Book:
Those Who Save UsAuthor:
Jenna BlumPages:
496Format:
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EnglishISBN10:
0156031663The maelstrom of the Holocaust tears apart the world Anna knew and skews her ability to mother her young daughter, Trudy plods through live in a loveless, sterile environment, each day a drab duplicate of insufficient hopes and dwindling expectations. In Jenna Blum's capable hands, these two women emerge as archetypes of conflicted hopes, mangled dreams and beleaguered interpreters of the past. If stories serve as the trellis around which we twine ourselves in order to grow, "Those Who Save Us" underscores the dangers of struggling through life without the requisite support of knowledge of the past. This brave, compassionate and deeply unsettling novel emboldens us to remember and recount. 
Book:
ViciousAuthor:
Kevin O'BrienPages:
416Format:
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EnglishISBN10:
0786021365VICIOUS reads like the book Alfred Hitchcock never filmed. Most of it takes place within a square mile or so in three different places, but seems to be written on a much larger scale. One thing is certain, however: you won't think about renting a cabin in an idyllic setting without thinking about O'Brien's latest thriller and reconsidering your vacation plans, among other things.
Book:
The Marrowbone Marble Company: A NovelAuthor:
Glenn TaylorPages:
368Format:
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EnglishISBN10:
0061923931We live now, as the Chinese proverb says, in "interesting times." I read The Marrowbone Marble Company exhilarated by a singular and powerful idea: that in such times of extremity, the engine of change is still driven by people who are willing to shed hubris, temptation, and bias for what they know to be the right thing, a conviction that can never be achieved without critical mass. It's one of the many invaluable arguments Glenn Taylor makes in his sophomore novel. The setting is a symbiotic crossroads at one of the twentieth century's most dramatic historical moments; the prose is simple, straightforward, but never uninspired; and Taylor's characters are unforgettable. Read this novel and love it.
Book:
The Girl of His DreamsAuthor:
Donna LeonPages:
304Format:
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EnglishISBN10:
0143115618Bravo, Donna Leon, for writing a mystery novel that delves into the underpinnings of crime and society. Italy, like all western European nations, is struggling with a huge influx of immigrants from other cultures. Now Europe must struggle with the problems that have been ongoing in the US for a couple of centuries. As I've said in other Leon reviews, Guido Brunetti is perhaps the most humanistic of all series detectives published today. In this outing, he must cope with the drowning of a "Rom" (Gypsy) child who was involved in an apartment robbery. Her face haunts him as he goes about his business, trying to discover what happened and why. Leon is brilliant at portraying the clash between cultures and consciences. Girl of His Dreams does the best job yet of bringing to the forefront the difficulties of reconciling legal and humanitarian needs. This is not an easy book to read; there are, in fact, moments of discomfort awaiting the reader. But it's an eloquent and important book, one that deserves attention and thought.
Book:
The Cult of OsirisAuthor:
Andy McDermottPages:
448Format:
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EnglishISBN10:
0755354621At least in this one, there are a few pauses between the chase scenes. The chase scenes are quite intense and get a bit long in spots. Nina, as usual, is nothing like what we think of as a professor and she has more action chops that most Navy Seals. Small quibble. The part that almost made me groan, though, were the stereotypical booby traps once they find the pyramid. Been done a million times by other authors. I suppose it's like some literary law that if you have a pyramid, you have to have elaborate booby traps. Someone has mentioned Matthew Riley in that respect and he did the trap-in-the-pyramid trick to the extreme. What is different is that I think Andy is a better writer overall. And, he knows how to cut back on the exclamation marks, which is a big irritation with Riley's writing.I rate it a solid four stars and if you like a fast-paced thriller, originality notwithstanding, I highly recommend this book.
Book:
Sag HarborAuthor:
Colson WhiteheadPages:
352Format:
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EnglishISBN10:
0307455165Sag Harbor is well-written and enjoyable. It evokes a time and place in the lives of teen boys. As some reviewers have noted there isn't what you would call a plot-driven narrative. There isn't a series of events leading to a dramatic climax. Like Seinfeld the book is about nothing but in the hands of Whitehead it is a charming read. The life I lived in my summer time was typically about nothing. What are we going to do today? What are we going to get up to? Can we find an older brother to get us some beer? Doesn't so-and-so look hot? Laughing at jokes we didn't quite understand and trying our best, but not successfully, to stay out of trouble, were the order of the day. The book may be about nothing but the writing makes it pleasurable. Benji's observations about himself and the world around him seem spot-on to me. As the summer progresses we see the best-laid plans sometimes work and sometimes fail. Whitehead is a fine writer and managed to keep me laughing, chuckling or sighing at Benji's `summer of `85'.Sag Harbor was a very enjoyable book to read. It brought back semi-sweet memories of days gone bye. If you are looking for a book with a roller coaster ride of highs and lows Sag Harbor is not for you. However, if you are looking for a very well-written piece that evokes memories of a time in your life when the fog of adolescence weighed heavily on each day's activities, then I think you will enjoy Sag Harbor.
Book:
My Hundred Million Dollar SecretAuthor:
David WeinbergerPages:
268Format:
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EnglishISBN10:
1847288006David Weinberger is a well known journalist, NPR commentator, and blogger, and this is his first children's novel. The narrator and his friends are middle school students, and the plot is both entertaining and idea-driven: a boy's father is a newspaper man who has a crusade against lotteries, and the boy wins a tremendous amount of money- in the lottery. So the story is about how to hide something from you parents without lying and how to spend and give away lots and lots of money. It also has an amusing sub-sub plot about how kids have to hire grown-ups to front for them in various business situations. It has just the slightest hint of love interest; it has an evil capitalist who runs the rival town newspaper, some mean girls who get a mild comeuppance, a little sister who picks up lice at school every year, and lots more. This would be an excellent choice for a gift for a thoughtful student, but it would also make a great centerpiece in an Ethics for Children class. I had a great time reading it.
