The Burgess Boys by Elizabeth Strout

The first book I read by this author was Amy and Isabel and I recall telling all of my friends to read it. And now her newest book, The Burgess Boys, takes place (partially) in the same small town in Maine, Shirley Falls. I did enjoy this book but felt that it fell just a little short - perhaps I have read too many books and seen too many movies lately about people doing "bad things" (or being accused of them) and the societal and familial implications that ensue.

The siblings in the story, all Burgesses, are very different people, even though two of them are twins. The story deals with secrets, guilt, lies and deceit (that's a bit redundant) and how people's lives are altered by them. And at the center of the story is the situation involving Susan's son, Zach, who commits a "hate crime" when he throws a pig's head into a mosque. The two Burgess Boys are called in to assist their sister and her son and the family dynamics take over.  The BIG story, really, in the book is the death of the Burgess' father, which occured when they were all quite young. I won't give anything away, but this event accounts for a lot of the feelings of the siblings have toward each other.

The book deals mostly with family affairs and relationships but Strout introduces other elements into the story that tend to turn the focus away from this theme and toward racism, bias, prejudice and forgiveness. In the end, it felt like there were too many elements to tie together. 

I can't say that I didn't like the book, but I don't think it held up to Strout's other work.

The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer

I waited a long time to get this book from the Library and the wait was well worth it! The book starts at a summer camp where a group of artsy teens meet and forge life-long friendships.  The "main" character, Jules (she was Julie before her new friends dubbed her with this name), is the outcast, a frizzy haired girl from the suburbs, not like the other privileged Manhattanites who take her under their wing. She is not sure why.
The story jumps around and covers about 40 years in the life of these characters. There are marriages, babies, tragic events and lots of conversations.
One of the characters, Ethan Figman, was a genius at animation at camp and  he ends up creating a famous television show. Another is Cathy Kiplinger, a dancer who doesn't quite have the body for dance and ends up a successful business woman. Jonah Bay, son of a famous folk singer gets involved with the Moonies for a while and his friends save him. The other two characters are siblings, Ash and Goodman Wolf. Ash (the sister) loves theater and her brother loves trouble.
I won't give anything away about the plot, but will conclude by saying that this is a very enjoyable and thoughtful book that I highly recommend.