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.

Time for Summer Reading

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
I do love living in a small town, where a five minute conversation with the local bookstore owners, leads to a few late nights of late-night reading.  Chuck and Dee Robinson, the incredible due behind Village Bookstore, were having a wine-night and author talk in their condo above the store.  While I wasn't going, they encouraged me to check out his book, saying "this book will be the next hot read of 2014."  They could be right:)  Doerr is a beautiful writer, who weaves a tale about France and WWII, but in a fresh way that makes it seem like a story first told.  His heroine is unique, Marie-Laure, who goes blind at a young age due to inoperable cataracts.  Her father is a gifted craftsman, who builds her a model of the Parisian neighborhood where they live, giving her unprecedented freedom.  A parallel story unfolds in Germany as well, of a young, poor boy who is unusually gifted with radio.  Werner watches the rise of the Nazi youth, endures a 'school' for special boys, and becomes someone he never wanted, nor expected, to be.  As the war sweeps both Werner and Marie-Laure into its grasp, Doerr sweeps us into his story as well.  The walled city in Brittany, the cold battlefields of Russia, and the mystery of a cursed diamond all combine to make a suspenseful, lyrical, beautiful book.

The Secret History by Donna Tartt
If you read The Goldfinch, Donna Tartt's Pulitzer prize winning novel (and if you haven't, you really should - read earlier review - it's fabulous), you may be intrigued by her earlier work. The woman definitely does not believe in short novels.  This is another looooong one, and occasionally I wish her editor had chopped a few words, but no matter the length, I still obsessively read this book until the very last page.  It's an intriguing story line, with a blue collar boy who enrolls at a small, liberal arts college, peopled by moneyed aristocracy.  His first few months, he lives the typical beer-soaked, dorm life of a normal college kid, wandering through his required classes, wondering why he cannot get into the exclusive ancient Greek language course taught by the reclusive, mysterious professor.  Of course, an odd chance meeting gets young Richard drawn into the realm of some eccentric students who take things into a "Lord of the Flies" kind of world.  Tartt is truly a word smith, developing the most intriguing characters and twisting a plot around so it forces the reader to search in every corner, for every twist and turn.  This is a psychological thriller that is truly a fascinating read.

A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki
I have seen this book on bookstore shelves for months, and even though it has a Northwest connection, I never felt a compulsion to purchase it. I admit, a good cover is usually a draw for me and this one seemed juvenile and unappealing.  However, once a teaching buddy loaned it to me, I found the story line intriguing, mostly due to the uniqueness of the characters, as well as the plot line.  First, it is definitely a book with which to be patient, as it really wasn't until page 80 or so that the story truly grabbed me.  It begins with an author named Ruth (duh?!), who finds a diary, wrapped in a plastic bag, that has floated across the ocean following the tsunami.  As Ruth gets dragged into the story of the young teenage girl, so do we.  The diary unfolds the life of a young Japanese girl, Nao, who after living in California for a number of years, gets dragged back to Tokyo due to her father's job loss.  Her tale of school bullying, prostitution, suicide, family legends, WWII, and most exceptionally her 104 year old Zen Buddhist nun of a great-grandmother is gripping, heart-wrenching, witty, and told in the most perfect sixteen-year old voice.  The first half of the book, I didn't really care much about Ruth and her eccentric boyfriend and their life on a San Juan island in the Puget Sound, but as she involves herself in the search for Nao, I also bought into her story as well.  This tale is a mix of Japanese history, personal narrative, psychological exploration, surrealism, ghosts, and most especially, the importance of life.  It's not a page turner, nor a mystery, but I look forward to our book club discussion, as there is so much meat on this bone to gnaw over.

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

So, if you're looking for an "I can't put this down" kinda book, this is it.  I started it at 5 PM, and it was finished by 10 PM.  The beauty of this YA book, is that the only thing about it that is 'Young Adult' is the length, about 235 pages.  Geez, I wish 'adult' writers could pare down the story to create a tense, suspense filled one like Lockhart did.  The story revolves around Cadence, the eighteen year old daughter in a very old, very moneyed, very traditional Massachusetts family (yes, their ancestors were on the Mayflower).  The Sinclair family is just so perfect...except that it's not.  You will spend the entire time trying to figure out what happened to Cadence...does she have a brain injury? What caused the amnesia?  Is it amnesia?  How are her cousins involved?  Is her mother crazy, or just protective?  Is grandfather a pitiful old man with dementia, or a manipulative Tywin Lannister type?  Lockhart creates a taut, tense story that will absolutely satisfy you in the end.  Regardless of what age it was written for, it's just a great story.



We Live in Water by Jess Walters
Let's preface this with two things:  One, I love this author - he wrote The Financial Lives of Poets, a witty, sardonic look at the crash of 2007 and an idiotic man in the midst of it, as well as Beautiful Ruins, a lyrical story of the Italian riviera, a family in Idaho, and the story that ties them together; Two, I usually hate short stories - however, since Jess Walters wrote it, I figured why not?  Plus, my partner in reading/crime, highly recommended it.  She was right, as always.  These stories all take place in Spokane, and he just nails the sense of this quirky Eastern Washington city.  He skips all over the place, with homeless people, a weird futuristic tale,  child abandonment, you name it.  And the cool thing is, no matter how long, whether it's twelve pages or just two, Walters is able to develop his characters and story line so deeply that the reader is invested in just one page.  The only problem with this book is that most of the stories I wanted turned into books.  If your book club is looking for a book of short stories as a 'change of pace', or you actually like short stories, or you want a book that's quick and easy to read, or you just thoroughly appreciate good writing, I would highly recommend We Live in Water.

The Rent Collector by Camron Wright

After reading Behind the Beautiful Forevers, the non-fiction book about the garbage collectors of Mumbai, I figured this book, set in the dump of Penom Penh, would be merely a fictionalized version.  The basic plot line could also have been repetitive:  horrendous setting, a heroic character who beats the odds, saccharin-sweet ending.  You guessed it...I was so very wrong.  The story does take place in an ugly, smelly, dangerous garbage dump, where the 'pickers' can be mowed over by the bulldozers or burned to death by the methane gas fire.  Heroic characters do exist, but I was quite surprised by them.  The viciously mean rent collector seemed to be the quintessential villain, until...she wasn't.  You will meet a delightful young family, whose young father picks garbage for a living, whose wife wants so much more than the dump, and whose baby son fights constant illness.  Wright does a masterful job of not painting anyone as all bad, or all good, but creates complex characters who do battle with their environment, as well as with their own desires.  We see some of the ancient traditions of Cambodia in their rather medieval medical practices, as well as the beautiful tradition of literature and art.  This is a truly engrossing, beautiful, and well-told story that contains unexpected twists; it was an absolute delight, and should not be missed.  (And if you're a lover of literature, or perchance a teacher of the power of books, you will be highlighting a lot of lines!)

LOTS of new books!

Lexicon by Max Berry
This has probably been my favorite 'compex' book so far in 2014. Now, with that said, don't expect it to be a simple, page-turner, type of mystery - it was far more complex than that.  Hmmm...how to describe it?  Let's start with the title - Lexicon - so the plot obviously has to do with words.  Next, think back to a news story a couple years ago about a man who had woken up from a coma, speaking an entirely different language, as in a language he had never heard before in his life. Weird, right?  So Max Barry's premise in this book is that we have compartments in our brain for language, and if trained properly, we can access those places for both good and evil.  In Lexicon, an academy exists to train people on the use of manipulation through the use of words, an intriguing idea.  Barry takes us through a plethora of twists and turns, using time creatively as he yanks us back and forth through past and present.  On one hand, this was a quick read because I was so obsessed with it, yet each page has to be read very carefully, picking up on  his language and clues throughout.  I think this would be a fabulous, topical book club read, as it makes one think about how the media manipulates the public on a daily basis.

Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger
This is a beautifully told story of a time of my childhood, the early '60's, set in a small Minnesota town, peopled by characters we all recognize:  the local pastor, two mischievous brothers, the girl who doesn't 'belong' in the small town, the mother who wants more, the racist police officer, the rich family on the hill, and the genius hermit.  Sound familiar?  Yet Krueger weaves a story that is not repetitive, dealing with family ties, death, stereotypes, prejudice, and lost dreams in a thoughtful and provoking manner.  He doesn't wrap everything up in a neat, tidy little bow, which I actually appreciate.  With many similarities to To Kill a Mockingbird, I understand the accolades and awards for this book.  It is a wonderful book club read, well told, of an era of jello and tuna-noodle casserole, that leaves us with questions and topics to discuss.




The Headmaster's Wife by Thomas Christopher Greene
If you're an obsessive reader of who-dunnits, this it the book for you, though I'm not entirely sure I can classify it as a mystery.  Regardless, this book was read in just one day by your's truly, so yes, it is a page-turner.  The story begins with Arthur Winthrop, a middle-aged headmaster from the elite Lancaster prep school, wandering naked through Central Park.  The obvious question, of course, is ...why???  As Greene attempts to answer this question, we see Arthur's life through his rambling story to the police and we begin to understand that his past has strongly influenced his present.  However, if you've read Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl, be ready for some unexpected twists and turns in this one as well.  Greene does a masterful job of throwing out red herrings, and must chuckle as we grasp onto them just as he rips them away.  This is a thought-provoking book on family, love, grief, and redemption that will make you want to push the copy of this book into a friend's hand just so you can dissect it together.


The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin
A best-seller here in my little college town in the great Northwest, I sincerely hope other parts of the country have discovered Zevin's little gem as well.  If you love books (and if you're reading this blog, I'm figuring you do), and you love independent bookstores (who doesn't - the salespeople who have actually read the books on the shelves, the owner that calls your name as he greets you in the morning, the smell of home-made chai tea...you get the drift), then you will fall as solidly in love with this book as I did.  It is the story of a 39 year old man, A.J. Fikry, who instead of finishing his PhD in literature, opens a bookstore with his wife, situated on a small island off the coast of Massachusetts.  Thus ensues the most delightful book I have read since The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.  The community of Alice Island is peopled with the most unique characters beyond the quirky bookstore owner - the policeman who is 'not a reader,' the idealistic publishing agent, the irascible author and his long-suffering wife, and the 'package' who arrives on A.J.'s doorstep.  All I can say is...do not miss reading this book, seriously - it would be such a loss.  For those of us who are lovers of books, addicted to stories, and believers of the power of literature, this book will satisfy every fiber of your being.