“REMARKABLY BRIGHT CREATURES” BY SHELBY VAN PELT
This first novel might have been just another story about love and loss, with a spare list of ordinary characters with the usual quirkiness that carries a plot along. But, instead, plan to be charmed by the most unusual of - shall we say - heroes? Marcellus, an aging giant Pacific octopus tops the chart as this book's most surprising (and astute) character who will wrap you in his tentacles and make the ensuing story a delight. It's a great read.
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“THE GIRL WHO COULD BREATHE UNDER WATER” BY ERIN BARTELS
If you like water, and summer on the beach, and a mystery death and lots of soul-searching, you'll find plenty of it in this novel. To me, it was a bit more soul-searching than necessary. The book could have been at least 100 pages shorter if our heroine could have had some deep counseling back when she was a teenager. But that's a good part of what our author is trying to tell the reader - don't let trauma simmer for years before trying to understand and get help.
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“AN IMMENSE WORLD” BY ED YOUNG
This book contains all you ever wanted to know about the extra-special senses that animals use every day of their lives. You'll be amazed at all the variations in sensory abilities that live in the tiniest of ants to the largest of elephants - and all the creatures in between. We humans may think we're the top in everything - but that's far from true. Don't try to read this thick book all in one sitting, there's too much there. But savor each chapter as it opens your world to the vast animal world of wonders.
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“LESSONS IN CHEMISTRY” BY BONNIE GARMUS
Chemistry was never my favorite subject, but this novel had me smiling all the way through. Because, even though the story line is all about chemistry and chemists, it's a humorous and imaginative (but still believable) tale taking place 60-some years ago when women in science were almost unheard-of and certainly had no future for recognition of their talents. Congratulations to our author who has created delightfully original characters who make the story sing.
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“JACKIE & ME” BY LOUIS BAYARD
For those of us who have lived through the Kennedy years, this book will bring back memories. For those who have only heard of the Kennedy family, this book may fill in a few more of the blanks. It is a novel, so know that not all things will necessarily be true. But enough of the Kennedy family history will certify that our narrator was a good friend and right-hand man of Jack, as well as a good friend to Jacqueline Bouvier. This tale sees Jack and Jackie through a strange courtship and their inevitable marriage.
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“THE MIDCOAST” BY ADAM WHITE
This is a different sort of mystery that eases its way into being. Placed in and around a small town in coastal Maine (there truly IS a Damariscotta, and if you've been there you know that the surrounding towns mentioned are there as well). Although we learn early-on that something bad happened, the murder part of the mystery finally creeps into being slowly - after the story's characters are well established as typical Maine coast citizens. So expect the unexpected which, of course, is all part of the mystery.
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“SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL HAPPENED” BY YVETTE MANESSIS CORPORON
This is a true story of "Survival and Courage in the Face of Evil," as the book's cover tells us, spanning the years from World War II to the present. Its scope comes not from central Europe but from one of the tiniest of Greek islands and leads to America's Midwest. Our author, born into a Greek Orthodox community, unwinds a labyrinth of discoveries that expands her family history, her long list of friends, and her growing community of faith. Extremely personalized - a bit much to my taste.
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“CARVED IN STONE” BY ELIZABETH CAMDEN
I hesitate to not recommend a book, as I realize that my reading tastes may not be the same as yours. And my feelings for this one have nothing to do with too much mayhem or too much sex or too short or too long. It's mainly that the plot (centered around the Carnegies of New York), mixed with the necessary romantic story line, seems too unreal, with the disparate characters meeting in contrived situations. So be forewarned. And, if you don't agree with me, that's OK, too.
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“THE IMPOSSIBLE THINGS” BY SALMA EL-WARDANY
This review was a hard one for me to tackle, as was the reading of this book. The basic reason, I believe, is that this is a contemporary book about contemporary life with three young Muslim women in London. And I am a Christian woman born way too many years ago into a completely different sociological milieu. But the basic story itself, and the author's masterful way of writing, make it an important one in today's literature. It's a modern-day treatise on family and faith, all under the complications of tradition.
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