The Doctor and the Diva by Adrienne McDonnell

This was a fast and easy read which I needed after "The Lotus Eaters." Of course, it was also disappointing after such an amazing book as "The Lotus Eaters," but I did enjoy it nevertheless.
The story takes place in the early part of the 20th century. Erica, who is a talented singer, and her husband have fertility problems and seek the help of Dr. Ravell. From the onset, the reader understands that there is electricity between the doctor and the diva. The doctor finds out that Peter, the diva's husband, has no sperm so fathering a child will not be possible. But Peter refuses to have his sperm tested; Dr. Ravell does it without Peter's knowledge and finds out that he can never father a child.
Erica, the diva, does conceive, because Dr. Ravell substitutes his own sperm for Peter's in order to continue the doctor/patient relationship.
The story moves from Boston to Trinidad and to Italy.
The struggle of Erica's desire to be an opera diva and a mother and wife run throughout the book. She does persue her singing career in Italy, sacrificing family.
I took this book out the library based on the cover reviews from favorite authors such as Sara Gruen. It was a fun read. It was the novelist's first book as well.

The Lotus Eaters by Tatjana Soli

This is probably one of the best books I have read this year. At first, I was a bit intimidated by it and was reluctant to delve in. But once I did, I was hooked. The novel tells the story of a female photographer during the Vietnam War.  She has lost a brother in the war and is drawn to the locale to make sense of what happened.
Helen must deal with the attitudes of male journalists who dominate and are dismissive of a woman covering the war. And then there are the soldiers and their superiors who refuse to have a woman with them as they prepare for their assignments. But still, Helen persists and handles the situations courageously, at least on the outside.
The book gets its title from Homer's Odyssey about a country of lotus eaters, a race that eats the lotus flower, and gives it to Homer's men to eat as well - but not to kill them but to make them wish to stay where they are and not return home with news or any desire to return home.  This theme runs throughout the book. Helen and some of her fellow photographers, especially Darrow, a Pulitzer prize winning photojournalist, are drawn to Vietnam and to war in general. Helen and Darrow's desire actually seduces them to danger.  When she returns home to California she is lost, and yearns to return to Vietnam, which she does, much to her family's consternation.  She needs to get that one last shot, be there when the war ends, capture the images.
There are so many themes running through this rich novel. One recurrent theme involves morality; do the reporters and photographers who cover this gruesome war promulgate the violence and immorality of the war in their depiction of it? Is this just war porn? Or do they do the public a service by exposing the gritty and horrible details?
The last 20 pages of the book were so intense; I had to read them very slowing, savoring every word. I didn't want the book to end, but I was dying to find out the outcome. I won't give anything away.

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford

Henry Lee, a twelve year old Chinese American living in Seattle, meets Keiko, a similarly-aged Japanese American girl during WWII, right before the Japanese internment. Both are attending an American school, and are subjected to  ridicule and prejudice because of their race. Keiko, actually, has it much worse, being Japanese right in the aftermath of Pearl Harbor. They meet because they are both scholarshipping in the American school, which means that they serve in the cafeteria and do other odd jobs in order to go to the "better" school. Henry's father hates the Japanese, and when he finds out his son has befriended Keiko, refuses to speak to him. For years this silence continues.
The story goes back and forth between the 40's and the 80's. In the latter years, Henry has just lost his wife, Ethel, and is trying to repair the relationship with his son, Marty, which has been strained during Ethel's last years of life.
The Panama Hotel, which is referenced in the title of the book, served as a place where many Japanese families stored their belongings when they were sent off to the camps. Henry, as an adult, hears about how the new owner of the hotel has found these treasures in the basement and allows people to come in a claim what is theirs. Henry goes, hoping to find Keiko's family's belongings.  And he does.
The book tells the story of Henry and Keiko's friendship, her family's internment and Henry's resolve to wait for her, despite his father's protests.  In the end, he does lose touch with her and marries Ethel.
The ending of the book was much to "pat" for me; all the pieces fall into place too easily, and not realistically, at least for this reader. And Henry's character as a child was far too grown-up to believe. The book was entertaining, but a bit of a "formula" book for me.

More for the Want to Read List

The New York Times published 100 Notable Book List.

Too many to put on my Want to Read List

The Siege by Helen Dunmore

This novel about the Siege in Leningrad during WWII, caught my fancy right away, being a Russian major and lover of all things Russian. I did enjoy the story of Anna, a young woman who takes care of her father and brother during the Siege. Her mother had died earlier in her life. Anna meets a young doctor, Andrei, who moves into the apartment. There is not really a strong story here but more a story of survival. I found it fascinating and of course, disturbing, to read about what people had to do to survive during that awful time. It's estimated that half of the population of the city was lost during the war. I recall vividly, even though it's been about 35 years since I was there, visiting the Piskarevsky Cemetary when I studied in Leningrad in the early 70's. Quite a moving experience.

The Last Time I Saw You by Elizabeth Berg

This book recounted the days leading up to and including a high school reunion - a 40th reunion. I did mine this year so was interested in the story. The book was amusing and had some poignant moments, and did not fall into the cliches that could have easily persented themselves.  Ms. Berg developed some characters better than others, and expressed their trepidation at seeing old friends again. The "losers" are now the winners and the popular jock who expects to be the hit of the reunion turns out to be a pathetic kind of character, trying so hard to win back his wife, who brings someone else to the reunion. There were interesting snippets that I could relate to, and I appreciated the self realization that most of the characters express as they look back on their lives, who they were and who they have become.

Every Last One by Anna Quindlen

This book was not on my "Want to Read" list or even on my radar. Not sure how I missed the reviews when it came out. Nevertheless, when I went to the Library last week to return my books, it was on the shelf with those daunting "one week only - no renewals - $1.00/day fine" books. I took it anyway, because Anna Quindlen is one of my favorites.
At the start, I loved the book and the writing. Quindlen has such a way to make characters real. I enjoyed getting to know Mary Beth and her husband and children. The story meandered, delving deeper into this family and their friends.  Hints of what is to come are subtle, but nevertheless, there between the lines in the text.
And when the "big event" happens, you are stunned, but  not shocked. I can't give any more away. I will just say, "read this book and don't put it down halfway through when you think it's getting a bit slow."