The Forgiven by Lawrence Osborne

I am reading too many books in too few days.....but I am loving it! Sometimes I forget the last one that I read.
Just finished The Forgiven by Lawrence Osborne, who has been compared to a young McEwan (who I just finished).
This book is disturbing, and a fast read. Pick it up at any spot and read about some pretty nasty people. But they are interesting characters. And the plot moves quickly.
A couple, Jo and David, are in Morocco on their way to a "party" held by their friends, Dally and Richard (a gay couple who hold these lavish weekends each year).  The juxtaposition of the cultures (upper class white vs lower class Muslims) is stark and real.  On their way, David, who is often under the influence, hits a young Moroccan boy with his car and kills him. He and his wife are a bit disturbed, but just pick up the body, put it in the back of the car, and proceed to their friends' estate.
Once there they tell the story about  how this young man simply appeared before them, hawking his fossils and they were blinded by the sandstorm, and hit him.
There are various themes afloat here: clash of worlds/cultures, cultural misunderstandings, broken marriage, greed, opulence, over indulgence, deceit, and  more.
The ending is very surprising and I won't give it away, but the title of the book does say a alot about what this book is about....until the end.

Sweet Tooth by Ian McEwan

What a clever and engaging read! The only other McEwan novel that I read was Atonement, which I LOVED, but his last novel (Solar), was not for me.
This novel engaged me from the start - not so much that I loved the characters, but the writing was easy and fast and the storyline interesting.
After I read the book, I did some research and learned that the writer in the book, Tom Haley, has similarities to McEwan as a young writer.
There is a lot  of the "story within the story" in this book and at the end it comes together quite skillfully, I thought.

The Middlesteins by Jami Attenberg

This book tells the story of a disfunctional Jewish family living in the suburbs surrounding Chicago in the mid 70's.  Edie is the main focus of the novel; she is an overweight, diabetic woman who has such a love of food that she lets it compromise her marriage, relationships with her children and friends. She is smart and talented but somehow loses her husband and her job because of this obsession with food. And speaking of food, it certainly holds a very central place in this funny, but disturbing novel. It's satirical and smart and a quick read.
There were not really any sympathetic characters in this novel - at least for me. But I enjoyed the book very much and would recommend it.

San Miguel by TC Boyle

San Miguel is an island off of the coast of Santa Barbara in California. It's part of the Channel Islands. Last year when we drove down the coast from SF to SD, we passed by and my husband told me about these islands.  Boyle's novel takes place on San Miguel, a stark, barren island, where Marantha Waters, suffering from tuberculosis is brought by her husband in 1888. He seeks a simpler life, raising sheep, and cleaner air for her to breathe. That promise proves to be folly.  The house is dank, dark and overrun by mice. Their adopted daughter, Edith, hates her life on the island (she was forced to leave school to come to this place) and tries hard to escape. When Marantha dies, the second part of the book tells Edith's harrowing story and her father's attempt to keep her captive on the island.
The third part of the book jumps ahead to 1930 and tells the story of a couple, Elise and Herbie Lester, who move to the island looking for a simpler life.  They have two daughters and  a pretty idyllic life until world events change their life on the island.
I enjoyed reading this book; it was quite different from the other Boyle novels that I have read. His descriptions of the island really give the reader a sense of what San Miguel felt like for these very different characters.