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Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford

Books n' Brew

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford

2026-09-16 19:00:00 2026-09-16 21:00:00 America/Chicago Books n' Brew We read a variety of genres and meet at McCarty Mills Taproom to socialize, discuss books, and enjoy libations! September's selection: Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford McCarty Mills Taproom, 140 S. River St., Unit 108, Aurora, IL 60506 -

Wednesday, September 16
7:00pm - 9:00pm

Add to Calendar 2026-09-16 19:00:00 2026-09-16 21:00:00 America/Chicago Books n' Brew We read a variety of genres and meet at McCarty Mills Taproom to socialize, discuss books, and enjoy libations! September's selection: Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford McCarty Mills Taproom, 140 S. River St., Unit 108, Aurora, IL 60506 -

We read a variety of genres and meet at McCarty Mills Taproom to socialize, discuss books, and enjoy libations! September's selection: Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford

The Books n' Brew Book Discussion group meets at McCarty Mills Taproom, a relaxed setting to socialize, discuss books, and enjoy libations. McCarty Mills Taproom is at 140 S. River St., Unit 108, across the street from the Santori Library, and food/drink is available for purchase. For adults 19+.

Books are selected by the group or facilitating librarian, and copies are available on the 3rd floor of the Santori Public Library and at the West Branch Library Reference Desk. Contact Cesar Ortega at cortega@aurorapubliclibrary.org or call 630/264-3612 for more information. 

We will be discussing Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford:

from Goodreads

In 1986, Henry Lee joins a crowd outside the Panama Hotel, once the gateway to Seattle's Japantown. It has been boarded up for decades, but now the new owner has discovered the belongings of Japanese families who were sent to internment camps during World War II. As the owner displays and unfurls a Japanese parasol, Henry, a Chinese American, remembers a young Japanese American girl from his childhood in the 1940s—Keiko Okabe, with whom he forged a bond of friendship and innocent love that transcended the prejudices of their Old World ancestors. After Keiko and her family were evacuated to the internment camps, she and Henry could only hope that their promise to each other would be kept. Now, forty years later, Henry explores the hotel's basement for the Okabe family's belongings and for a long-lost object whose value he cannot even begin to measure. His search will take him on a journey to revisit the sacrifices he has made for family, for love, for country.



West Branch

Phone: 630-264-4117
Branch manager
Kiri Palm

Hours
About the branch

This branch is connected to Washington Middle School and known for its creative displays and programs for adults. Complete with three study rooms and two conference rooms.

Upcoming events