We Are Water by Wally Lamb

Let's add one more book to the list of 2013 good reads.  Wally Lamb's latest book is another powerhouse of story-telling.  I loved his book This Much I Know, but had not read another one of his in years.  I always remembered the characterization and ability to get inside a dysfunctional family, letting us see all the nuances yet not hating the family members.  He has done it once again with We Are Water (and if you're an audible.com member, it is read by numerous different narrators - like a good movie playing inside your head!).  It begins with a strange story of a long-dead African-American painter and his mysterious death.  The main character, Annie Oh, is also an artist, but not the "paint-beautiful-pictures" type of artist.  She creates angry shadow boxes that reflect the tortured soul within this middle-aged woman.  Lamb draws out the history of the characters through a wedding between Annie and her female agent, reliving Annie's youth and marriage to Orien Oh, as we hear the story from both husband and wife.  Occasionally the children's voices chime in as well, and much more so in Part II, as Annie's son and her long-lost cousin gives us more background history to Annie's life.  Some parts are heard to read, as there's raw sex, pedophilia, and a horrific flood scene, but Lamb is the master of the story - he fills in every nook and cranny of Annie's life, so that we see who she truly is, and more importantly, how she became the tortured artist of New York fame.  And in a surprising manner, he even draws the threads together of the long-dead black artist.   I listened to this book obsessively, every moment I got, including making Christmas cookies and cleaning house.  It's a fabulous, rich, well-told story of a dysfunctional family, that quite frankly I saw as pretty normal these days - it's just real.  I strongly recommend this book - it would be a wonderful book club read as so many intriguing and controversial topics are tackled.

End of 2013

As 2013 winds down, it's kind of fun to look 'back' on the books of the year.  After a productive summer of reading, it looks like I'll beat the number of 2012, with 72 books read, or listened to, in 2013.  I'm a big believer in my classroom mantra...the more you read, the smarter you get.  I'll read just about anything - murder mysteries, non-fiction WWII novels, historical fiction, drama, even romance - I still think we pick up something about life that otherwise would not have happened.  After a conversation with my daughter about the arts, it all came together.  When asked what she was taking for college courses next quarter, Megan, my art history major / aspiring professor, said "Well, Mom, I really need to take a sociology class because art is about people.  But then, I need to take some bio-psychology as well, probably some history, more classics, English literature, just anything.  My professor said that makes sense, as art is about everything in life - that's why we are all drawn to it."  It made me realize that is the reason I love to teach English literature - every human emotion, every historical moment, every dilemma, victory, and solution in human history is found in the pages of books.  The idea that the arts is a dying world, and that all of our children should be majoring in mathematics or engineering is a fallacy - as long as humanity 'feels', we will need music, painting, sculpture, poetry, dance, and yes, BOOKS.  And with that little soapbox moment, here's a few books I've read lately.

The Imposter Bride by Nancy Richler
I picked this one up cheap at Village Books here in Bellingham, our favorite local bookstore.  I was attracted to the topic, a holocaust era story.  However, it's a very different take on that time period.  The premise involves an immigrant who comes to Canada to marry a brother, post WWII. However, the one brother merely sees her at the train station and gets a sense of doom, ultimately refusing to marry her.  His older brother, however, feels a powerful attraction and chooses to marry her instead.  Wedding guests come, as the bride is a cousin of family members in their Jewish community.  But is the bride who she says she is?  The story then follows the bride's desertion and the daughter's life, as she wonders and questions, and ultimately searches for who her mother really is.  The story is interspersed with a diary from Russia and Poland, creating an intriguing time warp. I wouldn't say this is the best Holocaust book I've read, but it's an interesting take on the genre.

A Higher Call by Adam Makos
If you read Unbroken by Lauren Hillenbrand, this is your kind of book.  I think I was feeling a 'dad' moment when I chose this one from audible.com this month.  My dad, a WWII bomber pilot, was obsessed with planes, flying, WWI aces, you name it.  On a visit to the Boeing Flight Museum years ago, he was able to tell me about every little part of every single plane - it was impressive.  So, in other words, my dad would have loved this book.  It is the story of two pilots, Charlie and Franz, one American and one German, and an amazing incident of nobility and humanity that we rarely see in today's world, that occurred between two 'enemies.'  However, Makos spends much of the book on the background and war-lives of these two pilots.  Makos has literally spent his entire adult, and teen life, chronicling the stories of WWI veterans, with the rule being to never write a story of the 'enemy.'  Upon talking to American pilot Charlie Brown, though, he had to break his own rule, as Charlie would not tell anything further until Makos spoke to his German counterpart.  I admit that at times, the story drags when it gets into small details of the planes, and I seem to like the American story better at times, but the historical details of the air war were utterly fascinating and shocking, even to one who has read quite a few WWI war books.  If you have a family member who is a veteran, or who loves stories of war and flying, you cannot go wrong giving them this book.  Rumors of a movie abound, which I understand - it is a story of honor and heroism that is inspiring.

One Mississippi by  Mark Childress
Another 'cheap' book at Village, this was one of those novels that had a lot of buzz a year or two ago, and I just never got to it, as other 'buzzy' books pushed it off my list.  I'm glad I did.  As my husband said, "it's just a good story." Childress creates a family of the '60's, with a salesman dad who gets transferred every year, dragging his three children and wife with him.  This year's move is to, obviously according to the title, Mississippi.  As schools are desegregated for the first time, we see the ordinary lives of teens, and the great social movement, collide, in both small and big ways.  We see the implosion of a both friendships and marriages, and the pull between doing what's right and doing what's easy.  A few good laughs exist as well, as the southern kids teach the 'northerners' how to pronounce words and we see what one good man can do when a company does him wrong.  Definitely worth a read - good beach book:)

FINALLY...some new books!!

It is fairly obvious the school year has begun, as I have been quite delinquent in my book blog.  My apologies to you all, but at least I have some 'dandies' to share so...happy reading!!

The Whisperer by Donato Carrisi
If you like the television series Criminal Minds, if you like a mystery book that leads you through a maze, showing you the 'answer' and then denying it, and if you like unique, tortured souls as the lead characters, then this book is for you.  Mila Velasquez is the best detective around when it comes to finding kidnapped children; it's her specialty.  However, to be a woman detective who has devoted her life to finding missing children, something in her life is a little haywire.  She's got an 'interesting' background, a life peopled with her past, and some odd habits.  Enter Goran Gavila and his team of specialists - Gavila is a behavioral scientist and they need Mila's help with their latest case.  It involves severed arms, young girls, and an entire litany of psychopathic characters.  Carrisi does a masterful job of weaving the story all together, when one is not really sure where it is going.  Beware of the twists and turns - I went down many a dead-end, thinking I knew 'who dunnit', only to be turned away.  The ending is worth it.  This is definitely what I call a page turner:)

The Wedding Gift by Marla Suyapa Bodden
This was our book club choice for our 'historical fiction' month.  After much deliberation around a variety of time periods, we opted for the antebellum south.  The premise of the story is fairly straightforward - a plantation owner gives a slave to his daughter as a wedding present.  The twist?  The slave is the bride's half-sister.  Even then, Bodden could have relegated this to a fairly stereotypical southern story, with the evil overseer, the drunken owner, the ever-suffering wife, and the loyal slave.  However, Bodden goes well beyond this.  As told by both Sarah, the half-white, half-black slave, and the slave owner's wife, Theodora, the story is more of the life of women back in the 19th century, their lack of choice, the lives they must lead, and the legacy they wish to pass on to their children.  Clarissa, the spoilt white daughter, has a surprising depth to her at times, and Sarah, her sister and slave, is simply marvelous.  Her courage and intelligence would make her a charismatic civil rights leader if she had been born 100 years later.  The bad guys (the overseer, the owner, the husband) are well-developed, but not highly complex - they really have no redeeming qualities.  We are told of a slave's life, the never-ending fear that her children will be sold away, never to be seen again; we see the families they try to create and the way in which plantation life tears them apart.  A bit of a mystery surrounds the final one-third of the book that is fairly intriguing (and I won't give it away).  Needless to say, this was a fairly fast read, not particularly long, good story-telling, and I hope a great discussion for our book club.

The Story of Beautiful Girl by Rachel Simon
Listening to this book on audible.com was a beautiful journey back into a time of shame for our country.  It begins in 1968, when an elderly widow, Martha, answers the door to a young pregnant girl named Linny.  Linny is accompanied by an African-American man, who is both deaf and mute.  As the young girl holds her newborn daughter, the guards from her 'school' retrieve her, not knowing of the baby's existence.  The other escapee runs through the rainy night, thought to be drowned, but miraculously saved.  Thus...the story begins.  We go back to a time when children who were mentally impaired were placed in institutions, hidden away from the world, lest one be 'embarrassed' by their outbursts, their inappropriate laughter, their inability to form words properly.  We see the world through Linny's eyes as she lives the life of the institutionalized, and watches as the world changes around her, as civil rights eventually come to the developmentally disabled.  We also watch Martha as she struggles to raise a child on her own, determined to do 'right' by Linny.  And we also share Homan's life (aka '42' at the institution), marveling at how a deaf-mute could survive in a world that treats him as a cipher.  This is a powerful story of how far our world has come, what it takes to survive, the people who become 'family', and the lighthouse that weaves the story all together in the end.  This is well worth the read.

Night Film by Marisha Pessl
First, you have got to see this book in person, not on Kindle.  It's an amazing work of art, with a variety of page types and 'creative' news articles embedded into the fiction story.  It is also the heaviest book I've ever lifted; it's got to be the paper used, as it is smooth to the touch and dense.  So, if you want a lighter weight book, go with the Kindle version, but honestly, the book itself is just really cool!  Now...to the story.  So, full disclosure - it took me two months to read this book and I'm not even sure why.  It's really very good, but I just kept putting it down, picking up other 'quick' reads, not wanting to drag the heavy tome with me to places, and generally making excuses.  The amazing thing was I could always pick it back up whenever I wanted and I was immediately transported right back into the story.  I'm thinking that if I hadn't started school at the same time I'd started this book, I would have breezed through it.  Pessl is a really, really good writer, trust me.  She constructs a complex story line, fascinating characters, and even throws in a bit of occult/fantasy to round it all out.  The premise surrounds a middle-aged reporter who's been put in the penalty box by other news sources for getting a story wrong about Stanislaw Cordova, a "Quentin Tarantino-ish" movie director, who makes Marlon Brando look like a publicity hound.  Cordova's daughter, Ashley, is found dead at the very start, and our diligent reporter, Scott McGrath (boring name compared to all the other characters) is pulled back into the Cordova universe, convinced a mystery is waiting to be solved.  McGrath has a couple of dandy sidekicks who are quirky and twisted, and the places they go - oh my - it's a roller coaster ride, for sure.  I really need others to read this book, as I'm dying to talk about the ending; it left a lot of questions in my mind, but not the bad kind of questions like "what happened" but the good kind like "why...?" So yes, I definitely recommend this book - there is a reason it's been on the best-seller list for months.  Quirky, twisted, creepy, complex, dark...what's not to like??

The Story Catcher by Ann Hite
This was actually the book I voted for when we had to choose a 'historical fiction'; luckily, I lost, as I really wouldn't call this 'historical fiction.'  It is most definitely a ghost story.  However, it takes place during the Great Depression, when not flitting back in time to figure out the ghosts' lives, and the story is set both  in the mountains of Appalachia and an island off the Georgia coast called Sapelo (look it up - it's been in the news lately).  Thank goodness, a few family trees were written at the beginning of the story, as I had to keep referring to them time and again.  Numerous families are connected, but a couple of main ones tell the story.  First is young Shelly, an African-American teen whose brother has run off, whose mother works for the tyrannical pastor in their small mountain town, and who is viciously jealous of the pastor's daughter, Faith.  The other main family is the GeeChee connection out on Sapelo Island (a small hunk of land that was settled by slaves, where families have lived for generations, tied to the sea and the land).  As Hite brings these two stories together, we also see the ghosts and their interaction with the humans.  They have 'issues' left to resolve, a few dead bodies to find, a few folks who need retribution to come their way, and a few mysteries to solve.  I loved the dark gothic settings, the fire-and-brimstone preacher who needed his comeuppance, the gritty young girls trying to find justice in an unjust world.  This is a great vacation read, or a dark, stormy weekend curl-up-by-the-fire kind of book.  It's a quick read, well told, about a different place in time (it does, however, make you look over your shoulder more than once, wondering who may be watching you that cannot be seen!).

New Books...Finally!!!

The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes
If you're ready for your hair to stand on end, as you lay cuddled in your bed, looking over your shoulder for the insanely creepy murderer who plays number one bad guy, this is the book for you.  While I'm definitely NOT a horror fan (I don't do slasher movies, read books about the occult or vampires, or read Stephen King), this is a murder mystery that will get your adrenalin pumping.  Harper Curtis is not your run-of-the-mill creeper...he has found a 'special' house in downtown Chicago that affords him little side trips into the future and the past.  In other words, yes, he's a time traveler, but don't think this is a sci-fi book
- the time traveling merely serves as a vehicle for Harper to terrorize his victims throughout their lifetimes before pulling the final knife.  However, one has been left alive.  Kirby, a tortured young woman, teams up with a quintessential old curmudgeonly reporter as the two try to solve the mystery of her attacker.  This book is a humdinger - guaranteed to make you check under your bed at night and keep you turning pages until it is done.

I Am Forbidden by Anouk Markovits
This is a short, yet poignant, book that looks at a fictional Hasidic family post WWII.  I have read numerous Holocaust novels as well as non-fiction, yet I had very little knowledge of the most religious of the Jewish sects, the Hasidic Jews.  I found this tale to be utterly engrossing as it details the life of two girls, one adopted into a rather famous Hasidic family after the murder of her family in the camps, and the other the daughter of the prominent rabbi.  The two girls follow different paths - one a strong follower and believer in the faith, the other who questions and chafes at the strict religious rules imposed especially on the women.  Through this book, we learn of the adherence to their laws, as well as what occurs when those laws are broken. This would be a fascinating book to read as a book club, as it brings up all sorts of questions...what does God expect of us?  how do we live with faith?  what is our role in the family?  can we be forgiven when we sin?  If you are looking for something thought-provoking and off the track of 'best-sellers', I would highly recommend this book.


Dearie:  The Remarkable Life of Julia Child by Bob Spitz
So, next month is 'biography' month for our book club.  Figuring I'd be buried under essays by then, I jumped in early to our chosen bio.  After being presented with five different choices, our club enthusiastically chose the story of Julia Child.  Rather hilarious, actually, as I'm not sure any of us are gourmet chefs, though we must all aspire to be:)  I had seen the movie from a few years ago, Julie and Julia, and found it delightful.  Although, I do remember thinking I was not that interested in the blogger and found Meryl Streep's portrayal and storyline of Julia Child far more interesting.  I have to say, I was hooked from the first line of Spitz's fascinating, in-depth look at Child's life.  He takes us from the moment she is born, back into the life of her parents and grandparents, and then looks at literally every aspect of her life.  Spitz does an admirable job of looking at all Julia's life stages, and does not merely focus on the famous years from age fifty to her eighties.  While it is a rather long book, the last 30% is taken up with footnotes, so it's not as long as it may seem at first glance.  At times, I wished Spitz would spend less time detailing the peripheral characters of her life, but he was always able to bring it back to Julia and her husband Paul (that is a fascinating love story).  I was thoroughly engrossed in the story of this 6'3" tall woman (yep, and her younger sister was 6'6"!!) and the impact she made in the American kitchen.  I had always thought of Julia Child more as the parody on Saturday Night Live, but she was so much more.  Each night I closed the book, I found myself starving to death - they talk food ALL the time - and I may even attempt one of her butter- and-cream-rich recipes soon, but if you like historical tidbits about famous people and you're even peripherally interested in cooking, this is a thoroughly enjoyable book.  In the words of Julia...bon appetit!

The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
I had heard a little buzz about this book (Amazon book of the month last June), so when I saw it in my high school library, I impulsively checked it out.  One of my students saw it on  my desk and exclaimed "Oh, that was my favorite book this summer!"  Hooked.  Gaiman is typically a Young Adult author, but this is first foray into the world of adult fiction in quite some time.  I admit - it's not my usual fare of mystery, historical fiction, or non-fiction inspirational true story.  It is a fantasy, where a curmudgeonly old man attends a family funeral, and remembers his summer as a seven year old boy.  As we return in the memories of the boy, we see the extraordinary summer he had as magic, myth, and fantasy conspire to create a whole new world for him to explore and conquer.  What I liked about this fantasy is that it is grounded in a small, recognizable English countryside, the two children as main characters are utterly delightful, courageous, and engaging, and the antagonists are incredibly and evilly intelligent.  It is a short, beautifully written story that will keep you reading to the end.

Jussi Adler-Olson

These Scandinavian authors do know how to write a good mystery - what is it about their lifestyle, country, culture, etc. that allows them to think up these twisted bad guys, tortured detectives, and thought-provoking plot twists?  Whatever it is, I'm sold.  Adler-Olson's latest books on 'Department Q' in the Copenhagen homicide unit are actually better than the very first (Keeper of Lost Causes - written up in earlier post).  I liked Keeper, but it was a bit slow at first.  Now that I've read the following two books in the series, it makes sense; Adler-Olson needed to build his characters, the reason for Dept. Q to exist, and the history behind the relationships in the office.  The main character, Carl Mork (excuse the poor spelling - I listen to these books on audible.com - extremely well read!), continues his 'bull-in-a-
china-shop' habits with his superiors.  Carl doesn't really care about promotion; in fact, he heartily avoids it.  Therefore, he spends zero time sucking up to the captains and even less time making nice to the secretaries.  In other words, he's hilariously rude and short-tempered.  Many laugh-out-loud moments exist, especially in his conversations with his Syrian sidekick, Assad, and his ditzy secretary, Rose.  In The Absent One Carl and Assad spend the book investigating a particularly nasty little pack of wealthy, society men that leads to a provoking twisted finale.  In Redemption, a strange little note in a bottle leads Carl, Assad, and his fill-in secretary (Rose's twin sister, Ursa - hilarious) to a freaky killer who focuses on religious cults in Denmark.  Throughout the Department Q books, we continue to see Carl's ongoing problems relating back to the shooting that paralyzed his partner Hardy, his sexual obsession with his therapist, Mona Ibsen (gotta love the name), and his wacky living situation with a roommate, a crazy wife, and a loser of a stepson.  Adler-Olson has a winner of a series that is humorous, provoking, thoughtful, and well-written.  If you too like the Scandinavian mystery writers, I'd check out Dept. Q.

Tell the Wolves I'm Home by Carol Rifka Brunt

If you have celebrated the civil rights for gay people in this past year, this book will give you a reminder of the prejudice and hatred to which gay people were once subjected.  Brunt places this family drama in 1986, during a time when President Reagan had never mentioned the AIDS epidemic, gay people were called "homos" and "queers" by the media as well as police, and judges cleared a courtroom due to the fear of catching AIDS from merely being in the same room.  The main character is a fourteen year old girl named June, whose favorite and only uncle is not only a famous artist, but is dying of AIDS.  Brunt explores not just one strand of the family dynamics, but all of the relationships that make up the idea of 'family' - June's complicated relationship with her older sister Greta, Uncle Finn's love and past history with his sister, and the friendship June forges with Finn's partner, Toby.  This is not a page-turning mystery nor a roller-coaster ride of a thriller.  It is not a neatly packaged, predictable family drama.  Tell The Wolves I'm Home reminds us of how far we have come in the decent treatment of all humanity and shows us what hatred and prejudice can do when we don't stand up for all who deserve basic civil rights.  This book starts out slow and easy, and brings it home strong; a beautiful, honest, at times heartbreaking read, I highly recommend this book.

The Outside Boy by Jeanine Cummins

This is an absolutely beautiful first novel by Cummins, and I do love a well-written first novel - it bodes well for the future.  An Irish writer, Cummins sets this story in 1959 Ireland, following an Irish family of rovers.  Known as Pavees, or travelers, or inaccurately as Gypsies, the Hurley family lives a thousand-year tradition of the ancient Irish.  Moving from town to town in their traveling wagons, the Hurleys are vilified and reviled everywhere they go.  The main character is an absolutely delightful 12 year-old boy named Christy, with his sidekick cousin to provide the earthiness and reality of the traveling lifestyle.  In order to take their first communion, the family must settle down in a town, necessitating attendance at a Catholic school, which comes with the relentless abuse from the other children.  But in Christy, Cummins has created a wise, introspective, young boy who persistently searches for answers about his dead mother, the meaning of his grandfather's death, and a way to live in a world that hates his way of life.  This is a 'coming of age' story with great heart and soul that gives one insight into a way of life of which we know little
.  I give it a heartfelt, resounding recommendation.

Honor by Elif Shafak

I would read a grocery list written by Elif Shafak; she's that good.  A Turkish writer who was vilified in her native Turkey after her book The Bastard of Istanbul was published, Shafak comes roaring back from that controversy.  (Bastard is also a fabulous book - and it's fairly obvious Shafak has little love for Turkish men).  Honor begins with a Kurdish woman giving birth to twin girls, number seven and eight daughters.  Named Pembe and Jamila (or Pink Destiny and Enough Beauty), the girls' story in a destitute Kurdish village in the Turkish countryside is interspersed with the story of Pembe's daughter and son, as their emigrant life in London unfolds.  Unbeknownst to me, the London scene in 1978 was filled with racism and neo-Nazis, creating a tense and dramatic setting in which to place this family drama. As the oldest son gets drawn to Islamic extremism and his father pulls away from the family, Pembe herself becomes the pivot around which the story revolves.  With a dramatic twist and beautiful writing, Shafak once again writes a masterpiece of a book.

The Bat by Jo Nesbo

If you're like me, you started in the middle of Jo Nesbo's series on Oslo detective Harry Hole with his book The Snowman, the best-seller two years ago.  However, the translators finally returned to the beginning and gave us The Bat, where it all began.  In this first of the series, Harry is a 32 year-old, handsome, eager young detective - not the wrecked and broken man of the later books.  Nesbo takes us to Australia as Harry helps to find a fairly creepy serial murderer.  While I found the book started a bit slow and not as well written as his other books, by mid-story, Nesbo had kicked it into gear and given us his classic detective novel.  He flushes out the character of Harry Hole (pronounced Hoo-le), giving background on his childhood, his inner demons, his battles with alcohol, and even a love interest.  By the end, I was ready to bite on the next in the series.  If you like a good murder mystery with really excellent character character development, check this book out:)

Life After Life by Kate Atkinson

The previous Kate Atkinson book I tried to read, Case Histories,  was a detective novel that I did not find particularly well-written or compelling, so I had avoided this latest one.  However, the genre of Life After Life is completely different, the writing style quite intriguing, and the plot rather unique. Think about this...have you ever wondered where your life would be right now if you had just made

one different choice in life, whether the decision was a major one like who to marry, or a minor one like attending a parade?  I think it's a pretty natural thing for all of us to do.  Sometimes I think "What if I

had majored in journalism instead of English?  What if I had attended a different college and never met my husband?  What if I had been ten feet further down the highway and gotten crushed by that semi-truck when it hit the other car next to me?"  Atkinson takes this very human need to second-guess oneself, and turns it into one of the most intriguing novels I've read in years.  She starts with a plot line - Sylvie giving birth to Ursula, cord wrapped around the baby's neck, deep in the English countryside, during a snowstorm.  So, what are all the possible combinations of what could have happened?  Atkinson then takes a path, leads the reader down it to show the twists and turns life takes, then ends the path.  Next, she chooses a different path, and so on and so on.  It is shockingly easy to follow once you catch on to the pattern (hint:  it always comes back to the snow and the dark). Atkinson is able to to use the rich history of England during both WWI and WWII as well as some interesting characters that pop in and out of the plotline, giving her a plethora of 'paths' to take.  I would strongly recommend this to a book club, as I am dying to talk to someone, anyone, about the different choices and the culminating consequences.

Whistling Past the Graveyard by Susan Crandall

Love love love love love this book.  Okay, got that out of my system!  First, I admit - I'm a sucker for Southern literature.  Now,  I don't want to visit that part of our country, I never want to live there, I vote opposite of the red states every election, and would sometimes prefer for us to push the region off into the Atlantic Ocean - however, I do love their authors.  There's just something about a Southern voice, done well, that grabs me.  Crandall has written a 'road' story, a coming of 'age tale of the most distinctly anti-stereotypical little Southern girl since Scout Finch.  Starla is a red-haired, sassy, disobedient, love-starved little girl who lives with her grandmother Mamie, while her father works off in the Gulf.  Her dissolute mother up and left town when Starla was three, prompting grandma to constantly wonder if Starla inherited her genes.  After putting up with Mamie's treatment of her for ten years, Starla has had enough...thus the adventure begins.  We see the South through this little girl's eyes; after being raised to believe the treatment of blacks back in 1963 was "what they wanted" according to dear old grandma, Starla comes to learn differently.  She begins to see what real love is, to face her own fears and help others face their's, and to make her way in a world that is inherently unjust.  While no Atticus Finch exists in these pages, Eula, the black woman who 'adopts' Starla, comes mighty close.  This book would be loved by a middle-school girl up to a ninety year old.  Crandall tells a whopper of a story - I highly recommend taking this trip with Starla - it's a humdinger:)

The Light in the Ruins by Chris Bohjalian

I have read quite a few of Bohjalian's novels, most recently The Sandcastle Girls (see previous post).  Following what I consider his masterpiece, I'm not entirely sure what to think of Light in the Ruins.  Set in Tuscany, the story encompasses two time periods:  1943 as the Italian government collapses between the Allies and the Nazis, and then 1955 post WWII Florence.  It straddles two genres as well - historical fiction and mystery - as we see the Rosati family of the past and the investigation of some gruesome murders during the 'today' of the '50's.  On one hand, it was definitely a page turner; Bohjalian has always been able to write a compelling story.  However, I felt some of the parts just didn't fit.  Some things were 'too convenient' involving the mystery.  It almost felt like he wanted to deal with a plethora of plot ideas, and didn't delve deeply enough into any of them.  I found myself asking questions like...is this book about Nazi sympathizers? Or about the Italian resistance?  Or is it a thwarted love story?  Or perhaps a Jo Nesbo gruesome murder mystery?  The setting is fascinating, the characters are richly drawn though not overly likable (except the female detective, who is a 'bad-ass.'), and the ending satisfies, but ultimately, I enjoyed the Italian WWII book by Mary Doria Russell's,  Thread of Grace, much more than this one and would recommend that as a more realistic approach to the intricacies of Italy's role in the war.

Summer Reading:)

The Black Country by Alex Grecian
If you are a big fan of mysteries and you've read the first one in this wicked new Victorian-era series (The Yard), you're going to love the sequel.  Actually, even if you didn't read the first one, you won't miss a beat - this one doesn't refer to the last one a bit - the only thing you'll miss is the continuing character development of these quirky, dedicated London policemen.  In this book, Grecian brings his men of the London Murder Squad to a remote English coal mining town where an entire family has disappeared.  As Inspector Day and his trusty sidekick Hammersmith search out answers, we are also pulled into a side story on a POW camp in the American Civil War (sounds odd, but Grecian makes it work), as well as reacquainting ourselves with the odd pair of the London coroner and her eerily quiet daughter.  As his previous book, a bit gothic and creepy, great character development, and thoughtful mystery - this is one of my new favorite mystery series!

The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb by Melanie Benjamin
After reading The Aviator's Wife (see previous post) and thoroughly enjoying Benjamin's story-telling and research, a friend recommended this one.  She was spot on - read it in just a couple of days.  As most of you, I had obviously heard of P.T. Barnum, one of America's great showmen and PR men (also, according to the man himself, a 'humbug').  However, I always thought of Barnum along with the Ringling Brothers, as in the circus that came to town each year. Reading this richly fascinating story of Barnum's American Museum in New York City, his start with General Tom Thumb, and the collection of 'oddities' he put together makes for an intriguing story.  The main character, 32 inch high Lavinia Bump, is a complex, occasionally dislikable, thoroughly rich lead, who tells her story quite honestly. Her relationship with her husband, as well as her even tinier sister (27"!) makes for a life both complicated and tragic.  I learned about a piece of Americana I had never known before, and was thoroughly fascinated.

The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh
Here was another book I had heard quite a bit about a few months ago. Quite frankly, it didn't intrigue me all that much, as I'm not that into flowers (see my beach grasses and shrubs and you'll agree).  However, it was on the cheap table at Village Books, so I jumped on it; I am glad I did.  Yes, the plot line has to do with flowers, but it is so much more.  Following the story of Victoria, a horribly abused and neglected foster child, we see her life unfold between today's world as she attempts to make her way as an 18-year-old homeless, jobless, goal-less young woman and the stories of her past and her life with Elizabeth, who teaches her the Victorian language of flowers.  I continuously turned pages, wanting to see where life led this young woman, where her past had taken her, and what her future might hold.  At times rather unrealistic to the true horrors of the foster care system and the devastation to a child's psyche, yet at other times it was painfully raw and hurtful. Diffenbaugh's first novel is powerful; I look forward to her next.

Never Let Me Go  by Kazuo Ishiguro
My political, feminist, liberal daughter had been telling me to read this book for the past year; she was right.  I powered through this one in just one day - it reads fast, and you literally cannot put it down as you want to find out what freaky world these kids are living in.  Ishiguro, the award-winning author of The Remains of the Day, leaves that locale of WWII and a stuffy English butler, and takes us to post WWII England and what has transpired since. We meet Kathy H. and Tommy D., along with their rather unpleasant friend, Ruth - all inhabitants of what we believe to be a 'typical' boarding school. As Kathy reminisces of days past, we start to slowly piece together this scientific creeper.  I cannot tell you more without giving tidbits away; suffice it to say, it's a mind-bender. This would be a perfect book club book, as it brings up some pretty heavy philosophical questions about what we believe to be human, 'normal', acceptable, etc.  Highly recommend!

The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown

Between the new Hosseini book and this book by Daniel Brown, it is shaping up to be a phenomenal summer of reading.  As soon as I read the review of The Boys in the Boat, I thought of my husband, a UW alumna who bleeds purple, gets cranky on game day if the football team loses (tho that has been rather frequent the last few years), and spent a few years in the Greek system going to the Opening Day crew races.  The birth of this book began when author Daniel Brown was called over to the home of a neighbor, whose father Joe Rantz, was dying and wanted to meet the author of some of the books he had enjoyed.  Unbeknownst to Brown, Rantz was a gold-medal winner of the 8-man crew boat produced by the University of Washington in 1936.  Unbeknownst to me, crew-racing was one of the most watched and most followed sports in the first half of the 20th century.  As Brown listened to Joe, and his daughter Judy's stories, he realized...there's a book in here.  And boy, was he right.  From the second paragraph of the book, you know the boys win the gold.  However, Brown writes in such a gripping, emotional manner, I found myself on the edge of the couch, almost cheering aloud to pick up the pace, to beat the Germans, to WIN.  Obsessively reading over just three days, this is my favorite non-fiction I have read since Unbroken.  It is a story of poor young men, who have nothing but their heart, their muscles, and their will to pull them across the finish line.  Brown does a masterful job of not only relating the story of the boat races, but also of the background of Joe Rantz and the others - the poverty during the Great Depression, the conditions of Seattle and the UW in the 1930's, even the digging of the Coulee Dam.  Knowing less than nothing about the art of rowing, I am humbled and in awe of what oar men and women do.  And next April, when Opening Day at the UW begins on the Montlake Cut, I plan on being there, to honor the Boys in the Boat.  Inspirational, emotional, and unbelievable in parts, DO NOT miss this book and give
it to a member of your family who loves not only the University of Washington, but who loves the art of sport and the heart of competition.

Baker Street mysteries

The Baker Street Letters and The Brothers of Baker Street by Michael Robertson

As a lifelong mystery junkie, you'd think I would know something about Sherlock Holmes, but alas, besides the name of his famous sidekick and the recent movies with Robert Downey Jr., I am ignorant. Regardless, these two delightful books by Michael Robertson will please any mystery fan.  The title comes from the offices of Sherlock Holmes, who resided at 220 Baker Street.  The main characters in this series, Reginald Heath and his dippy brother Nigel, have settled their law firm into the same office suite as the fictional character.  Ignoring the finer details of their lease, the brothers soon come to find out that part of the agreement is to respond to the bizarre letters that come to their office, addressed to the fictional detective.  In the first book, this bizarre expectation takes them to Los Angeles, involving them in some high stakes real estate deal, while the second one has them dealing with a woman who believes herself to be Holmes' arch-nemesis, Professor Moriarty.  The mysteries are quite intriguing, and very difficult to figure out ahead of time.  Dryly and wickedly funny, intelligently written, and purely British, I was engrossed with these short books.  Reginald Heath is an uptight London barrister, who cannot quite figure out his relationship with the beautiful red-headed actress, Laura, who winds up being smarter than either of the two brothers. Listening to these two books on audible.com was purely delightful; I could not wait to walk the dog or drive in the car, just to listen to the exploits of all these delicious characters, read in an upper-crust English accent.  I hope to see many, many more of Robertson's books with Reggie, Nigel, and Laura nosing their way through complex mysteries, and sorting through their personal relationships in the appropriately distant British fashion.

And the Mountains Echoed

For those of you who cried over The Kite Runner and agonized with the women of A Thousand Splendid Suns, Khaled Hosseini is finally back with his third novel.  I am always impressed with an author who bides his time after a huge bestseller, and comes back to write another masterpiece instead of churning out, shall we say, crap, for the next few years just to make a buck?  You know some of the authors I'm talking about (ahem...go read John Grisham's first novel - it was brilliant - then see what happened).  Regardless, Hosseini spent the requisite time needed to write another heart-wrenching, page-turning, humdinger of a novel. He takes us back once again to Afghanistan, but if you think you've heard it all in his previous two books, think again.  This time, Hosseini weaves numerous stories together - an Afghan warlord, a refugee family in America, a 'French' mathematics professor, a Greek doctor, a disfigured woman - but the story begins and ends with a brother and his beloved little sister.  It's that childhood trick of blowing the dandelion seeds to the wind; in this book, we ultimately see where they all land, and the fewer than 'six degrees of separation' we all share.  I have not shed a tear over a book probably since Dumbledore died, but And the Mountains Echoed did me in.  It rips your heart to shreds in many parts, but it has realism, love, and redemption throughout as well.  I would not suggest putting this book down and picking it up later; you tend to lose the threads of all the stories, and you really don't want to - trust me.  Take a few days this summer and return to Afghanistan...you won't forget the trip.

The Keeper of Lost Causes by Jussi Adler-Olsen
If you liked the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series, then this one is your cup of tea, minus some of the stomach-churning sex crimes and alternative lifestyles from Girl.  Set in Copenhagen, Carl Mork is a cranky, embittered Danish policeman, whose partner has been paralyzed, his other partner killed, and bad publicity in the newspapers for a drug bust gone bad.  So, of course, his incompetent and unethical superiors create a new job for Carl, head of the new Department Q, in charge of 'lost cause cases.' Carl and his mysterious Syrian sidekick begin to investigate the disappearance five years ago, of a popular politician.  As we find out more about her accident and her family background, we are sucked into the search for the truth, just as Carl is.  Well written, amusing at times, and thoughtful segues between the past and the present, the Department Q books are on my list as future books to read, especially for those of us who love a good mystery.

The Golem and the Jinni by Helen Wecker
First, you need to purchase this book in hardback just because it is incredibly beautiful; like books of old, it has gilt lettering and pages edged in dark blue...beautiful.  More importantly, buy this book because it is pretty awesome.  Hard to categorize, Wecker's first novel is part fantasy, part folklore, and part historical fiction, but mostly it is a story of a friendship between a Middle Eastern mythical creature, Ahmed the Jinni, and a Hebraic creature of mystical Judaism named Chava.  And yes, I do see the irony of this as we continuously see the current political situation in the Middle East.  Yet there is nothing political whatsoever in this book.  The story takes us to 1899 New York City, into the boroughs of the Jewish refugees as well as Little Syria.  We meet the coffee house hostess, the tinsmith who employs Ahmed, the society girl who loves him, and the 'crazy' ice cream maker who can 'see' Ahmed.  Once Chava and Ahmed meet, the story deepens as the two creatures who belong nowhere, forge a friendship.  This story is unpredictable, uniquely creative, and beautifully researched and written.  I suspect Helen Wecker will be writing some masterpieces in the years to come; this is a great beginning.

Best Kept Secret by Jeffrey Archer
If you are going on a long road trip and need a good series of books to listen to, the 'Harry Clifton' series by Jeffrey Archer is a good bet.  With that said, I would not recommend reading them.  They are not particularly well written, but the story is awfully good and the British narrator is perfectly delightful, so they are a great 'listen.'  This third book in the series is just as good as the previous two (written about previously on this blog).  The story continues to follow Harry and Emma, now married and parents of two, as well as the brother-in-law Giles Barrington and their nemesis from the the war, Captain Alex Fisher.  We also get to know the rather tempestuous son of Harry, Sebastian Clifton.  I admit...I'm a sucker for stories of British aristocracy, boarding schools, and the bad guys getting their due.  The only frustration is the total cliff-hanger this book leaves - I was assuming this series was a trilogy - obviously not, per the last page.  Happy listening!

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Typically, I do not write reviews of the books I read and teach in my high school English class.  However, I must make an exception with this classic.  Having been over ten years since last teaching TKAM, I had not forgotten how much I love this book, but I had not remembered to fully appreciate the beauty of the writing and the pure unadulterated pleasure of re-reading this book.  The manner in which Lee weaves together the childhood stories of Boo, the community of Maycomb, the trial of Tom Robinson and the prejudice of the townspeople, and the loss of innocence of Scout, Jem, and Dill is just pure brilliance.  Reading the final chapter, as Scout reflects on the previous two years as she stands on Boo's porch and then curls up on Atticus' lap, my heart could recognize the pureness of this story.  Instead of creepy murder mysteries where you want to take a shower after you finish, or twisted stories of human nature and love gone wrong, To Kill a Mockingbird is just one of those books that as you put it down, you just want to try harder, be a better person, stand up for what's right.  If you have never read it, or haven't picked it up in years, do yourself a favor and take a trip to Maycomb and the world of Scout Finch.

Scout, Atticus, and Boo by Mary Murphy

This book was written after a documentary was made, celebrating To Kill a Mockingbird's fiftieth anniversary.  After spending all its life on the best-seller list, being the only book ever written by Harper Lee, and being instrumental in the beginning of the civil rights movements of the 1960's, there's a lot to be said about this book.  Murphy interviews a huge variety of people, ranging from other famous authors, celebrities like Oprah Winfrey, the curator of the museum in Lee's hometown, and even her 98 year old sister, Alice.  The one person you will not hear from is...Nelle Harper Lee herself, the original 'Boo.'  I found the trivia and insight into both the book and the 1963 movie quite fascinating, but then again, I love trivia and historical background.  If you love TKAM, you may find it as interesting as I did.

The Painted Girls by Cathy Marie Buchanan
If you like dance, art, and Paris, you will like this book.  Historical fiction, it follows the story of a little dancer at the Paris ballet in the 19th century.  Degas, the famous impressionist who was part of the realist movement, chose little Marie as a model one day.  Ultimately, he created one of his most famous pieces from the time spent with her.  However, the focus is actually not on the artistic world of the painters, but more on the life of these young girls and how they are treated by the Parisian ballet.  The ballet moms are like today's helicopter moms, but on steroids.  Walking on the side of abuse, as well as sexual harassment, the story is told from two sister's point of view, with one as a successful dancer and model, and the elder sister who has taken a dangerous, addictive turn.  Melancholy at times, but fascinating in the life of the ballet, it is an intriguing story.

Reconstructing Amelia by Kimberly McCreight

Vassar and U Penn law school graduate, Kimberly McCreight can WRITE.  Wow, this book is just mind-blowing.  If you loved Gone Girl, by Gillian Anderson, you will also love Reconstructing Amelia.  The premise (and I'm not giving anything away - it's on the book flap) focuses on Kate, a big-time corporate litigator, single mother of fifteen-year old beautiful, brilliant Amelia.  Kate receives a phone call during an important legal meeting, that Amelia has been caught cheating on an English paper and needs to be picked up from school due to her suspension.  By the time Kate arrives, Amelia has leapt to her death from her very posh Brooklyn school.  The next 380 pages takes the reader on a roller coaster ride, as Kate tries to ascertain whether Amelia really committed suicide.  We enter the world of teenagers, through Amelia's Facbook posts, Twitter feeds, text messages and email.  We also see Kate fifteen years previously, dealing with an unplanned pregancy and the effects of the people she met then as everyone becomes involved in her search for the truth.  McCreight nails the voices for both Kate and her daughter, and takes us into the inside world of vicious teenagers, manipulative parents, and corporate law.  I read this book in 24 hours, finding minutes every where I could; it was gripping, addictive, and completely satisfying.  I will most definitely be in line to purchase McCreight's next novel.

Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple

I'm not sure how I forgot to write this book up, when I've been telling all my girlfriends to read it - and yes, definitely more of a 'girlfriend' book.  This book is quirky, pointed, meanly-funny, and shockingly well written.  Semple is obviously either a Seattle-native, or has lived there for years, as she is right on with her irritations of the Northwest (yes, we do all wear REI clothing and  say 'no worries' to just about everything).  Bernadette, our resident heroine, is a stay-at-home mom with a single daughter and Microsoft husband.  Her neighbors (aka 'gnats') annoy the heck out of her, while she lives in a moldy old nunnery at the top of Queen Ann hill.  As the story of Bernadette's'insanity' unfolds, we also learn of her previous life as an architect in southern California, adding depth to her character and some motivation for her behavior. Her relationship with her long-distance East Indian assistant, her planning of a trip to Antarctica, and her relationship with the other moms makes Bernadette one of my favorite literary charaters of the last few years. I literally could not put this book down, I laughed out loud frequently, and related waaaaay too much to Bernadette's behavior (haven't we all wanted to run our mini-vans over ridiculous PTA moms just once?!).  LOVED this book!

More Books...

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce
  If you liked Major Pettigrew, or you love very 'English' books, you will love this one.  While a bit of a slow start, it is absolutely worth it; it makes one remember the value of the past and those we love.  The main character is...Harold Fry, obviously.  He's a delightful, but also rather pathetic, old English gentleman who goes out one day to get the mail.  Upon receiving a letter from an 'old friend', who tells him good-bye before cancer takes her, Harold decides to walk a little further.  Thus begins his pilgrimage to save Queenie Hennessey.  Each person he meets helps him to view pieces of his own life, causing nostalgia, regret, as well as introspection on his marriage and his role as a father.  We get to watch his wife, Maureen, as she grows and changes right along with Harold.  By the end of the book, I felt as if I too was as exhausted and spent as Harold, yet triumphant as well.  I understand all the accolades and awards for this book; it is beautifully written, thought-provoking, and in the end, it is a book that just has 'heart.' 


The Round House by Louise Erdrich
After seeing this book on numerous award lists (yes, it won the National Book Award, which is kind of a big deal), as well as knowing that Erdrich is a well-reknowned author, I kept deliberately avoiding this book.  Sometimes the 'award-winners' are more in love with their own words, than with the plot line of the story.  However, I finally 'jumped' and it was well worth it.  Obviously, Erdrich can write; she has a lyrical style that is descriptive, yet not too much so.  She paints a picture of the desolate Dakota reservation where four Native American boys are fast friends, if not blood brothers. The narrator of the story is Joe, a lawyer who is also an Ojibwe native, looking back to the pivotal moment of his childhood - the rape of his mother on reservation land. The boys' journey together, to catch the criminal, explores their relationships with numerous different inhabitants of the reservation.  Joe's father, a judge, is in a unique position and provides the story with the political and legal background to see the repercussions of crime on reservation land. The native mythology is woven into the plot line quite seamlessly and gives a unique context to the book, as Erdrich is a Native American herself, and I know far less of the culture than I should.  This 'coming-of-age' story is a beautiful, yet heart-breaking story, of a culture that is a part of who we are as America.

The Aviator's Wife by Melanie Benjamin

Obviously, looking at this blog, I love historical fiction...and this book does not disappoint.  I always thought I knew pretty much everything important about Charles and Anne Lindbergh - he flew solo over the Atlantic, their child was kidnapped, and Anne was a writer - case closed.  Obviously, a larger story exists.  Anne Morrow was the 'forgotten' child of a wealthy U.S. ambassador and senator.  A shy and quiet, studious young woman, Anne was shockingly courageous, tenacious, and a talented aviator in her own right.  The book covers the 'biggies', such as the tragic kidnapping of their first-born son and Charles' fliration with Nazism, but the psychological and emotional strain on their marriage is also explored.  The role of the media in the destruction of their lives is remeniscent of today's Twitter-crazy paparazzi.  And while at times I wanted to wring Anne's neck, I also felt her searing pain, admired her search for her personal and professional independence, and related to the struggles of a woman who, while loving her children, dreams of her own identity in a world that doesn't want her to have it.  This was a powerful story of a pivotal time in American history - highly recommend it.

A Walk Across the Sun by Corbin Addison
Each Christmas and birthday, my girls get a book - that's what we English teachers do, right?  This year, my oldest received this one.  As a current law school student who also has a minor in human rights, I figured this was the perfect book for her.  So of course, mom stole it and read it first.  All I can say is...wow.  This book is a powerful story; I cannot recommend it highly enough.  No, it's not brain candy and no, it's not a good 'beach' read.  It involves the legal field and human traficking, not light-hearted subjects.  Told from two perspectives, the story draws the reader in for numerous reasons.  One, it is remarkable well-written.  Two, the research is rich, deep, and obviously authentic.  And three, the plot line is well developed and the characters are dynamic, both frustrating and admiring.  The American story line involves a corporate lawyer who is being 'put in the corner' by Big Law, and needs to find something 'worthwhile' to spend a year on.  After the death of a child and the dissolution of his marriage, this man is an empty shell who has forgotten what the true power of the law. The East Indian story follows two young girls, who are orphaned due to the Dec. 26th tsunami.  Kidnapped and traded, time and again, taking us to Mumbai, Paris, and New York city, their story is gut-wrenching, discouraging, yet ultimately inspiring.  The growth and change in all the characters is what makes this story so rich and fulfilling. I will never look at life in quite the same way, and yes, I will worry even more as my girls travel alone, not only abroad but in our very own country. 


 

Z - A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald by Therese Anne Fowler
For those of you who know me, I suspect you're already chuckling at the title of this book.  Yes, I LOVE The Great Gatsby, yes,  I have a phone cover of Gatsby, and yes, I even wear my Gatsby t-shirt on the first day I begin teaching it to my freshman.  With that said, though, I abhor most all the characters within the book - petty, greedy, selfish, racist, anti-semitic, Nick, Daisy, Tom, and Gatsby are all pretty much lousy human beings.  Yet, I love the writing, the themes, the beauty of the story.  So...of course when Z came out, I purchased it on the first day.
So many myths and urban legends surround this 'Jazz Age' couple; I was curious as to what was true and what wasn't.  The story focuses on Zelda, whereas most everything I've read always centered around Scott.  The story of their courtship, the early wild days of marriage before a child, the 'lost generation' of the expats in Europe, the alcoholism, the friendship with Hemingway, the mental illness...it's all covered here.  However, Fowler also explores what it meant to be a woman back then, and what happens to an independent-minded woman when she runs up against the unwritten rules for 'wife-dom' in the 1920's and '30's.  I found Zelda fascinating, sad, and tortured, and Scott as rather pathetic, obsessive, and also tortured.  I wonder where life would have taken these two if they had not joined their negative, destructive forces with one another?  Great read if you have an interest in the literary days of the past, as well as enjoy historical fiction.  Not only did I learn a great deal, but I enjoyed the journey tremendously.

The Messenger by Marcus Zusak
Zusak is technically a 'young adult' author, though to be honest, I've never seen him that way.  While he may write shorter books, nothing simplistic or immature exists in his writing.  If you read his first book, The Book Thief, you completely understand.  That book featured Death as the narrator, during the Holocaust in Germany.  Yet it was different than literally every other book about that time period, that I have ever read.  Zusak sees life uniquely.  Many of my students have been so entranced by The Book Thief that it actually was able to turn them onto the lost art of reading, something they never thought could happen.  The Messenger is so far removed from his previous book, it is like another author wrote it, except for the uniquely obscure way of looking at life.  The main character, Ed, is quite a bright young man  who is choosing to drive a taxi, hang out playing cards with a tight circle of friends, fight with his mother, and do...not much with his life.  Yet one day, a card comes for him in the mail - not a greeting card, but a playing card from a deck.    Ed spends the rest of the book figuring out a variety of 'messages,' while at the same time figuring out life.  This book is quite intriguing, would be an interesting book club read, and is appropriate for all age levels.  I was quite fascinated by both the story and the prose style. It was also a stellar reminder of how we are able to touch people, whether they be strangers or friends, in both simplistic and complex ways.

The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult
Okay, Picoult has been my 'dirty little secret' in the past.  Always on the bestseller list, but not always with the best books, the woman can usually write a story that I cannot put down.  My Sister's Keeper (great book, lousy movie) and Nineteen Minutes (horrifying look at a Columbine-type situation) were not easily forgotten and read quite quickly.  However, I had not read one of Picoult's numerous books in quite some time, having gotten a bit burned out as well as disappointed in some of her later books.  The Storyteller, though, is another home-run.  As I read the blurb on audible.com, it seemed fairly straight forward...young girl (Sage) meets old gentleman (Joseph), who asks her to help him kill himself.  Yet, as the story plays out, we find out the hidden Nazi secrets of both Joseph and his brother, as well as Minka, Sage's grandmother and a Jewish prisoner.  The story of the Nazi soldier and the Jewish slave laborer are extraordinarily intense, and I've read numerous Holocaust books.  This book is extremely well-researched, using details and stories from past survivors.  Throw in a bit of a love story with a Department of Justice lawyer, a scarred and tortured main character, a slimy funeral director, and Picoult has another pretty good hit on her hands.  Though many of the Auschwitz scenes are graphic and disturbing, these scenes are not thrown in gratuitously but truly lend the story the authenticity needed to make it 'real.'  I highly recommend.

NEW BOOKS!!

Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo
   This is an amazing non-fiction book, focusing on one of the particular slums of Mumbai.  I had heard about it for months, seen it on numerous 'must-read' lists, but just hadn't felt compelled to read it, thinking it would be far too depressing.  Ultimately, I listened to it on audible.com, therefore I'm not even going to attempt to spell out any of the names! Suffice it to say, it is not a book I will forget any time soon.  The story begins with the focus on a Muslim family of garbage collectors, with a son who is the 'king-pin' amongst the other boys, has a sickly father and a rather temperamental mother.  We also follow the story of a social climber and politician who will literally do anything to ensure her, and her daughter's, movement up the ladder.  And yes, we are introduced to a caste system that is, unfortunately, still alive and well in India, no matter how
'modern' they say they are.  We see the graft in government, the corruption in the police, the complete absence of medical care and education, and the true horror of the slums of Mumbai.  Well worth your time, though your stomach will churn in spots and your mind will want to deny that humans are treated as such.

The Paris Wife by Paula McClain
Admittedly, I am a historical buff and a fan of books based on real people.  This one is a doozy.  I had avoided McClain's book, as I'm not really much of a fan of Ernest Hemingway.  In a college lit class, I was forced to read The Sun Also Rises, never completely understanding the dynamics of the characters, or to be honest, really caring.  I finished the book wondering what all the fuss was about Hemingway.  Since then, I have studiously avoided teaching any of his works in my English classes, perhaps unfairly, perhaps not - it remains to be seen. However, the story of his life is quite fascinating, and The Paris Wife covers his first five years of writing, his marriage to a slightly older woman, and the life of the 'Lost Generation' in 1920's Paris.  I studiously avoided reading about Hemingway on Wikipedia, so I could discover for myself the interesting facts and tidbits of his life.  Most intriguing to me, was the inspiration for The Sun Also Rises - and yes, it now sits on my high school desk, waiting to be read once again (I'm hoping 30 years later, I will see the value).  Through these five years, we meet many of the 'biggies' of American literature, such as Gertrude Stein, Ezra Pound, and my personal favorite, the drunken and crazy American couple...the Fitzgeralds.  Read in just two days, I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman
I had read the inside flap of this book frequently, never really that intrigued by the idea of a couple who lives out on a deserted island, keeping the lighthouse. Was I ever mistaken.  This is one of the most beautiful books I have read in a quite some time - I HIGHLY recommend it.  The story line is simple; .a baby is found in a rowboat - the couple keeps it.  Fast forward...let the drama begin.  The woman is a protected, beloved only child after her brothers are killed in WWI, while her husband is a decorated veteran, traumatized by his own wartime experiences.  Their marriage is complex and complicated by their inability to bear living children, as well as his PTSD.  The other character, however, is the lighthouse. The island itself sits between the Indian Ocean and the Southern Sea that leads to Antarctica; it is a world unto itself.  I found myself fascinated with the life of a keeper, wondering when the looming houses became automated and ended a way of life for so many.  First time author Stedman can write, seriously.  Her writing is lyrical, poignant, yet not verbose; she gets to the plot line without droning on endlessly about the scenery, yet keeps one reading as she draws out the quiet mystery and drama.  Loved loved loved this book.

Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell
In my search, as an English teacher, for a non-narrative, non-fiction book to teach at the high school level, everyone kept referring me to a Gladwell book. He has three bestsellers - The Tipping Point, Blink, and Outliers. After looking at the three of them, I decided perhaps his latest one would be the most high-interest for students.  However, I found it wasn't just about my students; I was hooked from page one and finished it the next day.  The story looks at the studies and statistics surrounding people and companies that succeed, exploring the idea of "what makes one successful."  Needless to say, I was shocked by some things, not by others.  For instance, our favorite line to our girls their entire childhood and still into adulthood is...Work hard and good things happen.  Outliers taught me that still holds true, though 10,000 hours seems to be the needed turning point for success.  However, so much more exists that aids in one's success...when you were born, your cultural background, and so many other things I had never even considered.  This is an engrossing, fascinating book - I highly recommend it.

Ghostman by Roger Hobbs
Early one morning last fall, I saw my friend Chuck Robinson at the gym.  Consumate bookseller and owner of literally the BEST independent bookstore to be found, we, of course, engaged in our usual conversation about our latest favorite books.  I was in awe over Yellow Bird, and he was fascinated by a new young author he had just met, as well as his first novel that Chuck literally could not put down.  His words to me were..."Someone should put this young man to work for the FBI - he knows far too much about the underworld."  Hobbs is a 23 year old young man, recent graduate of Reed College, and since it takes a couple years to the actual publishing phase...you can do the math on how young he was Ghostman.  This is a rock-n-roll, hold onto your pants, edge of your seat, and every other cliche, kind of thriller.  A 'ghostman' is a person who doesn't actually exist, living so far off the grid no one can find him.  Our hero (who knows what his real name actually is??) is a professional thief and he's got a bit of a problem on his hands, as well as a past history that plays into his current situation.  Hobbs weaves the two stories seamlessly together, creating a page-turner like no other.  As Chuck's blurb said on the back of his book..."we will be reading this young man's work for years to come."  Hobbs is the real deal and Ghostman is a legitimately awesome read.
when he wrote