Fans of Geraldine Brooks might also enjoy her novel March featuring Bronson Alcott and family. She also wrote a nonfiction work–Nine Parts of Desire that’s about Islamic women. Brooks was a reporter for the Wall Street Journal and covered the Middle East.
I’m in the middle of Jodi Picoult’s new book House Rules and I enthusiastically recommend it. In a nutshell, it’s about a teenager with Asperger’s who’s accused of murdering his social skills tutor, but that description doesn’t do it justice. The story is told from several perspectives–the boy, his brother, his mother, the boy’s lawyer and a detective investigating the case.
I would like to recommend a very light but very engaging book, Juliet, by Anne Fortier. Like the DaVinci Code and The Historian, it plays with history and an old story – in this case, Romeo and Juliet, but it also has large dollops of romance and comedy. The descriptions of Siena alone make it worth it. A lot of fun!
Also finished A Fierce Radiance by Lauren Belfer, a novel set during World War II, about the mass manufacture of penicillin. This book puzzled me. Many years ago, I read her first, City of Light, and I remember her writing to be much more original, not so romance novel-ish. She combines a lot of research and a great story with really cardboard characters. But the images of New York during war time and the story of penicillin are fascinating.
Also The Map of True Places by Brunonia Barry. I did not read the Lace Reader, and I gather many readers were disappointed by this, her second. At first, I thought I could not get into it at all but by the end I was charmed. The main character is a therapist, and the suicide of one of her patients and the illness of her father make her move home and learn things about her mother. Lots of Hawthorne references, a taste of Salem, and sailing. Not great but not bad.
I love non-fiction about specific small areas of American history, and just finished “A Bright and Guilty Place” by Richard Rayner, about Los Angeles in the late 1920s-1930s, when corruption really took hold of the justice system. All I can say is wow - everyone was on the take in those days, even guys who started out as crusaders. The main story deals with an assistant DA who murdered two gangland figures, probably to protect himself from being outed as yet another corrupt law enforcement official. An amazing true story, with a supporting cast that includes Raymond Chandler and Clara Bow. (going to watch “Chinatown” this afternoon, in appreciation. :))
The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins is my favorite of all time. Woman in White by same author is good as well. These books will take you back to a gentler time.
Was surprised that no one mentioned The Secret Life of Bees - thought that was a great read!
^ Just downloaded the free Kindle version. Thanks for the suggestion!
I agree with you re The Secret Life of Bees. I’d also add that it’s a good book for teens (especially girls)–a nice alternative to the junk that’s out there.
I’m in the middle of “Freedom” by Jonathan Franzen. Great book with great characters. He is a great writer as I really enjoyed his last book, “The Corrections”.
Just finished In the Sanctuary of Outcasts a memoir by Neil White. Very interesting. Learned about our prison system and our country’s way of dealing with US leprosy patients.
It’s been discussed a few times earlier on this thread. It’s one of my favorite books, but maybe because it’s an older one, it hasn’t been mentioned lately.
frazzled1, if you like non-fiction focusing on small areas of American History, you might like State of Jones, Firestorm at Peshtigo, and Obscene Extreme: the burning and banning of John Steinbeck’s Grapes of Wrath.
Thanks for the suggestions, IloveLA! I’ve read “Firestorm at Peshtigo” - fascinating story. I’d also recommend “Young Men and Fire” by Norman Maclean, which is really a great book about the Mann Gulch wildfire back in the 1940s. “The State of Jones” looks as if it will be in our next book order.
Now this is going to sound insane but hang with me…I adore Barbara Kingsolver. Read all her books. I have her most recent book “The Lacuna”. I’ve had it since it came out. Can’t make myself read (here come the crazy part) because I know she won’t write another one for another 5 years. Have I lost my mind?
I know they’re labeled as “young adult” books, but I just zipped through and loved the Hunger Games trilogy (Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and Mockingjay)- really great reads. On a totally different note, The Vagrants by Yiyun Li - just a gripping and wonderfully written book about a town in China during the Cultural Revolution - she’s become one of my favorite writers (love her short stories too).
I’ve been reading everything Juliet Marillier has written in the past few months. Just finished the last one (even read her young adult books). She is a great fantasy writer – sort of an British Isles twist to many of her books. She calls herself an “historical fantasist”. The only books I didn’t like were Wolfskin and Foxmask, but I have loved everything else.
maltmom and mommusic - I have read that there might be a 4th book in Larsson’s computer which his significant other of 20 years had when he died. Maybe we will see another book. We can pray to the book gods.
It’s one of my favorite books, but maybe because it’s an older one, it hasn’t been mentioned lately.
