Highly recommended newer fiction
I have frequently written about my efforts to read books by authors of races and cultures other than my own. I encourage you to do the same. Here are three well-written and compelling novels that may very well put you outside of your reading comfort zone. And it will be well worth it. These stories are heartbreaking and hopeful, brutal and beautiful, thought-provoking and thoughtful.
Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward
When I wrote brutal and beautiful above, I was thinking of this one especially. It's a family story, a road trip story, a ghost story. It will haunt you and make you think. You will *feel* this book while you're reading it. The weight of the trauma and the grief. But you will also feel the love among family. I was especially moved by the relationship between Pop and JoJo. The novel deals with timely, difficult and important topics - trauma, addiction, racism, poverty, and incarceration.
Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
This epic family story spans four generations and illuminates a part of history about which I knew nothing and a culture about which I know very little. Multiple generations of a Korean family bear hardships and tragedy in their quest for a better life in Japan. Yet I found this to be ultimately a hopeful story. The characters will undoubtedly draw you in. I particularly admired the strong women in the family, who often assured their loved ones' survival despite the odds. This is another timely read, given the now-and-always prevalent topic of immigration.
An American Marriage by Tayari Jones
I loved the arc of this story and the character development as well. The novel centers around the unjust prosecution and incarceration of a black man for a crime he did not commit. Can we imagine the long term and far-reaching effects not just on one family, but on multiple families and communities? Part of the book is epistolary in format, featuring letters between newlyweds Celestial and Roy. If you'd only been married a year and then separated for five years - what then would become of your marriage? At turns tragic, funny, heartbreaking, and hopeful - I admire Jones' writing style and her storytelling. Excellent.
For additional diverse voices, see also the following books listed below : Everything I Never Told You, I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter, Hunger, and I Was Told to Come Alone.
Two by two
I happened to read two novels each by Celeste Ng and Amor Towles in the past six months.
Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng
Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
Both of these open with a tragic event, a death in the first book and a fire in the second. The novels then go back and detail the events leading up to the tragedy. So from the start, you know you are barreling toward the inevitable right along with the characters. Families and secrets play a key role in both novels. At times, I was frustrated by the actions of the characters, as in "Don't you people ever TALK to each other!" But they don't talk to each other, and they don't understand each other, and tragedy ensues. Both books are decent novels; of the two, I preferred Little Fires.
A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
I read Towles' novels consecutively in the order they were published. His writing has been described as sparkling, and I agree wholeheartedly. I enjoyed Rules of Civility, but A Gentleman in Moscow is my favorite of the two. I would gladly reread it. Count Alexander Rostov is an aristocrat sentenced by the Bolsheviks to house arrest in an elegant Moscow hotel. Rostov creates an interesting life for himself and interacts with a multitude of fascinating characters, as many of the events of modern Russian and world history pass by. A charming read!
Local/Midwestern authors
The Collected Stories by Carol Wobig
The Salt Before It Shakes by Yvonne Stephens
I had the pleasure to read both of these books and then attend an event featuring the authors at a local book store. Wobig's short stories are thoroughly entertaining. Stephens' chapbook of poetry is full of gems Both books where published by Hidden Timber Books. I'm glad to have these titles on my bookshelf, as I'll definitely be revisiting both.
A newly-appreciated (by me) classic, some historical fiction & more
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
I read Smith's classic coming of age novel before, probably more than a decade ago. Rereading it for book club, I was touched more deeply by the story. I can't say exactly why, but it got me thinking about how books affect us differently on a second reading or at different times.
Enchantress of Numbers by Jennifer Chiaverini
I thoroughly enjoyed this work of historical fiction about Ada Lovelace, which also is a well-written novel of manners.
Saint Mazie by Jami Attenberg
This is another well-done work of historical fiction about a person of whom I had never heard. Entertaining and enlightening.
Brooklyn by Colm Toibin
This is decent historical fiction, which I read as a companion piece to A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.
Lila by Marilyn Robinson
I read Robinson's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, Gilead, so I was excited to read Lila - a sort of companion novel to Gilead -for book club. Robinson writes so beautifully. I love the voice of the character Lila in this book.
The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin
This novel is about four siblings whose life trajectories are apparently influenced by a fortune-teller they meet as children. Was it fate or the choices they made? There is some good storytelling in the individual tales of each sibling.
I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika L. Sanchez
This young adult novel packs a lot of issues into one book. It's mostly well done and certainly gives an interesting view into Mexican culture and into the teenage mind.
Nonfiction miscellany
Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body by Roxane Gay
This is not a traditional memoir. It has a sort of spiraling style that at times felt repetitive and vague to me. But it is also effective in conveying the author's experiences and feelings in a way that is very moving. Gay shares the experiences and vulnerability of living in her body and provides a necessary perspective for those of us who are not or have never been obese.
How To Break Up With Your Phone by Catherine Price
This is a quick read. Price provides interesting information about how smartphones and social media are designed to hook us in. She also offers useful ideas about how to change our relationships with our phones so they don't feature so prominently in our lives.
I Was Told to Come Alone: My Journey Behind the Lines of Jihad by Souad Mehkennet
This was a fascinating read about a female Muslim journalist. Her perspective is important, and her experiences and adventures around the globe will have you at the edge of your seat.
Prairie Fires: The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder by Caroline Fraser
Winner of the 2018 Pulitzer Prize in Biography, this book sheds new light on the lives of Laura Ingalls Wilder and her family, in particular her daughter Rose Wilder Lane, while also placing their life stories in the bigger picture of history.
*****
That's my year in reading so far. And now to plan my summer reading...
How about you? What have you read recently or what are you planning to read this summer?
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