The setting is a college campus in Illinois, the time is 1969-1970, and the title refers to the first date chosen in the draft lottery while The United States was fighting a war in Viet Nam.  The main character, Judy Talton, attends Central Illinois University , supported by a ROTC scholarship.  At the beginning of the school year, she attends an anti-war meeting which will ultimately change the way she feels about herself, her family and her future.  Should Judy give up the scholarship because it represents everything she no longer believes in, knowing that she cannot afford to attend college any other way?  This is one of several dilemmas Dragonette poses in her debut novel.

This was a very chaotic, dramatic time,  especially for college age individuals.  I realized while reading The Fourteenth of September that there are few books written about that era and the life and death decisions young people had to make.  Rita Dragonette writes a good story describing the turmoil, fears, anger and sadness of that time.

The Silence of the Girls is the story of Achilles and Briseis; a tale first told in The Iliad.  For the most part, Briseis is the narrator describing how after her Trojan family was murdered by the Greeks, she was given to Achilles as his slave/concubine.  Although she was from a royal family, Briseis, like all the Trojan women and girls who are captured, must carry out any tasks their captors ask them to do.  The focus of the novel is  Briseis’ relationship with Achilles and Patroclus and the plight of these Trojan women.

Pat Barker, winner of The Man Booker Award, is a fine writer.  She vividly describes the last years of  The Trojan War, portrays the main characters, especially Achilles, as complex, realistic individuals, and makes her readers empathize with how the women of Troy were treated.

Peter Hoeg is the most popular novelist in Denmark, and his most famous work is Smilla’s Sense of Snow.   If you’re looking for an “intelligent” mystery with a strong, smart, somewhat bizarre female protagonist a la Lisbeth Salander in Girl With the Dragon Tattoo etc., Smilla Moritz is your girl.  Single and 37 years old, she befriends a six year old boy, Isaiah, who dies one snowy night when he falls off the roof of the apartment building they both live in.  The Danish police call his death an accident, but Smilla sees clues which lead her to believe he has been murdered.  As she tries to figure out why anyone would want to kill Isaiah, she encounters an interesting cast of characters as she travels from Copenhagen to Greenland in an attempt to learn the truth.

Hoeg tells a good story.  There are twists and turns throughout the novel, and Smilla’s life is in jeopardy often.  There are a lot of characters to keep straight, and because Smilla is an expert in the formation and effects of snow and ice, there are parts of the book where there is more scientific description than I thought necessary.

Harari, the brilliant author of Sapiens and Homo Deus, has written a third work of nonfiction that is just as interesting and mind expanding as his first two.  The twenty-one lessons cover a wide range of relevant subjects today such as, equality, religion, terrorism and justice.  For each of these topics, Harari describes how they are important, how they are truthful and how helpful or harmful they are as we move towards 2055 and beyond.  Harari’s range of knowledge is almost unbelievable, and his explanations are clear, concise and perfectly explained.  I am a fan of Yuval Noah Harari even though his view of mankind and our future is sometimes pessimistic.

Warning:  If you are devoutly religious and a fan of Donald Trump, the Israeli government today and Brexit, you may find parts of 21 Lessons for the 21st Century offensive.

Scarlett Chen is single, pregnant and recently arrived in California from China.  Her ex boss, who is the father of her child, has sent her to a home for unwed Chinese mothers in Los Angeles.  She learns weeks before giving birth that the owner of the home plans on taking her child and giving it to the baby’s father who is back in China.   Scarlett escapes with a pregnant teenager named Daisy.  They drive to San Francisco where they both give birth and Scarlett finds employment and dodges detectives and officials who she feels want to take her baby away from her.

A River of Stars didn’t excite me.  I never felt totally involved in Scarlett and Daisy’s adventures possibly because some of their circumstances were not believable.

For me, the perfect read for the final days of summer.  Delia Owens’ debut novel has romance and mystery told against the lush setting of coastal North Carolina.  Kya Clark’s family has deserted her one by one, forcing her to live alone at a very young age.  While fending for herself, she learns to “read”  the flora and fauna around her even though she has only had one day of formal education.   Ostracized by almost everyone in the nearby town, Kya, know as Marsh Girl, cautiously forms relationships with two young men only to learn that humans are the least reliable life form in nature.

Delia Owens is a fine writer who deftly combines a coming of age novel with a possible murder mystery and a testimonial to the beauty of the North Carolina marshlands.

Kim’s debut novel follows a Korean family from 1951 to 1967.  Told in chapters narrated by several of the family members, If You Leave Me centers around Haemi, a strong-willed, independent, temperamental woman living in a country where females are ostracized if they are not meek and mild.  Other interesting, well-described characters are Haemi’s sickly but kind younger brother, her husband who survived the Korean War but will always bear the scars from it, and the love of Haemi’s life who wants to marry her and help raise her four daughters despite the consequences he knows they will face.

If You Leave Me is a wonderful read.  Kim’s characters are fully drawn, the situations they encounter are thoroughly realistic and the plot moves along quickly.

A strange and eerie debut novel.   As the title suggests, it is the story of a Christian cult heading towards acts of violence.  It is told in short segments narrated mostly by the three main characters-John Leal, the leader of the cult, Phoebe, a follower, and Will, who rejects Leal’s teachings and is in love with Phoebe.

The Incendiaries takes a long time to unfold,and, for me, each character’s back story got in the way of the plot’s progress.  Also, parts of the novel were a bit confusing, and some paragraphs I had to reread two or three times.

For my summer classic read, I chose Oscar Wilde’s only novel because I was intrigued by the concept and the author.  Dorian Gray, a beautiful English gentleman, is having his portrait painted by his friend and admirer, Basil Hallward.  Another English gentleman, the cynical and corrupt Lord Henry Wooten, is espousing his theories on life and nature while the portrait is being finished.  As the dark, Gothic novel progresses, Dorian goes from innocence to complete depravity.  While he stays as handsome and youthful as ever, his portrait takes on the true aging and abuse he heaves on himself and others.  Dorian keeps the frightening picture locked in a room in his attic, but there is always a chance that someone will find it as well as discover all the foul acts he has committed.

The Picture of Dorian Gray is a fast paced, sometimes exciting read with clever ideas verbalized by Henry Wooten.  One can see Wilde in all three of the main characters, and for me, his life was as exciting and horrifying as his novel.

In 1967 Willa Drake is eleven years old and living with a younger sister, a kind-hearted, gentle father and a bipolar mother.  In 1977 she comes home with her soon to be husband, Derek.  In 1997 Willa becomes a young widow with two teenage sons.  And in 2017 she has remarried and moved to Tucson when a phone call from a stranger sends her to Baltimore.  Like many of Tyler’s characters, Willa wants to please everyone, which is impossible.

Like most of Anne Tyler’s novels, Clock Dance is filled with quirky, heart-warming characters.  The neighborhood Willa visits in Baltimore has its share of endearing, well-meaning sorts.  Although I don’t think this is one of Tyler’s best, it is worth a read.  It’s engaging and fun with a likeable main character.