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What We're Reading NowNovember 2015
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The diver's clothes lie empty : a novel
by Vendela Vida
A young woman who flees her life in Florida for a ten-day vacation in Morocco soon finds that her grief and sorrow constitute her most important baggage—the backpack holding her money, credit card, and passport is stolen as she checks into her hotel.
Readers will instantly relate to the narrator’s sense of panic and desperation. Perhaps that is why the unusual second-person (“you”) point of view throughout works so well; her helplessness and frustration with the local bureaucracy invite us to think before we judge and wait to learn more about the developments leading to her precipitous departure.
Compelling insights into travel, the role of the movie “double”, and contemporary families—along with a unique and involving writing style. Highly recommended for book discussion groups
LS
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The house of Hawthorne : a novel
by Erika Robuck
Sophia Peabody and Nathaniel Hawthorne might be considered a power couple today—she was a gifted artist from a highly regarded family; he was one of the America’s first novelists to earn international regard.
Sophia’s family advised her not to marry, thus preserving her health and her artistic career; Hawthorne had family issues of his own. However, intense mutual attraction destined them for married life and parenthood, sustaining them through changing fortunes and many relocations in America and abroad.
Robuck’s articulate narration (from Sophy’s point of view) mirrors the literate elegance of the period and the couple’s intellectual level. Historical fiction fans will revel in details of mesmerism and other therapies, gender roles, famous contemporaries (Franklin Pierce, Emerson, Thoreau, the Alcotts), art, travel, and conflicts inherent in artistic unions. Charming and engrossing.
LS
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At the water's edge : a novel
by Sara Gruen
Maddie and Ellis Hyde need to be somewhere else, now that they’ve disgraced themselves among Maggie’s in-laws’ elite social circle. But the plan concocted by Ellis and his friend Hank--to sail to Scotland and redeem themselves by photographing the Loch Ness Monster, thus proving its existence--terrifies Maddie. World War II is raging, and sea voyages are not a wise choice.
Actually, much is documented there, once the spoiled sophisticates have ensconced themselves in a local inn: facts about Maddie’s marriage, her husband’s character, Hank’s role, and insights into Maddie’s own previously unexplored potential.
Essentially a romantic coming-of-age tale, this entertaining story offers an atmospheric setting, a bit of magical realism, a cast of colorful and endearing locals, details about the Scottish home front, and an engaging protagonist. A delightful read.
LS
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A dangerous man : a novel of William "Wild Bill" Longley
by William W Johnstone
It is blizzard type weather when “Wild Bill” Longley rides into a small community and “trees” the town. Longley, a killer, only places value on his own life. Nothing or no one else matters. Then a bounty hunter, who thinks the most important thing is the money he earns, brings in the cadaver of a wanted man. The corpse must be identified before Sullivan can collect but said bounty hunter is going to learn things don’t always go according to plan. Add to this are “body snatchers” who acquire funds by supplying medical persons with freshly deceased bodies and you have the makings of an interesting western. PB
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The green road
by Anne Enright
This might have been one of those stories you’ve read before—Irish family with difficult matriarch, one last Christmas in the clan’s home before it goes on the market, fragile sibling relationships.
While I always enjoy those novels, this one sets the gold standard. Enright is a Man Booker Prize winner, and The Green Road is on this year’s long list of nominees already.
Readers meet Rosaleen Madigan’s four children at earlier ages, then reconnect with them as the far-flung clan assembles for one last holiday dinner in the house that fostered them. Enright’s un-sentimentally moving prose creates a unique yet instantly relatable tribe. You’ll ponder their dynamics (and your own family’s) long after the last page is turned. LS
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Re Jane : A Novel
by Patricia Park
Really? Yet another Jane Eyre permutation?
Yes, and here’s the refreshing angle: Jane Re, half-American, half-Korean, is not only orphaned and short on resources; she feels marooned on the fringes of both cultures to which she might otherwise claim membership.
Twenty-something Jane is even an outsider to the New York City life she craves to embrace. She’s stuck living in Queens and commuting to job interviews in an economy not conducive to job opportunities for her field—finance.
Park’s insightful, entertaining narrative (caution: in this modern version, romance is quite a bit more explicit) does justice to both Janes. LS
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The informationist : a thriller
by Taylor Stevens
Just re-read New York Times’ bestselling Stevens’ first entry in the Vanessa Michael Munroe series for a book discussion. It’s even better the second time-- and I don’t usually favor thrillers.
What I seek in fiction is a great protagonist, and “Michael” definitely fills the bill. Model-tall, lean, and agile, she can inhabit either a male or a female persona as the situation requires.
And Michael’s situation is that she commands impressive fees to gather intelligence and infiltrate situations that require a skill set possessed by few: deep knowledge of computing, martial arts, fluency in multiple languages, absolute fearlessness.
And did I mention that James Cameron has purchased the movie rights? LS
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The witches : Salem, 1692
by Stacy Schiff
Award-winner Schiff lends her considerable researching and narrating skills to address questions Americans have been asking for over two hundred years: What motivated a community (later, an entire region) to turn upon one another—child against parent, spouse against spouse, neighbor against neighbor—with accusations of devil-inspired magical malfeasance?
Also: how did living conditions (poverty, threat of native depredations) and social forces (Puritan beliefs, governmental instability, gender expectations) foster and reinforce court proceedings administered by learned judges whose arbitrary conduct of the trials inspires an entire other field of inquiry?
Don’t skip the footnotes; they’re fascinating. LS
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The woman who stole my life
by Marian Keyes
Irish beautician Stella Sweeney doesn't believe herself worthy of fame, but husband Ryan, designer of over-the-top theme bathrooms for the wealthy, craves recognition. So, imagine Ryan’s frustration when something extraordinary (too bad it's a case of rare Guillain-Barre syndrome) comes Stella's way and makes her a celebrity. Unbeknownst to Stella, while she is paralyzed with only her eyelids functioning, her neurologist records all the hopeful messages she blinks with their special communication technique. Offered a major book deal for her collected sayings, Stella is off to NYC for a roller-coaster (some might say "flash in the pan") turn as an author of the moment. Though not Keyes' best--the plot is a bit overstuffed--this story is loaded with the wry wit and charm that makes every one of the author's books a bestseller. I recommend the Recorded Books audio version for its marvelously entertaining narration. LS
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Rust : the longest war
by Jonathan Waldman
I dare you to walk into a building, pop a Monster Energy Drink, or see a mustache without asking, "Is there rust?“ Though you may think of rust as a pasture for tetanus, its true villainy is much worse. Jonathan Waldman's mocking humor introduces you to those who battle, beautify, and know one of civilization's oldest enemies.
BH
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From the other side of the world : extraordinary entrepreneurs, unlikely places
by Elmira Bayrasli
We can be very geocentric, but entrepreneurship occurs everywhere, even in unlikely places like Nigeria or Pakistan or Turkey.
What I found interesting was the author’s definition of entrepreneurship as opposed to just owning a business: it’s not enough to have a great idea. It involves Joseph Schumpeter’s “creative destruction”—overcoming the obstacles of old methods, processes, mindsets and a multitude of hostile conditions in order to created new industries or business models.
The author examines seven entrepreneurs from seven different counties and draws lessons from how they overcame the particular obstacles.
TB
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Black Rabbit Hall
by Eve Chase
To be published February 2016
A lovely American woman captures the heart of a wealthy Englishman and then charms his entire social circle. As the years pass, four lovely children and then money worries enter the picture. And the scene darkens further…
No, it isn’t Downton Abbey, but DA fans (also those who love Daphne Du Maurier’s Rebecca, Kate Morton’s books, Kate Atkinson’s Life After Life, and atmospheric stories novels set in stately homes) will want to try Chase’s moody and beautifully written debut novel.
Readers first meet Black Rabbit Hall, set in beautiful Cornwall, when a modern bride-to-be tours the estate in search of a wedding venue. Soon, she is convinced that the place has a claim upon her (or vice versa) and that she is meant to unravel a tragic story there. Chase skillfully intertwines past and present, a unique family, and universal themes.
LS
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Front runner : A Dick Francis Novel
by Felix Francis
The return of the character, Jeff Hinkley (investigator for the British Horseracing Authority) delves into “Who is losing horse races intentionally?”
This inquiry leads to blackmail, murder, attempted murder in some very creative ways, and information about England’s taxes and ways to avoid them. This murder mystery is definitely in the Dick Francis tradition. PB
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The wine bible
by Karen MacNeil
I just started this nearly 950 page book and within the first 55 pages I’ve already learned a number of new things--like cabernet franc (one of my favorite wines) is hard to get to ripen--and stopped by any number of other things I saw while skimming that caught my interest.
The book is heavily illustrated with places, maps and wine labels. The writing style is lively and entertaining, and the author is extremely knowledgeable; she has won every major wine award in the English language during her 30 years of experience in the wine industry, having tasted over 300,00 different wines and visited nearly every wine region including China and Mexico. The introduction includes a very brief summary of her adventures in discovering wine.
If you’re going to be traveling, check out what the book has to say about wines from that area. This isn’t necessarily a book to read from cover to cover. Rather it’s like learning about wine by tasting: you sample here and there and then stop to take a longer drink. TB
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