Best of 2015

After reading 137 books this year, it was not easy to narrow it down but it sure was fun looking back over an amazing list of great reads.  (Since I loved so many, a list of 'Honorable Mentions' can be found at the end:)**** indicates my #1 favorite

FICTION:  Tie (I know - cheating - but so many good books are in the world)
Fates and Furies by Lauren Goff
Provoking story of a complicated marriage across the decades

My Grandmother Told Me To Tell You She's Sorry by Frederick Backman
Delightful, funny, heart-warming story of a young girl, discovering who her grandmother used to be

MYSTERY
Syndrome E by Franck Thilliez
A schizophrenic detective and a young ingenue chase a  murderer across three continents

HISTORICAL FICTION
Circling the Sun by Paula McClain
Horse trainer and pioneer for women in aviation, this is the story of Beryl Markham as a young woman in Africa

NON-FICTION
Being Mortal by Atul Gwande
A story of how we age, how we handle illness, and how we die with dignity

**YOUNG ADULT**
I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson
Two twins, separated by tragedy and youth and dreams and depression and love...this was my favorite book of the year

FANTASY
Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
Ocean's Eleven meets Game of Thrones (lite) - six complex characters in a fantastical Amsterdam, trying to pull off the crime of the century

SCIENCE FICTION
Seveneves by Neal Stephenson
The moon blows up and the earth will soon be destroyed - this is the epic tale of how seven women save the human race. Unforgettable.

Honorable Mention books:  A Man Called Ove, The Family: Three Journeys into the Heart of the Twentieth Century, Orhan's Inheritance, The Lake House, The Paris Architect, I am Pilgrim, Child 44, Wolf by Wolf, Missoula: Rape and the Justice System in a College Town, Carry the Sky

Winter Reading

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
If you liked the Game of Thrones series, or Tolkien, or even Harry Potter et al., this is the book for you.  All the rage with the high schoolers, it is a YA book with nothing 'young' about it.  I like to call it Game of Thrones lite - minimal sex and violence, but complex characters and thrilling, page-turner plot line.  Set in a dark fictional Amsterdam-ish city called Ketterdam, the reader can recognize old Europe and the many wars fought there, though the names of the places and enemies have been 'fantasized.' It will take you about 40 pages to sort out the main characters and issues, but be patient - it is so worth it.  The six thieves, drawn together to pull off the heist of the century in the Fjiordian prison (think Finland) called the Ice Castle, each have their own traumatic back story, slowly played out by the author throughout the book:  Kaz, head honcho of the Dregs, a gang of thieves, raised in the slums and tested by fire; Inej, the Wraith, a former sex slave and current spy for Kaz; Nina, a Grisha heartrender (ie. witch-of-sorts); Matthias, former Fjiordian hunter of Grisha; Jesper, a gambling addict and eagle eye sharpshooter, as well as a smartmouth; and Wylan, son of a rich man with secrets and hidden talents.  This book is HOT out there in the book world, amongst both teens and adults - scores 4.5 stars on numerous websites - and for good reason.  It is an obsessively good read that I wanted to go on and on and on.  I felt like I did when I read HP #7.  I cannot recommend this exciting, magical book enough.

The Book of Unknown Americans by Cristina Henriquez

I had such high hopes for this book - written by a woman of color, it had great potential as a teachable novel in high school, or at the least, good entertainment.  I am, however, torn in my opinions of it.  First, the plot line:  a Mexican family moves to Delaware, seeking a better education for their daughter who has a traumatic brain injury.  Along the way, they meet a Panamanian-American family with two sons, one of whom falls in love with the daughter, Maribel.  The story is interspersed with stories of other Latino immigrants, weaving a rich tapestry of the story of new Americans, their struggles, their victories, their frustrations.  My problem had more to do with the teenage love story.  The boy, Major, falls for Maribel due to her physical beauty, and while he is kind to her, I did not find his treatment of her brain-damaged behavior to be of the best intentions.  That bothered me, yet it would provide a book club with some rich discussion fodder.  Henriquez does a great job of showcasing the struggles of immigrant Latino families, which is commendable and much-needed in our literature today, particularly in our schools.  Some gratuitous sex/language may make it difficult to get it by some school boards though.


The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith (aka J.K. Rowling)
An adult mystery book by the author of the Harry Potter series...really??? I had avoided this for years, feeling a bit miffed by Harry's creator, as if she was betraying him.  Silly yes, and now that I have read the first in this mystery series, stupid as well.  Rowling/Galbraith can write, we all know that, and here she proves that she can spin a good whodunit.  Cormoran Strike, the main character and London-based private eye, is an Afghanistan war veteran who has a prosthetic leg, a lot of demons, and a world-famous, rocker father who deserted him years ago.  In other words, he is 'complicated.' In this book , we meet his potential new secretary, Robin, who is clutzy, curious, and rather slyly brilliant at her job.  While on the brink of poverty, with no clients to be had, they pick up the case of an internationally famous model who has supposedly killed herself by jumping off her balcony.  Rowling does a spectacularly intricate job of building the suspense, creating intriguing side characters and suspects, and rolling out the whodunit.  I was hooked from the beginning, and surprised by the culprit in the end.  This would be a great PBS series, and I definitely plan to read her second.  If you have a mystery reader in your household, this is a great book.

The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender by Leslye Walton
A gorgeously written, multiple award-winning novel by first time Seattle writer, this YA book is what I would call 'realistic fantasy.'  In other words, you need to suspend belief at times, as we enter the magical world of some complicated female characters.  The narrator is Ava Lavender, a young woman who was born with wings.  Yes, I said wings - and these wings are symbolic, complex, and ultimately redemptive so just roll with it.  As she unwinds her story, Ava returns to the past and her grandmother, an immigrant from France, with numerous siblings whose deaths are fantastical, and tragic.  The move to Seattle brings with it a pregnancy, and Ava's mother is born.  A patisserie where emotions are baked into the pastries, a deserted love pined over for decades, a loyal handyman, and a creepy religious zealot next door...all these ideas are woven into an incredible, beautiful, heart-wrenching story.  This is a beautifully written fairytale of a book that is well worth a rainy afternoon of reading.  I suspect Leslye Walton will become one of our next great YA authors.

November Reading 2.0

Wolf by Wolf by Ryan Graudin

We have become well-educated in the facts of this world war: Nazi invasion of Poland, the aerial war over Britain, death camps, Pearl Harbor, D-Day, ultimate victory by Allies.  However...what if Germany won?  What if they invaded Britain in 1940 and denied us a staging platform for D-Day?  What if they set up Eastern Europe as their breeding farms for more Nazi babies and more killing centers?  What if Japan opened an Eastern front on the Soviets and ran the table through Eastern Asia?  Yikes...a different history, which is Ryan Graudin's premise in this book.  Her protagonist is young Yael, a child previously used for experimentation in a camp.  Due to the chemical recomposition of her body, Yael can shape-shift, meaning whoever's face she sees, Yael can become that woman.  With this kind of skill, she becomes an important tool for the resistance, embarking on the race of her life.  Disguised as the previous victor of the propaganda-filled motorcycle road race from Germania to Tokyo, Yael must endure the dirty tricks from her fellow competitors, the over-protectiveness of her twin brother, and the confusing relationship with another German victor.  This is a roller-coaster of a ride, not to be missed. And yes, it is listed as a YA book, but only because main character is eighteen. These authors are typically highly creative, articulate, and create complex characters and plots.  I find they are not so wordy about building the scenery, which is just fine by me:) Young Adult is a whole new wonderful world - come explore it with me.

Belzhar by Meg Wolitzer
Yessiree...another YA book so, if you're shopping for any teenagers this holiday season, or you just want a really good book to read, keep reading this review:)  Wolitzer's (The Interestings)first foray into young adult has been a huge hit, particularly with high school girls.  She has created an intriguing premise around which her characters evolve.  The main character, Jam (short for Jamaica), narrates the tale of her life, beginning with the present as she begins her new high school life in a boarding school for 'fragile, damaged, traumatized' children.  When Jam receives her schedule, she has been placed, with four other students, into an English class titled "Special Topics."  Mrs. Q, in her last semester before she retires, has chosen to read only Sylvia Plath this year, hence the title of the book "Belzhar," ie. Plath's semi-autobiographical novel titled "Bell Jar."  As the story unfolds, we see the magic of the journals given to them by Mrs. Q, as each student relates the reason why they have come to this school.  We also see the way each teenager works their way through personal trauma, and finds their way back to life.  As a former English literature teacher, I love the connection with Sylvia Plath and the ways literature can change and shape one's life.  It is a gripping story that will keep anyone turning the pages until the very end.

Rosemary:  The Hidden Kennedy Daughter by Kate Clifford Larson

Unless you lived under a rock for the last eighty years, we have all read, heard, and watched the lives of the Kennedys.  However, as Rose and Joseph Kennedy showed off their children to the cameras and portrayed a 'perfect' family life, it was not what it seemed.  Their oldest daughter, Rosemary, as many of us know now, was mentally disabled.  She was slow to develop motor skills, struggled mightily in the academic skills needed to progress in school, and caused social 'scenes' that disturbed her parents, and at times her siblings.  To read about their treatment of Rosemary, knowing what we now do about delayed children, it is truly a heartbreaking read.  Many of us had heard over the last few decades of the lobotomy performed on Rosemary as a young woman, but the reasons that led her father to this life-destroying decision, are both baffling and infuriating.  The pictures in the book are beautiful and intriguing, as is the story that reveals the hidden life of the oldest Kennedy girl.

The Muralist by B.A. Shapiro
For anyone who read The Art Forger back in 2012, Shapiro is back with her second book and it is just as enticing as the first.  Perhaps it is my own personal desire to better understand the world of art in which my youngest daughter is engulfed, as she pursues a graduate degree in museum studies.  In Shapiro's latest novel, she continues to teach me about the American abstract art movement, involving big guns like Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, and Lee Krasner.  Through a dual narrative, focusing on Alizee Benoit, a fictional young artist in 1939 New York, and her grand-niece, Dani, who is researching provenance of a painting in 2015, Shapiro plays out a mystery of passion for both art and humanity, danger, and a country on the brink of war. Alizee and her soon-to-be-famous artist friends are forging new ideas in art.  At the same time, Alizee has family trapped in France as Hitler invades, and we watch as Alizee fights the government to get visas and to allow more refugees into our country.  We see the rampant anti-semitism, reminiscent of what is happening today towards refugees of the current wars in the Middle East.  Yes, I am being political and showing my personal feelings...but Shapiro deftly displays the history of this ongoing issue and shows the desperation and emotions surrounding the plight of the pre-WWII refugees.  I could not stop reading this book, obsessed with seeing how this mysterious and fascinating story played out.

The Harvest Man by Alex Grecian
In case you think I've gone 'soft,' don't worry - I still read dark, creepy murder mysteries.  And in case you have forgotten our friend Alex Grecian whose first novel, The Yard, was a gothic, scary tale of Jack, as in 'the Ripper,' and the murder squad of Scotland yard, his latest effort is outstanding. His second book, The Dark Country, was meh...as in so-so.  His third book, The Devil's Workshop, was getting back to the brilliance of his first.  Now, The Harvest Man?  Grecian has hit a grand slam with his fourth book, easily the best of the bunch.  The intriguing characters continue to be fleshed out by Grecian: Detective Day, whose obsession with finding Jack is juxtaposed with his fears for his family's safety; Nevil Hammersmith, a now shield-less private eye whose dogged curiosity serves him well; Dr. Kingsley, the pathologist who is a pioneer in forensics; and of course, the Harvest Man, who keeps carving up innocent young couples in London.  Is he mentally deranged or is it a play for Jack's admiration? As the detectives of Scotland Yard hunt down this vicious killer, their past comes back to haunt them.  This is a gripping mystery, well-written and engrossing through the final chapter.  If you read Grecian's first, it is time to go back to the well - it is worth it. If you have not read any, pick one up on a dreary, rainy PNW afternoon, make yourself a nice cup of tea, and travel to Victorian England for some entertainment.

November Reading

The Family:  Three Journeys into the Heart of the Twentieth Century by David Laskin
I spent some time shelving history books at Village Books the other day and had made room for this one, but did not think anything else of it.  Yet, when a good friend told me she was engrossed in it, I took another look.  I am so glad I did.  Starting with Diary of Anne Frank as a young girl, I have read countless accounts of the Holocaust, both fiction and non-fiction, as well as teaching Elie Wiesel's Night and having a survivor speak to my students.  There is something about the human spirit during this terrible time in history that grips my soul and keeps me searching for answers to an unanswerable question of how this could have occurred.  David Laskin's story of his own family is a one of the best in my memory.  It covers the three strands of his Russian Jewish family, with one staying in Russia/Poland/Lithuania, while the two other strands strike out to America and Palestine.  A gripping tale of the beginning of Israel, as well as the trials of an Orthodox Jew in turn-of-the-century New York City, this book also delves deeply into the life of the Eastern European shtetls - their lives both before and during WWII.  I was fascinated with Laskin's aunt, Ida Rosenthal, the founder of Maidenform as well as the young cousins who built a farm in the deserts of Israel and watched a new nation raise its flag.  I also, however, cried many tears as people I had come to love were swallowed up in the tragedy of the conflagration in Eastern Europe.  This book added another piece to my ever-growing knowledge of Jewish history - I highly recommend it to anyone who likes history, who is interested in the Holocaust, and more importantly, who just wants to get smarter and broaden their knowledge of other cultures and time periods.  This book is a winner.

The Kind Worth Killing by Peter Swanson
Poor Ted.  Or should I say poor rich Ted? His beautiful wife, Miranda, is screwing their contractor and he's not happy about it.  Enter Lily, beautiful young woman also stuck at the Boston airport and seemingly interested in poor Ted.  After hearing his tale of woe, Lily explains her life philosophy...some people just aren't worthy of life, and in fact, they are sometimes worth killing.  Hmmm...interesting seat mate on an airplane, but Ted buys it.  Thus, the story unfolds.  We see Ted and Miranda's marriage through Ted's eyes, and then Miranda's.  We hear of Lily's childhood with a wacky artist mother and a disinterested famous writer for a father.  We begin to understand the sociopathic tendencies of beautiful young Lily, as she deals with some unsavory men in her life in a rather 'permanent' manner.  This deadly black widow pulls numerous unsuspecting men into her web, and as a reader, I admittedly began to chuckle a bit at the mens' gullibility when it comes to a gorgeous woman smiling at them, or even drawing a finger across their hand, knowing what was in store for them next.  This is a solid psychological thriller, with some thoughtful twists and turns, especially in the end.

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein
If you like historical fiction, WWII pilots and Nazis, and some daring women spies, then this is the book for you.  While it is labeled YA, I'm not entirely sure why; the main characters are adults, the writing level is pretty high, and it's an average length book.  Perhaps it's the publishers way of getting teens to learn more about history? Regardless, Elizabeth Wein has written a page-turner of a story.  It begins with the main character behind bars in a Nazi prison, being interrogated and tortured for information on her assignment.  She then proceeds to write down her story, telling us how she became a spy.  There's a unique twist, however, in the telling of the story and if I tell you it...HUGE spoiler.  Let's just say this book will keep you reading until the last Nazi dies.

Orhan's Inheritance by Aline Ohanesian

When I read Chris Bohjalian's masterpiece on the Armenian holocaust (The Sandcastle Girls),  I was shocked and dismayed by how much I did not know about this time period.  Ohanesian's latest book adds even more depth to my knowledge and is a fascinating read.  The story begins with Orhan, a young Turkish man, who returns to his small village for his grandfather's funeral, and more importantly, for the reading of his will.  Pleased to inherit the business, but bewildered as to why the family home is left to an old woman in Arizona, Orhan sets off on his quest to find not only this woman, but his familial history.  We meet Seda, the old woman who was once young, in love, wealthy, and educated...and we see the way unbridled hatred turns her family life to dust.  As the pages turn back time, the Armenian holocaust unfolds in Anatolia, and it brings into focus Orhan's own inner turmoil.  This is a heart-wrenching tale, but has great heart and redemption in the end. I am forever horrified and perplexed as to how the world turned its face away from this terrible tragedy that killed over a million people. This was an absolute five-star book for me, well deserving of the critical praise and award nominations it has received.

Pretty Baby by Mary Kubica
The second book by Mary Kubica (first was The Good Girls - also quite good) is another successful thriller and psychological drama.  The story is told through a compelling mix of characters' voices: Heidi, the bleeding heart social worker who wants to save every stray cat and starving child; Chris, Heidi's permanently stressed and over-worked financier husband, who has a heart the size of the Grinch, but also some common sense; and Willow, the young teenage runaway, with a screaming baby, blood on her shirt, and a secretive past.  Heidi, in all of her wisdom, sees Willow and the baby in the pouring rain of the train platform and decides..."hmmm, I can save her life - let's bring her home and let her live with my husband and my twelve-year-old daughter."  Yep - trouble ensues.  However, it is not as predictable as you might suspect.  While Willow has some skeletons in her closet, Heidi and Chris have got some bones rattling as well.  This is definitely a page-turner that will keep you entertained on these cold and rainy Pacific Northwest nights.


Cinder by Marissa Meyers
If you've got middle-school or high-schoolers and are looking for entertainment, keep reading.  All of you adults - go away.  This is the first book in The Lunar Chronicles and has been a HUGE hit with our young folks.  It is a creative take on the Cinderella story, taking place far in the future when the world has been through the fourth World War, yet life is not all that terrible, like in the normal post-apocalyptic genre.  For once, the nations of the world all get along for the most part; it's the Lunars, humans who populated the Moon long ago, who are the problem. Of course, the lovely little dose of an incurable plague in the world hasn't helped matters either.  However, Cinder, the cyborg (mostly human, with a few bionic parts - and yes, of course her foot is mechanical, and yes, of course she leaves it at the ball - cmon, you know the story) is the heroine with heart, a sense of family and honor, who has the capability of saving the world.  This is a great first story in the series that has no bad language, little to no violence, no sex (unless you count a fairly innocent kiss by the prince), and is well-written.

Fall Books #3

The Lake House by Kate Morton
One of my favorite authors (The Forgotten Garden, The Secret Keeper, The Distant Hours, The House at Riverton) is back with her latest tale and it is a winner.  In fact, don't bother planning dinner, taking the dog for a walk, or getting anything done once you've read the first page - you will be trapped by this mysterious, gothic, obsessive novel.  Once again, Morton takes us to England, this time to 1933 to a secretive noble estate where Anthony and Eleanor Edevane's infant son, Theo, has disappeared.  Juxtaposed with this mysterious tale is the story of Sadie Sparrow, a London detective who is currently in hot water with the police leadership after leaking her frustrations of a child abuse case to the press.  Sadie runs to her grandfather in Cornwall and steps into a world of mystery as she learns of the Edevane cold case.  Morton does a masterful job of going back and forth through a multitude of time periods:  pre-WWI as we see Eleanor's childhood and the children's author who writes a famous story full of fairy dust and magic; the love story of Eleanor and Anthony, and the role WWI has in their marriage; the childhood of their three girls, as well as their old age; and Sadie's youth and the choices she made that forms the life she lives now.  I ignored everything at my house for three days, not able to put down this 600 page book.  It is a delicious tale, full of complex issues and characters, sprinkled with mystery, and just plain delectable to the very last page.

The Girl in the Spider's Web by David Lagercrantz
She's back...Lisbeth Salander, the complicated, tortured, odd, brilliant, and thoroughly fascinating character of Stieg Larsson's Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series.  Yes, I know Larsson dropped dead of a stroke before his first three books even hit it big.  And yes, I know all about the years-long court case, arguing over who had the right to the rest of the story ideas.  Finally, however, after settling all the disagreements, the agent hired a writer to finish the series.  David Lagercrantz is not merely a ghost writer; he is a legitimate author with numerous other books in publication and yes, he knows how to write.  The beauty of Spider's Web is that even for those of us who read all three of the previous books, it isn't necessary.  Once again, we enter the world of Mikael Blomkvist, the creative, ethical, super-talented journalist, looking to keep his magazine afloat yet getting dragging into the underworld of computer hackers, murder, and corporate espionage.  After selling a majority share in the magazine to keep it running, Mikael and his partner, Erika Berger, realize that their new partners are less interested in investigative reporting that keeps the government honest and more interested in salacious articles about empty celebrities.  As for Salander, she is in hot water after hacking the NSA, kidnapping a nine-year old autistic savant, and continuously eluding her Russian gangster sister. Book Number Four of the Millenium series is a worthy occupant of the book shelf.  I read tirelessly and obsessively, late into the night, waiting to see how Mikael and Lisbeth would survive their latest escapades.

Lost and Found by Brooke Davis
This is a quirky, odd, engrossing debut novel by a wonderful new Australian voice.  I was actually given a copy of this by a customer at Village Books, when we were talking about one of my favs on the bestseller wall, A Man Called Ove.  This lovely woman told me about her fav, Lost and Found, and then came back in to loan me her copy - wow.  Gotta love this incredible independent bookstore and its customer base:)  Here's the premise:  Seven year old Millie has just lost her father to cancer, and mom is not handling it well.  In fact, she takes Millie to the local department store and leaves her in the 'humongous old-lady' underwear department.  As in...leaves her and never returns.  And Millie is not your ordinary second grader - she's obsessed with death and likes to whisper to everyone she meets, "You're going to die" which of course is true, but doesn't go over well with young children and their mothers.  Ultimately, Millie makes her way back to her own house, which is empty of mom, her clothes, and unfortunately, food.  Enter the next two main characters...Agatha Pantha, the scary old neighborhood woman who has not left her home in seven years and Karl the Touch Typist, who constantly twitches his hands, typing out the things he says and who has escaped the old folks home where his son abandoned him.  These three misfits set out on an adventure to find Millie's mom.  This book is in turn side-splittingly funny, sad and depressing, and ultimately redemptive.  The international crowd has discovered this wonderful new author; I hope the folks in Bellingham eventually do as well.

Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff
"Brilliant, just brilliant" are the first words that come to mind upon finishing this new PNW bestselling novel.  Groff has won numerous awards for short-stories, and has two previously well-received books; Fates and Furies should get her noticed by the big  guns in the literary world.  It is, however, a hard book to describe.  On the surface, it is about a couple, Lotto and Mathilde, who have just begun their married life.  Sounds rather bland, and admittedly, I questioned the story line for the first 70 pages.  However, the brilliance of the prose wound its way around my brain, and ultimately so did the characters.  The most frustrating, devious, admirable, and ultimately complex characters I have run across in ages: Lotto, an aspiring young actor, raised wealthy, a golden boy everywhere he goes; Mathilde, freakishly tall and pale blond, undetermined if she's stunning or plain, brilliant, subservient (or is she?), and whose back story is finally told in Part II named Furies - Part I is Fates.  Throw in a few intriguing minor characters, such as Chollie, the childhood friend, Antoinette, the grasping, obese, agoraphobic mother, and Rachel, his gay younger sister, and this is an utterly engrossing story.  I would highly recommend it as a book club read as there are no easy answers or conclusions to be drawn here; Fates and Furies would definitely illicit some fascinating questions and conversations about family, relationships, and our place in the universe.

More Fall Reading

My Grandmother Asked Me To Tell You She's Sorry by Frederik Backman
Last year one of my favorite books was A Man Called Ove; I wondered if Backman could repeat the trick of making me laugh and cry, all at the same time.  He did.  The main character, Elsa, is a seven year old girl who doesn't quite 'fit in' at school.  She deals with bullies, believes in a fantasy world called 'Almost Awake, ' and is smarter than most of the grown-ups around her. A busy working mother, fortunately for us, leaves Elsa with Granny quite a bit...and Granny is a hoot.  A former doctor who has now devoted her life to her grandchild, Granny is incorrigible; she breaks into a zoo to help Elsa get over a bad day, escapes religiously from her home and drives a car illegally, and sasses everyone in sight.  I howled over Granny and Elsa's conversations.  Unfortunately, Granny has cancer and as Elsa comes to find out, she's got people who are owed an apology from her; it is Elsa's job to do this after Granny's death.  The book ultimately becomes a journey, as Elsa discovers the people in Granny's past and finds redemption and acceptance not only for her grandmother, but for herself. I loved, loved, loved this book.

Disclaimer by Renee Knight
Each night Catherine Ravenscroft, an award-winning BBC documentary producer and happily married woman, reads a book left for her in her office.  As the pages turn, she begins to realize the story is of her own life, of an incident buried long ago.  Once the secrets begin to pour out, we become a witness to the implosion of Catherine's world.  Told from a dual perspective, the voice of the past wraps the reader insidiously in this world of mystery and we hear Catherine tell her side of the drama as well.  Numerous red herrings will be thrown in your path as you try to decipher the truth.  Did Catherine destroy another couple’s life?  Did she cheat on her family?  Did she ruin her son willfully?  This is a taut, psychological thriller that will keep you guessing until the very last chapter.






The Tournament by Matthew Reilly
If you like historical fiction, this book literally has it all...as in the author threw in every historical figure known to man in the 1500's.  The story begins when Princess Elizabeth, as in Henry's daughter, is taken away from her plague-ridden country by her famous (and factual) tutor, Richard Ascham.  They journey through far away lands until reaching Istanbul, home of Suleiman the Magnificent, his web of spies and castle intrigue, and the site of the most famous chess tournament that ever occurred.  Countries from around the  continent have sent their best and brightest, but a murderer is in their midst as well.  Ascham puts his fearsome mind to the task of investigating the murder, which brings him into the harem, the underworld of the cisterns, and into the vicinity of the harem girl-turned-queen.  And all the historical characters thrown in willy nilly?  Well, there's Ivan the Terrible, a young man whose chess champion is a rather unpleasant boy; Michaelangelo, the great sculptor who designed the silver and gold chess pieces; Ignatius from Loyola, the educated Catholic priest who will soon begin the order of the Jesuits; and Suleiman the Magnificent, the last great sultan of the Ottoman empire.  It's a campy romp through history, with a little mystery thrown in.

Black-Eyed Susans by Julia Heaberlin
A lifetime ago, sixteen year old Tessie was thrown into a grave filled with murdered young women and black-eyed Susan flowers, left for dead, but unexpectantly rescued.  Fast forward eighteen years later and the man convicted of the crime is set to be executed on Texas' death row.  Due to trauma and memory loss, grown up Tessa, mother of a fourteen year old daughter now, is no longer convinced the man is guilty.  This is a well-written, page-turner of a thriller that takes the reader back and forth through time. We are part of Tessie's sessions with her psychiatrist of long ago, trying to help the hysterically-blind young Tessie to see again, to remember the night in question, and to prepare her to testify against the accused in the upcoming trial. In the adult Tessa's life, we see her fear explode as black-eyed Susans are planted under her kitchen window, she visits the convicted man on death row, and she continues her search for her best friend, Lydia, who disappeared two weeks after the conclusion of the trial.  Heaberlin draws out the tension and the mystery with each progressive chapter, leaving you guessing until the end.  If you are the lover of mysteries, this is a solid choice.

The Gilded Life of Matilda DuPlaine byAlex Brunkhorst

In a story embedded with Gatsbyesque allusions, in the rich and famous world of modern-day Los Angeles, secrets live and ordinary folks merely peek into the windows of the wealthy and entitled magnates.  Thomas Cleary, a poor Harvard graduate from the Mid-West (yep, think Nick Carroway and his obsessive curiosity of all things 'Gatsby'), steps into an antique store run by the daughter of a famous Hollywood studio mogul...and his life is forever changed.  Drawn into the decadent world of the rich, Thomas is willingly used and manipulated.  He sees his career skyrocket, yet risks it all when he falls in love with a mysterious young woman.  As the secrets are slowly unwound, we see the underworld of this fairytale lifestyle, and much of it is not pretty.  Brunkhorst is a truly beautiful writer; not only does her story bring back memories of the tale of the Great Gatsby, but her writing style is also reminiscent of Fitzgerald, with beautiful sentences that linger long after you have turned the page.  I hope other people discover this gem of a book with its complex characters and provoking thematic ideas - I thought it was fabulous.

Time for Fall reading

Circling the Sun by Paula McClain
 McClain hit a winner with The Paris Wife back in 2011 and as good as that story was about Hemingway and his young wife, Circling the Sun is even better. Breathtaking in its setting of Africa, McClain has written a masterpiece about a remarkable woman, Beryl Markham.  Born in Kenya, abandoned early on by her mother, this tenacious little girl broke gender expectations to become a horse trainer and an aviator, always fighting for her free and independent life.  Not meant to be tied down, Beryl goes through men at a rapid pace, but not in a rash manner, rather in a way to revel in the great passions of life.  Writing almost as if Kenya is a character itself, McClain is able to portray a world long gone - of roving herds of elephants, flood-torn rivers, rolling hills of grass, and of the European people who took on the most difficult terrain in an attempt to tame this wild continent.  It was a fascinating read that reminds us that having the life one desperately desires is never easy, and is sometimes painful.  This would be a fantastic book club book as it is rich in its themes and riddled with complex, intriguing historical characters.

The Flying Circus by Susan Crandall
A favorite read of mine a couple years ago was Whistling Past the Graveyard, a road trip in the old South with a spunky 'Scout-ish" red-headed girl and a wise black woman; Crandall is now back with another historical fiction, this time setting her story in 1923, involving the barnstormers of the new age of aviation.  Her three main characters are complex, each dealing with their own demons:  Cora, the New York formerly rich girl now turned poor who wants more than to be sold to the highest bidder in marriage; Gil, the tortured survivor of WWI reconnaissance flying who sees his future only in death; and Henry, the orphaned boy of German descendants, whose entire past is written in disaster and who has secret corners of his youth that he feels need to be hidden from his new flying family.  Crandall truly captures the spirit of this new age - the courage and bravery it takes to walk on wings, the stunts of the pilots who fly machines made of wood and cloth, and the obsession of American society with these new daredevils.  This is an entertaining book that will keep you turning the pages, rooting for the heroes to overcome their own foibles.

The Swans of Fifth Avenue by Melanie Benjamin

Glitzy, gossipy, and deliciously naughty, this book exposes the inner circle of Truman Capote and the decadent women of New York Society:  Babe Pale, wife of CBS executive Bill Pales - on every best dressed list, constantly striving to be perfect, who busy a pair of identical shoes for each of her five homes, and trusts her friends too much; Pamela, who has so many last names they are hard to count, constantly moving from husband to husband so she can pick up great wealth and status; Slim, Babe's best friend who never quite marries as well as she should; and of course, Truman, their own 'trueheart' whose questionable trust and love is bought in lunches at the Plaza and weekends in the Bahamas.  Thank People magazine in 1955...the dirty little affairs, the neglected rich wives, the parties dripping with jewels, and more importantly, the question of who is really a friend and who is just using you.  This book will keep you turning pages until the last piece of dirty laundry is aired.



House of Thieves by Charles Belfoure
Here it is, the second novel by the author of The Paris Architect. One of the main things I loved in Belfoure's debut novel, was the complexity of his characters, finding them both despicable and admirable at different times.  In this novel, set in the Gilded Age of New York in 1886, the main characters were intriguing, but had few redeeming qualities.  The bad guy, Kent, whoe keeps his gang in line by well-placed, vicious murders; the 'hero', John Cross, an architect who plans robberies for Kent, using his architectural knowledge, in order to pay back his son's debts, but is conflicted by the choices of his new life; the socialite wife, Helen, who thoroughly enjoys trolling her friends' homes, looking for the next joint to rob; and their three children, who all get pulled into the gritty underworld of the Tenderloin and Delancy streets, betting on dogs to kill the most rats, fishing treasure out of the East River, and accruing more gambling debts for mommy and daddy to pay off.  It was ultimately quite the page turner, and would give a book club some juicy moral dilemmas to discuss.

After You by Jojo Moyes
Lou is back...the quirky, loyal, 'my life is a disaster' heroine from Moyes' huge bestseller, Me Before You.  Do you need to read the first book?  In a nutshell...yes, but it is worth it.  That book encompassed Louisa's change in life, when she goes to work for a wealthy, adventurous man who had been paralyzed by a car accident and wishes to legally kill himself.  It was a heartfelt, thought-provoking, fabulous book.  The big question is, does the sequel merely repeat the story, as so many sequels do (think The Rosie Effect...ugh)?  In this case, Moyes nails it and repeats only the tone, characterization, and lovely thematic development of the first.  In After You, Lou is trying to reclaim her life and move on from Will's death.  In her search for healing, she comes across some eccentric members of a grief counseling group, begins a relationship with an ambulance driver who treats her after falling off a building, and has her whole life turned upside down by the appearance of Will's never-before-known daughter.  As we watch Lou attempt to live the life Will wanted her to, we laugh, cry, and cheer on this delightful character.  This sequel nails it.

Summer Reads #5

The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George
After seeing this on the PNW bestseller list for weeks on end, and considering I was heading to Paris, I figured it was time to read this little gem...and it is a beauty.  Beautifully written, it encompasses the life of Monsieur Perdu, a bookseller whose barge on the Seine river in Paris provides a world of words, imagination, and beauty for so many customers and neighbors.  However, Perdu is haunted by the loss of his own years ago and has yet to rejoin the human race.  As he takes a 'walkabout' down the river, meeting all sorts of humans, he recommends books to heal, books to inspire, and books to teach - whatever he 'sees' the person needs at that moment. This novel is about not only finding love and forgiveness in one's life, but also about the comfort and solace so many of us find in books.  Read in the long plane ride to Paris, this is truly a lovely read.

Wonder by R.J. Palacio
This is a spectacular YA book, that should be read by adults, as well as kids, most especially for all my teacher friends.  The story tells of a young boy named Auggie whose life took a big u-turn at birth, as he was born with a double-genetic malnormality, creating a face that scares parents and children alike, and leaves Auggue wanting to permanently wear the Star Wars space helmet he got as a little boy. Now an eleven year old middle-schooler, after 37 painful operations, it is time for Auggie to brave the world of school.  Your heart will break as you read not only of the overt teasing and cries of horror by other students, but the more painful, insidious bullying of a bright, courageous, funny, and thoroughly delightful young man as he teaches all of us what it means to be a 'wonder' in today's world.

Missoula:  Rape and the Justice System in a College Town by Jon Krakauer
If you are from the PNW, you would be hard-pressed to not know of Jon Krakauer, the Outside magazine writer who has exposed us to so many incredible tales over the years:  Into the Wild, Into Thin Air, Under the Banner of Heaven, and Where Men Win Glory.  Within his non-fiction books, Krakauer always does a thorough job of reporting, gathering information not only from the main subjects, but from the vital peripheral ones as well.  He does not disappoint with his latest book, but he will leave you disturbed, angry, and saddened over the climate of sexual abuse, discrimination, and blatant miscarriage of justice not only in universities today, but in American society.  Krakauer looks at a few specific cases in Missoula, following cases that are not prosecuted, ones that are settled, and even a case that goes all the way to trial.  At the end of this book, you will not feel satisfied and delighted; however, I do believe this is absolutely a book that everyone should read - parents with both sons and daughters, folks sending kids to college, anyone involved with young men and women today, particularly in an educational setting.  You will never view the crime of rape in the same way again.

I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson
This is the book that pretty much every staffer at Village Books, our delightful independent bookseller here in Bellingham, has on their 'staff pick' book shelf. Technically classified as YA, I would say this is merely because the main characters are teens; nothing else is 'young' in this novel.  As the book opens, we are immediately introduced to twins Noah and Jude, and throughout the book we see the story unfold through their eyes, as the author slides us back and forth in time.  All we know is that these two siblings who used to stand shoulder to shoulder as they did in the womb, have split somehow from each other.  We see Noah, an artistically brilliant young 'Picasso-esque' teen, attempting to cope with society when he does not really fit in.  Jude, a brash, independent young woman morphs into a creature who hides from society.  Jandy Nelson, a brilliant writer, keeps the reader obsessively turning pages, putting together the pieces of all the characters, not just the twins but the artistic mother, the math-professor father, the tortured sculptor, and the homeless drug-addicted teenager who inhabit the twins' lives.  In the end, I agree with the VB staff - this is the most brilliantly written, magical, heart-wrenching, and redemptive book I have read in 2015.  I cannot recommend it highly enough.

When the Moon is Low by Nadia Hashimi
The author of one of my 2014 favorites, The Pearl that Broke its Shell, has come out with book number two and it does not disappoint.  Once again, Hashimi returns to Afghanistan but this time in today's world.  The story begins as a rather typical tale of Fereiba, a middle-class Afghani woman who wants more than her role as a wife and a mother.  Married to a wonderful man, educated, raising a family, life is good in Kabul...until of course, the Russians and the Taliban.  However, this is not the story of their fight against these forces.  Instead, the author uses the BBC headlines of today and tells a tale of Fereiba and her teenage son, Saleem, as they become the undocumented refugees we read about each day, trying desperately to get to safety in a northern European country.  As I read this book, I saw real-life stories on the immigrants trying to sneak through the tunnel at Calais in an attempt to get to England, of the huge migration issues in Greece and Macedonia, and I saw the attempts by 'good' countries as they shut their borders to the people who need them most.  Ferieba and Saleem are good people who were dealt a rotten hand on where they were from - I will never look at the immigration issue the same way again.  This would be a fantastic book club book as it brings up topical, political, familial, and cultural issues that so  many of us see from varied viewpoints.

Seveneves by Neal Stephenson
"The moon blew up without warning and for no apparent reason."  Yep, that is the first line of this wildly popular, best-selling science fiction book from acclaimed writer Neal Stephenson.  The obvious premise from the beginning is the complex issues that involve the world when the moon is broken into seven large pieces by an unknown Agent.  It quickly morphs into a tale of an epic odyssey...how humanity survives as the fallout of the rocks create a 'rain' that covers the earth in fire for five thousand years.  Yes, you heard right - 5,000 years.  While I have always loved post-apocalyptic tales, they usually entail disease and war, creating a 'life is over as we know it' type of story line.  This was a whole new venture for me, as I can count on one hand the sci-fi books I have read in the past.  Neal Stephenson is a great author to begin with in the science fiction genre, as the man creates incredibly complex and intriguing characters, is purposeful in each step of his plot construction, and builds tension so that it is hard to close the book at night.  I obsessively read this 850 page book, dreaming at night of the end of the world and constantly wondering what the next step in survival would be.  Due to his vast knowledge of physics and engineering, Stephenson occasionally lost me in his complicated details and I admittedly skimmed those paragraphs after figuring out I could never understand the concepts anyway.  And no, I do not feel guilty - I didn't miss anything of the plot and I didn't give up on the book.  For my first foray into space, I am thoroughly satisfied. Destined to be a classic, I highly recommend Seveneves.

Summer Reads #4

Armada by Ernest Cline
If you were a fan of Cline's first book, Ready Player One, put your battle helmet on and get ready for another rockin' ride because this one is a humdinger.  Though not a sequel of Ready Player One, Cline once again draws on his incredibly detailed knowledge of television, movies, and video games of the 1970's and 80's to pull together a story of thrills and excitement.  The premise this time is as follows:  what if all the space shows/movies of the last few decades (think Star Wars, The Last Starfighter, ET, etc.) were actually not for pure entertainment but were actually set up to prepare us for the coming of an alien invasion?  And those space videos all the kids have been playing for decades?  Yep...those are actually flight simulators so that the defense drones can be deployed against said alien invasion.  This story is a rollicking good read with good guys, bad guys, sassy teenagers, and some complex moral dilemmas.  If you liked the Star Wars movies, or have a teenager who is a big 'gamer,' you will not go wrong with this book - I felt like a kid again as I swerved, ducked, and avoided getting shot down:)

Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee
After hearing all the bad reviews, the skeptics who loved Scout rolling their eyes, and the horror over Atticus' racist attitude, I questioned whether I should read this 'newly found' manuscript.  However, I am truly glad I did.  Read in just one lazy reading day on the couch, I found myself swept back to the slow Southern town of Maycomb, where Scout has returned on her annual visit.  We find the usual suspects:  Atticus, her 72 year old lawyer father; Aunt Alexandra, her straight-laced elderly aunt; Uncle Jack, the eccentric uncle; Henry, an erstwhile lover; and even Calpurnia and her son, Zeebo, play a small part.   First, is it as poorly written as reviewed?  No.  It's fine.  It's not TKAM, but what is?  However, some glittering examples of brilliance pop up occasionally where a sentence or two reminds the reader of Harper Lee's writing style.  And it's a rough draft - get over it.  I wish Lee would have taken this one off the shelf decades ago, and revised and edited it - we would have had two treasures from one author.  Does this book ruin Atticus for all of literary eternity?  No.  It is, in fact, rather brilliant on showing the complex relationship between Scout and Atticus, as well as the struggles for the older generation as the NAACP and the civil rights movement makes it way down South.  If you love TKAM as much as I do, I absolutely think you should read this; it will provide you with a different way of looking at the original story and the characters...and no, it will NOT ruin the original story.  I also think it would be a fascinating book club read that would generate some heated and thoughtful discussions.  I surprised myself by how much I enjoyed it.


Devil in the Grove: Thurgood Marshall, the Groveland Boys, and the Dawn of a New America by Gilbert King
Ironically, I read this book right before diving into Go Set a Watchman.  This is a deeply historical account of the beginning of the civil rights movement, but not the protests, the church involvement, or the boycotts.  This book tells the true account of the attack on the legal system, to bring equality to the land through the courts, in particular the U.S. Supreme Court.  While the book focuses very much on Thurgood Marshall (a fascinating, brilliant, complicated man), it also delves into other vital players who not only defended innocent clients, but pushed the argument for equal rights into the forefront of the American public.  The case of the Groveland boys, accused of raping a white woman in Florida, was the story of the decade...and I had never heard of it.  It is a painful look into our past, and causes one to question how SCOTUS could do away with the Voting Rights Act after being reminded of how far we have come.  For any history buff, this is a fascinating read - however, it is dense and very factual, so it is not a quick read.

Those Girls by Chevy Stevens
If you like a good thriller and are from the PNW,  this book is for you. Set in eastern British Columbia, and eventually Vancouver, BC, the story revolves around three sisters:  Dani, the responsible oldest sister who cares for her motherless sisters; Courtney, the wild one who enrages their alcoholic and abusive father; and Jess, the smart baby of the family who is the one who stands up to their father.  After a night of tragic abuse, the girls encounter some seriously bad boys.  Trapped, alone, and vulnerable, this incident leads to a lifetime of changed identity, as well as a new location.  Some of the scenes are fairly graphic and violent, so be forewarned.  However, Stevens does a solid job of continuously building the tension as the sisters mature and eventually have to deal with the trauma of long ago.  While I would not necessarily call it 'pretty writing', it is competent and definitely a page-turner.





The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly

While I am trying to add to my knowledge of Young Adult books, as well as middle-readers, I promise not to write too many of them up on my blog.  However, I just could not resist with 'Calpurnia' as she is just a stud of a kid.  A Newberry Honor book, Jacqueline Kelly has created another storyline the likes of the Caddie Woodlawn book from long ago.  Calpurnia is an 11 year old girl who lives in 1899 in the heart of Texas.  Surrounded by six brothers and a mother who desperately wants Callie to be a 'real' girl, Calpurnia decides instead to befriend her curmudgeonly old grandfather, a disciple of Charles Darwin and a dedicated naturalist.  This book made me smile and laugh out loud at some of the antics; it also made me cringe to see the societal expectations on girls long ago.  If you have an 8-12 year old girl somewhere in your life who has not read this book, it would be a fabulous gift - Calpurnia Tate is just delightful.