In 1969 the four Gold children, Varya, Daniel, Karla and Simon visit a fortune teller who tells them the date that each of them will die.  For the rest of their lives, this pronouncement will effect many parts of their lives.  Simon, the youngest, runs off to San Francisco when he is sixteen, works in a gay nightclub and becomes a ballet dancer.   Karla becomes a musician and performs one very dangerous feat.  Daniel is a doctor who gives physicals to army recruits and then decides if they’re physically able to serve.  And Varya, the eldest, works in a lab with primates, hoping to discover ways that human longevity can be increased.  As we learn more about each of the Golds, we are introduced to other equally interesting characters.

Don’t be put off by the preface of The Immortalists.  Benjamin’s debut novel is a riveting work about fate and families.

The title of this debut novel refers to the main character and narrator, twelve year old Dave Greenfeld.  Dave is the son of hippie-like parents, the older brother of a boy who is not autistic but hasn’t said a word for years, and the grandson of a man who left Germany at the beginning of the Holocaust and has felt guilty ever since for the relatives he left behind.  Dave’s parents are liberal thinkers who feel it would be advantageous for him to attend public school where the majority of the students are Black or Hispanic.   Dave has blond curly hair and fair skin, so he is an easy target for other students.  However, life takes an upward turn when he becomes friends with Marlon, a motivated student from the projects who doesn’t fit in either.

Dave speaks as a street kid would, so it took me a little while to figure out everything he was saying.  Once I caught on, I realized Dave Greenfeld had a lot to say about pre-teen angst, the feel of being an outsider and some of the problems with race relations.

This novel by the author of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry takes place, for the most part, on a small street in an English town that is not thriving.  The main character, Frank, owns a record store.  He employs a quirky, clumsy young man named Kit and refuses to sell CD’s.  In fact, he is adamant that he will always only sell vinyl.   Frank also has the uncanny gift of finding a recording that will help each of his customers feel better.   As the novel unfolds, we are introduced to other merchants who have shops on Unity Street as well as Frank’s eccentric mother and a mysterious young woman named Ilse.

If you’re a music fan and enjoy nothing more than a feel good read,  this is the book for you.  The Music Shop has it’s sad, touching moments, but the happy times outweigh them.

Taking place in Victorian England, Perry describes life in a small village in Essex where a serpent is believed by some to have caused the untimely deaths of a few of its citizens.  Central among the book’s characters is Will Ransome, a minister who doubts the validity of the serpent, Stella, his wife, who firmly believes it exists and Cora Seaborne, a young widow from London who feels love and empathy for both Will and Stella.  There are love triangles galore in this debut novel, with interesting, realistic secondary characters.

The Essex Serpent is a slow read written in the style of a Victorian novel with letters interspersed throughout the text.  The story contains a slowly evolving plot with much detail about the Essex environment.

Eitan Green, a neurosurgeon living in a small city in Israel, is out driving his SUV in the desert late at night when he accidentally hits and kills an illegal Eritrean immigrant.  He leaves the scene, returns to his home where his wife, a police detective,  and his two sons are sound asleep, and unknowingly sets off a series of unexpected, sometimes dangerous, events.  From that night on, Eitan’s life is one lie after another.  And each new happening means he has to cover his tracks more scrupulously.

Waking Lions has it all-great writing, suspense, fleshed-out characters and moral dilemmas.  Furthermore, it brings up themes of guilt, the Mideast conflict, illegal immigrants and how well do we truly know ourselves or others.  I eagerly await Gundar-Goshen’s second novel.

There are four main characters in this readable, enjoyable novel.  Collin is the chalk artist, a very talented young man who falls in love with Nina, a serious women who wants more than anything to be a good teacher.  She teaches Aidan, a bright adolescent who is obsessed with video games, and consequently is doing poorly in school.  His twin sister, Diana, understands her brother’s problems but is also coping with her feelings of isolation and inferiority.  As these four pass into and out of each others’ lives, Goodman deftly weaves in themes of love, truth, artistry, obsession and loneliness.

I really liked The Chalk Artist.  It’s the kind of book I would take on vacation-interesting, not too complex and well-written. although there are some scenes of Aidan playing video games and Collin designing them that were more detailed than I thought necessary

Although I’m fond of Louise Erdrich’s novels, I understand that she is not for everyone.  Usually her works are slow reads about Ojibwe customs and characters.  This time she ventured onto a new path-a dystopic novel.   Cedar Songmaker is pregnant, the worst thing that can happen to a woman at the time this novel takes place.  Scientists and doctors believe that evolution has been put in reverse, and pregnant women are being rounded up and put into prison-like hospitals.  If their babies are born abnormal, the “authority” decides what is to be done to the mother and the infant.  Cedar is on the run to escape what she is sure is a bleak future for her and her unborn child.  While trying to elude those in power, Cedar finds out secrets about her birth and her adoptive parents.

Although this is really not my kind of novel, there were times when I was caught up in Cedar’s adventure.

The perfect book for readers who want a quick, feel good novel.  Arthur Mason visits his wife’s grave daily at lunch time.  Often when he is there, so is Maddy, a sad-looking teenager.  Arthur tries to speak to her, eventually does, and they soon form a connection.  Arthur also feels a bond with his next door neighbor, Lucille, a retired school teacher who has never married and bakes the most delicious concoctions.  This unlikely trio learn the true meaning of family, friendship and love.

The Story of Arthur Truluv was a bit too sweet and neatly tied together for me, but a lot of people will find it heart-warming and satisfying.

Cassie and Julia have been best friends since nursery school.  Although physically they are very different and their home life is too,  they have this strong bond that Julia, the novel’s narrator, feels will never be broken.  However, when Cassie’s mother’s boyfriend comes to live with them, Cassie stops telling her best friend everything.  And when the girls go into junior high, Cassie starts hanging out with the “fast” crowd.  Julia hopes that Cassie will come around and that they can be best friends again.

The Burning Girl is more than just a story about friendship.  What Julia learns from her relationship with Cassie is that one can never truly know another person and that is just part of what growing up is about.  Messud writes a very good story about adolescent girls, friendships and family.

Against the backdrop of  The Seattle World Fairs in 1909 and 1962,  Ford depicts the life of Ernest Young.  Ernest is sent over from China alone as a young child and after bouncing around from orphanages and boarding schools in Seattle,  he is sold to the highest bidder at The 1909 World’s Fair auction who happens to be the owner of a brothel.  There he works his way up to chauffeur and falls in love with two young girls, Maisie and Fahn.  Fifty-three years later is married with two grown-up daughters.  One is a reporter who wants to write a story about her father’s life,  which means uncovering secrets that Ernest would not like known.

If you were a fan of Ford’s novel, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, you will find this novel enjoyable.  Ford tells a nice story based on historical events.  His characters are interesting, but not terribly complex.