I’ll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson

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Noah and Jude are twins whose mother, an art critic, has decided that they should apply to a high school for the arts.  Noah, who is very much his mother’s son, is ecstatic and dives into preparing his portfolio.  Jude, is less confident about her talent and expresses this by rebelling and turning away from her mother.  Unfortunately, as they each are grappling with their adolescent yearnings and unfolding sexuality, their lives are torn apart by a sudden family tragedy.  Will they be able to retrace their steps to find each other’s heart again?

This YA story is somewhat complicated and engaging, but a bit contrived.  There are a few clever plot twists that sneak up on the reader which definitely took me by surprise.  Unfortunately, there are also a few too many utter coincidences for it to be entirely believable.  It is real teenage struggle and angst tangled in a fairy tale plot.

On the other hand, what saves this book is the writing, which is full of striking imagery and gorgeous sentences.  The way the author ascribes colors and pictures to emotions is quite beautiful.  There is humor and sarcasm and a tenderness in all of the characters that keeps you caring so much about them through the whole book.

An enjoyable, light read with some great writing.

A Well-Tempered Heart by Jan-Phillip Sendker

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Yet another must-read by Jan-Phillip Sendker!  This sequel to the Art of Hearing Heartbeats is just as beautiful as the first – an accomplishment in its own right…

Julia, whose life has been in a lonely downward spiral, has begun to hear a voice.  It is the voice of a woman who is asking who she really is.  Julia, a savvy lawyer in NYC, is terrified that she’s losing her mind.  In her quest for peace from this voice, she encounters a monk who encourages her to return to the home of her deceased father and of her half-brother in Burma, where she might find the source of this voice.  As she begins to discover the story of the voice, she also learns a great deal about herself and what is really important to her.

The writing in this book achieves a level somewhere between poetry and philosophy.  There is more silence than sharp dialogue and it works so well in the context of the story.  What is said is often deeply wise  — so much so, that it needs to be read more than once to be fully appreciated.  And the story itself, while tragic and full of horror, is also incredibly beautiful and inspiring.

Most interesting to me, though, was the sharp contrast between the fast-paced luxury of NYC and the peaceful poverty of Burma.  Julia’s brother, U Ba, has a love of life and an appreciation for what little he has.  Here in NYC, we have so much and generally want more still.  There is a lot to be learned from the simple love, acceptance, and appreciation espoused by the wise characters in this book.

Must read!

 

The 100 Year Old Man Who Jumped Out the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson

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This delightful story is a sort of Swedish Forrest Gump for world history.  Allan Karlsson, on the morning of his 100th birthday, decides that he needs to take back control of his life and leave the Old Folks Home – via the window.  Little does he know that he’d be starting out on a madcap adventure.  But then again, madcap adventures are not exactly new to Allan, as we learn in the flashbacks that tell of his amusingly political, apolitical life.

I loved this book!  The writing is so understated and subtle that it makes the crazy events in the story that much more outrageous and entertaining.  I could not help laughing out loud at some of the dialogue – it is brilliant.  And the way in which the tale winds around historical events is playful and so imaginative.

I haven’t recommended a “must-read” in a long time – but here’s a most definite!  You are bound to love this one.

The Wheel of Fortune by Susan Howatch

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It was Shakespeare who wrote, “The sins of the father are to be laid upon the children” in The Merchant of Venice – and this book is a very long but very eloquent illustration of this idea. It is the saga of an outwardly successful, but inwardly, exceedingly dysfunctional family who live on a fairytale estate called Oxmoon, in Wales.  The story begins when Ginevra, raised with her cousins at Oxmoon, returns home after the death of her husband, much to the anxious anticipation of Robert, who has been in love with her since their youth.  Their reunion brings to light some of the family history but also propels the family forward into years of struggle that center around who will be master of the esteemed estate.

The writing in this story is beautiful.  There is an intricate weaving of drama and psychological tension which hold onto the reader’s attention throughout the 1171 pages.  It is a comment on the British gentleman’s insistence on the “stiff upper lip” and its hypocrisy.  It is also a historical walk through the early 20th century, with its wars and economic struggles that plagued Europe.

There is a lot to this book – but it also requires a lot of time and attention.  In my opinion, it was definitely worth it!

Life and Other Near-Death Experiences by Camille Pagan

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When Libby receives a series of 2 horrible pieces of news all in the same day, she feels her life is exploding.  While she tries to go to work and resume a sense of normality, she finds she just can’t  continue to deal with her impossible boss and the usual things she normally  has tolerated.  Suddenly, she is off on an adventure and ends up discovering how coping with her past traumas can enable her to face her current ones.

While this story is a little cliche and not entirely plausible, it is sweet and entertaining and actually a delightful read.  The writing is sarcastic and interspersed with sharp vocabulary and compassionately wise insights.

A good find on Bookbub – which I highly recomnend!

My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante

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I began this book with great anticipation.  It had been recommended to me by a few different friends, each of whose opinions I respected, and the setting was even in Italy, where I’d just been fortunate enough to have visited only a few weeks before.

The story is about Elena Greco, who grows up with her unwieldy friend, Lila.  Whereas Elena struggles with her own identity, Lila, who is fiercely brilliant and strong, seems to be very sure of who she is.  At a very young age, Lila asserts herself as a creative, intelligent and physically strong person who is able to pull everyone around her under her spell.  Elena has great difficulty doing anything of her own volition, as she, more than everyone else, is bound to Lila, somehow.  As they grow older, they are pulled in opposite directions:  Elena, deeper into the direction of more advanced education and Lila, deeper into the roots of their poor neighborhood in Naples.  While gang-style conflicts brew around them, they hold onto their bond as they navigate their way through adolescence.

I didn’t love this book as I’d anticipated, but I didn’t hate it either.   It is a coming-of-age story of young girls and their friendships and the typical adolescents’ striving for identity.  It is also an interesting look into the poor neighborhoods in Italy and into Italian culture in general.  The characters depicted here are colorful and evolving.  But I had difficulty getting past the writing/translation, which I felt was often awkward and grammatically strange.     I also had difficulty believing that a whole neighborhood could be completely obsessed with one individual girl, the premise on which this story is based.

I’m glad I did read it to know what everyone has been talking about.  At some point I may read the others in this trilogy – but I’m not rushing to do so.  Unfortunately, this one is not going on my “Must Read” list…

The Marriage of Opposites by Alice Hoffman

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Rachel is a headstrong, fiercely independent young, Jewish woman living with her family on the island of St. Thomas in the early 1800’s.  Unfortunately, when her father’s business falters, it appears that the only solution is to marry Rachel off to an older man (with 3 young children), so that the two businesses can merge and hopefully prosper.  Rachel is devastated, as this certainly will delay the realization of her dream, which is to one day sail off to live in Paris.  Her best friend, and housemaid, Jestine, tries to convince her to resist, but she too is powerless in resisting the cultural pressures of her time and status as a woman.  The two of them experience many heartbreaks and successes together as the saga of their lives moves forward.  The one success that Rachel achieves, although this is one that causes her great pain as well, is that she ultimately becomes the mother of Camille Pissarro, the painter.

The writing of the tale is as lyrical as Pissarro’s paintings themselves.  The author paints both St. Thomas and Paris with words, filling in the hues, the aromas, the sensations of each world. There is also a great amount of magic and fantasy, as Rachel’s faith mixes with that of the native culture of St. Thomas, and conjures up many fictional, imaginative stories that Rachel records for herself and for her children.  And although there are a few paragraphs in which the author sort of meanders onto sidetracks, it is a story that keeps one glued because the characters are ones you don’t ever want to leave.

I admire Alice Hoffman for telling the story from Pissarro’s mother’s perspective.  It is not just a fictionized biography, but it is truly a story of a strong woman in a time when women weren’t allowed to be strong.  She shows how difficult the times were and how women’s powerlessness was analogous to that of the slaves at the time.   Neither could own property, could determine who they would marry, or truly had control over decisions that were made for them by the men in their lives.   This further deepened the emotional strength of the story.

Oh, how I’d love to go back to the Musee D’Orsay now!

Giliad by Marilynne Robinson

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This very beautiful novel is written as a letter from an elderly, dying Reverend, John Ames, to his very young son.  The Reverend is the third generation leader in his small congregation in his smaller town on the American Plains.  As he reflects on his own life, and those of his father and grandfather, he also is visited by his friend’s son, who is in trouble and seeking help of some sort.  There is clearly a very unusual relationship between this man and John Ames, and this creates the little story line that carries the novel.

This is not the kind of book that grabs you  with action and holds you to the end.  This is more the type of book that you have to read slowly, to let the words wash over you so that you can absorb the wisdom within these pages.  It is reflective and pensive and peaceful, and I found myself re-reading many passages in order to appreciate them fully.  And while it is religious, in a sense, it is also universal and I feel that anyone from any background can appreciate the beauty in the words written here.

Read this, take your time, and re-read the lines so that you, too, can love this book as I do.

 

Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith (JK Rowling)

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Once again, JK Rowling as Robert Galbraith, has written a suspenseful and dark — in truth, absolutely gruesome! – novel that was as fun to read as the first two.  This is the third in this detective series starring Cormoran Strike, the very imperfect, one-legged war hero turned PI.  His assistant/partner, Robin, an equally likable character, receives a woman’s severed leg delivered by courier to her at their shared office, and so this murder mystery begins.

The story is told from the perspectives of Cormoran, Robin and the killer (whose identity is not revealed until the end, but whose intentions and very psychotic way of thinking builds more and more suspense) and each of them brings a very dynamic and very human quality to the story.  You really care about each of them (well, not the killer of course) and you can’t stop reading until you know what happens to each of them.  And in this book, we learn more about both Cormoran’s and Robin’s pasts, which are both tragic in their own ways and really create that much more depth to their characters.

There of course is also an underlying attraction/tension between Cormoran and Robin, who are both determined to keep their relationship purely professional.  They clearly have a mutual respect for each other’s intelligence and finesse and they are a great team.  You can’t help wanting them to get together!

So while this book is not for anyone with a weak stomach, most will enjoy the ride!

Thank You For Smoking by Christopher Buckley

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You may have seen this movie – I did years ago and really loved it.  But if you want to read something really fun, you’ll try the book!

Nick Naylor has one of the most challenging and unpopular jobs in the country – he is the primary spokesperson for the Academy of Tobacco Studies (a lobbying group for cigarette companies) in Washington.  In other words, he is a professional spin doctor who makes his living trying to convince others that there really is no proof that cigarettes can hurt you.  He is generally ok with being unpopular and brushes off his hate mail fairly callously; that is, until, during an appearance on a popular daytime TV talk show, his life is threatened by a particularly venomous caller who appears to be – and ultimately is – a true threat.  How Nick gets through this calamity brings the reader through plot twists that are wickedly and absolutely fun.

The best part of this book, for me, was the writing.  It is full of dark humor, sarcasm and wit.  Nick meets regularly with two other spokespeople (alcohol and gun lobbies), who call themselves the “Mod” Squad – only the MOD stands for Merchants of Death.  Their conversations alone are worth reading!  There is so much self-deprecation and funereal humor that I laughed out loud.

It is a crazy premise for a book, really, but it works – and it works really well! Highly recommend it!