A friend told me to read this short, stirring novel, and I’m very happy I did.  Translated from Italian by Jhumpa Lahiri, author of Interpreter of Maladies and several other outstanding reads, Ties is the story of a marriage and the impact it has on each family member.   Twelve years after they marry, Aldo leaves his wife, Vanda, for a younger woman.  Told through the voices of Aldo, Vanda, and their two children, Starnone brilliantly illustrates how this long term affair affects everyone, even forty years later.

Ties is a very emotionally charged book.  Although there is very little action,  Domenico Starnone manages in 150 pages to put a number of ideas, feelings and symbols into his novel.

The Less of the title refers to Greer’s main character, Arthur Less.  Just shy of turning fifty, Less travels practically around the world to avoid attending the wedding of his long-time gay lover, Freddy.  With jobs, award ceremonies and/or teaching assignments in New York, London, Paris, Berlin, Morocco and Japan, Less also stops off at a retreat in India to edit his fourth work of fiction which was harshly criticized by his agent and publisher.

The travels, the back story and the people Arthur meets as he goes from country to country are fun and interesting, but the crux of the novel is Arthur Less.  While trying to avoid the big 5-0 and news of his ex lover’s wedding, Greer depicts him as a man of contrasts-self-effacing but willing to be daring, wanting love but avoiding involvement, not wanting to think about the past but afraid of the future.  Arthur Less, his life and his journey, make for a bittersweet story.

 

If you’re looking for an easy summer read with a fairly predictable plot, The Address might be right up your alley.  The address in the title is The Dakota, the famous apartment co-op where John Lennon and Yoko Ono lived.  The story follows two residents:  Sara Smythe, the manageress of the apartment building when it was first built in 1884 and Bailey Camden,  a young woman just out of rehab working for her wealthy cousin who is a resident of The Dakota in 1985.  Both women have their share of problems. not least of which is living in the world of the wealthy while they have practically nothing.

This is not my kind of novel, but I think some will find it enjoyable, especially if they are fans of historical fiction.

Anton, a nine year old boy, has been locked in his apartment with the windows sealed shut and the outside door locked during a heat wave.  His mother left to see her drug dealer a week ago and has not returned.  Anton breaks a window with a chair and jumps out.  Fast forward several years.  Anton has been adopted by a rich, powerful, loving family who lost a son in an auto accident.  He has all the advantages and love any child could hope for.  Anton thinks his mother readily gave him up for adoption when she was in prison, but that was not the case.

There are no heroes or villains in Umrigar’s sixth novel; just individuals who want to do what they think is best for a boy they love.  The question is:  What is truly best for Anton Coleman?

Known for her easy to read historical fiction, Allison Pataki has teamed up with her brother to give us a tale of The French Revolution with heroes, villains and beautiful, strong-willed women.  Andre Valiere, a soldier in the French Army, was born a noble but during the Reign of Terror tries to hide his wealthy beginnings.  However, when he falls in love with General Murat’s niece, he has angered the general so much that her uncle has Andre imprisoned and tried for treason.  Valiere’s lawyer, Jean-Luc St. Clair, argues for the young soldier’s  against the most despicable lawyer in Paris.

I realize that I have made this novel sound like a Harlequin Romance, and although most of the character’s are either all good or all evil,  the Pataki’s provide an entertaining read about a chaotic era.

Author of the 2012 bestseller, You Know When the Men Are Gone, Fallon again writes about the wives of military men.  This time her work centers on two very different women living in Jordan.  Cassie is realistic, even a bit cynical, lonely and childless and has been living in Jordan for a while.  Margaret has just arrived in Jordan with her husband and young son.  She is idealistic, naive and lonely.  Cassie takes on the roles of mentor and friend as she tries to teach Margaret the proper way to behave in a Middle Eastern, Muslim country.  After knowing each other for four months, Margaret asks Cassie to stay with her son while she clears up a matter at the local police station.  Waiting for her friend to return home, Cassie finds Margaret’s journal, reads it and begins to understand who this young woman really is.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Confusion of Languages.  Both main characters are complex, yet identifiable.  There are many themes running throughout this novel which would make it good for book group discussions.

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In this lyrical novel, Alexandra Fuller has proven that she can write fiction as well, if not better, than nonfiction.  Quiet Until the Thaw tells the tale of three generations of Lakota Native Americans living in South Dakota.  Ironically,  most of these individuals are not related by blood, rather they are men and women who feel responsible for the well-being of abandoned children.  Some of these children become role models for future generations, others turn to drink, drugs and violence.

Told in very short chapters, Quiet Until the Thaw takes a while for the reader to discern what exactly is happening.  However, if you keep on reading, everything becomes clear, and you will be richly rewarded.  I think this would be a wonderful read for a book group.

Well-loved children’s author Mort Lear accidentally dies falling off his roof while trimming a tree.  His will bequeaths everything to his secretary/housekeeper/ companion Tomasina Daulair.  She is used to always being in the background, and thus is overwhelmed with all of the duties she feels she must carry out.  Some of these obligations include entertaining an Academy Award winning actor who will play the part of Lear in an upcoming film while also trying to appease a  museum curator who felt betrayed by Lear and coping with the appearance of her estranged brother.

A House Among the Trees is a good, not great, read.  Often Tomasina is too good to be true-always trying to do what’s best for everyone else without thinking about her needs and desires.

 

On the outskirts of Tokyo is The Nakano Thrift Shop where the owner likes to tell his customers that he deals in second hand goods and not antiques.  Mr. Nakano’s employees are Hitomi, a young woman who works the cash register and is the narrator of the novel, and Takeo, a quiet young man who helps his boss with pick-ups and deliveries.  Hitomi and Takeo’s relationship has the potential to become serious but neither knows how to get it to move forward.  Although not an employee, Mr. Nakano’s sister is often at the shop helping out, serving noodles and offering her opinion about any and everything.

I enjoy Japanese literature and I found The Nakano Thrift Shop fun with quirky, yet realistic, characters, but I’m not sure this book would appeal to everyone.

I was asked to read Tyson’s most recent book to see if someone like me, who had never taken a physics class, could easily understand what he was explaining.  The simple answer is no;  the more complex answer is usually.  I love Tyson’s subtle sense of humor.  I found fascinating his discussions on planets, galaxies and stars.  I enjoyed reading about telescopes, scientific discoveries and gravity.  But for me, a nonphysics individual, I am still on shaky ground when it comes to topics such as, the speed of light, matter and energy , and protons and electrons.  However, even if you took a high school or college physics class decades ago, I think you will enjoy and appreciate Astrophysics for People in a Hurry.