Category: Books for Adults

The Dinner by Herman Koch

The Dinner

This novel revolves around two brothers and their wives having a five-course dinner in a very upscale Amsterdam restaurant in the Netherlands. They have come together for an uncomfortable conversation. One of the brothers, Serge, is a famous politician while the other brother, Paul, is a “retired” history teacher. The brothers don’t get along.  As the story unfolds, you learn that Paul, the narrator, actually loathes his older brother and can’t understand how his sister-in-law can tolerate him. Their 15-year old sons, however, do get along, and it is discovered that they have done something extremely awful, which is the reason for this uncomfortable dinner. The boys’ actions are so shocking that the whole nation is upset after seeing video footage of the incident on the nightly news. The boys’ identities are not generally known because their faces were never seen. However, the parents do know what their sons have done.  As the dinner progresses, it’s amazing and alarming to see how far these families will go to protect their children, even when they have committed a crime. This is a very quick read because, as the tension in the story builds between each course, you don’t want to stop reading until you see how these two very different families deal with their compulsion that their children can do no wrong.

Come Back by Claire and Mia Fontaine

Come Back

This is an amazing story of the bond between a mother and her only daughter, and their harrowing trip in, around and out of drug addiction. As the mother of a daughter (thankfully one that HAS NOT had a problem with drug addiction) I was able to identify with all the ups and downs of dealing with a teenager. The lengths that a mother would go to help her daughter, and in this case, sending her halfway around the country for rehab, was something I could relate to. The story really shows the strength needed and the love between them that was able to see them through some very scary times. A very powerful book and worth reading.

The Burgess Boys by Elizabeth Strout

The Burgess Boys

This is a story of the Burgess family twins, Bob and Susan Burgess, and their older brother, Jim. An accident happens when they are all children.  When the father leaves the children in the car for a few minutes, one of them gets behind the wheel pretending to drive.  The car rolls backwards, killing the father. This incident dramatically affects the entire family. The story takes place in a small town in Maine where the children grew up with just their mother to raise them, doing the best she could.

The two brothers escape to NYC as soon as they can.  Both become lawyers. The older brother, Jim, becomes a successful corporate lawyer whom the twins idolize. The twin brother, Bob, becomes a Legal Aid attorney who is always belittled by his eldest brother.  Their sister Susan stays behind in Maine. All is well until Susan’s lonely teenage son Zach urgently calls them to say that he has gotten himself into a world of trouble and needs their help. When the brothers return to their childhood home in an effort to help get their nephew out of this mess, the long-buried family tensions begin to surface and unravel in unexpected ways that change all of them forever.

I enjoyed this  novel by Elizabeth Strout. She develops and gives insight into her characters, and it is a very deep look into a family’s struggles and triumphs. I found it a very interesting read with many surprises along the way on how each of these characters deal with the family turmoil as the author exposes the tensions that can fester in a family, especially when they return to their childhood home.

Me Before You: a Novel by Jojo Moyes

Me Before You

When the cafe where Louisa Clark works as a waitress closes, she winds up working as a companion for Will Traynor, a quadriplegic confined to a wheelchair.  Before he was struck by a motorcycle, Will had been an Alpha male, an aggressive businessman who traveled the world and enjoyed mountain climbing and other demanding sports.  Now his girlfriend is gone, he can only move one hand slightly, and he is subject to serious and painful infections and medical complications.  Upbeat Louisa eventually figures out that her role is primarily watcher — Will is depressed and suicidal.  She determines to prove to him that life is worth living, even given his current limitations.  She actually gets Will to laugh, they have a variety of outings, and Louisa finds herself falling in love.  But is this enough for Will?  What if it isn’t?  Who decides if he lives or dies? A powerful, thought-provoking novel.

Abundance: A Novel of Marie Antoinette by Sena Jeter Naslund

Abundance

Having read Ahab’s Wife by Naslund many years ago (a book I would highly recommend as well), I decided to try this one. I was thoroughly pleased with this book. The story of Marie Antoinette is told in the first person by Marie herself so the perspective she has on everything around her is extremely engrossing. She begins her story as a young girl getting ready to be married off to Louis, and even though she knows she was bred for this and is excited, she’s also very worried about leaving her home and her family, especially her mother.

All of Marie’s recollections of her life from her wedding right up until when she and her own family are imprisoned are recounted here. The book is fascinating to read and so descriptive you almost feel like you are at Versailles. This is definitely a book worth reading.

Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan

Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore

Clay Jannon knows there is something odd about the bookstore in which he is newly employed, with its mysterious owner, its towering shelves accessible only by ladder, its section of encrypted books and its anxious late-night customers.  When he meets Kat, a data visualization expert at Google, they work together to decode the store’s strange volumes.  Their discovery reveals a secret society bent upon breaking the ultimate code encrypted by Aldus Manutius, the famed early 16th century printer.  Clay and Kat harness the resources of Google in an attempt to crack the code, a challenge that also leads them across the country to break into the society’s headquarters.  There, they discover secrets about the society that its president is determined to protect.

Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore seamlessly blends — and celebrates — old school and new school technologies in a fun romp of an adventure and an engrossing read.

The Dog Stars by Peter Heller

Dog Stars

This is the story of Hig, a flu survivor, who with his faithful but elderly dog, Jasper, works hard to survive.  Life is tough in the future after the majority of the population has died from a new strain of the flu.  There are no zombies, vampires or werewolves in this story, but it is still downright scary!  Most of the remaining population are not nice people.

Hig’s only human friend works with him to survive, and he can still fish, hunt, cook, and fly his 1956 Cesna, but Hig misses life as it was.  One day he flies beyond his return point in the hope of finding something more.  Full of philosophical musings, sometimes meaningful, sometimes less so, this is an enjoyable and high-tension story of characters you will care about.  Ignore the swears —  life is brutal here.

Home Front Girl: A Diary of Love, Literature, and Growing Up in Wartime America by Joan Wehlen Morrison, edited by Susan Signe Morrison

Home Front Girl

When it comes to World War II, there is historical fiction aplenty.  Many authors have done intense research to create rich stories of things that could have happened in that time, but there is nothing like a primary document to help readers appreciate exactly how people felt and what they actually went through.  I’m guessing that is exactly why the Diary of Anne Frank resonated with me when I read it in middle school.  Anne was a real girl, she was about my age [13], and she had actually lived through the things I was reading about.  As I read Anne’s record of her time spent in that tiny apartment, hiding from the Nazis and hoping to make it out alive, I gained a new appreciation for the simple things in life.  Until I read her diary, I took it for granted that I had enough food to eat, was able to spend time with my friends, and could open a window for extra light and fresh air whenever I felt like it.

Joan Whelen Morrison’s diary is both similar to and completely different from Anne Frank’s diary.  It’s different, obviously, because Joan lived in America and didn’t live in fear of being found and killed by the Nazis; her location afforded her a great many freedoms Anne was denied.  Joan’s diary is extremely similar, though, because she was also a teenage girl whose writing not only chronicled her daily life and the events unfolding around her but also revealed some incredible insights about life.  Joan’s diary gives readers a peek into the life of a typical [American] teenage girl who lived during the time of the Great Depression and leading up to World War II.  The tone of her diary ranges from light and funny entries about school and boys to more serious, with topics like the explosion of the Hindenburg and the bombing of Pearl Harbor.  People who enjoy reading and learning about this time in history won’t want to miss Home Front Girl.

How To Tell If Your Cat Is Plotting To Kill You by the Oatmeal

How to Tell if Your Cat Is Plotting to Kill You

This graphic novel is a complete explanation of the mind and behavior of the cat.  Apparently, they are evil and wish to kill us all.  So cute when they sleep, they dream of flying jets and riding dinosaurs.  The best part of the book shows what happens when they switch roles with humans.  The cat is shown reading a book, ignoring his human who stands at the door waiting to be let in, with predictable but comic results.

The level of satisfaction when a man walks his dog is 100% for both parties.  The level of satisfaction when walking the cat is 0%.

The two Bob Cats who work in an office get more plotting done than actual work.  They wear ties and conspire to get their tummies rubbed by their fellow workers.  There is an unnecessary chapter on assessing the homosexual qualities of your pet.  Otherwise, this book is hilarious.

Written by New York Times best-selling author Matthew Inman, aka TheOatmeal.com, the book includes “Cat vs Internet”, “How to Pet a Kitty” and a guide to interpret “Direction of Ears”.  A must-read for all cat fans!

If You Give a Mom a Martini: 100 Ways to Find 10 Blissful Minutes for Yourself by Julie Klappas and Lyss Stern

If You Give a Mom a Martini

I stumbled upon this book by accident when I was looking up If You Give a Moose a Muffin for a library patron, and I couldn’t help but wonder, “Where have you been all my [mommy] life?!?”  Sure, I love my kids… but I need a little break from them every once in a while!  The authors of this book, along with some of their celebrity friends, have put together a list of 100 ways to find and/or enjoy a spare 10 minutes.  Pure genius.  Since I am a soccer mom, I think I may have laughed a little too hard at the “Get Your Kicks” suggestion of kicking a soccer ball deep into the woods and relaxing on the bench while your child goes to retrieve it!  Other suggestions include treating yourself to a beautiful single flower for your bedside table and boxing on your Wii while listening to the Rocky soundtrack.  The best part is that when you’re done with the book, you can always head to the “Your Stories” section of the If You Give a Mom a Martini website to peruse suggestions left by other readers! [edit 4/4/2019: This website is no longer available.]

Pines by Blake Crouch

Pines

Secret Service agent Ethan Burke comes to by the side of a river.  He is badly injured and has no i.d., no cellphone, no wallet.  He remembers coming to the town of Wayward Pines on a mission, and being involved in a car accident, but nothing more.  When he makes it to the hospital, things continue not to add up.  Why can’t he reach his family by telephone?  Why is there an electric fence around the town?  Why does everything feel so “off?”  The answers are stranger than anything he could imagine.  This one will keep you guessing and reading long into the night.

Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin

Team of Rivals

If you have seen Steven Spielberg’s new movie, Lincoln, you may be hungering for more information about the president that many historians consider America’s greatest leader.  The fight for ratification of the 13th Amendment, perhaps Lincoln’s most important accomplishment, is but one of the topics of the book.  Lincoln’s uncanny ability to understand and work with a wide array of  officials, both in Congress and in his own Cabinet, is documented in dazzling detail and reader-friendly history.  The book, published in 2005, documents Lincoln’s successful presidential campaign, his efforts to achieve victory for the Union in the Civil War, and his struggle to give the war a lasting legacy through the permanent emancipation of slaves.  Additionally, in Lincoln’s efforts we see the beginning of the modern presidency and politics. This is a “must” read for anyone who can’t get enough about politics and Civil War history and the role of each in shaping our nation.

Soulless by Gail Carriger

Soulless

Alexia Tarabotti is a 25-year-old spinster in Victorian London.  She also has no soul; her father is Italian and dead; and she was attacked by a vampire in the library during a social event.  As if that were not bad enough, she finds herself working with the disturbingly handsome werewolf, Lord Conall Maccon, to determine who is creating vampires outside of vampire hive rules.

This is a witty blend of the supernatural, steampunk, alternative history and romance.  Alexia’s spirit is engaging, and the clever plot will keep readers enthralled.  Happily, Soulless is the first in a series of Alexia Tarabotti mysteries, which appear under the name of The Parasol Protectorate.

Ashes by Ilsa Bick

Ashes is the story of Alex, a girl with an incurable brain tumor, who runs away into the woods to come to terms with her illness and say goodbye to her deceased parents.  As if that weren’t depressing enough, an unexplained electromagnetic pulse suddenly strikes, killing most of the population, turning teens into zombies, and giving some of the survivors the power of heightened senses.

With angry, eight-year-old Ellie and handsome Afghanistan War soldier Tom, Alex seeks answers to what has happened and fights for survival in a world where nothing is the same anymore.

Alex is a good, strong main character.  Even with her new powers, it is easy to root for her and care about what befalls her.  This new world is a perilous one and the adventures of these characters are frightening and addictive, dark and creepy.  Note:  A sequel is planned.

Before I Go To Sleep by S. J. Watson

Christine wakes up one morning to find herself having aged 20 years, seemingly overnight.  To her horror, she discovers that she has amnesia and that she wakes up and makes the same discovery over and over each morning — she has no memory of the day before, or the twenty years prior.  Her husband patiently guides her through the shock each morning and fills her in on the details of their life.  But when she finds her secret journal, which records her painstaking attempt to hang on to more than a day’s worth of knowledge, she realizes that there are holes and inconsistencies in her husband’s account.  Is her husband lying?  What about the doctor that she refers to in her journal, or her friend Claire, both of whom offer further differing information?  As she inches, day by day, closer to the truth, Christine realizes she may be in danger.  This suspenseful page-turner was a best-seller during the summer of 2011.