The Pacific Northwest likes to read, and what better way to get book suggestions than to ask around? In this monthly feature, we ask prominent Northwest residents what books they’re reading, rereading and recommending — and why.
This month: Beth Takekawa, who retired last month after 14 years as executive director of Seattle’s Wing Luke Museum of the Asian Pacific American Experience, and 24 years total at Wing Luke, gives us his reading picks.
What are you reading now?
“Lab Girl” by Hope Jahren.
What book have you reread the most times?
“The Bone People” by Keri Hulme.
What book do you recommend everyone should read?
“We Hereby Refuse: Japanese American Resistance to Wartime Incarceration” by Frank Abe (author), Tamiko Nimura (author), Ross Ishikawa (illustrator) and Matt Sasaki (illustrator).
“We Hereby Refuse” is a just-published graphic novel telling the important but little-known stories of three Japanese Americans who challenged their wartime incarceration. Resisting didn’t win them any popularity contests even in their own community, but time has shown that it was the right thing to do. Telling the story through illustrations activates other parts of the readers’ brains than words alone, helping the unknown story to be better understood and remembered.
— compiled by Ron Judd
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The opinions expressed in reader comments are those of the author only and do not reflect the opinions of The Seattle Times.