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.

Freud's Mistress by Karen Mack and Jennifer Kaufman

Ehh.  This was good.  But I would have liked more details about Freud and what he thought and where it came from.  This book went deep into the mistress's thoughts, etc. which are clearly conjecture and very little into historical events, facts, and reality. 
It is interesting that Freud had a relationship with his sister-in-law.  She lived in their house for 40 years and helped his wife raise her 6 children.  The authors even make the claim that she had an abortion at some point.  However, I kind of hate when books try to re-write or create history for us. 

The Murderer's Daughter by Randy Susan Meyers

This is a beautifully written book, with great characters and it is so difficult to read.  This is the story of Lulu and Merry.  When the girls are small, their dad kills their mother, slices Merry open, and then fails to kill himself.  He is sentenced to life in prison and the girls are sent to live with their maternal grandmother.  Upon her death, they are abandoned to the foster care system.  This book follows them as they grow up and try to build lives of their own, never losing sight that they are all each other has.  They both struggle with guilt and their complicated feelings for their father.  It was really really haunting and good but not for the faint at heart.

Broken Harbor by Tana French

I was a bit apprehensive about this book because I read another of her books In the Woods which was sooooooo disappointing.  Basically, while that one ended, a huge portion of the story was NEVER EXPLAINED.  Which is not cool Tana French.  BUT, the story itself was so intriguing, so I thought I would check this out.
I finished this book a few days ago and then I have been thinking about the story and thinking about the story.  I REALLY liked this book.  It was pretty disturbing.  It wasn't hugely gory but I just can't stop thinking about it. 
A family has been murdered and only the mother survives.  The family's computer has been wiped clean and their are signs that some weird things were going on in the house.  The story follows 2 police detectives and their quest to find out what happened and why.
It's a great book and there are a lot of things to discuss. 

Up from Orchard Street by Eleanor Widmer

This book took a few chapters for me to get engaged in.  HOWEVER, after that, I really loved this book.  It is the story of an emigrant family in New York.  The matriarch Manya, is a widow raising two small children, her son Jack and her little sister sent from Odessa.  The story follows Manya, her child, her sister and her grandchildren.  It is an enlightening story about what life was like for those in the Jewish Ghettos of New York.  I really liked this book, it would be fabulous for a book club study.  According to the book notes, much of this story was autobiographical and this is the now deceased author's only novel.  She did write a book about censorship and  testified as an expert witness in an obscenity trial involving the banning in San Diego of Henry Miller's controversial novel, "Tropic of Cancer." Fascinating and so different from any of my experiences.  A great book!

Chaos Walking Trilogy by Patrick Ness

GO GET THESE BOOKS NOW.  This is a post-apocalyptic series not unlike the Hunger Games or the Maze Runner trilogies.  Here's the storyline:  Todd lives on a distant planet.  His people arrived there to be farmers.  They encountered an alien species that they slaughtered.  Also on this planet, everyone can hear each other's thoughts or 'noise'.  Well, except for the women.  They are quiet, which leads to a lot of problems.  In Todd's town, which is completely isolated from any other settlements, all the women are dead.  And then Todd meets a girl.  They flee trying to save themselves and the future.  SO GOOD.  Also, suitable for teen readers. :)

The titles are The Knife of Never Letting Go, The Ask and The Answer, and Monsters of Men.

The Harbor by John Ajvide Lindqvist

My month of spooky books continues with The Harbor.  This book was written by a Swede so it's a bit cumbersome what with all the names and locations. Anders is from an island.  He is married to a girl who used to vacation on the island.  One day they skate across the frozen ocean with their 6 year old daughter Maja to see the lighthouse.  Maja disappears.  It's now a few years later and after an exile, a divorce and a lot of alchol, Anders has returned to the island where a bunch of weird stuff is happening.  The sea is a major charecter in this book and it's wordy and a bit slow in parts.  It was good though, but not a book for those who like constant action. 

In the Night Room by Peter Straub

I got this book by chance.  I went online and did a search for spooky books and found one by Peter Straub so then I just reserved a bunch of books by him.  This is kind of the sequel of lost girl lost boy.  In fact, the book lost girl lost boy is a charecter in this book.  Which is confusing and awesome.  About halfway through this book I was shocked and then wanted to stop and reread the first half.  It was thought provoking and scary and good.  It's one of those books that really makes you think and rethink and then think, 'but what about...OH!'. 
It's about a bunch of stuff that I can't really tell you without giving everything away but this is a great thinker's book.  :)

Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed

This is a memoir from a woman who could NOT be more different than me and it was fascinating and I loved it!  Cheryl Strayed has had a rough few years and is failing badly.  She decides to go on a trek through the mountains that run from Mexico to Washington.  She is ill prepared but goes, all alone for months with just a ridiculously large backpack and the hope that her present packages show up on time.  This is a great book.

Honolulu by Alan Brennert

Earlier this year my book club read Moloka'i by the same author and it was fabulous.  This book is about a young Korean woman who travels to Hawaii as a 'picture  bride' to marry a man she has never met.  It then follows her family through the decades.  It was fascinating and informative and really entertaining.  So go read this and then go read Moloka'i!

In Lucia's Eyes by Arthur Japin

This is the book that explains why Cassanova became Cassanova.  Cassanova was a real person and he wrote a book about his life.  This author takes one detail from that book and weaves this story.  It is about Lucia, a young woman who is stricken with smallpox and lives, but is horribly disfigured.  In order to survive, she dons a veil and become a courtesan.  It's a good book and an interesting story.

Defending Jacob by William Landay

 



Now this is a goooood book.  It's a legal thriller/mystery. The book opens with a man being deposed in front of a grand jury.  He is describing the death of a teen boy in his community and how his family came to be wrapped up in the case.  I can't say too much more about it but if you are looking for similar books, I would recommend Serena by Ron Rash, Before I go to Sleep, We have always lived in the Castle, The Countess, A Reliable Wife, or An Absolute Gentleman.  Perfect fall spooky books.  Enjoy!

New York by Edward Rutherford

If you like a saga, this is a good one.  It starts in the times of the Indians and Trappers and goes all the way through modern times in the city of New York.  It primarily follows the descendents of a few families throughout the wars, fires, corruption and mayhem that formed the city.  If I was a literary-type, I would no doubt add that the main character is the city herself.  Did you like that?  It was good and very informative and I am now an expert on the history of the city.  Probably a better book for winter when you have time to tackle the 880 pounds. Oh, and if you liked this book, also try The Devil in the White City and Thunderstruck both by Erik Larson.

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

This book is not for everyone but I liked it a lot.  It reminds me of Neil Gaiman's Star Dust.  It is a fantasy.  It is beautifully written but until you get used to the prose can be a bit of a struggle to get into.  It's about the battle between two magicians.  They have each selected an apprentice to compete against each other.  I can't describe much more without it coming across as confusing so this is stolen from Wikipedia:The Night Circus is a phantasmagorical fairy tale set near an ahistorical Victorian London in a wandering magical circus that is open only from sunset to sunrise. Le Cirque des Rêves, the Circus of Dreams, features such wonders and "ethereal enigmas" as a blooming garden made all of ice and a fire-breathing paper dragon. The circus has no set schedule, appearing without warning and leaving without notice; they travel in a train disguised as an ordinary coal transport. A network of devoted fans who style themselves "rêveurs" develops around the circus; they identify to each other by adding a splash of red to garb that otherwise matches the characteristic black and white of the circus tents. The magical nature of the circus is occluded under the guise of legerdemain; the illusionist truly transforms her jacket into a raven and the fortune teller truly reads the uncertain future, and both are applauded for their ingenuity.
The circus serves a darker purpose beyond entertainment and profit. The magicians Prospero the Enchanter and the enigmatic Mr. A.H— groom their young proteges, Celia and Marco, to proxy their rivalry with the exhibits as a stage. Prospero teaches his daughter to hone her innate talents by holding ever larger and more complex magical workings in her mind. Celia takes her position on the game board as the illusionist, adding tents and maintaining wondrous aspects from the inside. Mr. A.H— trains his orphan ward with books in the ways of glyphs and sympathetic magic. Marco takes a position as majordomo to the producer of the circus; he works from the outside in, connected to the circus but not a part of it. The two generate nightly wonders for the circus and for each other, soon falling in love despite being magically bound to a deadly competition with rules neither understands; the magical courtship strains the fate laid out for them and endangers the circus that has touched the lives of so many and cannot survive without the talents of both players.

The Piano Teacher by Janice Y. K. Lee

Lately, and not on purpose, I have been reading a lot of fiction that centers on China, Japan, North Korea, etc.  (The Buddah in the Attic, Nothing to Envy, the Shanghai Sisters, Dreams of Joy).  This book takes place in Hong Kong.  I am always confused about Hong Kong, is it China, is it not, so I googled it.  Here's what I found:  Hong Kong is a group of islands off the coast of mainland China.  While part of China NOW it is one of two 'special administrative regions' of China.  It runs itself in all areas except for foreign relations and military matters.  At one point it was a British colony and then was occupied by Japan during WWII. 
The book covers two time time periods.  The first centers around the occupation by Japan, the atrocities committed then and the interplay between the Chinese and the foreigners who made Hong Kong their home.  The second is that of 10 years (or so) later.  The reprecussions of what occurred during the war and the secrets that came out of that time.  The two main characters are Claire, the piano teacher who has been hired by a very wealthy, influential Chinese family, the Chen's, to teach their daughter and Will, the Chen's driver..  It turns out that Will used to be involved with a cousin of the Chen's.  This was a very interesting book and I learned a lot. 

Heft by Liz Moore

This is one of those books that I could NOT put down but wanted to just so that I could savor it and have it never end.  I really enjoyed the two main characters.  I rooted for them and wanted to help and fix them.  This author, who I haven't read before and haven't yet researched enough to tell you anything more about, did an amazing job of speaking for each of these two very different men.  This is primarily a book about missed opportunities and loneliness.  It also touches on mental health and the isolation it can cause.  I LOVED THIS BOOK.  Here's the basic outline:
Arthur Opps is obese and agoraphobic and hasn't left his slowly deteriorating house in 10 years.  The high point of his life has been his correspondence with his former student Charlene.  He hasn't heard from her in years, but he thinks of her often and keeps all her letters.  He has kept much from her.  The fact that he no longer teaches, that he is homebound and that he now weighs somewhere around 500 pounds.  Charlene is not well.  She has a son in high school, Kel Kellerman.  She has kept this fact from Arthur.  Kel is floundering under the weight of Charlene's problems.  One day she picks up the phone, calls Arthur and asks him to call and help Kel.
Such a great story, great characters and I want the author to write a follow up so that I can spend even more time with Arthur and Kel.  READ THIS BOOK!!

Secret Daughter by Shilpi Somaya Gowda

This was January's book club book. I would say that 90% of us liked it. However, you have to be hardy and courageous to get past the first couple chapters. Then, it's all good. Well, it's not, but it's not harrowing.

This story is about an Indian infant who is given up for adoption and her birth family and her adopted family. It was really good and really educational and I liked it a lot.

Her adopted family consists of an Indian man who lives in America with his American wife. Really worth your time.

The Leftovers by Tom Perrotta

Note to self: When I write a book (ha!) my name shall not be larger than the title.

This book has a really great premise. It is current day and a large portion of the earth's population is missing. It's kind of like the rapture occurred, only most of the planet is fairly certain it was not the rapture. Why? Because there is no real pattern to who vanished. Jews, Muslims, Christians, murders, football players, all kinds of people are gone. This book is about those who are still here, the Leftovers.

The book centers around Kevin, his wife and his daughter and how they each deal with this mind blowing event. It was such a good book and I will definitely be on the lookout for more by this author.

EDITED TO ADD: OH MY! This is the man who wrote the book Election, later made into an indie movie staring that man that's married to Sarah Jessica Parker, oh! Matthew Broderick and Reese Witherspoon. I love that movie.

Sybil Exposed by Debbie Nathan

Apparently, there are 5 people in America who don't know who Sybil was. (Yes, my husband is one.) This is the story of Shirley Mason a/k/a Sybil, her psychologist and the journalist who wrote their story. It is fascinating and contains many details that you have never heard of. It provides background on the mental health profession at the time and how Shirley came to be diagnosed. It delves into the background of all three women and exposes the real horror that lies behind the story of Sybil. READ THIS BOOK.

The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh

Go right now and get this book. Here's the deal: Victoria is a foster child about to be kicked out of(or liberated from) the system. She has one love and it's flowers. The book flashes back between her past and her present and it is just lovely. LOVE this book. Makes me want to plant seeds and arrange flowers and adopt every foster child. It really is a wonderful, moving, thought-provoking book. It is about the love of a mother for a child, the way we treat each other, how family can be what we create and not what we are born to. The best way I can summarize is a quote I once heard about how you get to chances at a good parent-child relationship...once as a child and once as a parent. In this book, Victoria actually gets 3. LOVED this book!