Pachinko is a saga that follows one family from rural Korea to several large cities in Japan.  It begins in 1910 with Hoonie, a twenty-seven year old, hard working Korean man, who unfortunately, has several birth defects.  Nonetheless, he marriesand sires a daughter who becomes pregnant with a wealthy married man’s child.   The novel continues on for two more generations, ending in Tokyo in 1989.

If you enjoy multi-generational tales, you will want to read Pachinko.  Min Jin Lee is a fine story teller who keeps the plot moving with interesting, engaging characters.

Wow!  Just finished Paul Auster’s tome.  It’s slow and complex, but for me, well worth the time and trouble.  The main character, Archie Ferguson, a Jewish boy born in New Jersey in 1947, has four different avenues his life can possibly take.  Although several characters remain constant in his lives, and in some respects Archie’s personality is the same, each path provides very different outcomes for the four Archies.  Throughout these four lives, Auster describes the significant events of each era;  with much detail given to the turmoil of the 60’s.

It took a while for me to keep the Archie’s straight;  however, even when I was a bit confused, I still had the urge to read on.  If you don’t like slow reads that take some time to get into,  4321 is NOT the novel for you.  If you like dense, descriptive books with well-developed characters, give it a try.

A lonely man who lives a solitary existence on the coast of Ireland rescues a one eyed dog.  These two outcasts need each other, and as they spend a year together,  driving around Ireland, their love and dependence increases.  Written in poetic prose with vivid descriptions of Irish birds, plants and trees, Baume’s debut novel artistically touches on themes of isolation, fear, deprivation and love.

I thoroughly enjoyed and appreciated this novel, but it is not for everyone.  It is more about a sad, unloved man than it is about his companionship with his dog.  Spill Simmer Falter Wither’s happy moments are few and far between.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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This is the story of Florence Fein, a young Jewish woman born and raised in Brooklyn who leaves the comforts of her middle class home to begin, what she thinks, will be an enlightening adventure in Russia.  This saga begins in  1932 when Florence is a college student and ends in 2008.  The novel moves back and forth in time and focuses, for the most part, on Florence and her son, Julian.  Each chapter heading delineates the location and the year, so it is not difficult to follow the plot lines.

For those readers who enjoy historical fiction and are a bit weary of reading World War II novels, I recommend The Patriots.  It’s informative, historically accurate, and Sana Krasikov is a very fine writer.

Solimar is Ignacio’s birth mother.  She is young, unmarried and an illegal immigrant from a small, rural Mexican village.  Kavya and Rishi are Ignacio’s foster parents.  They are first generation Americans who have tried to conceive but with no success.  All three love the little boy and want what each thinks is best for him.

Lucky Boy poses a dilemma that has been discussed for ages.  What benefits a child more to be with his or her birth family or the family that can provide him or her with financial, educational and social advantages?  This is not a tale of right versus wrong, but instead about who should decide the fate of a very young child.

Sekaram writes a good, easy to read novel that could lead tosome very  interesting discussions.

The main thread of Zadie Smith’s fifth novel is the on again/off again friendship between the nameless narrator and Tracey.  They meet in a dance class and are drawn to each other because they have the same complexion, but that is where their similarities end.  Although Tracey is the one with the talent, our narrator has most of the advantages in life.  The older they get, the less they have in common.  Tracey continues to dance, but never gets beyond the chorus line.  The narrator is assistant #1 to a world famous entertainer, traveling worldwide with her and spending a great deal of time in a small village in Africa.

Swing Time is not an easy read-it is slow, descriptive and has several subplots.  However, I am very happy I stuck with it.  Smith’s characters seem authentic, her plots are engrossing, and I loved her descriptions of dances and dancers – everything from Fred Astaire dancing with a broom to Michael Jackson doing the moonwalk.

Political cartoonist, Javier Mallarina is being honored for a long, brilliant, powerful career.  During a slide show presentation at an event that is celebrating his accomplishments, a young woman in the audience recognizes Mallarina’s home, knows she has been there, but is unable to remember anything else.  The next day she pays the cartoonist a visit, and he recalls the drama that she was involved in twenty-four years earlier.

Vasquez writes an easy to read yet complex novel that explores concepts of the past and the future as well as the positive and negative aspects of memory, power, and the written word.

A young writer named Mike Chabon visits his dying grandfather.  The grandfather had always been the strong, silent type, but perhaps pain killers and knowing this will be his last chance to tell his story, he relates in vivid detail, his life from the Jewish ghetto in South Philadelphia to Germany in World War II to a retirement village in Florida.  This fictional death bed memoir describes a middle class Jewish family, the history of the space program and the undying love one man has for a mentally unstable woman.

Moonglow is clever, interesting, complex and in many ways historically accurate.  Mike’s grandfather is a well-drawn character who the reader will admire and empathize with.  However, Moonglow contains a drawback for some:  this is not a chronologically linear novel.  Like an eldery person’s mind, Chabon meanders from era to era, and at times,  it takes the reader a few paragraphs to realize he has moved on to another decade.

The first American author to win The Man Booker Prize, Paul Beatty has written an amusing, ironic, sarcastic, intelligent novel that will not be to everyone’s liking.  The character known as the Sellout is the narrator.  He is a Black man who was raised by his father who made the young boy a guinea pig for his sociological studies. He was born and raised in Dickens, California, a rural farming community outside of Los Angeles.  Dickens, like the narrator, has lost its identity; it has been erased off the maps, and one of the Sellout’s missions is to put it back.  With the help of his “slave, ” Hominy Jenkins, a former child actor who had minor roles in “The Little Rascals,” he tries to segregate his hometown, most notably the school and buses, in an effort to put Dickens back on the map.

If the plot seems a bit confusing-that’s because it is.  For me, The Sellout, is a book to be appreciated, but not necessarily enjoyed.  Be warned:  Beatty takes pot shots at almost everyone-Blacks, Whites, Hispanics, Jews-just to name just a few.

 

Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd, age seventy-one, is asked to deliver a ten year old girl to her aunt and uncle who live on the other side of Texas.  Kidd earns a living traveling to small, rural towns and reading articles from a  variety of newspapers to the illiterate folks who wish to know what is going on in the world.  The girl, Johanna, was captured by Native Americans who murdered her parents and her younger sister.  She has lived with that tribe for four years and, in that time, has forgotten the ways of the white man.

The journey Kidd and Johanna make is wonderfully described by Jiles.  The longer the two travel together, the more they trust and understand each other.  Jiles has written a lovely novel that would make a perfect book group read.