2026 Reading Challenge discussion

This thread is to discuss Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson.

Pages: 460 pages

Length: 1 month (January)

Participants: SarahKat, Lorraine, D.L., Beth, TerryJane

Everyone reads at their own pace during a Buddy Read. Because participants can be at different parts of the book at different times, it is extremely important to mark spoilers so that the book is not ruined for someone who is not as far along as others!!!

Mark spoilers by placing {spoiler} before the text and {/spoiler} after the text but use the < and > instead of the { and }.

Here are some questions to help get the conversation started! Feel free to look up discussion questions specific to this book or come up with your own. Just make sure any questions that contain spoilers are under spoiler tags.
Discussion questions are not required but may be a fun way to talk about the book and get to know each other!

Prior to starting:
What prompted you to join this buddy read?
Have you read this author before? What do you think of their other books?

Mid-read:
What character or ideas do you relate to the most and why?
Do you have any favorite quotes or scenes?

After reading:
What was enjoyable or not-so-enjoyable about this book?
Did this book change your perception about anything, either within the book (character development) or in real life?

I should start this book on January 1st or 2nd. I have never read this author before.

I put a hold on the audio just because I'll have more time for those this month. If I don't get it before I finish my other eyeball books I'll grab this one from the library. So I may not start until later in the month.

I've never read this author either. I suggested it because I saw it was on a banned or challenged list so I'm using it for that prompt for Magical Mystery Tour!

I did not know it was on a banned list. Another good reason to join you then!

This is one of my favourite novels! I liked it so much after I read it the first time, I bought my own copy.

I have read up to Chapter 13 of Snow Falling on Cedars. I love novels in which snow is used to shape the atmosphere, even though I am not a lover of winter—especially with temperatures dropping into the minus Fahrenheit range, as we have this week.
(view spoiler)[I appreciate the way the author draws us into the courtroom to observe the trial, while gradually returning to the past to illuminate the relationships between the characters. For now, I suspect that the crime may be a hate crime rooted in ethnicity, and that someone wants Kabuo to pay for being Japanese, even if he may not be the true culprit. At the same time, a love triangle emerges… adding yet another layer of mystery. (hide spoiler)]

Lorraine wrote: "I have read up to Chapter 13 of Snow Falling on Cedars. I love novels in which snow is used to shape the atmosphere, even though I am not a lover of winter—especially with temperatures dropping int..."

Excellent thoughts.

It doesn't snow often where this book is set which I think is also very significant.

I’ve finished Snow Falling on Cedars, and I have to say that I found it somewhat difficult to rate. The writing is very strong, and I will certainly look into other books by this author.
(view spoiler)[ While the central theme of the novel is both original and historically grounded—the experience of a Japanese American community during WWII, subjected to hostility from local residents and, even worse, to discrimination, racism, and suspicion of collaborating with the enemy by both the local population and the U.S. government—the book presents itself as a mystery.
We follow a Japanese man accused of murder largely because of his origins, on an island whose inhabitants seem unable to move past the war. Fairly early on, however, the reader learns that there is in fact no murderer at all, only a tragic accident. At the same time, the story gradually reveals a love affair that ended badly, and we watch the man who uncovers the truth wait until the very end of the novel—just before a guilty verdict seems inevitable—to reveal what he knows.
I’m not entirely convinced by this narrative choice. I think I would have preferred a novel that focused more directly on this chapter of history and on the characters of Kabuo and Hatsue, rather than framing the story as a mystery whose resolution is known halfway through.
That said, the ending genuinely moved me and left me with a sense of hope in humanity. Overall, while the novel didn’t fully meet my expectations, it remains a thoughtful and well- written book. (hide spoiler)]

Lorraine wrote: "I’ve finished Snow Falling on Cedars, and I have to say that I found it somewhat difficult to rate. The writing is very strong, and I will certainly look into other books by this author.
While the..."

It's always interesting how different people react to books. I actually loved (view spoiler)[the fact that this history was framed as part of the mystery because it was first a story about two people and how their lives were impacted by who they were and when they lived, plus how the area reacted relatively soon after the war with the death someone claimed had to be murder. I have read so very many books on WW II and the Japanese in Canada and the States that I find this one a great change. However, I can see that this wouldn't work as well for everyone. (hide spoiler)]

Karin wrote: "Lorraine wrote: "I’ve finished Snow Falling on Cedars, and I have to say that I found it somewhat difficult to rate. The writing is very strong, and I will certainly look into other books by this a..."

Karin, any suggestion for a book on WW II and the Japanese in Canada ? I would like to learn more about this period of Canadian history.

Accidentally let the hold on the audio lapse. Argh! Hopefully I'll still be able to get the physical copy when I'm done with my current physical book.

Lorraine wrote: "Karin wrote: "Lorraine wrote: "I’ve finished Snow Falling on Cedars, and I have to say that I found it somewhat difficult to rate. The writing is very strong, and I will certainly look into other b..."

I don't know of any books since I've been living in the States for some time, but I did research some of this recently for a project I'm working on that has to do with Vancouver and found out that for about a year many Japanese Canadians were crammed into buildings in Hastings Park, Vancouver (part of this huge park is where the Pacific National Exhibition is held each summer), including in an animal barn that reeked!

Here is a website with a number of pages about that https://hastingspark1942.ca/ but the one called resources is under construction.

When I was growing up we didn't hear about this, so I didn't now that three local families' parents (they were children when it happened and had kids in school when I was growing up who were mostly older than I was had been interred in various places and some lost land.) https://hastingspark1942.ca/

Tragically there are no books about the Canadian Cree Code Talkers who were every bit as important in the European theatre as the Navajo Code Talkers in the Pacific Theatre, but there is one video with an interview. The Americans organized it, but I'm guessing there was no political advantage to them publicizing it the way they did the Navajo ones when the records could be made public. Some of them were at least trilingual Cree, English, French, etc.

Thank you Karin. I will certainly looked into that. And If ever I find anything, I’ll let you know

Starting this one finally!

SarahKat wrote: "Starting this one finally!"

Looking forward to what you'll think of it.

SarahKat wrote: "Starting this one finally!"

I hope you like it :)!

I am starting this today. I've never read this author before.

It sounds intriguing, won several awards, and was available from the library, so I decided to join. Off to add it to my "banned or challenged" shelf as well. I missed that info, so thanks, SarahKat!

TerryJane wrote: "I am starting this today. I've never read this author before.

It sounds intriguing, won several awards, and was available from the library, so I decided to join. Off to add it to my "banned or ch..."

I hope you like it! I learned about it from my mother who wasn't a big reader of mysteries; she liked literary as well as mainstream novels.

I've finished the book. I agree with your thoughts Lorraine. I felt like the book was trying to be a bunch of different things at once and the author packed too much filler (both language-wise and plotwise) that it got very bogged down. It was honestly a huge slog for me until the audio became available again and I switched to that.

I did like the ending a lot. I felt like the book could have JUST included the last half and it would have been better.

I'm sorry you two didn't like it. I gave it 5 stars all three times I've read it; I love it's genre-defying style. My mother also loved it as have others I've known. It's primarily literary fiction which is why the language is the way it is (that's one of my favourite parts.)

But that's reading for you--tastes vary :)

You know Karin, after reading all your comments, I will put this book in my rereads if you agree to read it with me next year. I am one who thinks that some book deserve a second chance. Would that work for you?

Lorraine wrote: "You know Karin, after reading all your comments, I will put this book in my rereads if you agree to read it with me next year. I am one who thinks that some book deserve a second chance. Would that..."

It might--I can't predict what next year will be like, but by then I'll be ready to read it again. My dad is old enough we have no idea when he might go (at 93 just his age make him high risk and now he has dementia, but still knows who I am every time I call.)

Karin wrote: "Lorraine wrote: "You know Karin, after reading all your comments, I will put this book in my rereads if you agree to read it with me next year. I am one who thinks that some book deserve a second c..."

No worry. Will do it when it works for you. I hope all goes well for your dad. Take care of you!

It took longer for me to finish this than usual, though not because of the book. Life just got in the way. That said, I finally finished last night.

I adored the language and the author's style of writing! He completely drew me into the atmosphere of the Puget Sound island. I smelled the strawberry fields and cedars, felt the wet leaves under my feet as I walked through the woods, tasted the salt spray from the sea, and felt the cold of the island's unusual snowy weather. (Frozen water in the toilet? Yikes! That's really cold!)

(view spoiler)[I did get bogged down in some of the backstories at times, but looking back now, I can't think of any character whose backstory didn't lend value to the novel.

I was admittedly quite annoyed that Ishmael stole lighthouse records in the first place, and then sat on them for way too long. I understand that this built up the drama, but it just wasn't right to prolong it. (hide spoiler)]

I'm rating this one 4 stars. Thanks for suggesting it, SarahKat.

I'm glad you liked the book, Terryjane.