The Fault in Our Stars by John Green, Shines

 "Sometimes the universe wants to be noticed."  Sometimes we are fortunate to take stock in the wonders of life & the world around.  Sometimes, we benefit from gentle reminders.  Green's novel  of teenaged star crossed lovers, eloquently portrays two intelligent individuals we fully embrace.  Hazel (16) & Augustus (17) & Isaac meet in a cancer youth support group.  All 3 form a mutual friendship, and Hazel & Augustus, a mutual attraction to each other.  Augustus, a star athlete, has lost a leg to cancer, Isaac loses both eyes to the disease and Hazel's lungs are failing.  Green's novel remained on the  #1 NYT's Best Seller List for children's chapter's books for months.  Before you wrongly dismiss this as a weepy tale for teens, I suggest you read this engrossing & mature examination of life's meanings.  Knowing their lives will be cut short, Hazel & Augustus are sagacious & loving beyond their years.  "The world is not a wish granting factory. Pain demands to be felt.  The senses must feast while there is yet hunger."  Most importantly, "We all want to be remembered & loved deeply."  The Fault in Our Stars is unforgettable and a remindeder to appreciate our celestial gifts.

Matrimony, by Joshua Henkin, for Better or Worse?

Matrimony, Joshua Henkin's novel focuses on 2 couples who meet their freshman year (1986) @ college, and fall in love.  Julian Wainwright, born with a silver spoon in his mouth in NYC befriends, Curtis Heinz, a working class scholarship student from Sausalito with a chip on his shoulder that could bring down the Golden Gate Bridge.  Both Julian & Curtis are aspiring writers that become fast & furious friends.  Soon after their bromance, Julian meets & falls in love with Mia - Curtis falls for Pilar and one communal naked hot tub club is born.  Sr. year, while pondering their futures, Mia's mother is diagnosed with terminal cancer. Mia reasons she & Julian should marry before her mother dies.  Julian's amenable, they marry & move off to grad-school purgatory.  Curtis & Mia, move together (unmarried) to SF for law school.  Does love run its smooth course?  No, but neither is the novel an intriguing examination of relationships.  Henkin seemed to put his heart into discussing the methodologies & angsts of a writer.  "When writing, keep it close enough to home that your heart is in it but far enough away that the imaginations can take over."  After 20 years Julian finally has his 1st novel published. "At long long, he cold think of himself as a writer."  Henkin does have his characters ponder "the paths not taken."  Henkin did not steer us on matrimonies' tribulations but delved into the mindset of a writer.  Matrimony is better as a writer's story and worse as a tale of marriage.  

Dear Life: Stories, A.Munroe, A Master Story Teller

Alice Munroe is a Canadian writer & one of the most honored contemporary writer of fiction.  She has received the U.S. Nat'l  Book Critics Circle Award, the Man Booker Int'l Prize for her body of work and ha been a perennial contender for the Nobel Prize.  Ms. Munroe is also one of my most beloved authors whose luminous & deceptively simplistic writing style set a benchmark for excellence.  The collection of stories in Dear Life: Stories, contain themes of social boundaries, urban sophistication vs. rural farmlife, missed opportunities in love & life and life's disappointments.  Munroe's descriptive prose depict Canadian landscapes, particularily the fringes bordering cities.  Many metaphors are incorporated in her stories to infer life's transitions: trains, freeways, rivers, changing seasons.  Her somber & resonating stories are filled with life profundities.  "People have thoughts they'd sooner not have.  It happens in life."  "We say somethings that can't be forgiven.  But we do - we do it all the time."  Ms. Munroe turned 81 this summer & graciously requested not to be considered in contention for any further literary awards.  She has produced a seminal body of work.  There is an added bonus to Munroe's latest work.  The last 4 vignettes in this collection are autobiographical.  "I believe that they are the 1st and the last - the closest things I have to say about my own life."  I hope there will continue to be more stories to come from Ms. Munroe.

Glen Duncan's The Last Werewolf, If Only it Were

Now, for something completely different; well sort of - I chose The Last Werewolf on the Nat'l Bestseller List as a "vacation" book. as a quick read. What I found to my delight, was a uniquely dark & sexy thriller with a very compelling hero, Jake Marlowe, the last surviving werewolf.  Set in modern day, predominately in England, Jake's history takes us back to the early 19th C when he was first "turned" into a werewolf.  "I'm a man. I'm a monster. A cocktail of contraries." This novel is an exotic & absorbing blend of suspense, gore, romance & grief.  Jake bemoans his 200 year existence as wearisome.  He informs his longtime mortal friend, Harley, he plans to end his life. "I've had enough, that it's time to go, that I really can't stand it any more, the living & the killing & the wandering the world without love."  If werewolfs exist, does it mean there are vampires?  Of course, Jake informs us, "Werewolves & vampires don't get on.  Mutual repulsion is visceral & without exception."  Howeer, this novel is not geared for the Twilight set.  It possesses a tale of complex behavior & contemplations.  "You love life because life's all there is.  There's no God & that's His only Commandment."  I commend you to read this novel.  I enjoyed it but for the "final" tawdry confrontation which sets itself for a sequel.  The Last Werewolf will be the last of the series I'll read.

Offspring, Non Fiction, by Andrew Solomon

Offspring was intended to examine how parent's cope with their children who are very different from themselves.  In other words, what happens when a parent has a "horizontal" child rather than a "vertical" child.  Let me translate for this misguided author:  how do parents love their child when they are born with disabilities or sexual orientations different "horizontal" from themselves.  Let me stop you from reading this book.  It is both self-indulgent & condescending .  I have respect and admiration for families whose children have disabilities but I expect nothing short of love & support for their offspring.  I expected to be inspired and learn something about patience & humility.  Instead, I got nothing but self-flagulation in what seemed to me a cathartic exercise for the author to deal with his demons; depression & homosexuality.  "Self-acceptance is part of the ideal but without familial and societal acceptance, it cannot ameliorate the relentless injustice to which many horizontal identity groups are subject."  Mr. Solomon (the name has not lost its irony on me,) this is neither enlightening nor profound.  I gained nothing from your prosletytizing. "The world is made more interesting by having every sort of person in it.  Life is enriched by difficulty, love is made more acute when it requires exertion."  I would have been better off sitting around the campfire singing "We are the world."   Tolerance & empathy for others is vital.  Reading this drivel is a waste of time.

The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey by Walter Mosley

This brilliant novel defies any specific style of fiction.  Mosley is a writer of beautiful prose,  He  embodies the heart & soul of a 90+ year old black man, Ptolemy, suffering from dementia & isolation. His savior comes in the form of a 17 year old black girl, Robyn.  Ptolemy has been living a solitary & fearful existence for years since the death of his 2nd wife.  He lives amidst overwhelming squalor without a working toilet or shower.  His great nephew, Reggie, has been intermittently looking in on Ptolemy.  When Reggie is killed in a drive by shooting, he is brought to the paltry funeral by another distant relative where his grief is palpable.  Robyn, a recent orphan, has found temporary refuge on their sofa.  A symbiotic and loving relationship ensues between the old & frail Ptolemy and the young & vibrant Robyn.  Mosley's writing embodies his hero so completely we experience Ptolemy's confusion, his vulnerabilities,  and his heart.  Walter Mosley is one of America's most critically acclaimed authors.  He has received the O. Henry Award & PEN America's Lifetime Achievement Award. The novel chronicles the brutal & harsh lives of America's Black men a century ago and the bleak lives & opportunities that persist today.   Mosley's prose is a hybrid of history, philosophy, mysticism and the omnipotence of love in all its forms.   "The great man say that life is pain, that mean if you love life, then you love the hurt come along with it."  Ptolemy's paternal love for Robyn grows as she cares for him.   Ptolemy knows his legacy is with Robyn whose love for him will survive after he's gone.  "As long you remembah me, I'ma be alive in you."  This memorable tale of struggle and redemption is destined to become a cherished literary classic.

Butterfly's Child, a novel by A. Davis-Gardner

Butterfly's Child by Angela Davis-Gardner picks up the story where the famous opera, Madame Butterfly, by Puccino, leaves off.  Although I am not a huge fan of opera, I don't live under a rock.  I have attended several productions of Madame Butterfl.  It is a beautiful, poignant opera that tells the all too common tale, of foreigners leaving behind pregnant women & bastard children.  Not only are these women & children abandoned, the children are often shunned as mongrels; mired in a state of povery & purgatory.  The idea of expounding on the tale of what became of Pinkerton's son with his Japanese "Geisha" whom he disavows when returning to Japan is intriguing.  The author begins her story in Nagasaki @ the end of the 19th C.  Cio-Cio & Pinkerton's son is 5 when Pinkerton returns to Nagasaki with his American bride.   Cio-Cio prepares their son to meet his father.  Pinkerton arrives with his new wife whereupon Cio-Cio commits hara-kari to the horror of everyone, including the young boy.  The local Christian minister prevails upon the couple to take the lad back to the United States as the orphaned child will surely suffer a life misery.  Deeming it the "Christian" thing to do, the couple bring the boy back home to their farm in IL  They claim to have adopted the orphaned child renamed Benji.  Pinkerton denying Benji as his son, is hardly the only cruelty Benji endures.  At first, I admired the irrepressible spirit Benji possesses.  However, Benji's life turns into an incredulous journey to return to his native homeland.  The final coupe de grace was when Madame Butterfly the opera, became integral to the novel.  The play within the play had me singing foul.  Don't bother with this melodrama.   Listen to Puccin's opera instead.

The Reef by Edith Wharton

I finished reading The Reef and I finally came up for air.  The Reef is a laboriously dull read. I wouldn't have finished it,  if it wasn't one of my book club's selections.  Edith Wharton is the first American woman to win the Pulitzer Prize.  At the beginning of the 20th C, Wharton was regarded as one of the most acclaimed novelists of her time.  Her other works include The House of Mirth & The Age of Innocence.  The Reef is a tale of naivety and snobbery that today doesn't hold water.  Wharton met fellow expat, Henry James who had a profound impact on her life and writings.  They both have the same loquacious, mired down style. When something finally happens, you no longer care.  The maudlin dilemma in this love quadrangle is between George & Anna, engaged to be married and Anna's step-son, Owen and his fiancee, Sophy had a previous affair with George.  Scandalous?  Perhaps @ the turn of the 20th C.  This is one painfully slow, obsolete novel;  reminiscent of tortuous high school syllabus reading.  The only credible comment came from George as they end their engagement from Anna langouring in anguish, "I'm not worth what I'm costing you…I've done a thing I loathe, and…put something irremediable between us."  What do I have against the writings of Wharton & James?  I find most of their novels dreadfully droll.  Skim over The Reef and read Ethan Frome instead and perhaps, James' Washington Square.

The Go-Between by L. P. Hartley

I'm a huge fan of Downton Abbey & Upstairs, Downstairs, and I am a huge fan of The Go Between written @ the turn of the 20th C in England depicting social classes as told (in retrospect) by an older man looking back at his younger self, during the summer he turned 13.  This is not merely a tale of British aristocracy or a coming of age story.  It deals with morality & manipulation.  It is also a bold and beautiful tale of sensual awakenings.  As a man in his 60's, Leo takes us back to his seminal year upon discovering souvenirs from his youth.  Leo as an only child, is sent by his widowed mother to boarding school at a very young age. There he is tormented by 2 older boys whom Leo plots revenge by casting a spell.  Voila, the bullies fall from a roof and Leo's notoriety soars.  Marcus, a duly impressed classmate, invites Leo to spend a few weeks with his family that July. With the Marcus' family Leo "for the first time, was acutely aware of (his) social inferiority.  I felt utterly out of place among these smart rich people, and a misfit everywhere."  Leo soon succumbs to the charms of Marcus' older, beautiful sister, Marian, & becomes a willing/unwilling messenger for Marian & her lover, Ted, a virile farmhand.  Leo grapples with the morality of serving as a conduit to this illicit affair upon learning Marian is engaged to the wealthy Lord Trimmingham, whose facial disfigurement was wrought in battle.  The Go-Between "is a  struggle between order & lawlessness, between obedience to tradition and defiance, between social stability & revolutions, between one attitude to life & another."  Nothing half-way here, I recommend this novel whole heartedly.

The Bay of Angels, by Anita Brookner

Anita Brookner is a lofty writer.  She was awarded the Booker Prize for Hotel Du Lac and is a Prof. @ Cambridge.  Brookner is a prolific writer with deceiptively simplistic plots.  In The Bay of Angels, our heroine, Zoe, loses her father at a very young age & is raised lovingly as an only child in an isolated existence with her mother.  Years later, when Zoe is a college student, her mother remarries and moves from their home in London to the south of France with her elderly husband.  Zoe's co-dependence on her mother, Anne, leaves her with ambivalent feelings of loneliness & freedom.  Just a few years into the marriage, Zoe's step-father dies leaving Zoe the onus of caring for her mother who suffers a mental breakdown.  Zoe leaves London to care for her flailing mother in France, putting her in a state of limbo until Anne too soon passes.  The plot is not the driving force of the novel.  The significance comes from Zoe's astute observations on life.  Zoe reflects on both her mother's life and her own. "One lives uncomfortably with one's mistakes; one never entirely comes to terms with them."  After Anne dies, Zoe comprehends how the other women in the care facility perceive her.  "They pitied my freedom, my unsought freedom, as I did.  They did not see how one could live without attachments, and neither did I."  As Clooney said in the film Up in the Air, "Life is better with company."  The Bay of Angels shares this sentiment but is a heavenly way to spend time when one is alone.

MY AMERICAN UNHAPPINESS, a novel by Dean Bakopoules

This quirky, funny and disturbing novel has an ingratiating and original hero, Zeke Pappas.  Zeke works for a dubious operation about to implode, but not before he can amass multitudes of responses to his question, "What makes you unhappy?"  Madison, WI, is the city in which Zeke lives along with his seriously ill mother and young twin nieces.  The love Zeke has for his mother & orphaned nieces is endearing.  The responses to his unhappiness project are both hysterical and poignant.  I was drawn towards Zeke with his off-beat humor and tenderness and rooted for him to find love.  But, by the end Zeke's benign personality takes a turn to the darkside. He becomes pathetic, perverse and repels everyone who felt fondness for him, myself included.  Bakopoulos is a gifted writer; a recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship. Bakopooulos not only paints the midwestern landscape and culture but imbues the reader with a real sense of melancholy & detachment stemming from our society as a whole.   Zeke states, "the computer, the phones, the BlackBerry, the Facebook-is horrifying.  When one does such a thing, one is visited by unhappy images, thoughts of doom and woe."  "You Tube, MySpace, Blogs-all of these things are ways for us to make ourselves protagonists on a very crowded, violent and unjust stage." The author has clearly identified American Unhappiness, meaningless connections & dire loneliness.  Reading this brilliant novel left me feeling depressed so I recommend this book, NOT! (Although I do recommend reading my blogs.)

In Giovanni's Room, a novel by James Baldwin

I read Baldwin's novel, published in '56, after reading John Irving's novel, In One Person.  Irving's book is about Billy, a young boy growing up in the 60's in VT, who is grappling with his bi-sexuality.  Irving repeatedly referred to Baldwin's In Giovanni's Room in his novel which piqued my interest.  Both novels deal with the issues of young men grappling with their bi-sexuality.  Irving's hero, Billy, is given Baldwin's novel by a transexual librian to show him he is not alone in his feelings. Billy is fortunate to have family & friends he is able to turn to for support.  Baldwin's central character, David, is a young American living in Paris in the 50's. He has a father in the states he feels he can't be honest with, nor is David honest of his  homosexuality to his fiancee. Giovanni's Room is a much darker & disturbing novel of psychological pressure, torment & guilt stemming from feelings of sexual immorality.  David is consumed with anguish; he is trapped in searching for himself. Baldwin is a renowned author & Civil Rights advocate. He also wrote Go Tell it On the Mountain & Notes of a Native Son. Both are skilled and crafted writers that call into question social prejudices that are cruel and inhumane. James Baldwin's In Giovanni's Room remains a  poignant and significant work.

The World Without You, a novel by Joshua Henkin

The World Without You portrays how various family members have dealt with the passing of the youngest and only son in the Frankel family over the past year.  The Frenkels are gathered in the family's vacation home at the year anniversary of Leo who was killed covering the war in Iraq. The parents, of Leo, Marilyn & David have summoned their 3 daughters & daughter-in-law to attend a memorial for Leo.  Before the various family members assemble, the parents agree not to let their daughters & daughter-in-law, mother to Leo's son, know they've decided to separate until after the service.  Does tragedy bring families closer together or does it severe the ties that bind? What are the bonds that make a family?  How do different individuals cope with grief and disappointments?  These are the poignant issues touched on in The World Without You.  It is disappointing these compelling questions are mottled by characters who are shallow, repulsive and self-indulgent.  There is little insight into the marriage of Marilyn & David or the connections between the sisters.  Burying one's child is pure anguish.  Reading about the relationships the sister's had with one another & their partners was onerous.  Thisbe, Leo's widow was moving ahead with her life and I recommend not being mired down in this tedious novel which skimmed the surface of difficult issues.

Those We Love Most, a novel by Lee Woodruff

Lee Woodruff is a contributing reporter for CBS This Morning & co-author of the NYT bestseller, In an Instant, with husband Bob Woodruff. This is her first novel which is sure to be on the NYT best-seller list.  The Corrigan family living in Chicago appear to have it all on the surface, but life is never as it seems.  Maura Corrigan, the central character is married to Peter, her college sweetheart with 3 beautiful children but her world is suddenly shattered by disaster leaving her grief stricken and ridden with guilt.  Maura & Peter's marriage fray under the stress as they turn away from one another & seek solace elsewhere.  Maura has the love and support of her two sisters and her parents.  However, Maura's father has been leading a secretive double life which mirrors some of the same issues Maura & Peter are experiencing.  Woodruff is a prolific contributor to numerous magazines and author of Perfectly Imperfect. She knows how to write credible and multi-faceted characters that we can all relate to & identify.  Those We Love Most is a book you won't want to put down as we learn how the members of this family deal with their choices, their consequences and their feelings for one another.  For Those We Love Most tend to be those we hurt the most.  A tour de force family saga that examine many of life's most important issues.

Swagger by Lisa Bloom, a non-fiction guide for raising young males

Lisa Bloom is an attorney and legal reporter for CNN, CBS and HLN.  Swagger is the follow-up book to NYT best selling THINK: Straight Talk for Women to Stay Smart in a Dumbed-Downed World. In Swagger, Bloom addresses the prescient obstacles today deterring young boys from becoming successful and compassionate men.  As in THINK which outlined issues suppressinng young girl's intelligence, Ms. Bloom clearly identifies the problems and pressures our society pose that diminish the odds of young boys from graduating college and leading successful lives.  The dismal facts that our young boys are failing are due to our thug culture fed by a jobless economy, failing schools, violence prevalent in the media, and our deplorable incarceration nation.  Ms. Bloom's writing is extensively researched. I felt engaged in an intelligent dialogue with Ms Bloom without proselytizing.  Swagger  benefits from Ms. Bloom's candor,  wit, personal anecdotes and quotes from many of the boys she queries.  Most importantly, Swagger offers  practical ways to empower our youngsters to enrich their own lives.  It also inspires us to be the best parents we can by being role models and being present in their lives.  Adults should be grateful for this encouraging guide for raising intelligent, empathetic youngsters and enriching the lives of our families.

By Blood: a Novel by Ellen Ullmam

BY BLOOD brings you into the story of a voyeur listening in on the psychoanalysis of a young, successful woman struggling with her sense of idenity and belonging.  The voyeur, is a disgraced professor currently on suspension pending the university's investigation into his alleged stalking of a male student.  The prof. rents an office in a San Francisco (SF) building next door to a psychiatrist.  The walls are so thin the prof. becomes privy to the analysis sessions and becomes completely obsessed with listening in on every appointment while keeping his presence unbeknowst to them.  The triangular relationship between the prof., patient and psychiatrist are the basis for a peverse and irresistable look into the minds of all three.  The story takes place during the terror reign of the Zodiac Killer.  The prof. is also a disturbingly deranged individual.  Meanwhile, the young woman tells her Dr. of her troubles with her lesbian lover and her feelings of being unloved as the adopted daughter to a self-absored, heartless mother.  The patient/Dr. dialogues are compelling as is the prof's assessments on how they are progressing.  The story takes another dark turn into the history of a German Holocaust survivor.  This is a very intrusive tale that will entwine you into its web should you choose to become a voyeur too.

The Ruins of California, a Novel by Martha Sherrill

The Ruins is a curious coming of age story of a young girl, Inez, set during the laid back yet turbulent 70's in both San Francisco (SF) & a modest Los Angeles (LA) suburb.  Inez is the daughter of a voluptous Latin mother, Connie, and Paul, a handsome, intelligent and hedonistic father.  We follow Inez as an innocent girl living in LA as she is shuttled between very divergent lifestyles of her divorced parents and extended family.  Sherrill captures the joys of childhood days and the onslaught of the emotional adolescent years.  It is through Inez's eyes that Sherrill paints a vivid portrait of the divergent lifestyles prevalent through the drug infused, counter culture and conflicting conservative society during the 70's.  Inez seems malleable and accepting of both her father's many girlfriends and drug use as well as her more modest and conventional life in LA.   Paul's wealthy aristocratic mother brings Inez into the privilleged world of horseback riding, cotillion lessons and high tea.  Inez also forms a strong familial bond with her brother, Whitman, from Paul's previous marriage.  As Inez matures into her own person, we've grown to admire her ability to navigate these torrid times.  Yet, I recommend this book more as an homage to the 70's than a riveting, character driven novel.  

Defending Jacob: a Novel by William Landay

Defending Jacob is the summer read you'll have trouble putting down.  Landay is the winner of the Dagger Award for best debut crime novel for Mission Flats.  His other novel, The Strangler was nominated for best crime novel of the year.  Defending Jacob is an intriguing crime novel, thrilling court room drama and disturbing psychological drama.  Jacob, the 14 year old son of Andy, the local District Attorney, is indited for the murder of his fellow classmate.  Both Andy and his wife Laurie, do whatever is necessary to protect and insure their son will be vindicated.  The investigation and court room battle are fast paced and clever and leave you wondering whether Jacob will be found innocent.  It's during the trail that Laurie begins to question her son's innocence whereas Andy remains steadfast in belief of Jacob's innocence.  Andy has kept his wife and son unaware that his father is serving a life sentence for murder until the time of Jacob's inditement.  The novel calls into question whether sociopathic behavior is a result of genetics and to what extent are parents responsible for their child's behavior.  The differing views of their son's behaviors is reminiscent of the novel, We Need to Talk About Kevin.  This is an enjoyable, fast paced novel which raises disturbing dilemmas leading to combative debate.

The Makioko Sisters by Junichiro Tanizaki

Tanizaki is regarded as one of the most prominent Japanese authors of the 20th C.  He has been elected to the Japanese Acad. of the Arts and honored with Japan's Order of Culture.  The Makioko sisters is a drawn out story of 4 Japanese sisters during the 5 years just prior to the outbreak of WWII.  The two older sisters, are entrusted and consumed with marrying off both their younger sisters; the elder of which must be married prior to the youngest.  Despite the Chinese conflict which is mentioned in passing and the stirrings of war in Europe, the family are consumed with maintaining their status and adhering to protocol to  procure suitable husband for their two younger sisters.  I would be tempted to compare this novel with DOWNTON ABBEY except that the Makioko sisters choose to adhere strongly to their cultural traditions and etiquette and fail to accept their declining status, the encroaching westernization into their culture and the pending War.  Tanizaki writes with lyricism and beauty but the repetitive marital arrangements, called a miai, mire this novel in tedium.  I recommend this book for those who want a glimpse into a period of Japanese culture that has gone with the wind.  Is this a quick enjoyable read? Yes for those who like sitting in a beautiful Zen garden for hours on end.

CARRY the ONE, one captivating novel by Carol Anshaw

Carry the One, centers around a family of 3 siblings, two sisters, Carmen & Alice and their brother, Nick.  This intelligent and complex novel begins the night of Carmen's wedding. In the aftermath of the celebration a young girl is struck & killed by a car of wedding guests.  The car is driven by Nick's date Olivia, both being under the influence of drugs & alcohol.  Alice and several other revelers are also passengers and along with Carmen, are bound by feelings of culpability and guilt.  Olivia acknowledged that guilt is the easiest and simplest response but "much more complicated was living past guilt, bearing the permanence, accommodating the weight of having done something terrible and completely undoable."  Anshaw has been awarded the Carl Sandburg Lit. Arts Award.  In Carry the One, she creates a stirring novel dealing with genuine emotions of love, commitment, redemption and quilt.  Some people move beyond blaming anyone.  Some are capable of giving forgiveness yet others are incapable of accepting it.   Understanding what enables some people to strive forward while others implode makes this ONE unforgetable.

GONE GIRL a novel by Gillian Flynn

If you're looking for a page turning summer read, this just might fit the bill.  It is a mixture of suspense and  look at disturbing love/hate relationships.  Amy is discovered missing on the 5th anniversary of her marriage to Nick in what appears to be a crime scene within their home.  Alas, not all is at seems, and while Amy paints a bleak account of marriage in her diary, and evidence seems to implicate Nick, we're not quite convinced of his culpability in her disappearance.  Nick has some intriguing detectives along with his twin sister who add their support & interest to the story. Flynn is a master at suspense and intrigue and in uncovering the dark interworkings of relationships.  Nick believes that love gives you permission to just be who are you and Amy felt that love was turning her into something she never wanted to be. Of course,  things are never as they appear to be in Flynn's unpredictable but deeply unsettling novel.  This is a hard look at how we are manipulated by the media and the very deranged powers of manipulation.  This may be a fast read, but you may be more anxious to finish rather than embrace.

STAY AWAKE STORIES by Dan Chaon

This collection of powerful short stories are not what you think when conjuring up stories told around a campfire with the intent to scare someone.  But, these stories have a hypnotic hold on your psyche that manage to get under your skin.  Ghost stories are frightening for their supernatural, ephemral aberations.  These stories do contain, horrific deaths and human sufferings, the harshest of all being loneliness.  Dan Chaon is renowned for his evocative short stories and a Nat'l Book Award finalist for AMONG THE MISSING.  In STAY AWAKE STORIES there is a dark omniscience and feeling of detachment that leaves the reader an eerie feeling of solitude.  There are also stories where the main characters vie to free themselves of all entanglements.  Chaon writes "there are ghosts everywhere."  He is referring to all the lonely people, where do they all come from? He writes of the  pain in wanting to make connections where there are none.  The implausibilty of finding someone who offers understanding and compassion is so palpable I felt as though I stepped into a TWILIGHT ZONE episode in which I fell into Hopper's Nighthawks painting.

WICHITA by Thad Ziolkowski - The homeland for Tornadoes

Wichita is a dark, quirky novel of family dysfunction.  I'm reminded of Tyler's DINNER at the HOMESICK RESTAURANT and Franzen's THE CORRECTIONS.  The distinction with Ziolowski's novel is the strong familial love between the two brothers, Lewis the recent Columbia grad and Seth, the drugged up dropped out problem child and their eccentric mother, Abby.  Lewis returns  home to Wichita after graduating without a job to live with Abby & Seth. Abby is divorced from their father, Virgil, a prof. @ Columbia and whose side of the family are all in the academia world.  Abby & Seth's world consist of a motley cast of shady characters bent on self-destruction.  Lewis is caught somewhere in the middle. He lived in NYC with Virgil to attend Horace Mann H.S. & Columbia college.  The matriach of Virgil's family believes that Seth should be disowned but encourages Lewis to prevail in his studies.  The other side, Abby and Lewis "were like parents together...with a bond formed around handling Seth, their strange child."  Things are doomed to get a lot stranger.  This is a quirky tale of what being a family entails: a lot of work and a lot of love.  "All the effort of keeping up the wall, the wall of family."  What a pity when all the love & effort are not enough to sustain a family.

Nam Le's THE BOAT, anchors us all together

Nam Le is a Viet Namese born, Australian Writer.  His book of short stories, THE BOAT, won the Dylan Thomas Award, the most prestigious literary prize for young writers.  Nam was an infant when his parents fled Viet Nam as boat refugees.  He studied law & served on the Supreme Court of Victoria. Nevertheless,  he made a major career choice to become a writer. Nam enrolled in the Iowa Writer's Workshop.  His motivation for change stemmed from his passion for reading & his desire to create the feelings he got from books.  The hero of the 1st story is a writer @ Iowa's Writers Workshop named Nam Le. He is visited by his father, a Viet Namese refugee now living in Australia.  Le tries to capture's his father's own tale of survival and family sacrifice during the invasion of the Viet Cong & American soldiers in what we call My Lai.  Nam painstakingly captures his father's story only to realize his father destoryed his only manuscript. Nam in anger tells him he does not understand what he did was unforgiveable.  He feels both regret and remorse with wisdom too late knowing his father did understand.  The 6 other  stories in this keenly intelligent and captivating collection take you on a journey around the globe; a coming of age male Australian high school student, a young girl living outside Hiroshima prior to the bombings, an American tourist visiting her friend in Tehran who returned to support the revolt,  an elderly American artisit hoping to meet his estranged daughter, a male adolescent caught up in the violence of the drug cartel in Columbia.  Each story is incredulous in its power to enthrall the reader.  As varied as each locale and character are, I felt the mind and heart of each.  There is a unifying theme to these stories.  Nam poetically uses water, rain or bodies of water as an analogy for life and shared human experiences.  In the final story, The Boat, Mai, a young Chinese girl crammed amongst a boatload of human bodies, recall's her father's stories - of storms & waves at sea, mild in comparison to the "dense roaring slabs of water," flailing their tiny vessel.  "Flesh pressed against her on every side, the human warmth, feeling every square inch of skin against her body and through it the shared consciousness of - what? Death? Fear? Surrender? She stayed in that human coccon." Nam captures the emotions we all share & anchors us to humanity and one another.

WHEN ELEPHANTS WEEP - put me to sleep

The non-fiction book WHEN ELEPHANTS WEEP the EMOTIONAL LIVES of ANIMALS was a major disappointment for me.  Being a huge animal lover and long time vegetarian, I thought I would be in sympatico with the author Jeffrey Masson, but it turns out he is a wacko.  Masson's Phd. is in Sanskrit and Indian Studies hardly makes him an authority in the realm of animal sciences.  In fact, Masson admits in his prologue, while visitng an Indian game reserve reknown for wild elephants, he tried to communicate to an elephant in Sanskrit only to provoke the animal into chasing him down and nearly killing him.  What an idiot! Still, I thought I'd find this work to be enlightening and entertaining.  What I found was a rambling of anecdotes on anthropomorphism:  the assigning of human characteristic to animals.  Masson bemoans the lack of scientific research to establish the existence of emotions in animals and fails to provide anything that would corroborate this phenomenon.  I compare Masson's work to Project Nim where a Columbia psychologist raised a new born chimp in a family enviornment which proved to be a debacle and a painful documentary to watch.  Masson was preaching to the choir to treat animals with compassion but even animal advocates would weep from this missed opportunity.

THE ALL of IT - All a Work of Art and Understanding

This deceptively short, stunner,  THE ALL of IT, by Jeannette Haien, slowly reveals the lives of a couple, Edna & Kevin told to Father Declan, at Kevin's deathbed.  Kevin gravely ill confesses to Declan that he & Edna were never married.  Confess, demands the priest of Kevin and allow me to marry you & Edna immediately.  Kevin tells the priest that he cannot.  Kevin's explanation, "that there's some explanations as get you nowhere." Declan declares "that it's not for me to judge, but for God, and for Him to understand and forgive."  Oh that he should heed his own words and judge not, lest he be judge.  For it is Edna who reveals to the priest that she & Kevin were brother and sister and adamantly refuses to confess to him as a priest but will confide to him as a friend.  The priest's passion outside his parish is fly-fishing and he agrees to hear Edna out against his better judgement , "You've netted me with your telling."  Edna unfurls her tale  slowly like a fisherman casting his line.  It is with patience and understanding Declan condemns his own self-righteousness.  "... he had done naught but review his life in terms of the crime he had committed against her...To work one's imagination on someone else is evil." Patience is a virture and all we crave from one another is companionship. Reel in this elegant, moral story and take it to heart.

EMILY, ALONE - Rings Close to Home

The author for the novel EMILY, ALONE,  Stewart O'Nan, has received the Faulkner Prize for SNOW ANGEL and the Heinz Lit. Prize for his short story collection; IN the WALLED CITY.  O'Nan drew me into his novel about aging gracefully and looking back on one's life.  Admittedly, I thought this book might be geared for the geriatric set but I soon realized that this is a story we can all relate to; either having an elderly parent or with the understanding that this is the path we all will take should we be blessed to reach old age.  Emily, a widow, lives alone except for her loyal companion, her dog Rufus.  Both her son & daughter who have long since moved away from home with children of their own.  Emily tries to fill her lonely days and desperately waits for calls and visits from her family.  Emily also has her spinsiter sister-in-law, Arlene, for better or worse, who look out for each other.  "Though they all lived alone, and preferred to, they were all worried about one another equally."  I grew to care for Emily despite her self-righteousness because so much of what she did or thought was touching and meaningful.  "At her age, it was dangerous to think the past was all she had, her life already defined, when every day was another chance."  I'm going to call my mom and tell her to read this book and how much I think she'll enjoy it.

IN ONE PERSON by John Irving - a plea for tolerance

Having finished Irving's IN ONE PERSON, I'm left with a deep melancholy for the intolerance and insurmountable lives lost to the AIDS epidemic in the 1980's.  Irving is the master of politicizing prescient issues of the day by giving us indelible heroes who find fortitude with the support of colorful and generous characters.  Billy Abbott struggles with his bi-sexuality while attending an all boy's boarding high school.  His support comes from his kindly, thespian step-father, cross-dressing grandfather and sometime lover & life-long friend, Elaine.  Irving's story begins in an east coast, all male boarding school in the 60's. A time when  homosexuals needed to be covert, or suffer humiliation if not outright physical abuse.  Irving references the numerous alum who are killed in the Viet Nam War. The veterans who did return were spurned by our country.  The 80's aids victims outnumbered Viet Nam casualties and were also ostracized.  Billy loses far too many friends and associates to aids. In the 90's Billy returns to his school to mentor other young students and observes some progress in terms of sexual tolerance. But what progress has really been achieved? Gay marriage is illegal in most states.  Bullying of others has become epidemic.  In the words of the late Bernard King,  "can't we all just get along?"

BOOKS that Beg to be Reread from High School

I have just returned from an invigorating lecture on Harriet Beecher Stowe's UNCLE TOM'S  CABIN, "the most influential novel ever written by an American.  The last time I read Stowe's novel was back in high school (albeit not that long ago...) and it made me consider books read then, that I feel compelled to read again (no tests or papers required.)  My list is as follows in addition to UNCLE TOM's CABIN:  HUCKLEBERRY FINN, Twain, TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, Lee, NATIVE SON or BLACK BOY, Wright, NOT WITHOUT LAUGHTER, Hughes, INVISIBLE MAN, Ellison, SOUL on ICE, Cleaver, THERE IS a TREE MORE ANCIENT than EDEN, Forrest, THE BLUEST EYES, Morrison, COMMON SENSE or RIGHTS of MAN, Paine, and WARRIOR's DON'T CRY: A SEARING MEMOIR of the BATTLE to INTEGRATE LITTLE ROCK'S CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL by Melba Patillo Beals, of whom I have had the great honor of meeting and hearing her speak.

Leo Tolstoy said, "UNCLE TOM'S CABIN is the highest level of art; on par with Shakespeare." It's been said that the Bible and UNCLE TOM's CABIN are the two highest sold books of all time.

IN ONE PERSON by John Irving

I have named John Irving as one of my favorite authors & his book, Cider House Rules on at least 1 of my top 10 lists.  I have loved many of his previous works, THE WORLD ACCORDING TO GARP, A WIDOW for ONE YEAR and A PRAYER for OWEN MEANY.  I was not enamored with some of his more recent works:  UNTIL I FIND YOU or LAST NIGHT in TWISTED RIVER.  However, I am midway through his new book IN ONE PERSON which deals poignantly and sensitively to one's sexual identity and the spectrum of sexual attraction.  The protagonist, a pre-teen boy William, is trying to sort out his own confusing sexual feelings and confides in his step-father Richard.  William speaks to Richards of his "dangerous crushes-a crush on the wrong person."  The kindly and sagacious Richard tells him "...there's no such thing. There are no 'wrong' people; we're free to have crushes on anyone we want."  I am enjoying IN ONE PERSON and the quirky, interesting people he encounters set in another one of Irving's New England private schools.  I recommend reading Irving's book along with me.  I also recommend seeing the play "COCK" @ the Duke Theatre which also deals with William's dilemma of how "...to acknowledge the most confusing aspects of my bisexuality."

"Say Her Name" Francisco Goldman's Memoir of His Late Wife

A rule I abide when reading any book; I'll read to page 100 but stop if I'm not interested.  There are way too many other books to read.  Francisco Goldman's "Say Her Name," is a loving tribute to his young wife, Aura, who dies in a freak ocean accident just a year into their marriage.  I was easily drawn into this ill-fated love affair.  Goldman wrote upon first meeting her, "She smiled at me with that smile and I must have smiled back as if I couldn't believe my luck.  Hola!  I said..Hello! Meet your death."  I felt their deep love for each other and his debilitating grief.  "One of the last things she ever said to me was: Love me a lot, my love."  I even sided with Goldman when his in-laws turn vehemently against him, blaming him for Aura's death.  However, the book turns lugubrious as he drones on, quoting all the private and banal writings from Aura's childhood diaries: not interested.  Perhaps, a mother might be interested in reading her daughter's diaries (not that I would ever admit to this breech of privacy.)  I am saying that Goldman's memoir may have been cathartic for him, but there was way more information than I cared to know.  Read Joan Didion's "The Year of Magical Thinking," instead.

"To the End of the Land," by David Grossman

After just seeing the Israeli doc. film, "FOLLOW ME, the Yoni Netanyahu Story, I want to recommend the novel, "To the End of the Land," by Israeli author, David Grossman.  David Grossman, is one Israel's most famous and honored author.  In 2010, Grossman received the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade and in 2011, he received the JQ Wingate Prize for his work, "To the End of the Land."  Grossman's middle son, Uri, was killed in a missile attack by the Hezbollah in Lebanon along with the rests of his crew in Aug. '06.  Uri was just 2 weeks shy of 21 and 3 months away from the end of his military assignment.  Grossman's poignant novel depicts the emotional strains of having your loved ones deployed into combat.  This Memorial Day, while we give thanks to those who serve our country and remember those who have given sacrifice, remember too, in Israel, parents give birth to their children knowing they will be called to military service "as that is the way of life in Israel."  I encourage you to read "To the End of the Land," and to see the Israeli documentary, "FOLLOW ME."

There is a Tree More Ancient than Eden, L. Forrest

At a recent 92ndY dialogue with Prof. Louis Gates, Jr., he mentioned this book as one of the most important novels of our times.  And, when Prof. Gates talks, I listen, so I wanted to get a hold of this book.  This however, was no easy task as it is out of publication & the NYC libraries do not lend out this book.  Thankfully, I persevered and managed to obtain a copy of this most unique and eloquent prose I have had the pleasure to read.  The forward of this novel is by Ralph Ellison.  To quote from Mr. Ellison's comments: "How furiously eloquent is this man Forrest's prose, how zestful his jazz-like invention, his parody, his reference to the classics and commonplaces of literature, folklore, tall-tale and slum street jive! How admirable the manner in which the great themes of life and literature are revealed in the black-white Americanness of his characters..."  Why this book isn't on most high school curriculum's is a mystery to me and a total travesty.  Persevere and get a hold of this important work of art, "There is a Tree More Ancient than Eden," by Leon Forrest.

Salvage the Bones by J. Ward

Everyone knows there's no tying in baseball and that each year the Pulitzer Prize is given out to the best work of fiction.  Oh wait, Selig, the Commissioner of Baseball called a tie in an All Star game, and, this year there was no Pulitzer awarded for fiction.  Ms. Ward's heart wrenching novel was awarded the National Book award but I am now awarding it the Pulitzer Prize in fiction (even if it was from 2011.)  I have not been so drawn to a heroine, Esch, where I wanted to wrap my arms around her and protect her. Esch is the only female in a dirt poor household of males as her beloved mother died in childbirth with her younger brother.  The novel is set in MI over the 12 days leading to the destruction of Katrina.  Esch's older brother, Skeetah, is another amazing character who cares for his pit bull China with a boundless love.  Esch compares herself & Skeetah to Medea & Jason for good reason and to great effect.  Esch's prose reminds me of Huck Finn's innocent yet beautiful descriptions.  In describing her surroundings she says "...the detritus in the yard: refrigerators rusted so that they look like deviled eggs sprinkled with paprika." This is a book of our times and one destined to be a classic for all times.

DO OVER on the Top 10 List

Okay, any true bibliophile will always be revising any top list of their all time favorite books and I'm no exception (besides, My Blog My Rules*.)  So, here are my top 10 additions to my top 10 novels of all time (in alphabetical order):  Fahrenheit 451, R. Bradbury; I love the sci-phi genre and he is the master, Lord of the Flies, W. Golding, a classic on human nature, Winter's Tale, M. Halprin (I needed a sweater while reading,) To Kill a Mocking Bird, H. Lee (doohh should be on everyone's list,) The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, C. McCullers, The Bluest Eyes, T. Morrison (toss up with Beloved,) The Shipping News, A. Proulx (Proulx & A. Monroe are masters of the short story,) Barney's Version, M. Richler (one of my favorite characters,) Angel of Repose, W. Stegner (WI alumni,) Saint Maybe, A. Tyler (toss up with Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant,) #11 Rabbit is Rich, J. Updike.  Okay, I said top 10, but I also say *MBMR.

My Top 10 Favorite Authors

Readers, I am almost finished with SALVAGE THE BONES, by Jesmyn Ward.  SALVAGE did win the National Book Award this year and will be getting another honor bestowed upon it soon, a must read recommendation from MOIS.  In the meantime, I want to give you another top 10 list (and would love to hear your - ah, top 3.)  I'll get it out of the way 1st, and her last name begins with A and I am chick after-all, Jane Austen, but I will also add Charles Dickens, the 3 Johns:  John Irving, John Updike, & John Cheever, Philip Roth, Anne Tyler, Voltaire (whom everyone imitates - Candide = Forest Gump,) Annie Proux, and Toni Morrison.  Coming in @ #11, Graham Greene.  I know I said top 10 but my blog, my rules - I'm quite the rogue myself even though I am a girl.

Head Start on the Summer Reading Suggestions

Welcome Bibliophiles, to Rogue Reading off the Hidden Page.  I am going to post my Fiction & Non/F picks for this summer's reading.  Fiction Books in alphabetical order by author:  The Bay of Angels, by Bookner, A Spell of Winter, by Dunmore, There is Tree More Ancient Than Eden, by Forrest, Not Without Laughter, by Hughes, Ignorance, by Kundera, Deafening, by Itani, The Boat, by Le,  Please Look After Mom, by Shin and Salvage the Bones, by Ward.  My Non-Fiction list in alphabetical order: Say Her Name, by Goldman, When Elephants Weep, by Masson, Swagger, by Bloom, The Henry Louis Gates, Jr. Reader, by Gates.  I'm just getting started.  I hope you will read some (or all) of my recommendations.  My 1st pick is Salvage the Bones by Ward.  I will write a succinct synopsis in my sauciest style and hope you will check in and give me your feedback.  "The dearest ones of time, the strongest friends of the soul-BOOKS." E. Dickinson

Top 10 Picks to Chose from

Top 10 favorite novels, fellow Rogue Readers, before hitting my summer reading list, I wanted to share my top 10 favorite novels  (in alphabetical order.):  Robinson Crusoe, D. Defoe, Snow Falling on Cedars, D. Guterson, The Cider House Rules, J. Irving, Freedom, J. Franzen,  The Heart of the Matter, G. Graham, The History of Love, N. Krauss, Gate at the Stairs, L. Moore, The Life of Pi, Y. Martel, The Human Stain, P. Roth, and Frankenstein, M. Shelly.  I'd be interested in your comments on my list (and omissions) - say you're top 3 picks.  Keep on reading off the less tread path onto the hidden page.