November-December Books

The Girl Who Takes an Eye for an Eye by David Lagercrantz continues the saga of investigative journalist Mikael Blomkvist who seeks to uncover the truth about Lisbeth Salander’s (the girl with the dragon tattoo) traumatic childhood. They must navigate dangerous challenges including an anti-Muslim gang, her mafia-connected twin and the conductors of a sinister pseudoscientific experiment.  This fifth installment of the Millennium series tries to maintain the framework created by the late Stieg Larsson but is the weakest of the series.

The Best of Me by Nicolas Sparks maintains the author’s franchise with the story of former high school sweethearts (from different sides of the tracks, of course) who return to their hometown for the funeral of a mentor and confront their choices and the hold of family history.  Will they wind up together after this interlude is the primary question and holds our attention despite formulaic characters and amazing coincidences mixed in with a little magic realism. 

*At Home in Mitford by Jan Karon “knits Mitford's small-town characters and multiple story lines into a cozy sweater of a book.” (USA Today). A surprisingly engaging, simple story about the challenges and complexities of a small Southern town centers on the wisdom and good works of Father Tim, a bachelor rector (for how long?) who takes in a huge dog, unloved boy, solves a mystifying jewel theft, and resolves a sixty years old secret. Mitford reminds me of Mayfield or a religious, southern version of “Three Pines” (Louise Penny), and Father Tim is a little like an ordained Andy Griffith.

In the Midst of Winter by Isabel Alende uses a minor traffic accident as a catalyst for an unexpected bond among a human rights scholar, his Chilean lecturer tenant and an undocumented immigrant from Guatemala, to explore the difficulties of immigrants and refugees in the developed world. The story moves from present-day Brooklyn to Guatemala in the recent past to 1970s Chile and Brazil, and sparks the beginning of a love story between the scholar and his tenant.  Who am I to criticize a world class author, but this isn’t Alende’s best work and didn’t spark my admiration.

The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump edited by Bandy Lee presents the analysis of 27 psychologists, psychiatrists, and mental health professionals who assess US President Donald Trump's mental health who conclude that mental illness crates a “clear and present danger” to the country. The analysis attempts to be objective and scientific, makes a reasonable case for its hypothesis, but suffers from the obvious bias of seeking points of view to support that view.

The Fall Guy by James Lasdun is a ‘psychological thriller” featuring a wealthy banker and gorgeous wife who invite his troubled cousin to spend the summer with them in their idyllic mountaintop house. There are lots of lies and self-deceptions with an almost secret affair and a not so secret murder, but who is the real villain/ victim? I found it tedious and predictable at times but reasonably engaging.

The Misfortune of Marion Palm by Emily Culliton is a "wildly entertaining debut” about a Brooklyn Heights wife and mother who has embezzled $180,000 from her children's private school and makes a run for it, leaving behind her trust fund poet husband, his maybe-secret lover,  two daughters, and a school board who desperately need to find her. I found it mildly entertaining with too many coincidences. 

Our Short History by Lauren Grodstein is the book that Karen, a single mother with advanced cancer, writes as she grapples with mortality, love and the fear that her ex will take Jake away before her final days. It’s a thoughtful meditation on love and grief, with a great concept, but didn’t engage my interest as much as I had hoped.

*Sing, Unburied, Sing is Jesmyn Ward’s "searing and profound journey, told in the varied voices of 13-year old Jo Jo’s dysfunctional family. Jojo and his toddler sister, Kayla, live with their grandparents, Mam (dying of Cancer) and Pop (role model), and the occasional visit of their addict mother, Leonie, on a farm on the Coast of Mississippi with occasional input from his dead uncle and distant white grandfather.  Clearly an important book, but not easy reading.

**Red Notice: A True Story of High Finance, Murder, and One Man’s Fight for Justice is Bill Browder’s autobiographical story of how he became the world’s largest and most successful investor in the kleptocratic Russian economy before gaining international respect as a human rights advocate. The transformation came when his lawyer, Sergei Magnitsky, was arrested and murdered in prison after uncovering a $230 million fraud committed by Russian government officials. Browder has been leading a campaign to expose Russia’s endemic corruption and human rights abuses. “Red Notice is part John Grisham-like thriller, part business and political memoir."

The Nix by Nathan Hill, is a brilliant but overstuffed satirical debut novel about a failed writer and increasingly apathetic college professor, who gets a second chance at literary fame by writing about the infamous mother who deserted him. Hill has penetrating, often funny and well-written insights about almost everything.  For me, it was just too much of too many good themes, and for the NYT, it was a “supersized and audacious novel of American misadventure.”

October Books

House of Spies by Daniel Silva, “one of our greatest living spy novelists”, was a disappointment.  Almost a collection of Silva’s greatest hits, the book spends too much time re-introducing characters, locations and events from his previous 16 Gabriel Allon adventures. Clearly a great writer, but Silva has apparently become too successful or lazy to do his usual thoughtful writing and has turned over the writing to others.

*The Late Show by Michael Connelly introduces Renâee Ballard to his readers and the LAPD. Assigned to the night shift after filing a sexual harassment complaint against a supervisor, she disobeys orders by continuing to investigate an assault on a prostitute and the death of a woman in a nightclub shooting. Even after selling more than 60 million copies of his books, this novel proves proof that Michael Connelly is still a "a master of the genre" (Washington Post).

When Zackary Beaver Came to Town by Kimberly Willis Holt is set in the summer of '71 and the small town of Antler, Texas. Toby's mother leaves, his best friend’s brother is killed in Vietnam, and Zachary Beaver, self-proclaimed fattest-boy-in-the world, has arrived in town, and Willis has to deal with adult issues of loss, character and becoming his own person.  A good read for young teens.

Memory’s Last Breath: Field Notes on my Dementia by Gerda Saunders received excellent reviews and is a subject of interest to me.  Unfortunately, I was disappointed by not being able to determine what was written before her diagnosis and what was done afterward.  An excellent concept for a book, but to me, it suffered from efforts to impress readers with her family, education, and erudition.

Georgia: A Novel of Georgia O’Keefe by Dawn Tripp brings life to Georgia O’Keeffe’s, love affair with photographer Alfred Stieglitz and her quest to become an independent artist. According to the NY Times “Georgia conveys O’Keeffe’s joys and disappointments, rendering both the woman and the artist with keenness and consideration.”  For some reason, I had trouble finishing it. My bad.

*Glass Houses, Louise Penny’s 13^th Armand Gamache mystery, explores what Gandhi called the court of conscience—the court that supersedes all others—and “proves she only gets better at pursuing dark truths with compassion and grace.”  When a mysterious figure appears in Three Pines on a cold November day, Gamache and others are initially curious, then wary and a bit frightened when the "cobrador" (a conscience) is killed. In July, the trial for the accused begins and Gamache struggles with actions he set in motion and knows his own conscience will also be judged.

The Address by Fiona Davis is an interesting novel about two women, a century apart, who find their lives changed by the Dakota, Manhattan’s most famous apartment building. There are issues of class distinction, love and mystery with lots of historical detail. “Maid in Manhattan meets The Grand Budapest Hotel.”—InStyle

September Books

*The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend by Katarina Bivald whose first novel features Sara who arrives from Sweden to meet her pen pal, Amy, just as Amy's funeral is ending. Marooned in a farm town that has almost no future, Sara starts a bookstore in honor of her friend's memory and sets in motion a chain of events that changes her life and almost everyone she meets. I didn’t fall in love at first, but eventually found the book engaging and literate.

Class by Lucinda Rosenfeld is the story of Karen Kipple, a white, upper-middle-class New Yorker who suffers from liberal guilt despite working for a non-profit and keeping her first-grader in the neighborhood public school—until racial bullying challenges her values and priorities. Despite being described as “a daring, discussable satire about gentrification and liberal hypocrisy,” I didn’t feel that the book achieved its potential.

*Before I Forget by life style maven, B Smith, and her husband, Dan, (with Vanity Fair’s Michael Shnayerson), is B’s unfolding story on coping with early-onset Alzheimer's. Short chapters interweave their story with advice, that can help couples and other readers learn about dealing with memory loss and other challenges of aging. 

*The Stars are Fire by Anita Shreve is based on the true story of the 1940 historic fire in Maine and follows the experiences of a pregnant woman who struggles to save her best friend and their young children only to discovers that she has lost her house, possessions and her estranged husband who may have perished or simply left her to cope with the devastation.  

*Bright, Special Days by bestselling author, Jay McInerney examines the challenges of seeking “the good life in New York City” with limited financial resources and faulty moral compasses. Russell and Corrine seem to be enjoying charmed lives with fashionable parties, fulfilling careers, luxurious vacations and beautiful twin children. A high-risk financial opportunity, the discovery that they are being priced out of their tony NY neighborhood lead to a re-examination and change of course. “A sexy, vibrant, cross-generational New York story--a literary and commercial read.”