Theo of Golden by Allen Levi

This book is a HUGE hit right now, but not with me!

Preachy, predictable and not well-written. I understand its popularity right now. We need a "feel good" book about human beings who are caring and thoughtful and philanthropic. But this book didn't do it for me.  

Preachy, with flat characters whose behaviors were entirely predictable. I kept waiting for something to happen, and it took at least 3/4 of the book before it did. 

In my book club, more than half of them LOVED it and the other half were not fans. I was the most vociferous critic and felt guilty not liking this book based on what it did for them. I was almost afraid to voice my opinion, but once I did, I was on a rant.

Culpability by Bruce Holsinger

 

This was a very engaging book and a timely one.  It deals with AI and its impact on our lives.  The story begins as a family of five embark on a car trip and the son, who is driving, is using the self-driving feature of the family car and gets in an accident. The accident kills the two people in the other car, but their family members all survive, some with injuries.
Who is responsible for this accident?
From Amazon: 

During a weeklong recuperation on the Chesapeake Bay, the family confronts the excruciating moral dilemmas triggered by the crash. Noah tries to hold the family together as a seemingly routine police investigation jeopardizes Charlie’s future. Alice and Izzy turn strangely furtive. And Lorelei’s odd behavior tugs at Noah’s suspicions that there is a darker truth behind the incident—suspicions heightened by the sudden intrusion of Daniel Monet, a tech mogul whose mysterious history with Lorelei hints at betrayal. When Charlie falls for Monet’s teenaged daughter, the stakes are raised even higher in this propulsive family drama that is also a fascinating exploration of the moral responsibility and ethical consequences of AI.

Lots of moral issues are brought up in the book. The wife, Lorelei, is an expert in the field of AI and there are sections that captured my attention, bringing up real consequences and moral dilemmas of AI in society. Some of the plot twists were unnecessary, I thought, but to make it makes the book more readable.

Venetian Vespers by John Banville

I enjoy Banville's writing and certainly there were aspects of the book that I really loved, but overall, I would say I was a bit disappointed.

 

From Westchester Library System:

1899. As the new century approaches, struggling English writer Evelyn Dolman--a hack, by his own description--marries Laura Rensselaer, daughter of an American oil tycoon. Evelyn anticipates that he and Laura will inherit a substantial fortune and lead a comfortable, settled life. But his hopes are dashed when a mysterious rift between Laura and her father, just before the patriarch's death, leads to her disinheritance. The unhappy newlyweds travel to Venice to celebrate the New Year at the Palazzo Dioscuri, ancestral home of the charming but treacherous Count Barbarigo. From their first moments in the mist-blanketed floating city, otherworldly occurrences begin to accumulate. Evelyn's already jangled nerves fray further. Where has Laura disappeared to? How to explain the increasingly sinister circumstances closing around him? Could he be losing his mind?

Venetian Vespers is a haunting, atmospheric novel from one of the most sophisticated stylists of our time.

The Rest of Our Lives by Ben Markovitz

 

I waited for this book for a LONG time.  Was it worth the wait? 

Yes, but I was not overwhelmed.  Perhaps I should read it again. Finalist for Booker Prize

From Westchester Library System:

When Tom Layward's wife had an affair twelve years ago, he resolved to leave her as soon as his youngest child left the nest. Now, while driving his college-bound daughter to Pittsburgh, he remembers his promise to himself. He is also on the run from his own health issues and a forced leave from work. So, rather than returning to his wife in Westchester, Tom keeps driving west, with the vague plan of visiting people from his past--an old college friend, his ex-girlfriend, his brother, his son--en route, maybe, to California. He's moving towards a future he hasn't even envisioned yet while he considers his past and the choices he's made that have brought him to this particular present. Pitch-perfect, tender, and keenly observed, The Rest of Our Lives is a story about what to do when the rest of your life is only just the beginning of your story.

The Satisfaction Cafe by Kathy Wang

 

I enjoyed reading this "lighter" book after having just read the Ann Packer one.  While this certainly had serious threads, it was a funny, upbeat story about a Taiwanese immigrant who finds her way in America - after some twists and turns.

Eventually she opens a cafe, a dream for her,  where people can find connection through conversation.  Her own loneliness, loss of family ties and search for happiness in a new place makes her realize that people need other people!

It was a good read - not earth-shattering but enjoyable.

Some Bright Nowhere by Ann Packer

 

I almost didn't read this book because the topic is so difficult, but in the end, I am so glad that I did! This book deals with love and death and marriage and the difficult choices we make when the end is near. It is hard to fathom the choices that Claire, the main character, made in dealing with the end of her life, but when all's said and done, I really could understand how she made some of the choices she made. Ann Packer tells the story so well; you can't imagine that she did not have someone close to her that went through a similar circumstance.

Here's a synopsis from Amazon:

Eliot and his wife Claire have been happily married for nearly four decades. They’ve raised two children in their sleepy Connecticut town and have weathered the inevitable ups and downs of a long life spent together. But eight years after Claire was diagnosed with cancer, the end is near, and it's time to gather loved ones and prepare for the inevitable.Over the years of Claire’s illness, Eliot has willingly—lovingly—shifted into the role of caregiver, appreciating the intimacy and tenderness that comes with a role even more layered and complex than the one he performed as a devoted husband. But as he focuses on settling into what will be their last days and weeks together, Claire makes an unexpected request that leaves him reeling. In a moment, his carefully constructed world is shattered.
What if your partner’s dying wish broke your heart? How well do we know the deepest desires of those we love dearly? As Eliot is confronted with this profound turning point in his marriage and his life, he grapples with the man and husband he’s been, and with the great unknowns of Claire’s last days.
Ann Packer makes a triumphant return with this powerful novel that is tender and raw, visceral and unexpected. Emotionally vibrant and complex, Some Bright Nowhere explores the profound gifts and unexpected costs of truly loving someone, and the fears and desires we experience as the end of life draws near.

Late in the Day by Tessa Hadley

Tessa Hadley is a great writer who I have not read lately, so picked this up and was not disappointed.

From Westchester Libraries:
Alexandr and Christine and Zachary and Lydia have been friends since they first met in their twenties. Thirty years later, Alex and Christine are spending a leisurely summer's evening at home when they receive a call from a distraught Lydia: she is at the hospital. Zach is dead.
In the wake of this profound loss, the three friends find themselves unmoored; all agree that Zach, with his generous, grounded spirit, was the irreplaceable one they couldn't afford to lose. Inconsolable, Lydia moves in with Alex and Christine. But instead of loss bringing them closer, the three of them find over the following months that it warps their relationships, as old entanglements and grievances rise from the past, and love and sorrow give way to anger and bitterness.
Late in the Day explores the complex webs at the center of our most intimate relationships, to expose how, beneath the seemingly dependable arrangements we make for our lives, lie infinite alternate configurations. Ingeniously moving between past and present and through the intricacies of her characters' thoughts and interactions, Tessa Hadley once again "crystallizes the atmosphere of ordinary life in prose somehow miraculous and natural" (Washington Post).