BEST OF 2014

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline:  Completely taken by surprise by the obsessiveness which I used to finish this futuristic, video-gamer, high-interest YA book, this was truly one of my surprising favs of the year (and yes, the movie is already in the making - cannot wait)
The Museum of Extraordinary Things by Alice Hoffman: This book has three 'can't miss' items for me - it took place in NYC at the turn of the century incorporating tons of history, it was about a circus/freak show, and it is written by one of my favorite authors, who could write a grocery list and I would find it beautiful.
Lexicon by Max Berry: This futuristic tale is incredibly well-written, and eerily spot-on when it comes to the possibility of manipulating people with words (think... FoxNews gone to the dark side)- great thriller/mystery.
All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr: Goodreads award for Best Historical Fiction - I concur.  The writing, the juxtaposed story of a young German techie-genius and a blind girl, in a walled city in France during WWII - it is spectacular.
The Pearl that Broke Its Shell by Nadia Hashimi: This was a debut novel by a gifted young Afghani woman, telling two stories across time: a woman who dresses as a man to guard the king's harem and a young girl who masquerades as a boy in modern-day Afghanistan.  It is not a story I will soon forget.
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel and The Stand by Stephen King: If you love dystopic novels as I do, you cannot miss either one of these.  The first is the newest take on a virus destroying our world, as we look at ways to rebuild our society; the second is the original, the one that all other authors look to as a model for dystopic novels.  Both are well worth reading.
Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson:  Best non-fiction of the year for me, this book exposes the two justice systems that exist in our country today: one for the wealthy, the well-connected, the well-to-do, and another system for the poor, the disenfranchised, the colored, and the handicapped.  You will not easily forget this book.
Dear Committee Members by Julie Schumacher:  Short, wickedly funny, mean-spirited, nasty at times, and ultimately redemptive, this collection of letters by a grumpy college professor is worth the afternoon of reading - you will laugh out loud and enjoy every minute of his academic year.

Holiday Reading

Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson
It's amazing the things you learn when you watch Jon Stewart's The Daily Show; without my daily shot of comedic news, I never would have heard of this book or this intriguing author.  Stevenson is a professor at NYU, but has spent the majority of his law career in an equal justice law service begun by him in Alabama back in the early 1980's.  Just Mercy is a timely book, considering the demonstrations, media attention, and high emotions currently surrounding race and the inequities seen in our judicial system.  Stevenson is able to portray his own battles, and the battles of his clients, through a system that is inherently weighted against the poor, the handicapped, and the black and brown people in our country.  Fascinating and heart-wrenching stories abound:  the black man accused of murdering a young white woman, with a dozen witnesses placing him elsewhere, sentenced to death; the mentally handicapped teenage boy sentenced to life without the possibility of parole; the mentally ill young girl railroaded into a confession.  Powerful, insightful, and incredibly moving, Stevenson shines a light on a justice system that frequently only gives 'justice' to the rich and powerful in our country.  This is truly a book all Americans should read, no matter their social class, race, or area of this country they inhabit - it is life-changing.

Birth of the Pill:  How Four Crusaders Reinvented Sex and Launched  Revolution by Jonathan Eig
If you like non-fiction, I guarantee you will like this book.  It's a fascinating look at the decade leading to the 1960's introduction of the Pill.  We see Margaret Sanger, years after her turn-of-the-century infamous media splash.  She has become an alcoholic, pill-popping, strange little woman who still has the power to get the medical community to rally around women's rights.  We also meet the moneyed philanthropist who is willing to finance the greatest change for femininity the world has ever seen, as well as the two doctors who research, who go through trial and error after error after error, who buck the Catholic Church and the naysayers and the government and everyone else who wants to 'keep women in their place.'  Quite honestly, I had always taken birth control for granted, having come of age in the eighties.  It is quite the revelation to see the power of being able to control your own body gives to women, the life-changing new opportunities it opens up, and the financial empowerment it brings to the home.  It is a beautifully written narrative of some fairly brave people who changed the lives of millions.  Well worth the read.

The Killer Next Door by Alex Marwood
Having loved Marwood's first book, The Wicked Girls (reviewed earlier on blog), I eagerly awaited this next novel, and I was not disappointed.  If anything, I found it equal to, if not better, than the first.  The plot line begins in the present, with two London police investigating the death of a young woman.  As the novel spins back through different times, we start to see the outlines of the plot and the quirky characters that inhabit the nasty boarding house where they let apartments.  There's the requisite kindly old woman who has lived in the apartment seemingly forever, constantly telling the landlord about the dreadful smell and clogged drains in her basement flat.  The landlord himself is a creepy, handsy, fat deviant who specializes in ignoring his tenants.  Add to the mix a young runaway, an odd music teacher and the mysterious thirty-something woman who seems to want to hide from the world, and you've got a humdinger of a mystery.  Marwood reels out the secret lives of them all slowly and deliciously as the reader tries to put it all together.  This is one creepy mystery with some stomach-churning death scenes but if you like well-written, very British stories, you will love this one.

The Secret Place by Tana French
Admittedly, I'm a big fan of Tana French and her Dublin Detective series, ever since her debut years ago of In the Wood.  While The Likeness was her one miss, in my opinion, Faithful Place and Broken Harbor were both extremely well-written novels with fascinating, complex characters.  In The Secret Place, she brings back a couple detectives from those books and places them in a rather snotty, aristocratic private girls school.  A year ago a boy's dead body was found on their grounds, and suddenly a note shows up on the school bulletin board, dubbed 'the secret place' that says "I know who killed him."  And thus the mystery begins.  The entire book envelops just one day of the police investigation, as the two detectives interview the power clique and the odd-ones-out clique.  Interspersed one after the other is the story of the past, as the months unfold that lead to the boy's death.  The relationship of the detectives is fascinating to watch; the embittered female detective, partner-less in the Murder Squad due to her attitude as well as her gender; the young detective trying to claw his way out of the Cold Case Squad, desperate to be accepted in Murder; and the older detective whose daughter is a pivotal character in the plot, both a master at mind games.  This is a well-written, thoughtful, complex mystery.  If you have liked Tana French in the past, it is a winner.

My Sister's Grave by Robert Dugoni
Another good mystery, but not nearly as complex and detailed as the two previous books.  However, if you like a good page-turner, enjoy reading about the Northwest, and need a good vacation mystery, this is a good one.  Plus, if you're an Amazon Prime member and own a Kindle, it's free on the library - can't beat that.  The female detective investigates murder for the Seattle Police Department, and one day gets a report that a body has been found in her hometown that is suspected to be that of her sister.  As the detective returns to the small town of Cedargrove,  Dugoni also spins the reader back to the time period of twenty years ago, the shooting competition the sisters won, the engagement, the disappearance, the trial of the accused, the small-town secrets, the dissolution of the family - and everything leads to the final culmination.  While some of the story may be a bit cliche - the old friend who becomes a lover, the gruff sheriff, the kindly storekeeper - it's a well-laid-out plot with some good twists in the end.


News From Heaven by Jennifer Haigh
As I searched the book lists for some titles to bring to our book club 'picking' meeting at the end of summer, I deliberately looked for some good short story anthologies, just for a change of pace.  While short stories are not typically what I am drawn to, Haigh is one of my favorite authors so I figured we could not go wrong here.  Yep, I was right:)  Having already read Haigh's novels Bakerton Towers, The Condition, Mrs. Kimble, and Faith,  I am a serious fan.  She has an innate ability to breath life into normal people, to develop her characters so deeply that you hurt with them as they go through the normal complexities of life.  After the hundreds of books read in the last few years, I can still tell you every plot of those four books; Haigh sears these people and their life stories into your brain.  She really is that good.  News from Heaven is a compilation of stories that are all tied to Bakerton, the small mining town in Pennyslvania where Haigh set her first book.  Each story stands on its own, but is connected in some way to previous and future tales.  Her characters have very familiar problems - lost love, heartbreak, war, family dysfunction, death - but as you read, you become invested in their lives.  You won't find neatly tied up packages at the end, as that is not the way real life works either.  I loved this book and cannot wait for the discussion this month at book club.

Dear Committee Members by Julie Schumacher
What a pleasant relief to pick up a book that is only 183 pages long, and not the requisite 480 that every author seems to be determined to write; a good, crisp, well-told tale can be a beautiful thing.  I read Schumacher's book in just one day, and not just because it is short - it is utterly hilarious.  The book is an epistolary; in other words, the whole thing is a bunch of letters.  The letters cover a full academic year and summer in the life of one very curmudgeonly middle-aged English professor.  As he will tell you numerous times, he is tired of writing LORs (letters of recommendations) so he infuses his letters with some of the meanest, most satiric, wickedly funny tidbits that I wish all letter-writers would have; they would definitely be more entertaining for prospective employers to read.  The professor also details his life in his letters to various committees and university staff members, showing us his deadly literary career, his issues with former wives and girlfriends, and underneath all the vicious wit, a heart that actually believes quite strongly in the power of teaching literature and writing, God love the man.  If you have a secondary teacher or college professor on your gift list this month, do them a favor and buy them this book - it will hit just the right chord and make them laugh out loud.

The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters
Here is one of 'those' books: award-winner, critically acclaimed, on best-seller lists, short-listed for Man Booker prize, etc. etc. etc.  and yes, you guessed it, I couldn't stand it.  Normally, I don't review the books I don't care for, but I felt compelled as this one seems to be on everyone's 'to be read' list.  My advice would be...don't waste the time.  It's a viciously long book that could have used a more judicious editor.  The first two-thirds drones on and on, setting up the post WWI situation of  Frances and her mother, who have lost their father and two sons/brothers, as well as their nest egg.  Previously rather well-to-do, they have to resort to letting out rooms to a young couple, Mr. and Mrs. Barber, who are of the 'lower' classes.  Ms. Waters then spends an inordinate amount of time on the love affair of Frances and Mrs. Barber; I don't care who's having sex with whom, I don't want to read the details for a dozen pages - it gets tiresome.  It took until the final last quarter of the book before the plot line thickens and creates some tension with a murder, a trial, and a lover's spat.  Waters can definitely write a beautiful sentence and gorgeous prose; she just writes waaaaaay too much of it for me.

First Impressions:  A Novel of Old Books, Unexpected Love, and Jane Austen by Charlie Lovett
Lovett's first book, The Bookman's Tale (reviewed on earlier blog), was one of my very favorites of last summer.  Therefore, I was excited to see his next one come out with a similar idea, a plot line stretching across historical eras to one of my favorite authors.  In this case, it was a mix of a current Oxford literature student whose family library collides with Jane Austen's first draft of Pride and Prejudice.  The story flips back and forth from present-day, to the 1800's of Austen's young writing life.  If you are an Austen fan, you will recognize her story lines, her family life, and the beginnings of some rather famous novels.  I thoroughly enjoyed the historical aspect, and for most of the book, loved the tension and mystery surrounding the missing book.  I was ready to give it five stars...and then came the last thirty pages.  Crushingly disappointing, with so many cliches I could not count; the bad guys and good guys were cut right out of paper...bleh.  It ruined what was really quite a good tale.  It almost seemed as if Lovett was in a rush and just slap-dashed off the ending.  Phooeey.

Creepy murder mysteries and more...

Dr. Mutter's Marvels: A True Tale of Intrigue and Innovation at the Dawn of Modern Medicine by Cristin O'Keefe Aptowicz
The long title leads one to think this is a story of a charlatan, out to carve up humans and destroy the good name of 'doctor.' However, Dr. Mutter is one of those intriguing characters in American history of which few of us have ever heard, with the exception of plastic surgeons who may know of the "Mutter flap."  I began this wonderful non-fiction book looking for the monster, and instead I found a pretty spectacular human being, living in a fascinating time of great discovery in the world of medicine, and more particularly, in medical surgery.  Philadelphia was a hotbed of politics and intrigue amongst doctors, and competition between the universities found there.  Add in a young, handsome 'dandy' of a doctor named Mutter, his entertaining lectures, the beginning of antiseptic surgery and the inability of old school docs to accept Lister and his fans, as well as the idea of surgery during consciousness (yes, you will find yourself squeamish after a few shocking tales) and the discovery of ether, and you've got a great tale.  I suspect some of the medical terms went right over my head, but I was truly fascinated by the beginnings of what we believe to be 'modern' medicine.

The End of Life Book Club by Will Schwalbe
It's hard to know where to start with this book - it is one of those that will stay with me for many years.  It begins with Will Schwalbe, a book editor who is less-than-inspired with his current job, the diagnosis of his mother's stage four pancreatic cancer, and their realization that the two of them make up their very own book club.  As Will unwinds his tale of the final two years of his mother's life and their discussions of a variety of books, we share his memories of his childhood, a life surrounded by books, and the incredible life his mother led.  I found myself constantly adding to my "To be read" list as I vicariously participated in their book chats, inspiring myself to read some books I've always told myself to read, like Wallace Stegner.  These two literary nuts were voracious, had eclectic tastes, and were honest in their evaluations, willing to be laudatory as well as critical.  I loved that they read the 'biggies' as well as brain candy like "Girl with the Dragon Tattoo."  Those are my kind of readers!  Will's mother was an inspiring woman, one of the first 'working' moms who, upon 'retiring' as the head of Harvard admissions, went on to create organizations that helped build libraries in Afghanistan.  I also found myself writing down some of her great one-liners to use in heart-to-hearts with my own children.  This was a truly inspirational, heart-warming, lovely book; it definitely would be a fantastic book club read.

Me before You by Jojo Moyes

After seeing this book on bookshelves for awhile, as always wanting to avoid the 'overly popular, everybody's reading it crowd,' a friend of mine pushed it, with the perfectly good reasoning that a reason exists why everyone is reading it.  She was right...it was really a good story, told in an engaging voice, with two pretty wonderful characters. The story takes place in a sleepy little village in England, where life probably hasn't changed for the last few hundred years; in other words, this is not a good place to be a young twenty-something adult.  However, Louisa (Lou) is rather stuck in a rut, with an exercise-obsessed boyfriend who pays her little attention, a dead-end job at a tea and scone cafe, and parents who expect little of her and save all their expectations for their other daughter, a single mother.  Lou then takes a new job - caregiver for a 34 year-old man who is a quadriplegic...and thus the story begins.  I found it impossible to put this book down, as Will and Lou both 'save' each other and grapple with life's most difficult questions - how do we choose who we love, what has ownership over one's body, do we have the right to choose to live or die?  The themes in this book will resonate with many of us - I would highly recommend this book to anyone, even if you're a history/mystery fan like me - it's a great story.

The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Flanagan
I was inspired to read this year's Man Book prize winner (best fiction of the year by a U.K. writer) after reading The End of the Life Book Club; I figured it was time for some real literature after a bit of brain candy.  Admittedly, I sometimes dislike the 'prize winners,' as the writers tend to be in love with their own voices, get too verbose or too thematically heavy and forget about the plot, or create dislikable characters.  However, Flanagan has written a true masterpiece and for those of us who love history, this book is truly magnificent.  The main character, Dorrigo (Dory) Evans is a rather charming reprobate, a successful surgeon in Australia who likes to cheat on his ever-patient wife.  As the story unfolds, Flanagan pops all over the place in time, creating some confusion at first but stick with it - it all starts to gel about one-third of the way through the book.  Dory is haunted by his time as a WWII POW in Burma, as his Japanese captors force their prisoners to cut through the jungle to build a railroad.  Think Louis Zamperini's time in Unbroken and then multiply it by ten, and you will understand how inhumanely these prisoners were treated.  Flanagan is a sparse writer who is able to create intriguing characters amongst these prisoners in short sentences and small episodes.  He also weaves in a doomed love story back home, along with tons of allusions to the great works of literature - I particularly enjoyed the references to the Odyssey and the many long-term effects of war on all people involved, not only the soldiers.  (Let's not forget - Penelope waited for 20 years for Odysseus to come home - couldn't have been easy)  Is this book uplifting and inspiring?  Yes and no...it is moving, complex, thought-provoking, disturbing and an incredible learning experience.  I highlighted numerous lines, which I rarely do when reading for pleasure.  This is well-deserving of its prize and definitely a rich piece of literature.

Broken Monsters by Lauren Beukes
Since reading Beukes' first novel, The Shining Girls,  I have been eagerly awaiting this South African's second book.  I loved her first one, though it haunted my dreams and thoroughly creeped me out (serial killer who travels through time - it's a doozy - earlier post on this blog).  Broken Monsters is a worthy follow-up.  Beukes tells the story through a variety of characters:  the Detroit detective put in charge of the case of the murdered boy whose torso was found glued to a deer's hind legs, a single mom struggling with a rebellious teenager; the daughter herself, who is entangled in the underworld of internet stalking; T.K., the reformed alcoholic who works with the seamy side of this broken city's poor; and the killer himself, an evil entity who wants his 'artwork' to speak for him.  This book reads quickly, as the chapters are short and the characters' point of view change frequently, showing the reader all sides of each event as the investigation unfolds.  Beukes reminds me a bit of Stephen King in her ability to create complex, intriguing characters, amidst creepy surroundings (Detroit after bankruptcy is not a pleasant place), and a plot line that blends reality, fantasy, and the occult in a nightmare-inducing, but throughly un-put-downable novel.  In other words, it's just great brain candy.

Rainy Day Reading

A Sudden Light by Garth Stein
Five years ago, I fell in love with Stein's The Art of Racing in the Rain.  His delightful narrator of Enzo, the dog who loved to watch car-racing, stole my heart and gave my current pup his name.  I have occasionally wondered what this author was up to in Seattle, but he is finally back with a quintessential 'Northwest' book.  Stein delivers another wonderful narrator in the form of Trevor (or Clever Trevor as his creepy Aunt Serena calls him), a fourteen year old boy who comes with his father to the city of Seattle to ostensibly deal with his elderly father, his fractious sister, and the family estate.  However, this is a family steeped in tragedy, secrets, murder, and betrayal, giving Trevor, who is known for his insatiable curiosity and desire to solve a puzzle, a rift to heal.  Stein sprinkles in some wonderful history of Northwest logging, along with some familiar names to those of us who were born and raised here and definitely shows his Seattle-side when the aunt tells Trevor "if your pants reach to your ankles, your toes are hidden, and your forearms are covered, you're dressed in formal Seattle attire."  I admit, I am always drawn to tales of history, creepy family secrets, and ghosts who have a purpose for being still on earth, so this book was a big hit to me.  It would be a rich book club book as it deals with themes of love, materialism, and the journey of both life and death.

The Picture of Dorian Grey by Oscar Wilde

Speaking of book club picks, this was our October one, figuring we would go with a 'creepy' theme for the month of October.  While I definitely would not say this was that creepy, I am looking forward to our discussion as this book is ripe for controversy, insight, and reflection.  The kindle version is just .99 cents, but the most interesting part to me was the beginning biography of Oscar Wilde.  A flamboyantly gay man in Victorian England, his personal life is a story unto itself, culminating in his pauper's death in Paris, following two years in prison due to his lifestyle.  This novel of Dorian Grey reflects much of his own life, and his personal condemnation of his own life choices.  The story revolves around a young man who chooses to keep his physical beauty while his portrait shows not only his aging, but more importantly, the sin and evil he has embraced in his life.  I highlighted many lines, as the themes of beauty and love are discussed by Wilde extensively.  At times verbose, as many Victorian novels are, I ultimately found this novel to be quite provoking.  If your book club is looking for a 'classic,' this is a lovely choice, as it is relatively short, imaginative, well-written, with many topical subjects to discuss.  It also makes one reflect in how far we have come in our views of whom one chooses to love, and the sadness to see how many lives were destroyed by prejudice and bigotry in days gone by.

The Remedy by Thomas Goetz

As soon as my fellow book addict brought this to book club for our yearly picking, I was drawn to this non-fiction book.  We had previously read Under the Wide and Starry Skies, a tale of Robert Louis Stevenson and his battle with tuberculosis and the impact on his life.  When I read the list of famous people who had died of tuberculosis, it truly took my breath away - Eleanor Roosevelt, Jane Austen, George Orwell, Thoreau and the list goes on. One of history's biggest killers, we take for granted the antibiotics of today, but years ago, it was a shockingly common way to die.  This non-fiction book delves into the battle of bacteriologists from the inception of their field of study, to the isolating of the tubercular bacteria.  The story focuses on the German scientist who made great strides from the beginning, but then morphs into a tale of Arthur Conan Doyle (prior to Sherlock Holmes fame) and his uncovering of some rather questionable medical research practices.  We get to see the feud between Pasteur and Lister, as well the true beginning of the field of medical research that focuses on bacteria, immunology, and infection.  This book could have read like a textbook, but instead Goetz writes in a way that gives you both the facts and the history, but also creates suspense.  For anyone interested in medicine, research, or is just plain curious like I was about how we vanquished this terrible disease, The Remedy is a fabulous read.

The Stand by Stephen King
If you've read my blog before, you know I have an unhealthy obsession with dystopic novels.  You know...the whole 'life is over as you know it, we screwed up the world so how do we make it right?' kind of stories.  Knowing that, my daughter's boyfriend decided it was important to place a 1,400 page book in front of me and tell me that this was a book I would never forget.  While the size was daunting, I have to agree - this book will most likely stay with me forever.  Admittedly, I have only read one King book previously - Cujo - not King's best effort.  Plus, I really cannot handle occult-ish, creepy books as they give me nightmares.  However, sometimes the nightmares are worth it, as in The Stand.  King is truly a gifted storyteller and I understand why this novel is frequently pointed to as his masterpiece.  The plot line seems basic - government lets loose virus, killing 99% of the world's population, and the survivors have to figure out how to redo the world.  However, the characters in the story are so well-developed that one becomes invested in their survival as the story plays out.  Larry Underwood, the spoilt Hollywood singer, has a long road to redemption, Frannie's unintended pregnancy is now the least of her worries, the deaf-mute young man, Nick, becomes the savior who leads them, and Harold is the perverted picture of the bullied young man who can never fit in.  I read this book obsessively, waiting to see if the spiritual old woman from Nebraska would save the world, or if Randall Flagg, the embodiment of evil itself, would stamp the world with his own desires.  It's a humdinger and well worth the time invested into it.

Readaholics Galore

China Dolls by Lisa See
I have been a Lisa See fan since first reading her debut novel, Snowflower and the Secret Fan; I can still remember the searing scene when the foot bones were all broken to make the tiny feet, and the heartbreak of a destroyed friendship.  Her second book, Peony in Love, was entertaining but weird, as the ghost of a girl watched the life of her ex-fiance.  See's series of books, Shanghai Girls and Dreams of Joy, was a return to some excellent story telling, as we watched old China turn communist and the people flee her shores.  I was therefore excited for her latest book, but was ultimately a bit disappointed.  The plot premise revolves around three young Chinese girls:  one, a naive rube from the Midwest; another, a protected daughter of a well-established Chinese family; and the last, a sassy little tart who's had to deal with life's many blows.  They meet at the San Francisco World's Fair and the book follows their life adventures during the big-studio days of the thirties and forties, as well as the death of vaudeville.  It's a good story, but not a great one, filled with many cliches and stereotypical story lines and characters.  I enjoyed it to a certain extent, but it's rather forgettable.

The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton
Having just spent a few days in Amsterdam and my daughter living there this past summer, I was immediately intrigued by this book when I saw it in Schiphol airport.  However, I was disappointed that I could not buy it in the states until August.  This debut novel did not disappoint.  Perhaps it's because I could picture the city, with the main characters living on a canal where we walked each day, or perhaps it's because I love historical fiction, or even that I had a beloved dollhouse as a child; regardless, I thoroughly enjoyed this book.  The heroine, Nella, is a young, country girl who marries Johannes, a wealthy, older Dutch man who is a prominent figure in Amsterdam and a powerful trader with the Dutch East India Company.  The story takes place in the dying years of Holland's preeminence amongst the world powers, and the intrigue behind the powerful traders is seen in a variety of ways - racism toward their Surinam servant, mystery surrounding the maker of miniature furniture for Nella's cabinet (is it voodoo or tricks of the mind?), secrecy about Johannes' sister who pretends a certain piety but has a secret life, and the deep secret in Johannes' life that will destroy Nella and force her to make some difficult choices.  The Miniaturist gives one an intriguing glimpse into the Amsterdam of 1687 and provides some enlightening details on their way of life.

Awakening Joy by James Baraz
Let's preface this first with...I hate self-help books.  However, an old friend had told me about this one, even the fact that Bill Gates had it on his summer list, so after going through some difficult things in my life, I figured it couldn't hurt.  With that said, I view this as a 'life-changing' book.  Based on Zen Buddhist beliefs about joy, pain, suffering, compassion, it has reminded me of ways to let go and move on to more joyful places in my life.  I have learned that instead of stressing about things I cannot change, I need to examine those feelings, let things go that I have no control over, and rewrite my own story.  I listened to this book as I took long, cleansing walks with my dog and it was a perfect way to do some healing.  One of my favorite lines is "Act with integrity when given the choice."  Much of this book are things we all know we should do, but often we are in patterns of behavior that have stopped us from acting in a more kind, compassionate way.  I would highly recommend this book to everyone and anyone, regardless of where you are in your life; we all face times of suffering and these ideas may just help get one through to the other side.

Every Secret Thing by Laura Lippman
If you're looking for a great brain candy, mystery novel, this is a good one.  Two young girls, age eleven, one the chubby 'good' girl who always tries to fit in, the other girl who lives on the wrong side of town with a dysfunctional family, find a baby on the porch of a home.  This beautiful young baby girl is found dead in a park, the two girls are sent to juvenile detention centers, and the judge's daughter, the mother of the baby, is forever changed.  Fast forward to today, when the two girls are released from their separate facilities, other children go missing, and the focus returns to the two young criminals from long ago.  Lippman does a nice job of traveling back and forth in time, as well as developing the characters of the girls, the mother, the detective, and the odd-duck of a mother of one of the girls.  This is a fast read, good for the beach:) My only problem with it is the similarity to The Wicked Girls that I reviewed last month, which was more complex and engrossing.



The Farm by Tom Rob Smith

The premise of this book piqued my interest from the beginning...mom calls her son, Daniel, and tells him she's been placed in an insane asylum by his father and she's coming to London to tell her son the 'real' story.  Dad then calls Daniel, tells him mom is nuts and has run away, and can Daniel help get her back?  Thus the story begins.  The writing style takes a bit of getting used to, as it is not the narrative pace of a story with dialogue and description.  The story is told by the mom, in chronological order, with the son occasionally interrupting with questions.  This bothered me for the first one quarter of the book, but then I got so wrapped up in the mystery, I just didn't really care.  All sorts of wonderful characters people this book:  hippie mom who drags her husband back to her Swedish homeland to live off the land; creepy next door neighbor who carves gruesome trolls; mysterious husband who is either very weak, very stupid, or very scared; beautiful adopted African daughter who mysteriously disappears; and an absentee grandfather who makes a surprising and powerful appearance.  This book had me thinking to the very last page - it's engrossing.

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
I saved the best for last, seriously.  This book has all the vital ingredients for me to have waited in anticipation for its release date this month:  dystopic 'life is over as we know it' setting, Shakespearian actors, beautiful writing, and a little mystery thrown in as well.  The story begins when Arthur Leander, a famous Hollywood actor, dies on stage as he plays King Lear.  From that night forward, the world is changed forever, as a morphed swine-flu virus devastates the world, killing every 99/100 people.  Mandel follows the characters who were a part of that Toronto play, such as the little girl who plays the ghostly daughter and the paramedic who tries to save Arthur, as well as the important people in Arthur's past, such as his ex-wives, his only son, his best friend, and even his lawyer.  The book moves seamlessly from past to present, weaving the strings together of Station Eleven, the space station created by Arthur's first wife, the 'safe' place when Earth is destroyed, as depicted in a graphic novel.  The journey of this novel is the bedrock of this story, and the places it goes and the people whose lives it affects is beautifully mystical and mysterious.  This was a fascinating, beautifully told story of how every action affects another's life, and how life can truly change in a moment.  Definitely five star book:)

Summer's End

Big Little Lies and What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty
Liane Moriarty has become a favorite, brain-candy author...and I don't mean that as an insult.  On one hand, I am not in awe of her 'pretty' writing, yet she is a very good writer.  What I most admire about her is that she has the ability to write some rather long books (both here are well over 400 pages), but in such a way that no extraneous pages exist.  Moriarty writes a story that is truly obsessive to read, as in you cannot put it down, and that is a true talent, as far as I'm concerned.  I read The Husband's Secret while on vacation and gave it a rave review, so when her newest book, Big Little Lies, came out this month, my favorite library-loaning friend sent me home with it.  The story begins with a group of PTA parents, standing on a balcony at the elementary school, staring down at a dead body.  It then catapults the reader back in time, six months previously, as you meet the pivotal cast members of this quirky, intriguing, and sometimes annoying parental clique who lives in a beach community outside of Sydney.  We have the overly-obsessed mothers who believe their children are all geniuses, you have the perfectly coiffed PTA leadership group, you have the marital cheaters, heavy drinkers, PMS-challenged crazy women - in other words, Moriarty has captured the extreme sides of parenthood and then mixed in a murder to pique one's interest.  I read obsessively, never figuring out who the dead body was or how the murder occurred, until revealed n the final chapters.  Definitely five stars and would be fun to talk about in a book club.
I was so impressed with the first two I read, I decided to download What Alice Forgot, her first book that really hit it big.  Again, I read it obsessively.  This story begins with Alice, waking up from a fall off her bike, as she's madly 'biking' in her gym class.  As people rush around helping her, and an ambulance transports her to the hospital, Alice is worried about her first pregnancy, what she's doing in a gym in the first place, and how she got so thin.  As she discovers that ten years have disappeared on her, she's the mother of three children, and is in the middle of a nasty divorce, Alice has to reevaluate everything in her life.  As Moriarty unfolds the mystery of those lost years, we begin to see how Alice got to the place in her life where she now resides.  I was pleasantly surprised by the depth of emotion, and the ideas about life choices and marital growth that it brought up, particularly in the end.  This was a thought-provoking book, as well as just an obsessively good read.

The Silence of Bonaventure Arrow by Rita Leganski
This is a challenging book review for me to write...one one hand, I was in awe of the beautiful writing of Leganski, the magical setting of post WWII she created down in Louisiana, and the intriguing characters who reside in the small town.  On the other hand, I felt like she had a bit of a political/religious agenda that at times intruded itself on the pleasure I found in her book.  The main character, young Bonaventure, is born to a young woman, just experiencing the loss of her much loved young husband.  As the baby grows, we see that Bonaventure is a pretty special young man, who has no physical voice but who's inner voice is strong.  His home is filled with the ghost of his father, his mother and grandmother, and the housekeeper with secrets of her own.  Throw in a religious zealot as his other grandmother and Bonaventure's uncanny ability to hear everything, as in he hears the beginning of the world, when a star is born, and when a rock was held, and you've got a very compelling read.  You do have to divorce yourself from reality in this book, but Leganski weaves a beautiful southern tale about lost love, secrets kept, and a special little boy that is rather unforgettable.

The Truth about the Harry Quebert Affair by Joel Dicker
I would never have picked up this book on my own.  First, it's vicious long, as in almost 700 pages.  Second, the cover is hideous (let's be real...covers can be a siren call, or a detriment) and the title is fairly trite.  Last, it's a translation from a French writer, selling over a million copies in France along, and I sometimes like to avoid the 'crowd.'  However (you knew that was coming), I understand now why it's been such a huge international juggernaut.  I haven't woken up at 5 AM to finish a book since Harry Potter #7, but this one was un-put-downable.  Here's the plot premise:  thirty years ago, fifteen year old Nola, the pastor's daughter, disappeared.  Fast-forward to today and her body has been found and young, fabulously successful author, Marcus Goldman's old mentor and famous author, Harry Quebert, has been fingered for the crime.  As Marcus tries to find a plot idea for his new book, he also plays detective as he tries to clear Harry's name.  This is a serious roller coaster ride, giving the reader all kinds of ideas of 'who-dunnit' with the plot twisting every which way.  I can't even say the book is too long, as I didn't find any wasted story line.  Is it pretty writing?  No.  Who cares - it's obsessively good.  I cannot recommend this one highly enough:)

S Street Rising:  Crack, Murder, and Redemption in Washington, D.C. by Ruben Castenada
While it seems like just yesterday we were watching the constant news stories about the gangs, the killings, and crack epidemic around our country, it was actually about 25 years ago.  Castenada, a reporter for the Washington Post, tells a compelling story about this city in the midst of crisis.  The added twist to it all is that Castenada himself is a crack addict and alcoholic, who contributes to the crime on S Street while he covers the police beat.  I found myself less interested in his own demons, than in the life he paints of a broken city, the pastor who builds a church in the middle of the 'slingers' and drug lords, the heroic homicide detective, and the battles fought with the corrupt D.C. police department, and the twisted and immoral mayor, Marion Berry.  At times, the writing is a bit scattered, jumping around from place to place, but the picture he paints of Washington D.C., as it becomes the murder capital of our country, is quite fascinating.  It is definitely a nice change from fiction, while adding a piece of knowledge about a history that is easy to ignore.


The Devil's Workshop by Alex Grecian
Grecian is back to the form of his first novel, The Yard, as he returns to the story of Jack the Ripper and the murderous tailor, Cinderhouse, in jolly ole England.  The men of the murder squad in Scotland Yard, in the final decade of the 19th century, are unique, likable, and fascinating, all at the same time.  Inspector Day, son of a pastor, who shockingly wants to work on the seamy side of London, is still haunted by the inability to catch the Ripper.  While his lovely young wife, Claire, labors to deliver their first child, Day is compelled to leave her side and try to round up the escapees from a huge prison break.  His mentor, Inspector March, insists on being his partner, which leads to some tight spots from which they must expel themselves.  Day's loyal soldier, Constable Hammersmith, seems to be indestructible, as he has escaped death numerous times in Grecian's previous two books, and seems to be well on his way to courting his own demise once again.  Add in a couple super creepy bad guys from The Yard, as well as a group of aristocratic men who lock up and punish criminals in their own twisted manner, and you've got a compelling book.  If you like a dark, gothic murder mystery, that has some light moments as well, this is a great read, whether you've read the first two in the series or not.

Good Reading:)

The Bookman's Tale: A Novel of Obsession by Charles Lovett
Ooh...for all your book lovers, English teachers, and connoisseurs of fine books, this is the book for you.  It has every ingredient needed for an obsessive read:  suspense, intrigue, danger, history, even a little romance.  Just the title itself was like a siren call to a book lover like myself.  The main character, Peter, is a true loner, anxiety-ridden bibliophile and antiquarian - in other words, he sells old books.  However, his melancholy life in the small English village as he tries to recover from his wife's death is interrupted when he is asked to look at some books in an old man's library.  He discovers a book that could possibly be the 'Holy Grail' of booksellers - a book that changes the way we look at literature.  Lovett handles changes in time seamlessly, as he goes back to Peter's life with his girlfriend-soon-to-be-wife, as well as through English history as we visit Shakespeare's time, the Age of Enlightenment, and even the Victorians.  I loved all the quirky references to literature, and learned quite a bit along the way.  This is just a rollicking good read if you're looking for one that you cannot put down:)

The Baker Street Translation by Michael Robertson
If you are a Sherlockian and you haven't read these delightful books, you have missed out on some fun reads.  This is the third one in the series, but you can pick them up at any place.  Our two fine brothers, Nigel and Reggie Heath, are once again mixed up in some odd mysterious happenings.  They are required to respond to all letters addressed to Sherlock Holmes, since they occupy his offices at 221B Baker Street. The quirkiest letter so far reveals itself in this book...an old woman from Texas has left her entire fortune to Sherlock Holmes, and the response she receives is that since Holmes cannot accept money, she should leave all her money to Reginald Heath.  Thus...the chase begins for who wrote the response; the identity of the kidnapper of Sir Buxton, Reggie's rival for Laura, the beautiful super model;  and the terrorist who writes incorrect nursery rhymes and plans on obliterating the royal family one at a time.  I know...sounds rather ridiculous, but Robertson weaves a tale in his dry, very British tone that makes one chuckle at these two wickedly book-smart and life-stupid brothers.  A nice short book (whew...what a relief after the Game of Thrones series), and a light funny read to end the summer of reading.  Loved it!

The Wicked Girls by Alex Marwood
This was a deliciously dark book, read in a perfect British accent on audible.com.  The story begins when two girls, Belle and Jade, are convicted in the murder of a four year old girl.  Belle and Jade themselves are just eleven when the crime occurs and the public backlash for these wicked crimes set these two on a course for which their lives cannot be turned.  Fast-forward to the present, and we meet Amber Gordon, a 37 year old woman who lives with a slimy boyfriend, in a seaside English town, where she runs the boardwalk carnival and discovers a murdered woman one night.  Kirsty Lindsay, a freelance journalist, college graduate, wife and mother of two, is sent to cover the story as more murders occur and Weymouth town is seen as the home of a serial killer.  However, these two women have their own secret lives, engulfed in the murder of little Chloe of long ago.  Marwood weaves the story of long ago in with the murders of today, creating an engrossing tale of how the press can twist and destroy a person's life, how hidden pasts always reveal themselves at the most inconvenient times, and ponders the question of who is redeemable and who is lost.  This would be a tremendous book club read, as the life choices that are made time and again are questionable and debatable - highly recommend.

Cemetery Girl by David Bell
This is what I would call a bit of a beach book - okay, rather dark for a beach book but a quick read.  Part mystery, part family psycho-drama, it is an engrossing story of what happens when a family falls apart.  The narrator is Tom Stuart, the father of Caitlin, who disappeared four years ago when walking their family dog.  A typical sassy, rebellious young teenager, police ultimately assume she ran away and parents are haunted by guilt and self-doubt.  The father, who quite frankly is a bit of an ass, becomes obsessed with finding Caitlin, searching down every fake clue and crazy person who thinks she has seen his daughter.  His wife, on the other hand, buries herself in her church, forming a rather 'close' relationship to the pastor of the 'big-box' church.  So of course what happens?  You guessed it...daughter returns.  Traumatized and refusing to help in the search of her kidnapper who she 'loves,' we watch as the family tries to return to being the family they used to be, as we the reader knows that they never will be that suburban, cookie-cutter family again.  Not poorly written, yet not brilliantly written either, it is definitely a page turner, though I had a few issues with some plot-holes.  However, I'm picky when it comes to mysteries.

Cockroaches by Jo Nesbo

Speaking of good mysteries, one never goes wrong with our Norwegian writer Jo Nesbo and my favorite, tortured Oslo detective, Harry Hole (Ho-lay).  While Nesbo has written ten Harry Hole novels, you can literally pick up any one, in any order, and you're good to go.  This one begins with Harry, drunk in a bar, the mysterious death of the Norwegian ambassador in Bangkok, and the chief of police requiring Harry to head to Thailand to figure out what happened.  Bangkok is not shown in a pretty light in this book; it reeks of death, drugs, prostitution and slave trafficking, you name it.  It comes across as the Chicago of the 1920's - not a place for a vacation.  The ambassador has a knife in his chest, his freaky daughter shows up uninvited to Harry's hotel, the Thai lead detective is a bold American woman with no hair, and on top of all this, Harry has decided to jump on the wagon to keep his head clear.  This is a page-turning, suspenseful, tightly-written mystery where Nesbo leads you into deadends on 'who dunnit' until the very last chaper.  If you like a good mystery, this is it.

The Girl Who Saved the King of Sweden by Jonas Jonasson
From the title and cover alone, one can already tell this is a quirky, different book, and it does not disappoint.  Written by a Swedish writer who killed it internationally with his first book The One Hundred Year Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window (this man likes his funky titles!), I saw it all over the place in Europe and heard about it from two different people on our travels through Croatia and Amsterdam.  First, you just have to suspend reality.  Seriously.  Second, if you ever read and loved Catch 22,  then your brain will recognize this hilariously written farce that makes some rather pointed statements and forces you to look at life in a variety of ways.  The heroine is Nombeko, a young black girl who cleans latrines in Soweto township thirty years ago.  And the hero?  Well, that's Holger Two, the twin that doesn't exist.  Confused?  So is he...but that's the fun of it.  We watch as Nombeko's life goes from latrine manager, to head cleaning lady at South Africa's nuclear bomb-building plant, to an abandoned apartment building in Sweden, to a potato farm outside of Stockholm.  Her life is an uproariously funny, unpredictable, unrealistic romp through Jonasson's quirky brain.  This book is very different from most trade books out there today, and well worth the read, in my opinion.  I look forward to our book club discussion on it in September; I suspect some will hate it, seeing it as silly, while others will find it provoking, while still others will wonder what is the sense of it?  That's the beauty of literature - never the same reaction:)

Summer Books - Round Two

The Girl with all the Gifts by M.R. Carey
Remembering that one of my favorite genres is post-apocalyptic fiction, my 'reading-partner-in-crime' loaned me this little gem; it did not disappoint, though it did provide a few surprises along the way.  As in all futuristic novels, the world pretty much sucks.  Thanks to a twisted little virus that has morphed into a world-wide destroyer, people who become infected turn into zombies.  Yep, that's right...zombies.  I, too, questioned this premise, thinking "Is this going to be  Twilight with a zombie hero?!" Thankfully, Carey is able to turn this novel into so much more than just a horror story, with a lovely assortment of intriguing characters.  The story begins at a school, set behind barbed wire, where the 'students' are strapped into chairs with muzzles over their faces before being wheeled into the classroom.  The main heroine of the story, Melanie, is a brilliant young girl who has no idea that she's one of the 'hungries'; unfortunately, she is introduced to that concept in some rather horrifying ways.  The rest of the crew comprises of a military officer in the mold of a Navy Seal-type, a stereotypical over-involved teacher, a research doctor determined to find the cause of the virus, and a young pup security guard who operates on fear mixed with compassion.  Each character, including Melanie, has deep levels of complexity, and Carey has no problem taking plot turns that are unexpected, as well as not always welcome.  It is a different, intriguing story, that occasionally leaves one with gruesome nightmares at night, but it is definitely a page-turner.

The Darlings by Cristina Alger
First off, bad title...seriously.  It makes me think of the owners in Lady and the Tramp, not the high-powered, NYC financiers that are actually the Darlings in the novel.  Alger needed better advice on her debut novel; however, it's a humdinger of a story so you just have to get past the title.  The whole story takes place in just a few days during the economic meltdown of 2007, interspersed with flashbacks to the bygone days of monetary largesse and family secrets.  The Darlings (think Madow family) are the 'It' people of New York society, with dad the head of a successful hedgefund, the wife a typical nipped and tucked sixty year old charity fundraiser, and two beautiful daughters, one a trophy wife and one the 'smart' one.  While it sounds like a soap opera, the plot develops into something so much more.  The son-in-law of 'smart daughter' stumbles onto and into an SEC investigation into a shady part of the family business.  As he gets pulled deeper into the machinations of this seemingly 'perfect' family, all the past secrets of the family begin to come to light and both the daughter and her husband have a few tough choices to make.  Alger, a graduate from NYU law school, definitely knows her way around both the legal world and the world of high finance so one ends up learning a substantial amount about this world; for a small-town high school English teacher like me, it was like a peek into another world - I mean, who really cares about the name of the designer of your dress or what boarding school you attended?  It's a quick read, which I appreciated after a few 400 page books, and a tightly woven plot with a team of sympathetic, complex, detestable at times, characters.

The Most Dangerous Animal of All by Gary Stewart and Susan Mustafa
This is the perfect book for a reader who enjoys a good mystery, is curious about 'how' all those creepy serial killers are made, and appreciates some well-done research.  A memoir that begins as a search for his adoptive father, Gary Stewart unfolds the tale of his search for his family roots and the dark underworld of San Francisco during the time of the Zodiac killer.  The first half of his story focuses mainly on his very young birth mother and the news-worthy time spent with Gary's biological father, with the second half spent on his own adulthood and search for proof of his father's identity. Stewart, with the help of true-crime writer Mustafa, does a superior job of researching all the old new stories, not only of the mother's 'kidnapping' and time in New Orleans with her older lover, but also of the police search and frustration for the brilliant, sadistic, mysterious killer who leaves cryptic and encoded messages for the police, labeling himself as the Zodiac, but also embedding his real name into the unbreakable codes.  Still labeled as 'unsolved' and 'unfound' as to the murderer's identify, Stewart makes a compelling argument that his birth father was indeed the infamous killer.  While I would not say this book is poetically written, I would argue true-crime is not supposed to be.  What it is supposed to do is tell a compelling, fact-rich story that forces you to stay up late at night and turn pages like an addict; in this case, The Most Dangerous Animal of All satisfies with a bang.


Silenced and The Disappeared by Kristina Ohlsson
Another fabulous Scandinavian writer, Ohlsson is back with two more in her series that began with Unwanted (see previous post).  Similar to Jo Nesbo with his Harry Hole series, it really isn't necessary to read earlier books as each book stands alone.  If you like a well-written mystery with intriguing characters and a plot line that keeps you guessing til the last chapter, you should definitely check out Ohlsson.  Her crew of police investigators are a quirky bunch: Frederika, the investigator who isn't actually police but is grudgingly accepted by the detectives because she always seems to be right; Alex, the head of the special unit investigating creepy murders, who has issues at home; Peder, the sexually harassing, alcoholic, cheating husband, good brother detective who, underneath all his foibles, is actually quite an instinctual policeman.  Silenced deals with a rape from long ago that comes back to haunt the family who tried so hard to ignore it ever happened.  This book deals with illegal immigration, PTSD, and numerous personal issues that affect all the detectives.  The Disappeared begins with a grave found containing a girl missing from two years previously, a dark and creepy children's novelist who hasn't spoken in thirty years, and Frederika's own lover involved in the whole ugly mess.  Both these books are serious page-turners, with Kristina Ohlsson continuing the trend of the Scandinavian mystery writers like Nesbo and Adler-Olson to, in my opinion, write darker, more sinister thrillers than their American counterparts.

Summer House with Swimming Pool by Herman Koch

This is the latest book by Koch after his huge best-seller, The Dinner.  If you read Dinner, you remember that Koch takes the typically negative and normal character flaws in humanity, and enlarges, warps, and entwines them in his characters until the detestable human beings are completely exposed.  Yes, these are books you want to take a shower after reading, but they are also books that make you think.  I am always skeptical when a big-hit author comes out with another book so quickly after the first novel hits big; I may be right on this one.  I was very intrigued by Summer House, with its nasty characters and twisted plot-line, but I do think it misses the brilliance of Dinner.  The premise deals with a perfect little family: the family doctor, his gorgeous wife, and the equally gorgeous daughters.  They get pulled into a vacation with a famous movie star, thanks to the doctor's creepy sideline business of dispensing drugs haphazardly to whoever famous walks in the door, and from this, chaos and nastiness ensues.  I felt like the beginning was a bit slow, but the insidious behavior from some of the main characters was surprising and intriguing.  This would be a good book club book as it's ripe for conversation, but no, it doesn't quite live up to The Dinner, in my opinion.

WOW - lots of summer reading!

Delicious by Ruth Reichle
I am a self-proclaimed 'non-foodie,' which I know is not the cool thing these days.  All my friends seem to be into food books, food shows, new ingredients, new trends, etc.  I, admittedly, eat the exact same thing for breakfast, every day, for the last ten years, and yes, I have a pb&j sandwich every day at work.  Thus, I wondered if this book by an acclaimed food critic would be my 'thing?'  However, Reighle's first foray into fiction was definitely delectable (okay - I admit - I just couldn't ignore all the wonderful stupid food puns that were available!).  The premise of the story is a twenty-something year old girl, Billie, who quits college and comes to New York to apply to be an executive assistant to the editor of the country's most prestigious food magazine.  Reichle peoples the book with some delightfully eccentric characters - the photographer, the travel writer, the bitchy ex-girlfriend, and the editor himself - as well as the side story of the delightful little Italian grocer.  As the magazine is inexplicably closed, the job transitions and our girl discovers a beautiful trail of letters between a young girl during WWII and the famous James Beard, and we also start to unravel the back story of Wilhelmina herself.   Reichle is able to juggle all the story lines quite well and winds up with what I would call a 'delightful' book (okay, I wanted to say 'delicious' but I withheld:) Fun summer read!

The Pearl that Broke its Shell by Nadia Hashimi
I have not seen this book on any bookstore shelves, and what a tragedy that is.  I discovered this debut novel by looking at books I have loved, and scrolling through the line on Amazon to see what else people bought who liked that same book. I have a soft spot for debuts - I always feel like an author's most honest voice comes through when she first begins, and this one is just a beautifully told story.  Hashimi weaves together two stories, one of Afghanistan from the turn of the century, as Kabul is ruled by a king whose harem needs guarding, a damaged young girl trying to sustain herself in a male-centric society, and the people who both help and hinder her...and the story of the harem guard's great-great-granddaughter in modern day Afghanistan, who lives her life as a boy prior to a forced marriage to a warlord and subsequent birth of 'democracy' in her country.  It is a fascinating look at where Afghanistan used to be, the journey it is taking now, and the subjugation of women at the core of their cultural beliefs.  Sometimes painful to read, always powerful, and beautifully written, I cannot recommend this book enough - I hope bookstores and other people discover it soon - it is a jewel.

The Silent Wife by A.S.A. Harrison
So, if you liked The Dinner or Indiscretion (both great books-see old posts), which were peopled with fairly despicable people but so fascinating, you'll like this one.  The story begins with a fairly 'normal' marriage between a psychologist and a land-management wheeler/dealer; they live in a beautiful Boston apartment where the wife cooks perfect meals, walks the dog each day, and climbs into bed each night in her pressed and ironed pajamas.  In others words...nothing is 'normal!'  As the story delves deeper into each spouse, we see the complete inhumanity in each, as the wife comes up with all sorts of interesting revenge tricks to punish dear old hubby for cheating.  The marriage crumbles, murder ensues, and all sorts of intriguing twists and turns bring us to the culminating event.  Read in 24 hours, I wanted to take a shower afterwards, as very little is present in either character that is worthwhile or lovely, but it's like rubbernecking at a particularly horrid accident; you know you should look away, but you just can't - this book feels the same.  Wicked good story and well told by Harrison - great summer read.

The Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline

I think I've seen this book listed on 'must reads' for well over a year; typical of my reverse-psychology self, I refused to read it if everyone else was - plus, the title sounded like a Boxcar children book, quite honestly.  I finally jumped in when I needed to pile my Kindle full of books before leaving the country, and I am very glad I did.  As a historical fiction junkie, this book was a nice change from the nastiness of the previous book reviewed and a good change of pace from the fantasy of Game of Thrones.  Kline tells two stories that take place some eighty years apart, but with eerie similarities.  For many, many years, orphaned children in New York City were shipped out to the midwest and adopted by families for a variety of reasons, some because they had lost children, others because they needed free labor.  Kline tells the story of one such young girl, and then juxtaposes it with the story of a foster child of today, who does a school research project on the famous orphan trains from long ago.  I found the historical information quite fascinating, the characters interesting, and the ending satisfactory. Was it predictable at times?  Yes...but honestly, I didn't care - it was just a really good story.

The Weight of Blood by Laura McHugh
I also needed just a good old-fashioned mystery while on the beach, and this book gave me some of my favorite components - a snarly villain, a likable protagonist, and even some good 'ole Southern shenanigans in the middle of the Ozark mountains.  McHugh tells the story from a variety of first person perspectives, beginning with the story of Lucy, her murdered friend, and her mother who has been missing for sixteen years.  We see the story from years ago, as well as the different twists from the characters still around today.  Lucy has a loving, yet absent father, a best friend with questionable morals, a boyfriend whose mother is a psychic, and a fairly creepy uncle.  The story deals with some fairly topical issues, such as our foster care system, kids with special needs and the bullying they endure, as well as human trafficking in the American South, which has become endemic.  This is a solid mystery, a quick read, and just another good story.



The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty
This too had sat on my Kindle for over a year, no idea why except that other books came along that grabbed me more.  However, this is just a really, really good read - great summer beach book.  A host of different characters people this book - a young mom who moves back to Sydney when her husband and her cousin/best friend tell her they're in love, the perfect PTA mom with four perfect girls with a not-so-perfect husband, the mother who's daughter was murdered twenty years ago who still grieves, the questionable physical education teacher - and Moriarty weaves the story quite seamlessly, pulling everyone and all situations together in the end.  She's quite a good storyteller - I wouldn't say it's 'pretty' writing but it's definitely a page turner.  I think this one took me, maybe, two days - great vacation book and wouldn't be a bad book club book either, as many complex issues are mulled over.



Game of Thrones etc...by George R.R. Martin
Yes, I have 'drunk the kool-aid', 'followed the lemings,' 'jumped on the bandwagon,' - and every other bad cliche.  However...quite honestly, these books are worth it, and that's coming from a person who typically says "I don't like fantasy."  Of course, by that I mean Tolkien (not a fan - sorry).  Harry Potter, Narnia, Oz, - those magical books I love - but Martin and his dragons always seemed to be more in line with hobbits, elves, and wizards.  Plus, they're viciously long so I have avoided them for years.  Enter...the HBS series and my obsession with it.  So the question is, why read the books?  Here's a few reasons:  1). if you love the television show, the books gives you far more details and things you will never find out from the shows + you can get ahead of the show and threaten your friends with giving plot twists away 2). Martin is a spectacular story writer - he is able to juggle about a million plot ideas, and do it exceptionally well, while at the same time telling the story from dozens of different perspectives and never confusing the reader and 3). if you like complex characters, this is definitely the series for you.  Martin creates characters who on first observation are incredibly evil and unsalvageable, yet in another chapter he gives them a scrap of humanity that makes you wonder if your first assessment is correct.  In other words, he creates real humans and he forces you to become wickedly invested in their lives.  He tells an obsessively good story.  If you need a couple long books to keep you occupied on long train or plane rides, or a good beach read, these books will not let you down.