Alexei Navalny was a Russian who fought the Putin dictatorship and other Russian oligarchs. He protested by demonstrating, writing letter, forming opposing organizations and even running in a presidential election. In this memoir which he secretly wrote while he was in prison, we see the human as well as the activist side of Navalny. He was a loving husband, father, son and brother, a brilliant caring intellectual, a man with a sense of humor, a Christian, and a true patriot.

Just when I thought there were no recent works of nonfiction that appealed to me, I found Patriot. When I thought there were so few heroes in the world, I learned in detail about Alexei Navalny. Patriot begins with his poisoning in August of 2020 which he describes in detail, and it never lets up. Navalny’s memoir is infuriating, intellectually stimulating, heart felt and definitely worth reading.

Jonathan Haidt’s work of nonfiction is about something many of us have suspected for a while: the harm that comes from looking at your smart phone too often. His main thesis is that smart phones have done a disservice to children of GenZ( anyone born after 1995), cutting them off from direct contact with their peers, harming their education, introducing them to pornography and resulting in anxiety and depression. Haidt cites statistics, studies and personal experiences that support his theories.

I decided to read The Anxious Generation because it appeared to be the nonfiction buzz book this year. I was not disappointed. The Anxious Generation is not a difficult, dry read. It has interesting examples, easy to understand graphs and statistics, and Haidt certainly convinced me that I, like so many others, am spending too many waking hours looking at my phone!

Blackburn Gant and Jacob Hampton have been friends since they were young children. Blackburn’s face is disfigured from polio. It is now 1951 and Blackburn is the caretaker of the cemetery in Blowing Rock, North Carolina. Jacob is the only living child of the town’s wealthiest family. When he elopes with Naomi Clark, his parents are devastated, feeling that she is not good enough for their son. Soon after Naomi learns she is pregnant, Jacob is sent off to Korea. When he comes home wounded, his conniving, unscrupulous parents make the most of this situation.

The Caretaker is a thoroughly enjoyable read. Ron Rash takes a while to set up “the situation,” but once he does, the book takes off. The Caretaker is an easy, exciting, well-plotted read.

The Best Minds-nonfiction by Jonathan Rosen

The Coast Road-fiction-by Alan Murrin

Don’t Be A Stranger-fiction by Susan Minot

Familiaris-fiction by David Wroblewski

Friday Afternoon Club-nonfiction by Griffin Dunn

Kent State-nonfiction by Brian Vandemark

Lazarus Man-fiction by Richard Price

Long Island -fiction by Colm Toibin

Playground -fiction by Richard Powers

Tell Me Everything-fiction by Elizabeth Strout

Time of the Child-fiction by Niall Williams

What I Ate in One Year-nonfiction by Stanley Tucci

In the dead of winter in Maine in 1789 a man is found frozen in the Kennebec River. Martha Ballard, a midwife in her 50’s, is asked to examine the body and concludes that he has been murdered. Martha’s pronouncement and her job as a midwife leads her to learn details of the rape of a woman by two townsmen, one a judge and the other the murdered man found in the river. While Martha tries to uncover the truth about the rape and murder, she encounters many obstacles and discovers a number of well kept secrets.

The Frozen River is a good work of historical fiction. Martha Ballard, who really was a midwife in Maine, is a strong, compassionate, intelligent character. The one drawback to the novel, for me, is that there are a lot of minor but important characters in The Frozen River and I had a hard time remembering who was who.

Susan Rieger’s third novel is divided into three sections. Each focuses on one of three generations of Pereira women. Zelda Pereira is married to Aldo, a Sephardic Jew who is verbally and physically abusive to his wife and children. Aldo commits Zelda to a mental institution and tells his children that she died there. His family is not sure he is telling the truth. Lila is the youngest of Zelda and Aldo’s three children. She was the recipient of most of Aldo’s abuse. She marries into a wealthy Jewish family, has a loving husband and becomes a successful editor of a DC newspaper. Her youngest daughter, Grace, has a love/hate relationship with her mother, and feels obligated to find out what really happened to Zelda.

For me, Like Mother, Like Mother is the perfect airplane read. It has interesting characters, an engaging plot, some clever dialogue without a lot to discuss or think about. It is what it is.

The reader once again visits Faha, a small Irish village where This Is Happiness took place. Jack Troy is the town doctor; he is a good doctor and thoroughly professional. He lives in Faha with his oldest daughter, Ronnie, who assists him in almost everything. In December of 1962 a baby girl is found near the local church, and Jack Troy is asked if he can “bring her back to life.” The infant changes Jack and Ronnie’s lives in ways they never expected.

Reading Time of the Child is like listening to an Irish story teller. Niall Williams cannot stick to the stories main plot, instead veering off track to discuss another villager or a Faha tale from the past. The girl child of the title doesn’t even appear until almost halfway into the novel. If you want a quick read with a straight plot, DON’T read Time of the Child. However, if you enjoy all things Irish and like a good cry at the end of a tale, this book is for you.

A building explodes in Harlem in 2006, and a cast of characters are affected either directly or indirectly by the blast. Anthony Carter survives being buried under the rubble. Felix Pearl takes photographs of the event. Royal Davis owns a failing funeral home very close to the disaster. Mary Roe, a New York City policewoman, is obsessed with finding a man whose wife died in the explosion. Each of these characters have a history that influences how they react to the disastrous event.

I have been waiting for Richard Price to come out with a new novel for quite some time. It was worth the wait. Lazarus Man does take sometime to get into and understand the characters, but it eventually all comes together.

If you’re a foodie, especially interested in Italian foods, and like to hear about celebrities, pick up a copy of What I Ate in One Year. Tucci describes what he ate, who he saw, and how he feels about everything in 2023. He includes some interesting recipes as well as critiques about restaurants and hotels, and family and friends he dined with. What I Ate in One Year is a delightful, delicious, easy, fun read.

Louise Erdrich packs a lot into this novel. The Mighty Red is about Kismet Poe and the boy she marries and another boy she loves. It is about Kismet’s mother, Crystal, and her constant efforts to keep her family healthy and debt free. It is about sugar beet farming, and how it is ruining the soil, and how it can be prevented. The Mighty Red is also about family secrets, guilt, love and honor.

I run hot and cold with Louise Erdrich. I appreciate and enjoy some of her novels while others I find mediocre and didactic. The Mighty River is a winner! I could relate to the characters, empathize with their problems and easily followed the plot.