Life After Life by Kate Atkinson

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

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

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

Whistling Past the Graveyard by Susan Crandall

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

The Light in the Ruins by Chris Bohjalian

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

Summer Reading:)

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

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

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

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

The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown

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

Baker Street mysteries

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

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

And the Mountains Echoed

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