On April 14, 2014, 276 adolescent schoolgirls were abducted from their school in Nigeria.  After watching their school buildings burn to the ground, they were forced to walk or ride in airless convoys to a very remote area of Nigeria.  The kidnappers were a part of a militant Islamic group who called themselves Boko Haram.  One of the group’s tenets is a firm belief that women should not be educated, rather they should marry young, bear children and carry out household duties.  Some of the girls converted to Islam and married their captors hoping to receive better treatment.  The majority of the girls refused.  A few were able to escape and return to their families.  Here is their story with special attention given to four of the kidnapped girls.

Beneath the Tamarind Tree is a heart-breaking read.  Throughout one can see how the author identifies with these girls and finds their behavior heroic.

Kate Atkinson is back with another Jackson Brodie book.  This time Jackson, one time policeman, now part-time private investigator, has semi-retired to small seaside village in England.  He is hired to follow a cheating husband by the man’s wife.  While working on the case and taking care of his adolescent son and his ex girlfriend’s dog, he comes across far nastier crimes than a case of infidelity.  In pursuit of justice, Brodie encounters a cast of quirky characters and gets involved in a plot that has many twists and turns.

I thoroughly enjoyed Case Histories, Atkinson’s first Jackson Brodie novel.  In Big Sky she once again writes a clever mystery with some endearing, humorous characters, and on top of the list is Brodie.  However, if you’re looking for a realistic, violent who-done-it with a shocking ending,  Big Sky is not for you

Claire Lombardo’s debut novel is a family saga centering on the Sorensons.    Marilyn and David marry in their early 20’s, and while David begins medical school at The University of Iowa, Marilyn gives birth to the first of their four daughters.  They are loving, doting parents, yet somehow each of the daughters experience their own set of problems.  Wendy, the oldest, lost a husband and an unborn daughter, and seeks comfort drinking and picking up younger men.  Violet strives to be the perfect mother and wife, and the reader eventually discovers why.  Liza discovers she is pregnant while living with a man who is clinically depressed and Grace lies to her family, feels terrible about it, but can’t bring herself to tell them the truth.

If The Most Fun We Ever Had sounds like a soap opera, it’s because it is.  However, for me it was the right book to begin the summer with-easy to get into, good character development, a fast moving plot, and a lot of Chicago streets and landmarks that I recognized.

This beautifully written book is difficult to describe.  The text is a letter that the main character, who we know only by his nickname, Little Dog, writes to his mother, Rose, who will never be able to read it.  Little Dog, his mother, and his grandmother Lan move from Viet Nam to Hartford, Connecticut.  In both locations they experience violence, evil and bigotry.  Through Little Dog’s retelling of his life in bits and pieces, we learn much about him and the people he cares about.

On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous is not an easy read.  It goes back and forth in time often.  Some of the novel is written as stream of conscious, and some of the scenes Vuong describes are horrifically graphic.  However, there are many sentences throughout this debut novel that are “gorgeously” quotable and thought-provoking.

Amber Scorah is a third generation Jehovah’s Witness.  For about thirty years she followed all of their strict rules, went door to door warning people about Armageddon, and even became an undercover missionary in China.  However, when she spoke to some acquaintances she met in Shanghai about other religions and communicating with people over the internet, she began to question the doctrines of her faith.  Scorah eventually left the church which resulted in her never seeing her husband or other family members again.

If you found Educated a fascinating memoir, you probably will enjoy Leaving the Witness.  Amber Scorah writes a good story, and I liked learning what Jehovah Witnesses are all about.

One day in August on the Kamchatka Peninsula, a remote area in northeastern Russia, two young sisters are kidnapped by a man with a round face and a well taken care of dark sedan.  Disappearing Earth depicts, in twelve vignettes characters from the region whose lives are closely or loosely tied to the missing girls.  There is Alla, whose youngest daughter has been missing for four years, Oksana, who thinks she saw the girls get into the kidnapper’s car, Marina the mother of the missing sisters, as well as others.

I thought Phillips’ debut novel was fantastic.  First of all, I love learning about people and places I never knew existed.  Also, all the characters are finely drawn with just enough tension in their lives for me to remember them and want to continue reading.  Don’t worry about their foreign names;  Phillips describes the cast of characters at the beginning of Disappearing Earth.

Louis McDonald Jr. is about to turn 64.  He is divorced and  has a daughter and granddaughter he rarely sees although they only live twenty minutes away.  His father recently died and Louis, because he is his only living child, expects to inherit everything.  He recently retired and spends most of his days sitting alone at home watching television and eating unhealthy food and drinking too much.  One day he is driving by a house with a sign out front that announces, “Free Dogs.”  Louis turns into the driveway and becomes the proud owner of Layla, a mutt who gags for no apparent reason.

Biloxi is an enjoyable novel.  Louis is a wonderful character-sometimes insightful, sometimes pathetic, but always entertaining.  And if you don’t fall in love with Layla,  you’re not a dog lover!

Reverend Willie Maxwell was never found guilty but most of the people in his home town were certain he murdered five family members.  He took out insurance on all of them shortly before their mysterious deaths and collected thousand of dollars soon after they died.  Tom Radney is the lawyer who got Maxwell off each time, but after the Reverend’s death, wanted the world to know Maxwell had murdered all five relatives.  Harper Lee, author of To Kill a Mockingbird, after years of publishing nothing, wanted to tell the story of Willie Maxwell and the attorney who defended him.

In some ways Furious Hours is three separate books-Maxwell’s story, Radney’s and Harper Lee’s.   While Cep is a descriptive writer, she never took enough time bringing all of their experiences together.  My guess is she really didn’t have enough information to do that.  Also, I expected and wanted Furious Hours to be more of a true crime story than a biography of Harper Lee.

 

Sarah Blake’s saga describes three generations of a successful WASP family.  Ogden Milton, the patriarch, owns a business that survives the Great Depression and World War II.  He and his beautiful, charming wife Kitty raise three children who give them five grandchildren. The family’s summer home is on an island in Maine, a place where the family relaxes and throws parties.  In 1959 Ogden and Kitty are hosting an engagement party for their younger daughter when a Jew and a Black man appear.  After that date, the Milton’s lives are never quite the same.

The Guest Book bounces back and forth in time, and with two characters named Evelyn, the beginning is a bit confusing.  Also, although the Miltons encounter tragedies in their lives, for me it was a little difficult to sympathize with such a privileged family that never wanted to face any of their problems.

It is the first month of 2011, and Marianne and Connell are in high school in a small town in Ireland.  Connell is popular, attractive and good looking.  Marianne is average looking, intelligent but friendless.  Connell’s mother is Marianne’s family’s cleaning lady.  Connell’s mom is loving and rational while Marianne’s mother and older brother are abusive and cold.  Normal People is the story of their relationship over the next four years.  Connell and Marianne sleep together, stop sleeping together, go to college at Trinity in Dublin together, find other people to date there, sleep with each other again, and break off again.

The plot of Normal People may sound trite and dull, but is interesting, emotional and fulfilling.  Connell and Marianne are multi-dimensional characters, realistically portrayed.  Throughout the four years of their on again, off again affair,  the reader slowly begins to understand why they need each other even if the characters do not.