from Northeastern University in Boston. After college, she taught high school special education for six years, followed by a position teaching composition and ESL. Elizabeth is the recipient of a Rona Jaffe Bread Loaf Scholarship and a New York State Summer Writers Institute Scholarship. Her work has appeared in Hyphen, New Delta Review, So to Speak, and Under the Gum Tree, among others. SPEAK, OKINAWA is her first book. Elizabeth currently lives and teaches in New Orleans.
