The Glorious Heresies

This book is set in Ireland and opens with a murder.  The remainder of thenstory deals with the aftermath of the crime.  How it affects the murdered man’s loved ones and those involved in the cover up.  This is a view of Ireland rarely seen by American readers.  An Irish book for Irish readers. There are so many complex characters and some really interesting plot twists.  A fascinating read.

The Inkblots

This book provides a wealth of knowledge concerning the history and development of the inkblot test.  I found it highly informative and engrossing.   Rorschach, a man who lived both psychology and art found a way to incorporate the one into the other.  One wonders what all he would have been able to accomplish if he had lived pst the age of 37.  

Shylock is My Name

This book is a modern retelling of the Merchant of Venice.  I made sure to reread the play immediately before I started this book.  I found the book a bit difficult to get into at first.  It is written very much in the tone of someone much smarter than I am.  once I got used to the author's tone, it was interesting to see his take on the story.  This is a great book for a lover of Shakespeare's works.
If you aren't, you may want to try something else.

The Wives of Los Alamos

When I started reading this book, the writing style bothered me.  It was written in a collective voice, "we arrived, we traveled, we kept secrets".  I quickly got past it and I really loved this book.  We (see what I did there) all know the story of Los Alamos.  Some of us may have even watched the amazing tv series Manhattan.  Have you ever thought about what it was like for the wives and children of the scientists who were sequestered in the middle of the desert for years? This book tells the stories of those wives.  The symbolism of the one voice is exactly perfect for this story. I highly recommend.

The Fatal Gift of Beauty (Amanda Knox)

Like many, I know a weird amount of information about the Amanda Knox case.  This book actually added to my wealth of knowledge.  It takes the viewpoint that one of the reasons that Knox was found guilty was due to the clash of cultures and how ultimately we can't understand where the other is coming from.  I highly recommend.  

Dear Mr. M by Herman Koch

In the spirit of Girl in a Train, Gone Girl and other recent thrillers comes Dear Mr M by Herman Koch.  Mr. M is a Dutch author named Herman (please note the actually author of the book's name etc)  He lives on the 4th floor. On he 3rd floor is another Herman, who largely goes unnoticed by Mr. M.  This neighbor Herman is writing a letter to Mr. M.  He doesn't seem to be a fan.  And he is stalking the author and his wife.  And he believes that the subject of Mr M's best novel is well, him.  That book focuses on a teacher who went missing, presumably killed by a school boy and girl who were his students.  It seems Herman was the shook boy, whose teacher went missing.  HIghly entertaining, I whole-heartedly recommend.

Avenue of Spies: A True Story of Terror, Espionage and One American Family by Alex Kershaw

As war comes to Paris, an American Doctor, his wife and son have the choice to flee or to stay and protect the American Hoapital and its patients.  Approached by the French Resistance, hey unhesitatingly accept the risk and become a drop location and help ferry many out of Nazi-occupied France, including downed British and American pilots.  Their teenage son takes photographs (even owning a camera was outlawed) to be sent out of the country.  Eventually, all three are arrested by the Gestapo and sent to concentration camps.  Over and over again they are given opportunities to flee due to their citizenship but chose to stay with those weaker than themselves.  This is an amazing story of personal sacrifice.  I highly recommend.

Vinegar Girl by Anne Tyler

Did you like Kiss Me Kate or Pygmalion, The Taming of the Shrew or My Fair Lady?
This is a rebelling set in modern day by an amazing author Anne Tyler.  This is the story of a lost young woman who is stuck in a preschool job that she's not really great at, has no social life and lives with her distracted scientist father.  He needs her to marry his lab assistant so that thhe assistant can stay in America.  There is really not much more to the story than that.  It was cute and light and a really quick read.  Perfect to throw in your beach bag.  This is part of a series of books by contemporary authors retelling the works of Shakespeare.   I will be seeking out the authors.

I Am No One by Patrick Flanery

This is a very intelligent book and probably not for everyone. The main character is a learned American professor who has recently returned to NYC after many years of living and teaching at Oxford.  The author does an AMAZING job of portraying this character.  So authentic is his voice that at times it's a bit difficult to muddle through. ( Imagine an 8 hour lecture from someone really smart). The story tells on this professor who seems to be under surveillance. He is followed, his phone may be hacked, his email has been hacked and he is receiving weird packages that show every website he has ever looked at and every email he has ever sent.  Well, not really since forever, just since a certain event.
I like this book. It was really interesting and definitely thought-provoking.  It is definitely ot for the casual reader, though!

Chronicle of a Last Summer by Yasmine El Rashidi

Thia lyrical novel gives three snapshots of a young Egyptian woman's life.  At six she spends her summer trying to make sense of the chaos that occurs during the inauguration of a new president.  People and houses and shops disappear in the night, her cousin speaks of revolution and her father is gone.   Later, she is a college student envisioning a film that will somehow explain this chaos.  Finally she is a writer and her father returns.  The book is interesting and the tone is soft and ephereal.  It left me with a sense of disconnect and a lot of unanswered questions.  I would be interested to know of this is the author's style or was just employed to set the to e of this particular novel.

The Fold by Peter Clines

I just finished The Fold by Peter Clibes. The book tells the story of a secret government project which has solved the puzzle and accomplished teleportation.  Out in the desert, two portals have been built which enable you to walk through one and come out the other that just happens to be a mile away across the desert.  Only something seems a little off.  So an outsider with a photographic memory is sent out to observe the team and the doors.  
My favorite thing about the book was the details on what it is like to possess a photographic memory.  The author uses the analogy of ants who are endlessly marching through his brain carrying facts and facts and facts.  I found the character's defense mechanism against his abilities fascinating. I really enjoyed the book, however the ending seemed to wrap up a little too easily.  Overall a really great book! 

The Mapmaker's Children by Sarah McCoy

This book combines the stories of two women who come to their children in unusual ways, hundreds of years apart.
The first, Eden, has moved to a small town and into a historic home which may have been a stop on the Underground Railroad.  She must determine the path her life will take after her plans do not come to fruition. She befriends several of her small town neighbors while investigating the history of her home and deciding which paths in life to follow.
The second is Sarah Brown, true-life daughter of John Brown as in the Riad on Harper's Ferry.  After her father is executed for his part in the plot to cause a slave uprising, Sarah must determine which path she must follow.
The story jumps back and forth between two women, who separated by centuries, still have a lot in common.
I really enjoyed this book, especially learning some of the back story on a famous historical event.

The Vegetarian by Han Kang

After a dream of blood and murder, Yeong-Han throws out all the meat and animal products in her home. Her husband, who married her as she was plain and quiet and would be no trouble, IS troubled. As is her family. YEong-Han begins a slow descent into mental illness. Her story is lyrically told through the voices of her husband, her brother-in-law and finally her sister. We see each of them more clearly by how they deal with Yeong-Han's worsening condition. It is a haunting story with beautiful imagery. The story stays with you and I find myself thinking back over it at odd moments. This would be a really great book for a group discussion.

The Quality of Silence by Rosamund Lupton

I just finished reading The Quality of Silence.  Wow.  It was that kind of intense book that had me wanting to flip ahead just to release some of the tension and fear I felt for the safety of the characters.   I restrained myself, but barely.
The story is told from the viewpoint of Ruby, a young girl who is completely deaf,  and her mother,    Yasmin.  The two have flown across the ocean from England to Alaska in order to demand that Matt (father and husband) come home.  He is in Alaska studying wildlife in the frozen dark winter of the Artic Circle.  This has taken him to a remote native village.  Upon landing in Alaska the pair is met by the police, not Matt.  There has been an accident in the village.
From their we are swirled off into a menacing cold darkness in a quest to find Matt.  It is a dark (literally and figuratively) journey full of menace and foreboding.
I found this book very engrossing and informative.  I loved the characters of Yasmin and Ruby.  But this book was a challenging one to get into.  It took me about 20 pages to get used to the authors rhythm, but once in it was hard to put down (and to not flip ahead).  It was quite thrilling and scary to me, with lots of menacing characters (one of which was Alaska itself).  I really liked this book but it's not for the casual reader.   Great ending!

I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review."

The Pearl that broke its shell by Nadia Hashimi

This book was really illuminating when it

comes to women's rights in certain Muslim countries. Two stories are presented:  that of Rahima, who as a child, lives as a boy in able to allow her to attend school which she can not do as a young girl and Shekiba her great-great grandma, who also lived as male for a time. Shekiba lives in the time when Afghanistan first gains its independence and Rahima lives under the Taluban and the American war in Afghanistan. Not my favorite book but definitely worh readin and a true education on how lucky we are, as females, to live here. 

Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty

I loved this book and found it so true to my current life and lifestyle. The story centers around a group of disparate women united by the fact that their children are in the same kindergarten class. The book starts after something criminal has occurred at the big school fundraiser and apparently someone is dead. The author then starts at the beginning and we see how the women met, the small cruelties they inflict on each other and the kids and the personal problems they have at home. It is very approachable writing wih humor and heart and I loved loved it!

Burial Rites by Hannah Kent

Wow was this fascinating. This is book about the last person to be executed in Iceland. Based on years of research and incorporating text from historical documents, the author tells a story that is heartbreaking and mesmerizing.  A young woman who is utterly alone in the world has be condemned to death for the murder of her employer. While

Awaiting her death by beheading, she is sent to be housed as a servant and prisoner in the house of a farming family. 

I found this book terribly moving and it really begs the question as to why some people just seem to get a really rough set of circumstances and others do not. It's as if there are two worlds that do touch but most are not free to roam back and forth. An educational and heart-breaking story. 

The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender

Imagine if you could tell everything about a person by tasting food they had prepared. Now imagine you are 8 and everything you eat screams of the deep sadness felt by your seemingly upbeat cheerful mother. This book is really good, quirky and thought provoking. The only thing I didn't like about this book was the idea of lemon cake with chocolate icing. 

Boy 21 by Matthew Quick

This book by the author of the Silver Linings Playbook was very good. It tells the story of a young man whose life centers around his girlfriend and basketball which is their ticket out of the dead-end, crime-ridden town in which they live. Their lives have been made a bit easier due to the fact that his girlfriend is related to an Irish gangster which offers them a layer of protection as some of the only white kids and a predominately black high school. Looking forward to his senior year as a starter on his team, the man character is asked by his coach for a favor. It seems that a young man is moving to the school after having survived the murder of his parents. He is just coming out of a mental facility and still believes that he is an alien awaiting rescue from his parents who are not dead but merely in space. He also happens to be one of the best basketball players in the country and plays the same position as the main charecter. 

It's a really beautiful story with a couple of twists and I highly recommend it.

City of Stairs by Robert Jackson Bennett (un corrected proof)

I really enjoyed this book. It's a mixture of the fantasy and cop thriller genres. The main character is dispatched to a distant continent to investigate the death of a friend of hers who has been murdered. The character development is really well done. The author leaves plenty of room for this to become a series of books. It reminded me a bit of The Sparrow by Maria Russell Doria. I would definitely recommend this book.