It is the year 2031, and Ari Waker, after spending eighteen years in prison, decides to go to a party with her roommate, Gloria. Ari doesn’t know the host, Kareem Fayed, but he and Gloria are good friends. Strange things seem to be happening at the party. For instance, Kareem walks into his kitchen and disappears.

I am usually not a fan of science fiction, however, I like the works of Emily St. John Mandel that I have read. Like Under Story that was reviewed a few weeks ago, there are doppelgangers here, but unlike Under Story, Exit Party was never confusing. This is a novel that should be read to the very end. Only then do some of its details make sense.

Chloe Benjamin’s third novel centers on Laurel Salter, a scientist specializing in fungus. After a horrific tragedy occurs, she decides to leave her world and takes on a six month job as a dishwasher in Antarctica. What she discovers there is a complicated way to relive her life and elimination the tragedy-sort of.

Under Story is a science fiction tale built around a family story. Without giving much of the plot away, the science fiction part is about a dual universe where people are born into old age and die in utero. The family saga was great, especially the relationship between Laurel and her husband, but the sections about the two worlds were, for me, confusing, unbelievable and unsatisfying.

Samantha, Roy and Ennis grew up in rural Virginia in the early 1900’s. Roy is attending Vanderbilt, is from a fairly wealthy family, and assumes he and Samantha will marry one day. Ennis raised himself in the wild, does not remember who is parents are, and falls in love with Samantha who loves him right back. When their country participates in World War I, all three lives change dramatically.

Kevin Powers’ most recent novel is beautifully written with three strong, interesting main characters. It is a subtle book that poses some philosophical questions. Personally, because I am not big on war, I would have preferred less pages describing Ennis and Roy’s battle time in France in 1918.

The author is the oldest son of Bernardine Dohrn and Bill Ayers, members of The Weathermen, a group of revolutionaries during the 60’s and 70’s. Dangerous, Dirty, Violent & Young is part memoir, part family history, and part a rendering of that era in American history.

If I hadn’t been encouraged by a reader whose opinion I value, I would have never chosen to read this work of nonfiction. I am so glad I read it. It is extremely well-written with many insights into that decade of American unrest. Anyone who lived through that time and is even somewhat liberal, might want to read Dangerous, Dirty, Violent & Young.

The narrator is an adult male looking on the year he was eleven. Although we know much about the child when he is eleven, we know very little about him after that year. The boy’s parents immigrated from Korea, and they now live in a multi-racial and ethnic community outside of New York City. His name is Jeon-Gi, and he is a bright child, fairly good at sports, yet has some disturbing experiences. Some of these are not his fault, some are because of others, and some are questionable about who is at fault.

This novel left me with more questions than answers. Jeon-Gi is quite a complex character. What motivates some of his actions are not definitive. A book group would probably have a lively discussion after reading A Tender Age.

Tyler Sinclair, a famous singer and songwriter, abruptly left his hometown of Stone Mountain when he was eighteen. He is returning for the first time years later to perform a benefit concert for his friend Doc who is a paraplegic. Tyler dreads his return to Stone Mountain as well he should. There are folks, for several reasons, who would like to see him dead.

If Richard Russo’s name was not on the cover of Under the Falls, I never would have guessed that he wrote it. No where is there Russo’s wonderful sense of humor. The warm, struggling, lovable characters that are such an important part of his novels are nowhere to be found in Under the Falls. It is not a terrible book, it’s just not up to Richard Russo standards.

The Krzelewski-Petrosian family is leaving California and moving to Vermont. Kate has accepted a teaching job at a small college. Miles plans on finally finishing his dissertation on Russian folk tales, something has always prevented him from even getting started. Olive and Wesley, their children, seem to adapting well to a life far different from their years in California. Country People is about this family and the somewhat eccentric, but heart-warming, people they meet in rural Vermont.

Daniel Mason’s most recent novel is different from any of his other novels. Country People is amusing, fun and smartly-written with a positive take on small town life. There are no heroes or villains, only ordinary, decent people trying to understand what the world is all about.

Kathryn Stockett’s second novel takes place in Mississippi in 1933 and is narrated in two alternating voices. Meg is an eleven year old girl. She is living in an orphanage that is run by a mean, puritanical director who is especially cruel to Meg. She was raised by a single mother who simply disappeared one day. Birdie is a twenty something single woman living in a small town in Mississippi with her mother and grandmother. She must travel to Oxford to beg her sister for money. What happens to Meg and Birdie in the next few months is the crux of The Calamity Club.

Anyone who enjoyed Kathryn Stockett’s first novel, The Help, will want to read The Calamity Club. Although it could have used some editing in a few places, it is touching, humorous and informative.with very engaging main characters as well as fine secondary ones.

The narrator is an American man who after graduating college takes a job as an archivist for a 92 year old baroness in Tuscany. He meets a number of interesting people during his six month stay at Villa Coco. He also learns Italian and gradually discovers much about these characters as well as about himself.

Villa Coco is a good summer read. It is sweet, charming, at times humorous and makes the reader want to visit Italy. Villa Coco is an enjoyable read but without much depth.

Contrapposto is the life of Robert (Cricket) Dibb. He is a talented artist who grows up in a small town in Indiana. His life, his artistry and his need to earn a living takes him all over the world performing various jobs. When he is a teenager in Indiana, he meets Olympia. She is two years older than Cricket, a free spirit who knows commercial talent the minute she sees it. Cricket falls in love with her almost instantly. Unfortunately for him, she appears in his life only sporadically.

I loved Contrapposto! It is well-written with wonderfully described characters. One can’t help but be drawn into Cricket’s life and the people he encounters. Eggers also, through Cricket’s journey, alludes to how difficult it is for a gifted artist to make it in a commercial world.