Midori by Moonlight
by Wendy Nelson Tokunaga
ISBN: 9780312372613

Too independent for Japanese society, Midori Saito falls in love with an American English teacher and leaves home to start a new life with him in San Francisco. But after he dumps her, Midori is left on her own. Soon, Midori surprises even herself as she proves she will do almost anything to hang on to her dream of a new life.

I wasn't really thrilled by the jacket cover but I liked the first chapter. I'll probably stick with the book to see how Midori does.

I've read people say in this forum that they were turned off a book by its cover - could never relate to that - but must admit that I am definitely turned off this book by its cover - looks like a not very literary book -(so now I am judging a book by its cover) - tho' just reading the little blurb underneath the book did not appeal to me either - so had already thought would just skip completely this week's fiction - will read responses to see what the readers have to say -

I too have been guilty of judging a book by it's cover. I did not judge this book by it's cover however, I had already read the 2 excerts before the I looked at the cover. I am finding this book some what interesting. I am not familiar with Japanese customs and the like. I do find my self rooting for midori. I think it deserves a few more days before making a decision.

What have you got to lose by reading the excerpts each day. Even if the book is terrible. Generally the really bad books get the most feedback, so you should take the fact that few people have given their opinion as a good thing.

With that said, I've yet to decide wether I will read this book or not. Its mildly interesting, but I'm finding the fiance character to be very hollow and poorly developed. It doesn't take a genius to realize the author does not want the reader to like this guy and is using him as a means to get Midori's story to the next step. The author spent more time developing Shinji.

This is something I've never understood. Why an author would not fully develop a character so important to the main character simply because they are not important to the end storyline. This practice makes the main character seem more shallow and emptyheaded.

Good point, Fer.

There are so many cases of so-called "Chick Lit" novels where the female main character is in love with a total loser which sets off her adventure for the course of the story. But how are you supposed to care about a character who is so weak or desperate or shallow or whatever the case may be?

Now I keep thinking about changing the term I used, "Chick Lit" because I find it degrading but sadly it has become a widely used term for a subcategory of fiction that we all understand. Anybody got a better name for that category?

Must correct myself - I did go to my library website and read an excerpt which is longer than what we have read so far in the club - I do this often - and am still not inclined to read this book - different strokes for different folks - do think this whole fiance/marriage failure is just a setup for what she does next and how she succeeds in the good ol' USA -

Thanks for sharing this book with us.
It is an interesting story. I got hooked by the title, Midori Moonlight. I knew Midori should be an Asian girl. After reading two chapters, I got more curious about how Midori and Kevin fell in love with each other. It seems like their love story is not that important becuase Midori is going to be dumped by Kevin. However, it is hard to understand how come Midori just followed Kevin to America from Japan. I wonder how long they were dating in Japan and how their relationship developed so that Midori followed Kevin with a rosy promising future.

This is normally not my kind of read. And this is not based on the cover. What caught my attention was the adventure of moving to another continent. I have lived in Korea, Germany and on the East and West coasts. I loved the adventure. I am interested in how Midori will adjust to the changes. I have already requested this book from my local library. I can't wait to finish it.

Well, here it is the end of the week and I still want to finish this book. I mean it's pretty straight forward what is going to happen to Midori in the end, but I'm still interested in reading the journey she takes to get there. It's a pretty safe bet she will end up with Shinji,but she seems cute and I feel sorry for her. I mean who hasn't been duped at least once by a guy, you were just so sure you loved. The problem is if you are duped again, you know the old saying, fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me.

I think Midori should have given the smackdown to the oh so sleazy Kimberly..can't wait to see what happens next.

The "smackdown" that is funny.

...light read for a fiction. Nice but too predictable.