The Color of Water

This is probably closer to a 3.5 for me. James writes lovingly about his mother, and the stories he shares about their youths and upbringings are interesting and endearing.

I had a hard time getting past James's consistent use of “Mommy” in referring to his mom. Adults referring to their parents as mommy or daddy always makes me cringe a little. I understand that to a point this is a regional/cultural/generational thing, but for me it's too much. It doesn't come across as warm for me. I call my mom “Mom” and she's in my phone by her first and last name, not “mom” so... It felt weird every time I saw it, which of course was every page.

James's faith is clearly important to him, and to his mother. They both talk more or less non-stop about it and its role in their development and lives. For James's mother, this is a critical element of the story, and the movement between Judaism and Christianity is interesting. For James's story, it seems less interesting and more like sermonizing. James does a lot of sermonizing in his other books, and usually I have to just grin and bear it.

The most interesting thing about this book, for me, is having it change my read of his two most recent books, Deacon King Kong (my favorite of his) and The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store (my least favorite of his that I've read). These books clearly feature characters and stories from his childhood and the history of his mother, sometimes adapted and sometimes not so much. James talks about this in particular with Heaven and Earth Grocery Store, but reading this enriched them both for me.