Winter Reading 3.0

When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi
It is hard to describe this book.  On the surface, it is a memoir written by a 36 year old neurosurgeon, who has just finished his residency, yet faces stage-four lung cancer.  This is the story not only of his past, but of his two years spent with cancer.  And I deliberately say 'spent,' not 'battle' as Paul Kalanithi chooses to make his life, and his death, meaningful.  He knows from the inception that his cancer is not curable, that it is indeed a death sentence.  As he searches for meaning in his days, he writes honestly, poignantly, poetically about philosophical choices, his career, his wife, his childhood, his new baby girl.  After reading the rave review in the New York Times, I knew this book was something special.  So for one afternoon, everything was turned off in my house and I enveloped myself in the quietness of Paul's book.  With a preface by Abraham Verghese (The Tennis Partner, Cutting for Stone), I knew my heart was in for a pummeling.  This is a breathtaking book, written by a man with a golden pen who fully embraces what life is, and what it is not.  Having bought two copies, one to keep and one to loan out, this is another life-changing book in the steps of Atul Gwande's Being Mortal.  It is a reminder that like all organisms, we all will die...the question is how do we face our death with dignity, with clear eyes, without bitterness or regret.  Kalanithi is a spectacular guide for the final journey.

A God in Ruins by Kate Atkinson
A companion book to Atkinson's huge hit, Life After Life, this book follows the story of Ursula's brother, Teddy, and his 'ordinary' life he lives after surviving WWII.  In her first book, we see Ursula's life as one different chance after another, discovering what her life would have been like if X happened, or what it would have been like if Y happened, etc.  It was a very unique, complex plot design that I thoroughly enjoyed.  How many of us have not thought about what our life would have been if we had only taken that job, turned the corner at that junction, or chosen to take that plane ride?  All of life's choices lead us down a specific path, and our lives touch people that might not have been touched without us present.   She continues that idea with Teddy, a British schoolboy whose aunt writes famous children's books about him, flies over 30 ops as a RAF bomber, marries his childhood sweetheart, and raises a difficult child.  The 'ordinariness' of his life is belied by the author's plotting, the constant question of 'what if?'  While at times I felt the book was too long at 465 pages, the ending is literally one of the most unique, creative, thought-provoking finishes I have read in quite some time.  This is a worthy companion to Life After Life -  if you read and enjoyed that one, I suspect you will appreciate her latest effort.

Echo by Pam Munoz Ryan
You know those 'kids' books that read like 'adult' books...yep, this is one of them.  Reminiscent for me of The Book Thief, this is a beautifully written, creative, thought-provoking Newberry Honor Book of 2016.  Long (well over 500 pages), it reads quickly as it is written for middle readers. However, the themes and characters are rich and complex.  It begins with a fairy tale, a story of three sisters trapped in the woods, waiting to save a person's life so they can resume their life in the castle.  Hence, the stories of the three children (yes, like all good fairy tales, the magic number three is important).  First we meet Friedrich, a young musical genius in Germany, who must battle the Nazis and their murderous ways, as well as somehow save his family.  A special harmonica becomes the conduit which ties together the subsequent characters.  As the harmonica wings its way to America, we are left wondering about Friedrich's survival.  Next, two young orphaned brothers, Mike and Frank, struggle in the American depression, and count on this special harmonica to buy them a new life.  Again, at the 'end' of their story, we wonder...will the boys be adopted or will they be put on the streets?  Last, we meet little Ivy, a Mexican migrant worker in 1942 California, whose relationship with the Japanese family at the farm becomes pivotal in her future.  Author Munoz-Ryan, whose book Esperanza Rising won many awards, is a beautiful writer, who in the end ties together the fairy tale, the children, and the harmonica in a magical way.  I thoroughly enjoyed this book, as would anyone of the age of ten through ninety.

The Japanese Lover by Isabel Allende
If you have never read a book by Isabel Allende, you really should; she is a beautiful, lyrical writer who understands the emotions that lie deep under the surface.  Once again, in her latest best-selling book, Allende creates a story full of not only complex characters, but their intricately complex relationships with one another.  The main character is Alma Belasco, a Jewish orphan from war-torn Poland who comes to San Francisco to live with her aunt, uncle, and cousin, Nathaniel.  Alma is a complicated woman; on one hand she is loyal, loving, and thoughtful, yet she is also often selfish, manipulative, and elitist.  As an elderly woman, she resides in Lark House where she tells her life story to Irina, a refugee from Belarus with a dark history of her own.  Alma receives gardenias in the mail each week, and occasionally slips away for weekend assignations.  Irina and Seth, Alma's grandson, begin to investigate and discover a secret life of Alma and Ichimei, her Japanese Lover.  The story sweeps us to many places:  WWII Poland and England, the relocation camps of the Japanese-Americans, Boston's world of art, and the high-society of San Francisco.  However, the most important aspect of this book is not the setting or the plot - it is the relationships, the complex nature of who we love, and the ultimate destiny of those associations.  It is a beautiful tale, told by an icon of the literary world.

The Architect's Apprentice by Elif Shafak
One of my favorite authors of the past decade, Shafak has been a controversial figure in the Turkish literary world, exiled after her first novel, The Bastard of Istanbul, a novel of family dysfunction in Istanbul as well as their history with Armenia,  and creating more controversy with Honor, a tale of Turkey and immigration to England, along with the issue of 'honor' killing.  She is a brilliant writer, who writes searingly and honestly on the issues of sexism, race, and historical context in today's world.  Her latest book is a distinct departure from her modern tales, taking us back to the 1500's and the time of Suleiman the Magnificent.  That century was the last 'hurrah' for the dominance of the Ottoman Empire and we see the last gasps through the eyes of Jahan, an apprentice for Sinan, the architect who created the skyline of Istanbul that can still be seen today.  Jahan is not only a gifted builder, he is also the mahout (caregiver) for the white elephant who comes to live in the sultan's menageries.  Intrigue, love, murder, deception...you name it, it is in this book.  I found the narrative and setting to be fascinating, a slice of Eastern history of which I was quite unaware.  If you are planning any trip to Turkey in the near future, this would be a great book to read to get you prepared for the history and architecture of this fascinating land.

A Dictionary of Mutual Understanding by Jackie Copleton
This book has been a slow-growing hit over the last year, as people slowly discover the beautiful writing of debut author Jackie Copleton. Having spent three years teaching in Japan, this is where Copleton sets her initial story, in the naval-shipyards and red-light district of Nagasaki, a city of infamy, death and destruction in WWII.  Amaratsu, the narrator of the story, lives alone in her Pennsylvania home, an elderly woman seeing only more years of loneliness and alcohol ahead of her.  Yet when a 46 year old badly burned Japanese man knocks on her door to tell her he is her grandson, Hideo, presumed dead in the atomic bombing of their city, Ama is swept back to the decades of her life in Japan.  We see her emotional relationship with her daughter Yuko, a secret love affair that changes many lives, the bonds of grandparents and grandchild, and most of all, the effects of 'pikadon' (bright light + boom) to the world of Nagasaki.  Lyrical and emotional, I found this book draped in sadness, with so many questionable decisions, but also a complexity of relationships that I found breathtaking.  It is hard to find redemption in a world destroyed by an atomic bomb, or to see any value in a nationalistic war fought by ordinary people; Copleton does a magnificent job of taking us into this world and letting us see the aftermath of destruction, both physically and emotionally.

Winter Reading 2.0

In the Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware
This dark, psychological mystery takes the reader to a remote house in the English countryside, to a 'hen' party for Clare, the bride-to-be, and a who-dunnit that is difficult to put down.  Told through the eyes of Nora, who has been invited to Clare's hen after not seeing her for ten years, we travel to the past as well as the present, as Nora tries to remember the incidences of the weekend, from the hospital bed where she currently resides.  The cast of characters is quirky and interesting:  Nora, an introverted twenty-six year old crime writer, with a difficult past; Nina, the brash and bold surgeon, old friend to Nora; Tom, the only male at the 'hen,' actor friend of the groom; Flo, current best friend of the bride, mentally unstable; and Clare, the bride and Nora's childhood best friend.  As the story unfolds, we see Nora and Clare's friendship from its inception, as well as the different characters as they walk into the girls' lives. The pieces of the puzzle slowly come together, and we, along with Nora, continuously wonder who is behind the Machiavellian plot unfolding at what should have been a wild girls' weekend.  On many of the 2015 'best of' lists, this mystery was a page turner.

Midnight Sun by Jo Nesbo
This Norwegian mystery writer has been one of my favorites, since first picking up one of his Harry Hole series.  The man knows how to create a taut mystery with dark, intriguing characters.  His latest is a stand-alone book, and shorter than most of his crime mysteries.  It does, however, focus on another complex character, who names himself Ulf.  Ulf has landed in a small, northern Norwegian town where the sun never sets and an obscure Christian sect shares the town with some lawless pagans.  Ulf is running from his past as a drug dealer and would-be assassin.  As he begins to share the townspeoples' lives, Ulf begins to dream of a future. However, the question throughout the book is whether his past will allow him to live another day.  While it is not as good as Harry (what is?), it is a solid mystery with some good twists and turns.





When Books Went To War:  The Stories that Helped Us Win World War II by Molly Guptill Manning

Have you ever heard of the Victory Drive for Books?  Or how about ASE's? Or true 'pocket' magazines?  Nope...me neither.  This non-fiction book opens the window on a little-known book drive during WWII, that explains why so many people of the Greatest Generation were, and are, obsessive readers.  In a very well-researched book, Manning shows us the beginning of the 20th century, with a small program for WWI books that did not make it past Armistice Day.  However, when the boys began to be drafted for the European theater in 1941, the powers that be realized that sitting in camps was not only boring, but was debilitating to the fighting morale.  Thus was born a new movement for books.  Prior to this drive, paperbacks were fairly rare, but a small 3x5 book could fit in a soldier's pocket.  These books were read in foxholes, waiting for the enemy to arrive; they were passed from hand to hand, popular titles having the most value; and men most dearly loved the books, like A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, that reminded them of the simple lives they left at home.  If you have a relative of this generation, or a librarian in your family, or you just love American history, this is the book for you.

After the Wind:  1996 Everest Tragedy - One Survivor's Story by Lou Kasischke
Into Thin Air is the one Jon Krakauer book I never read, the tale of the tragic loss of twelve lives on Mt. Everest in 1996.  Therefore, when a fellow book seller asked me to read this book to see what I thought, I figured it would be 'meh' in comparison to Krakauer's award winner.  Yep, I was wrong.  I spent an entire day on the couch, voraciously reading this gripping tale.  Kasischke (called Louk by team members) is a fifty-something year old man, addicted to mountaineering his entire life.  He joins what he thinks is the perfect team to summit Everest, but as the time draws near, personnel changes and a young reporter from Outside magazine is added (that would be Krakauer).  Despite Louk's apprehensions, he forges ahead to Nepal and the climb of a lifetime.  Embedded in the gripping tale of life and death, however, is also the story of Louk's relationship with his wife, Sandy and his deep faith.  Their love transcends continents and provides the support Louk needs to return home; it is the perfect balance to an otherwise tragic tale.  Told in first person, from journal accounts written right after the disaster, Louk is not a professional writer - he's just a normal guy who had an extraordinary experience.  I loved this book and will not readily forget this real-life adventure.

Best Boy by Eli Gottlieb

Many of us have read stories of young developmentally challenged children and their struggles in life and school, such as Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night, Story of Beautiful Girl, and Be Frank With Me.  Gottlieb's story is a different take, showcasing what happens when a parent tries, and fails, to help their child and this small boy lives the last forty years of his life in a residential home for delayed adults.  Todd is a heartbreakingly lovely man, who so desperately misses his long-dead mother and just wants to return to his childhood home.  He is complacent and settled in his decades-long residence, until Martine, a new woman moves in and disrupts his idea of what is 'normal.' Running away, foregoing his meds, picking fights becomes Todd's new normal.  We visit his past and see the abusive father, his bullying brother, and the deep love of his mother in a time period that understood little of autism, anxiety, and developmental delays.  This is a story I will not soon forget.


Seraphina by Rachel Hartman
Yep, another YA book.  If you like fantasy, dragons (both magical and wicked), strong female leads, and a mystery thrown in, you will love Seraphina.  She is a musical prodigy living in the capital city of a fantasy world inhabited by both humans and dragons.  However, when the dragons are in the human city, they have to take their human form, thanks to a forty-year old treaty that ended the human vs. dragon war.  These dragon/humans are known for their analytical, unemotional minds, not allowed by their own kind to feel love for another.  However, Seraphina has a deep dark secret to hide, one that is not just frowned upon by both humans and dragons, but would cause her to be ostracized by society.  Trapped in her mother's secret past, which was embedded in her brain at birth, and pulled into the mystery surrounding the death of the heir to the throne, Seraphina is a spectacular new heroine.  If my girls were a bit younger, I would be shoving this book at them to see what a strong, smart, courageous young woman is capable of accomplishing.  This is a exciting read!

New Books on the Horizon

My Name is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout
Pulitzer-prize winning author Elizabeth Strout (Olive Kittredge, The Burgess Boys) is back with her latest book and it is a sure winner, especially if you are looking for a book club choice that will illicit the most conversation.  I only wish Strout had started writing years ago, so that we would have a plethora of choices from her; she is that talented.  Her writing is sparse, unadorned with wasteful adjectives and descriptive phrases.  Strout ensures her characters communicate clearly, and disconcertingly, always seem to be speaking straight into the reader's own mind. The main protagonist, Lucy Barton, is a writer herself who looks back on a time she spent in the hospital when her estranged mother comes to visit.  The mother then stays for five straight days, never sleeping and never leaving Lucy's side,  implying a close bond, but it is far more complicated than that.  As our narrator relates their conversations, Lucy also pops in and out of time in her own life and her own complex relationships with friends, husband, and daughters.  This is a stark look at Lucy's life, both past and present and is a compulsively readable novel.  I love that Strout stops the story at page 191, sticking to the sparseness of Lucy's Midwestern roots and her own writing style.  It is another masterpiece by one of my favorite authors; a book club would be enriched through the reading and discussion of this novel. (Published Jan. 5, 2016)


Eleanor by Jason Gurley
I first picked this book up due its fascinating cover, as well as the plot focus on twins, a deadly combination.  I had no idea the fantastical world Gurley would create.  As he pulls us through different decades, we meet Eleanor, a tragically sad woman living on the coast of Oregon with an older husband and a small daughter.  Next, we meet Esme and Eleanor, six year old twins destined for tragedy.  Yet, as Eleanor begins her teen years, she is violently pulled into another dimension of time, where trapped souls attempt to rewrite history.  I know - sounds weird - but it is magical, imaginative, and utterly engrossing.  As Eleanor tries to heal her family and avert past tragedies, we see the memories of the past, we enter their dreamworld, and we ultimately see the redemption that lies ahead.  I read this book obsessively, and loved the back story of how it came to print.  (Gurley had been writing this book for fifteen years, and Powell's, the huge independent bookstore in Portland, OR, was entranced with it and pushed hard to get it widely published after first publishing it independently).  I hope that more people discover this new author; he writes beautifully, creatively, and powerfully. (Published Jan 12, 2016)

Free Men by Katy Simpson Smith
The latest book by best-selling author of The Story of Land and Sea, I was not originally 'all in' for this one; as much as I love historical fiction, post-revolutionary war is not usually my thing. It takes place in 1788, colonial times in the south, focusing on the manhunt for three fugitives following a vicious murder and robbery.  However, once I became engrossed in the four main characters - their lives, their pasts, their motivations and sorrows - I continuously read to the final page.  Le Clerc, the Frenchman who hunts the three suspects, is an amateur sociologist, so we see much of life through his eyes.  As the three men begin to tell their story, we also start to see Smith's thematic motif, constantly questioning what freedom truly is to each individual.  Bob, the escaped slave, chooses to leave behind a wife and two daughters to seek his freedom; Cat, a white man wrapped so deeply in sorrow and tragedy that freedom for him means an absence of relationships; and Istillicha, the Creek native who seeks freedom through revenge and a return of his family's honor.  Beautifully written, this would give a book club many thought-provoking questions to discuss. (Published Feb. 16, 2016)

Be Frank with Me by Julia Johnson
This book is a delightful mix of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night, Where'd You Go, Bernadette, Wonder, and The Rosie Project.  Yet, Julia Johnson has created her own unique story with a fresh new voice in her debut novel.  In other words, I LOVED this book!  It begins with Alice, the young computer-geeky, plain girl who travels to Los Angeles to corral the recluse writer to finish her next great American novel. Sent by her aged publishing boss, Alice has no idea what is in store for her in the ritzy Bel-Air mansion, where not only M.M. Banning resides after writing her one-hit wonder, but also Frank, her nine-year old son.  Frank...where do I begin?  First, he dresses odd, as in top hat and tails when the occasion demands, or perhaps aviator cap and googles? Maybe safari gear?  He has specific rules:  Only Frank touches Frank's things, don't touch him unless asked, he only drives in taxis with his mother, etc.  He knows every minute detail of every old movie ever made.  He also has no friends, is bullied at school, and is a wretchedly sad child dying for his mother's attention. In other words, Frank is complicated.  This book is a roller coaster of a fabulous ride; the worst part is when you turn the last page.  Do not miss this book. (Published Feb. 2, 2016)

The Widow by Fiona Barton
Haven't we all wondered about the wives of the serial killers, once they are caught?  How did she not know?  What attracted her to that man and kept her in the marriage? Did she ever suspect?  Why did she stay?  In Fiona Barton's debut novel (previous job was reporter for British newspapers), these questions are answered.  The story begins with Glen Taylor's death, smushed by stepping in front of a bus (yes, cliche but rather darkly humorous).  The press jumps all over the widow, Jean Taylor, as the couple has been in the news for years, with Glen suspected of a child's kidnapping and disappearance. Barton moves seamless between time periods, as we get to know Jean, the widow.  We see Jean's insecurities, her emotional outbursts, her vulnerability, as well as her own pathology.  The supporting cast is a strong one as well: a nosy reporter pulled between doing what is right and her job as a media vulture; the police detective who is obsessed with the case of Baby Bella and in constant trouble with his superiors about his inability to let it go; and of course, Glen, the strange husband who bounces between bullying his wife and groveling to his own parents.  This is a tightly drawn mystery that will keep you reading until the final chapter.  (Published Feb. 16, 2016)