Nevo, an Israeli author, has written an interesting novel.  Three Floors Up is divided into three sections, each being narrated by a resident of a three story apartment in Tel Aviv.   The first segment is Arnon describing to a friend an experience his young daughter had with an elderly, demonstrative neighbor suffering from Alzheimer’s.  The second part is Hani, mother of two young children who writes to an old friend about her experience with her brother-in-law who is on the run from the police.  The third “floor” is Devorah, a widowed retired judge speaking to her deceased husband through their answering machine about her life since his death.

Each story is innovative,  exciting and provocative.  Although Three Stores Up is not a mystery, it is a page turner nonetheless.

Told in alternating narratives,  A Long Way from Home is a year in the life of Irene and Titch Bobs and their neighbor Willie Bachhuber.   The Bobs decide to enter the Redex Trial, a grueling car race which covers thousands of miles of rural roads in Australia.  Willie, an expert map reader, is coerced into being their navigator.  During the course of the race, the trio faces many hardships, adventures and injuries.  Willie and Irene are the narrators,  and because their personalities are so different, their is sometimes two entirely contrasting perspectives concerning the same event.

There are chapters in A Long Way from Home that are engaging, fun and exciting, and then there are others that are unnecessarily detailed and dull.  Also, the end, for me, was disappointing.  Without giving it away, I will only say that Irene practically disappears and Willie becomes the main focus.  I’ve enjoyed several of Peter Carey’s novels immensely.  I’m ambivalent about this one.

I don’t often write about children’s picture book, but this one is exceptional.  It is a beautiful story about motherhood, acceptance and selflessness.  A baby wolf gets lost from the pack and happens upon a female polar bear.  The little pup is frightened that the bear will eat him, but instead she promises to care for him until he is ready to face the world alone.  Everything about this picture book is wonderful-the serene illustrations, the simple yet profound language and the positive message.  The perfect book for a child for every occasion but especially for an adoption and/or Mother’s Day.

Perfect for ages 4-7.

The Great Alone is a novel that will appeal to most women.  It has adventure, romance and danger.  When Leni Allbright is in junior high, her father, a Viet Nam vet who has what would now be termed post traumatic stress disorder, decides to move his family to a remote part of Alaska.   The winters in Alaska are cold, dark and long and with each year her father becomes more unstable and abusive.  Despite her difficult, frightening life,  Leni comes to love Alaska-the scenery, the vastness and the independent, live- off- the- land people.

Kristen Hannah has written a fast-paced novel with an admirable main character.  However, I think the novel might be best read in the summer when long, frozen Alaskan nights would feel welcoming.

This book of historical fiction tells the life of an Iranian poetess who led a short but remarkable life.  Forough Farrokzhad was born in Tehran in 1935, the second daughter of a subservient mother and a father who was a colonel in the Shah’s army.   Although her father was a strict disciplinarian, Forough often disobeyed his rules, even when she knew that if she was discovered there would be dire consequences.  She was willing to achieve her independence, no matter what the cost.  She married young, divorced,  had several affairs, wrote scandalous poems and directed films that shocked many Iranians.  She was greatly admired by some and loathed by others.

I don’t think an author could have invented a character much more complex, colorful and iconoclastic than Forough Farrokzhad.  Not only did I enjoy reading about this unique woman,  I also liked learning about the history of Iran during the 50’s and 60’s.

I picked up this debut novel, read the flap and thought I would give it 20 pages-no more.  Although it is brutal and violent, I found myself enthralled with the main character and the plot.  Most of Only Killers and Thieves takes place in 1885 in a desolate, arid part of Australia,  The McBride family is literally starving.  Their cattle are bone-thin and thus not saleable,  and because of the drought, nothing will grow in their sandy, parched soil.  Also, Mr. McBride does not see eye to eye with John Sullivan, by far the wealthiest man in the territory, so the family is unable to purchase anything on credit.  Tommy and Billy McBride are away from home when tragedy befalls the rest of the family.  Both boys, age 15 and 16, are coerced into facing many dangerous situations in order to avenge their family.

Parts of this novel is distasteful with characters that are despicable.  However, Paul Horwath’s prose is so clean and clear (much like Cormac McCarthy’s),  that I felt compelled to read on.

Cantu, who is Mexican on his mother’s side and speaks fluent Spanish, spent from 2008 to 2012 as an agent for the United States Border Patrol.  During those four years, he spent more than half his time rounding up individuals who had crossed the border from Mexico to the United States illegally and placing them in a deportation center or discovering those who died from thirst, heat and starvation trying to get into this country.  Cantu also heard horrific stories about how the drug cartel took care of those they thought were trying to escape their influence.  Eventually the stress of his job made his life unbearable and he left it.  Three years later he met  and tried to help Jose an illegal immigrant deported back to Mexico while his wife and three sons remained in the United States.

Cantu writes a powerful story that provide no answers, only more questions, to the immigration problems we are facing.

I am a huge fan of Dave Eggers.   He is a great writer, his heart is in the right place, and each of his works is different from anything else he has written.  His newest is a biography of a young man I had never heard of,  yet came to admire after I read The Monk of Mokha.

Mokhtar Alkanshali grew up in one of the poorest areas of San Francisco; however, he was hard-working, intelligent, engaging and quick on his feet.  With very little backing or knowledge of what he was getting into, he set out to help the people of his parents’ native land by bringing coffee growing back to Yemen.  Yemen was the first country to grow and brew coffee centuries back, and Mokhtar feels by reintroducing the world to their coffee, the country will overcome its negative reputation and give jobs to many of the country’s unemployed.  However, to attain his lofty goal, he must face many dangerous, life threatening encounters.

This is not the kind of book that I ordinarily read, but the buzz about it sounded intriguing.  It is difficult to categorize this work of nonfiction, but I guess, in a nutshell, the author goes back in history and discusses religion, art, sociology and conflicts to predict what our future possibly could be.  One of his basic premises it that most of humankind’s history has been shaped by war, plague and famine.  However, recently advances in science, medicine and agriculture have greatly diminished these disasters.  So what will shape us now?  Harari is a master of examples.  His knowledge and his ability to translate difficult concepts and ideas into simple language and situations are incredible.  Homo Deus is provocative and, at times, frightening, but I am certainly glad I read it.

I have put off writing about Autumn because it is difficult for me to summarize and describe.  Daniel Gluck, age 101, and Elisabeth Demand, 30ish, have known each other for almost thirty years.  They were neighbors, confidantes, and now Elisabeth visits Daniel weekly in a nursing home where most of his time is spent sleeping.  Through dreams, memories and snippets of conversations, we learn about their lives, their interests and the state of the world.  Autumn is not chronological , and although the writing is beautiful in some places, the first part of the novel takes some work and can be confusing.  However, there is a reason it was short-listed for The Man Booker Award.  It is lyrical,  full of feeling and thought-provoking.  Autumn is the first of Smith’s quartet, each representing a season.