The Amateur by Chris Bohjalian

 

"When a young woman, a golf prodigy, kills a caddy with a stray ball at the country club, the investigation of this freak accident reveals a dark and shocking tale of secret affairs, predatory men, and a teenager on trial."

I enjoyed this book.

Yesteryear by Caro Clair Burke

This jury is out. I was loving this book but the end just kind of went haywire I think.  I found it hard to follow and a bit confusing, but perhaps that was the intent. I need to listen to the NYTimes Book Club podcast about this novel. And I will.

In the meantime, I do recommend it for a thought-provoking read with lots of themes and issues.

Would be a GREAT book club read in my estimation.

Kin by Tayari Jones

Another great read - two in a row!  This book by an author I have read and liked before, tells the story of two "sisters" who really are not sisters at all - biologically. But they share a lot in common and feel like "kin."

Again, from Amazon:

Vernice and Annie, two motherless daughters raised in Honeysuckle, Louisiana, have been best friends and neighbors since earliest childhood but are fated to live starkly different lives. Raised by a fierce aunt determined to give her a stable home in the wake of her mother's death, Vernice leaves Honeysuckle at eighteen for Spelman College, where she joins a sisterhood of powerfully connected Black women and discovers a world of affluence, manners, aspiration, and inequality. Annie, abandoned by her mother as a child and fixated on the idea of finding her and filling the bottomless hole left by her absence, sets off on a journey that will take her into a world of peril and adversity, as well as love and adventure, culminating in a battle for her life.

A novel about mothers and daughters, friendship and sisterhood, and the complexities of being a woman in the American South,

The Elements by John Boyne

 

I really enjoyed this book even though the subject was tough. I actually like this summary posted on Amazon.

In The Elements, acclaimed Irish novelist John Boyne has created an epic saga that weaves together four interconnected narratives, each representing a different perspective on crime: the enabler, the accomplice, the perpetrator, and the victim.

The narrative follows a mother on the run from her past, a young soccer star facing a trial, a successful surgeon grappling with childhood trauma, and a father on a transformative journey with his son. Each is somehow connected to the next, and as the story unfolds, their lives intersect in unimaginable ways. 

Boyne’s most ambitious work yet, The Elements is both an engrossing drama and a moving investigation of why and how we allow crime to occur. With masterful, spellbinding prose, he navigates this complex subject with extraordinary empathy and unflinching honesty. The story resonates on a deeply emotional level, challenging readers to confront their own conceptions of guilt and innocence at every step. Amid the wildly engrossing storytelling, the book ultimately asks: What would you do when faced with the unthinkable?

The Bandit Queens by Parini Shroff

 

I enjoyed this book (which was a book club pick) for its humor and message.  "A young Indian woman finds the false rumors that she killed her husband surprisingly useful—until other women in the village start asking for her help getting rid of their own husbands—in this razor-sharp debut."

There's a lot to be said for this author who can write such a funny and engaging book on a topic so serious.  

John of John by Douglas Stuart

Excellent literary fiction! I did not read Shuggie Bain, an earlier work that was on my TBR list but never made it to my real reading list.

This book was not a fast read, but it was a good read, mostly for the writing. His descriptions were amazing and describes a place I know little about - the Outer Hebrides.

The plot was slow but steady and the ending very compelling. It's a novel full of secrets.  It describes conflicted characters who are stuck and can't move out of their present stagnant lives, bound to duty. Family is important but the family relationships are strained.

I recommend this book to anyone who loves reading good literary fiction. But don't expect to be swept away by plot - expect to explore characters, settings, moods, and societal pressures.

Ghost Town by Tom Perrotta

 

Copied from NPR's Maureen Corrigan's review.

Tom Perrotta's latest novel is a memory piece set in the summer of 1974. Jay Perry, a once serious writer who has struck it rich with a kids book series-turned-TV show featuring a paranormal crusader called Ghost Teacher, is invited back to his suburban New Jersey hometown, which he left some 50 years earlier. Most of the novel follows the life of young "Jimmy" during the life-changing summer when he lost his mother, experimented with sex and a Ouija board, and learned the consequences of hanging out with the wrong guys. Perrotta's view of strip mall suburbs as places where banality, goofiness, grace and tragedy converge is singular. 

I enjoyed but did not think it was that compelling. 

Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins-Reid

 

This was entertaining and kept my attention, but I think it was a bit too long.  I learned a lot about NASA and the space program and the challenges women faced in making it into the program.  It also dealt with LGBQT and how in the early days of the space program, astronauts had to be straight as an arrow, and even more so for women. So when two of the protagonists in the story discover that they are gay and in love with each other, they face yet another struggle to make it in the space program.

Enjoyable and relevant.

Lake Effect by Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney

I enjoyed reading this, and expecially enjoyed because if was set in Rochester! But as I write this post now, 4 - 6 weeks after finishing the book, I realize I don't know what happened to Clara in the end! I guess I have to borrow it again!

From Amazon, a summary:

It’s 1977 and an air of restlessness has settled on the residents of Cambridge Road in Rochester, New York, a place long fueled by the booming fortunes of Kodak and Xerox and, for some, the mores of the Catholic church. When Nina Larkin is given a copy of The Joy of Sex by her newly divorced friend, she can no longer dismiss the nearly nonexistent intimacy of her marriage. Just as her oldest child, Clara, is falling in love for the first time, Nina finds herself longing for the forbidden: a midlife awakening. An intoxicating fling with a prominent neighbor brings Nina a freedom she never thought possible—but also risks the reputations of both families and unravels Clara’s world, just as she stands on the threshold of adulthood.

Years later, Clara, now a successful food stylist in New York City, has never been able to move past the long-ago scandal. Drawn back home by the pull of a family wedding and wrestling with her own demons, she makes a pivotal decision that turns her life upside down. Written with Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney’s signature humor and insight, Lake Effect is a wise and probing look at love and desire, mothers and daughters, loss and grief, and what we owe the people we love most.

This Is Not About Us by Allegra Goodman

I just loved this book! It was almost like a series of short stories, linked by common characters.  The book starts out as the youngest of three aging sisters is dying. She is a spitfire! Her sisters are each unique personalities, too. and the tone is sharp, witty and humorous, even though one of the sisters is on her deathbed.

The book proceeds chapter by chapter, or should I say, story by story, elaborating on the family dynamics of this Jewish family from Brookline, MA.

It's poignant and funny and sad and beautiful. I highly recommend, especially if you are Jewish! So much Jewish culture in this book.

Good People by Patmeena Sabit

I really enjoyed the way the author brought this story to life, with alternating first-person narratives by a variety of "people" who were friends or acquaintances of the Saraf family.

 
From Good Reads:

Like a literary game of ping-pong, Good People compels the reader to reconsider what might have happened even on the previous page. Told through a kaleidoscope of perspectives, it is a riveting, provocative, and haunting story of family - sisters, brothers, mothers, fathers, and the communities that claim us as family in difficult times.

Perhaps the book was just a little bit too long; toward the end when I realized what was going to happen, I thought that the author may have wrapped it up a little sooner. But I was never bored reading this and at times, it was a real page-turner, as the reader waited to find out what was going on. And learning the story through accounts told by a varied group of observers, many with such different opinions and perspectives.

More Than Enough by Anna Quindlen

 

I am an Anna Quindlen fan so was excited when this book finally came in and I did enjoy it.  

The story starts as Polly gets a letter from a 23 and Me type service that a match has been found!

She is flabbergasted because never would she have guessed that she has a cousin, or other distant relative that she is unaware of. So she starts the exploration. At the same time, we learn that she has been trying to conceive for years....unsuccessfully.

So this book takes us through Polly's travails with some humor and pathos and also a good bit of sadness. Polly has a group of friends, in a book club that never reads the book, who are her "rocks" through the experiences she deals with, so it's a good read about friendship, too.

I won't give anything away, but I will say that I was not surprised by anything at the end. 

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).

Wreck by Catherine Newman

I like this author very much and I appreciate this book a lot but I think I read it at the wrong time.  Illness concerns abound! 

Taking a step away from that, I have to say that I love the way she depicts family life - you can really relate as a mother, as a wife, as a daughter, and as a woman.  Newman has a knack of talking about things that you can identify with. It's uncanny.

But the plotline of the book was upsetting for me at this particular point in my life. I should pick it up again in a few months.  It's short and an easy read.  

The characters are the same as in her other book I read last year, Sandwich.

Euphoria by Lily King

 

I loved the Lily King books that I have read over the past couple of years, so picked this up. It got excellent reviews when it came out and I recall intending to read it.

But it did not quite draw me in as I wanted it to. I certainly learned a lot about anthropologists and their science. 

I read it during a rough week for me, so that may have contributed. I probably needed a more uplifting book at that point.