Jess' Picks
The Invisible B
by Julie Orringer
This book had me from the beginning. It's a grand scale story starting in Budapest in 1937 with two brothers going to the opera to celebrate one's parting to study architecture in Paris. I loved them both immediately. The lush experience at the beginning stands as a wistful memory as we travel from that year through 1945. Written sequentially and clearly, we experience the beginnings of anti-Semiticism and the rise of the German assaults, and then full blown war. It's a horrible irony as we observe these characters we so love deal with the impending racism, war and destruction. Once in Paris, Andras gets involved working in the theatre, and falls in love with the wonderful Klara, who runs a ballet school. She's a bit older than he, and they struggle with their attraction as Andras makes his way through the architecture school and Klara raises her daughter and teaches. Something about these characters just grabs you. Orringer is very good with characters. My heart went out to all of them as she captures all of our vulnerabilities. Either in a beautiful city over a drink, or starving and striving for survival crammed into a train car, this is a heartbreaking and life affirming novel. I'm hoping for a sequel - I don't want to let them go! It is extremely detailed and historical. Think Wolf Hall, but a little more accessible and with much more heart.
The Imperfectionists
by Tom Rachman
Oh, I can guarantee that you've never read a novel like this! The reviews were so good I just had to check it out. It's funny, perceptive, depressing and totally enjoyable! It covers 50 years of an international English-language newspaper based in Rome. The story is told in short vignettes of various employees with titles such as, "World's Oldest Liar Dies At 126 - Obituary Writer - Arthur Gopal" and "Global Warming Good For Ice Creams - Editor-in-Chief - Kathleen Solson." They stand alone, and are mostly not inter-related, and yet, somehow they tell the whole story of the paper, AND the silently desperate lives of the employees.
The Center Cannot Hold, My Journey Through Madness
by Elyn R. Saks
A customer told me about this book as we were discussing Schizophrenia. The subtitle of this is "My Journey Through Madness." Saks came from a supportive, happy home and was always a good student. She experienced some OCD type symptoms at around age 8, but went on adjusting and hiding her behaviors, and some growing fears into and beyond Vanderbilt College. At Oxford, on a philosophy scholarship, she went into full blown schizophrenia - visions, gesticulations, black-outs, hygiene issues, and isolation. Through seeking out help, she has to break from grad school to be institutionalized and deal not only with her illness, but some of the treatments as well! With the help of many wonderful professionals, she remarkably makes it through into even teaching ultimately at USC. It's a fascinating insight into madness.
I'm Down: A Memoir
by Mishna Wolff
Oh the perils of childhood! We all had them. But Mishna Wolff had a very particular experience. There was the radical liberal politics around the home, the poverty, the divorce, and the usual brutal peers - but in this child's case; there's also a father who firmly plants his family into a totally different culture. Though white, John Wolff, her Dad, "truly believed he was a black man. He strutted around with a short perm, a Cosby-esqe sweater, gold chains, and a Kangol - telling jokes like Redd Foxx, and giving advice like Jesse Jackson.". Right at the first chapter, pre divorce, Mishna has to break into the neighborhood kids' world. They tell her she'll have to produce a Barbie in order to win favor. Running home to get one - not knowing what they are - she returns with her favorite stuffed Turtle. Big flop. She complains to her mom only to hear, "Honey, oppressed people of the world make Barbie so a big corporation can get rich. Now, is it really worth that kind of karma for a doll?" Somehow, through perseverance and humor, she makes it through her incredibly confusing world. The author is very funny as she reveals her struggles to find herself while having to deal with such a unique challenge.
The Lonely Polygamist
by Barry Udall
I decided to read this fine novel after having experienced so many glowing reviews. It's always nice to find a sprawling family fiction during the summer. Golden Richards is said polygamist with four wives and many many children, spread throughout four houses. There's Beverly who is the matriarch and lives with most of the children, Nola who is wife number two, Rose of Sharon who has sensitivities and is mother to a troubled Rusty, and Trish who is lowest on the totem pole and has suffered many disappointments. The story centers around Golden as he takes a job far away, drawing him even further from the needs of the family, and is still very much grieving the loss of two of his children - a stillborn son, and a disabled, well-loved daughter, Grace. One of the boys, Rusty, is struggling with the downsides of 'Plyg' life. It's the perfect storm of his missing father, coupled with his depressed Mom, and tripled by his being moved into Beverly's household in order to "straighten up." It's very entertaining as the characters are well delineated and interesting - don't worry, Udall doesn't plague you with details about every child! - and it's written with good, subtle humor. I liked it more and more the longer I read.
Elegy for April
by Benjamin Black
This is the third mystery from Black and by now I'm programmed to jump on that audio book the minute it's released! It's always Timothy Dalton who is so excellent at reading this that he could be saying "Pass the salt" and I'd listen! He only does these books and it's a great alchemy. Once again we are with Garret Quirke, who's just out from rehab for his drinking. So tortured, and so compelling. His life is fraught with complicated relationships - his daughter Phoebe included. This time he gets involved with finding her missing friend April. I highly recommend all three recordings, starting with Christine Falls, and including The Silver Swan. (Benjamin Black is the nom de plume of Booker Prize winner John Banville.)
Sum: Forty Tales From the Afterlives
by David Eagleman
Imperfect Birds
by Anne Lamott
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicles
by Haruki Murakami
We went to Japan to visit my stepson and he'd mentioned this was his favorite book. It was heaven to read while there. One Japanese couple stopped to talk after seeing me with it! Toru Okada grapples with the loss of his wife, in this case it's abandonment. His cat is missing too, but after much sleuthing, it returns, though different - like everything else in his life now. As he struggles to find meaning in it all, he encounters his neighbor - a precocious, perceptive teenage girl, sisters who both are imbued with psychic abilities, a mother-son team who have a intriguing present and even more interesting past, and a retired soldier finally reaching out with quite a story to tell. There is some VERY gruesome stuff here, and yet plenty of subtle humor. I stood in line at the DMV, content and giggling a bit reading this fine, fine novel.
More Articles...
Page 1 of 8
