Away by Amy Bloom

This lovely novel was also a birthday gift from my husband. Amy Bloom is an author whose work I have admired for years - especially her short story collection A Blind Man Can See How Much I Love You. This new novel is a sweeping saga that almost reminded me of an Amy Tan or Isabel Allende novel. Lillian Leyb finds herself in the tenements of the New York theater district in 1924 after escaping from Russian marauders who murdered her family. Her new life in the new world is turned upside down when she receives word that her daughter may still be alive in Russia. Lillian then begins a cross continent trek to Seattle, then Alaska, then, hopefully, home. The novel is episodic. In each locale, she is befriended by a genuine cast of characters. I savored the last pages of this beautiful novel in a way that I haven't any novel recently. Coincidentally, I read Amy Bloom's marriage announcement in last Sunday's New York Times.

Currently Reading - Dancing with Rose - Finding Life in the Land of Alzheimer's by Lauren Kessler

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An Arsonist's Guide to Writers' Homes in New England by Brock Clarke

My husband surprised my with a book I had not heard about for my birthday. What a hoot. The Arsonist's Guide is a fake memoir of a man, ironically named Sam Pulsifer, who served time for accidentally setting fire to the Emily Dickinson Houst in Amherst, Massachussetts. Having visited the Dickinson house last spring break makes the book even funnier for me. Sam goes on to be implicated for fires set to other writers' homes. There is a funny website for the book which includes an online memoir maker. Clarke teaches Creative Writing at the University of Cincinnati.

Driving with Dead People by Monica Holloway

It has been a while since I read a memoir, and I had to wait a long time to get this from the library, so I figured it must be good. The author is a graduate of Kenyon College in Ohio. She grew up with the daughters of the town undertaker - thus the title. But the story, which begins small-town quaint, takes an ugly turn as family secrets are revealed much later in life. I was drawn into the story, much like with an Augustan Burroughs book.

Love, Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli

The much awaited sequel to Stargirl picks up a year after the conclusion of the first book. Stargirl has moved from Arizona, resumed her homeschooling, and made friends with a bizarre assortment of people - six year old Dootsie, agoraphobic Betty Lou, fiesty Alvina, and grave-side vigilant, Charlie. Although I am a HUGE fan of the first book, I have to agree with the many critics who say the sequel falls short, partially because it is written in the form of letters to long-lost Leo, Stargirl's first love. I'll be honest- it isn't the original, but I am glad to have Stargirl back.

A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian by Monica Lewycka

The loony protagonist of this novel is an eighty-four year old, recently widowed man who falls for bosomy thirty-six year old Valentina. She is looking for wealth and a way to maintain her visa before it expires. His daughters Vera and Nadezhda, who have had their differences, are reunited by their concern for their father's future. The author was born to Ukrainain parents in a refugee camp in Germany. This novel is a funny and touching look at family relationships.

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The Worthy by Will Clarke

Talk about a crazy look at the college frat world, The Worthy, by Will Clarke is narrated by the ghost of a frat boy who died in a hell-week hazing practice gone wrong. His spirit now haunts the library in the frat house donated in his memory by his father and uncle, both frat alums. I read about Will Clarke's irreverent work, but it was the trailer for the book that I found on the Amazon website that sent me to the library for this end of the summer fun read.
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Halfway House by Katharine Noel

This is one of those books I picked up at the bookstore based on cover appeal and blurbs on the back of the book. I thought it might be a book that high school students might like, and I wasn't wrong. The main character of his novel is Angie Voorster, a high school all-star swimmer, who seems to have everything going for her at the beginning of the book. But when she dives to the bottom of the pool during a swim meet and stays there, it is a signal of deep (no pun intended) disturbances within her psyche. This is a study of mental illness and its devastating effects on family members.

The Rope Walk by Carrie Brown

This may be the great discovery of the summer. The Rope Walk is a coming-of-age story reminiscent of To Kill a Mockingbird, and almost as good. Carrie Brown evokes the spirit of endless summer days in the Vermont village where 10 year old Alice lives with her college professor father and five older brothers. But her tenth summer is special because of two new faces in town - Theo, a biracial New York City kid visiting his grandparents for the summer and an eccentric neighbor woman's artistic brother who is dying of AIDS. Brown's language is beautiful, but her story is riveting. I recommend this novel with high praise.

I Love You, Beth Cooper by Larry Doyle

I would not have ever discovered this book had it not been reviewed in a New York Times Book Review titled "Beauty and the Geek" - and that would have been the loss of the summer. Maybe because I have lived with teenage boys, or maybe because I have taught high school for 25 years, I laughed the whole way through the book. Larry Doyle has written for The Simpsons and Beavis and Butthead. His protagonist, Dennis Cooverman, is a Valedictorian geek who pronounces his love for the beautiful Beth Cooper in his commencement address. This leads to one night of comically exaggerated misadventures that are chronicled in the artistic renderings of Dennis Cooverman's face that precede each chapter. See for yourself at the hysterical website for the book - iloveyoubethcooper.com. Every summer should include a book this crazy.

Boomsday by Christopher Buckley

My interest in this novel began when I heard Christopher Buckley interviewed on NPR. The premise for this novel is a "modest proposal" to end the strain placed on the economy by the aging baby-boomers. I laughed out loud, especially at the presidential campain outlined at the end of the novel. This should be required reading for young people today - those he calls GenW - Generation "Whatever".

The Maytrees by Annie Dillard

Let me just say, I Love Annie Dillard. This book is pure poetry, and I read it slowly and savored every word. It is the love story of a couple named Maytree who live in Provincetown, among the artists and the sea salt. It is a hymn to life long love and may be best appreciated by mature readers. Thank you, Annie, for finally writing another novel. Here is Annie Dillard's website.

Peony in Love by Lisa See

I loved Lisa See's novel Snow Flower and the Secret Fan so much that I was anxiously awaiting this new novel. Although I enjoyed the book, it was hard for me to suspend my disbelief enough to accept a protagonist who is a ghost for two-thirds of the novel. I liked the way that the book is based on the story line of an actual opera, The Peony Pavilion, and I enjoyed the love story, but I felt like I was watching that old movie Ghost. Lisa See has a great website with the historical background for this very well researched novel -

Seven Loves by Valerie Trueblood

This novel is the story of one woman, May, at seven different points in her life. It is an interesting premise, and since May is an English teacher, I enjoyed reading this slim novel.

The Blood of Flowers by Anita Amirrezvani

If you enjoyed The Kite Runner or Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, you will love this novel set in seventeenth century Iran. The heroine, who is purposely unnamed, is a carpet maker who suffers many misfortunes on her way to finding her own place in the world. I was really impressed by the author's comments in the back of the book and the extensive bibliography that is included. The book has a very interesting website that I also enjoyed reading. My favorite part of the novel, though, is the italicized fables that are part of the storytelling tradition of the novel.

What the Dead Know by Laura Lippman

I waited a long time for my turn to take What the Dead Know out of the library (I'm trying to curb my book spending and read library books this summer) so I assumed it would be a good read. I was not disappointed. I do not read many mysteries, so I probably missed the clues that would have prepared me for the ending, but I was turning pages quickly to find out what happened. The book opens with a car accident involving a woman claiming to be Heather Bethany, one of the famous Bethany sisters who disappeared some 30 years ago from a shopping mall. The book alternates between the present and the case history. I enjoyed every minute of it.

On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan

Ian McEwan's Atonement is on our summer reading list for AP English students this year, so naturally when I found out he had a new novel, I had to read it. This one won't be discussed with the students. On Chesil Beach takes place on the wedding night of Edward Mayhew and Florence Ponting, both virgins. They flashback to earlier scenes of their lives throughout this slim novel, but most of the novel is just build-up to the consumation of their love. To say more would be anti-climactic. McEwan's prose is lovely.

Flight by Sherman Alexie

Our book club met at the cottage on the lovely shores of Lake Erie to discuss Sherman Alexie's Flight. The book begins with a very appropriate epigraph from Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse Five. Alexie's hero is a teenage orphan named Zits who time-travels to key moments in history after becoming involved in a fatal bank shooting. I was initially turned off by Alexie's obviousness, but our book discussion left me thinking this would be a great book to read with high school students - especially because it is a very quick read.

Our Summer Trip

David and I have just returned from a fun and educational trip through Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi and Arkansas. Check out the new travel blog - Blues and Literature

And My Shoes Kept Walking Back to You by Kathi Kamen Goldmark

This was the perfect book to take on a trip to the music capitals of Memphis and Nashville. After walking Beale Street and listening to rockabilly I went back to the motel and read this gem by Kathi Kamen Goldmark. The author is a singer/songwriter from San Francisco who described this as her love song to honky tonk roots music. The book tells the story of Sara Jean Pixlie as she navigates the path to stardom in Nashville. Goldmark is a founding member of the mostly-author band "The Rock Bottom Remainders". This is her first novel.

Later, at the Bar by Rebecca Barry

This interrelated series of short stories were described by a reviewer as a Rust Belt Cheers. Lucy's Bar is the nightly meeting place of a motley cast of characters. The writing is spare and the characters are genuine.

Ministry of Special Cases by Nathan Englander

The main character in this novel is a Jewish man who earns a living defacing gravestones of people with questionable reputations in the towns so that their names can be saved. He takes his son along on a midnight mission that leads to disaster. The novel is both sad and witty.

A Thousand Spendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

I loved this book as much as The Kite Runner for entirely different reasons. It is predominantly a woman's story. Mariam is the illegitimate daughter of a wealthy man who is forced to bring her into his home when Mariam's mother dies. Instead of being absorbed into his family, she is married off to a much older shoemaker and forced into a life that she stuggles many years to make her own. Hosseini has proven his talent with this second compelling novel of life in Afghanistan.

Evening by Susan Minot

I read this book after looking at the huge displays in the bookstores and reading about the upcoming movie which is being called the summer's "must see". The novel tells the story of Ann Lord who is on her deathbed. Surrounded by her children, drifting in and out of the present, she recalls the one true love of her past - a secret from those who love her now. The book reminded me of "The Jilting of Granny Weatherall" by Katherine Ann Porter - a stream-of-consciousness memory piece that reinforces that theme that we never fully know one another.

The Post-Birthday World by Lionel Shriver