Fiction Lovers
Get some ideas for your next group read
Young Jane Young by Gabrielle Zevin (2017) – For those of us who lived through the Bill Clinton sexual relations intern scandal, this book will seem familiar. What might not seem so familiar is the humor and candor about society’s standards contained in this light novel about how decisions we make when we are young have implications. (September 2017 IndieNext book.) ~ Lisa Cadow and Lisa Christie Em and The Big Hoom by Jerry Pinto (2012) – In a little over 200 pages this author charmed me with his narrative of a son trying to figure out his unusual family, one orbiting the ups and downs of his mother and the manifestations of her bipolar disease. Uniquely and beautifully infused with compassion, grace, lots of humor, insight and love, this gem of a book is a must read for anyone looking for a good story or anyone whose lives are touched by mental illness. (Note: This would make a great Book Club book – well-written, short, and on many levels profound.)~ Lisa Christie Mr. Churchill’s Secretary: Maggie Hope Mystery #1 by Susan Elia MacNeal (2012) – If you’re a fan of the Maisie Dobbs‘ series by author Jacqueline Winspear, this book is for you. Set in London in 1940, readers join brainy Maggie Hope who is working below her pay grade as — you guessed it! — Winston Churchill’s Secretary. Having graduated from the top of her class at her American college with a talent for mathematics, she is under-utilized scribing speeches. However, her work in the highest level of government brings her right up against the people making history and possibly ensnared in a plot to bring down the empire. This mystery has a little bit of everything: psychological intrigue, budding romance, a fascinating historical setting, unravelling family secrets, and a strong and admirable heroine. Highly recommended.~Lisa Cadow Sycamore Row by John Grisham (October 2013) – Mr. Grisham is a master at plot and suspense, and has once again created a page-turning story. Since I am a fan of the movie A Time To Kill, spending time with Jake Brigance during Sycamore Row — this time three years after the trial from A Time to Kill -- felt like a mini reunion. Again, as with Mr. Iles’s book, other reviewers agree this is a must read. As the New York Times review stated “‘Sycamore Row’ reminds us that the best legal fiction is written by lawyers.” Or as the Washington Post reviewer wrote “‘Sycamore Row’ is easily the best of his books that I’ve read and ranks on my list with Stephen King’s “11/22/63” as one of the two most impressive popular novels in recent years.” Please note: This book ended up on many best of 2013 lists — lists that include authors whose novels tend not to become blockbuster movies — and it was also previously mentioned by The Book Jam in our 2013 last minute holiday gifts post. ~ Lisa Christie The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer (2013) – This engrossing, entertaining story follows a group of friends from the moment they meet at summer camp, through how they somehow stay together as they go to separate colleges, get married – sometimes to each other, try to live in New York City on entry-level salaries, find and lose success, become parents, face an assortment of crisis points and well, just live their lives. Told from the perspective of Jules Jacobson, a girl from the suburbs who infiltrates a group of sophisticated young Manhattanites when sent to their camp on a scholarship, this novel is populated by complex, and well “interesting” characters who come together and apart as their lives and their interpretations of New York City change. In fact, “the City” itself is a character changing as mayors come and go, crime increases/decreases, AIDS epidemic enters, finances collapse and twin towers fall. ~ Lisa Christie Prep and American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld – They provide great starting points for conversations about high school and growing up (Prep) and politics (American Wife). ~ Lisa Christie August Snow by Stephen Mack Jones (2017) – I so hope there is someone like August Snow – half black, half Mexican, ex-cop with a strong sense of justice and community – looking out for Detroit. The hope this book expresses for Detroit’s future weaves throughout the narrative, and Mr. Jones’s descriptions of Detroit’s decline and partial resurgence make the city an actual character in this thriller. Yes, he makes mistakes and, wow, by the end his body count is way too high for my tastes, but so few books take place in modern day Detroit. Enjoy this one! ~ Lisa Christie The Terror by Dan Simmons– A spooky look at an actual Arctic tragedy will have you thinking about what you would do to survive. ~ Lisa Christie Bitter in the Mouth by Monique Truong – An affliction which makes words have taste renders a girl at a loss for words in many situations. The affliction serves as a meaningful metaphor for all the incredibly important things that the characters in this book can not or do not discuss. ~ Lisa Christie Mem by Bethany C Morrow (2018) – What happens when you can choose to eliminate horrific memories? Where do they go? What happens to your life afterwards? Ms. Morrow gives her answers to these questions in this slim look at life in 1920s Montreal. And, since Brenna Bellavance the newest bookseller at the Norwich Bookstore brought this to my attention, I will use her review and say ditto to the haunting aspect. “Elsie is not a real person. From the moment she came to exist, she has been told this repeatedly. She is merely the physical embodiment of an unwanted memory extracted from another woman, a real woman, whose face she sees every time she looks in a mirror. Except that she remembers a life she didn’t live, loves people she never met, thinks her own thoughts, and feels her own feelings. So what makes a real person….real? Exquisite and haunting, Mem has stayed with me.” (June 2018 IndieNext Book.) ~ Lisa Christie The Girl Who Fell from the Sky by Heidi Durrow – A novel about a childhood interrupted due to the parents’ bad, bad choices. A look at the projects, race/bi-racialness and what being poor and/or being black means as you grow up in the USA. Another winner of the Bellwether Prize for Socially Engaged Fiction, written by a poised and gracious woman. ~ Lisa Cadow and Lisa Christie Vida by Patricia Engel – Connected short stories by and about Colombian-Americans, but hold up on their own as well. Reminiscent of Jhumpha Lahiri’s work. Provides great insight into growing up in 1970 and 1980s new Jersey, as well as life in Colombia. A quick read if your club needs one. ~ Lisa Christie
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