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.

It is the worst storm the east coast has seen in decades.  Richard, a professor at NYU, Lucia a Chilean who also teaches at NYU and Evelyn an illegal immigrant from Guatemala, must travel through the blinding, slippery snow to rural upstate New York to dispose of a body they found in Evelyn’s employer’s car.  If the premise of  In the Midst of Winter sounds a bit far-fetched, that’s because it is!  How they get together, how two of them fall in love, and what happens before, during and after they get rid of the dead woman, is too unbelievable for me.  It seems as if Allende wanted to tell a story about the plight of South and Central American immigrants and built a rather flimsy plot around it.

Blakeslee spends the greater part of this book describing the wolves who live in and around Yellowstone National Park.  Wolves possess traits that make them admired, feared and misunderstood.  They travel in packs but they are monogamous.  They are loving parents, loyal to their group, but they will not think twice about killing a wolf outside the pack who encroaches on their territory.  Wolves can easily kill animals twice their size but they ignore human beings.  Blakeslee’s narration zeroes in on one “alpha” female, O-Six, who is beautiful, strong and maternal and is a favorite of visitors to Yellowstone.

If you are an animal lover, and especially if you find wolves intriguing, you’ll want to read American Wolf.

I sometimes read children’s books, but I have never put one on my blog . . until now.  Philip Stead was given bare bone notes Mark Twain made after reading his daughters this bedtime story.  Johnny, a lonely boy with a good heart and a cruel grandfather, meets an old woman who gives him some seeds.  After eating them, Johnny is able to communicate with all the animals he comes across.  Strategically placed within the story are conversations between Twain and Stead.  The Purloining of Prince Oleomargarine is funny and heart-warming with a subtle moral.  The illustrations by Erin Stead are gorgeous-each page is truly a work of art.

This is not the book for every child, but it is ideal for a sensitive intuitive youngster ten years and older.

Jules Lacour is a seventy-four year old Jewish cellist living in Paris.  His parents died during The Holocaust when he was four years old, his wife, whom he adored, died of cancer, and his young grandson was just diagnosed with leukemia.  Jules feels certain that if he can get his hands on a huge sum of money,  his grandson will be able to go to Switzerland or The United States, work with the finest doctors in the world, and his life will be saved.  How Lacour plans to obtain the money, along with a few subplots that include a May-December romance and the murder of two bigoted Muslims, is the crux of Paris in the Present Tense.

Helprin writes a good story and is very knowledgeable about Paris and music, but some readers will find him too wordy.  If you are in the mood for a quick read, don’t read this novel, but if you’re a Mark Helprin fan, and I am, you will enjoy Paris in the Present Tense.