Sharks in the Time of Saviors by Kawaii Strong Washburn
373 pages

What’s it about?
 In 1995, off the coast of Kailua-Kona Hawaii, 7-year-old Noa falls off a boat and is rescued and delivered back to his mom in the jaws of a shark.  Thus begins the legend of Noa and the great expectations put upon him.  Noa is the middle child and his "specialness" has repercussions for the whole family, but especially for his older brother Dean and his younger sister Kaui.   This is a story of Hawaii, the Gods, a family, and expectations.

What did it make me think about?
 Hawaii.

Should I read it?
I really expected to love this book.  However despite the lyrical writing, the beautiful setting, and the vivid characters- I just did not love it.  Kawaii Strong Washburn is a very talented writer but I struggled to connect to the characters. I did love reading about Hawaii, and the setting was almost a character in itself.   It might have been my mood because so many have loved this book....

Quote-
​" 'Whenever I've made  a choice in my life, a real choice..'  She leans back from my head.  Touches my shoulder just for a second.  'I can always feel the change, after I choose.  The better versions of myself, moving just out of reach.' "

7 1/2 stars

Deacon King Kong by James McBride
370 pages

​What’s it about?
 This novel is set in the 1960's at The Cause Housing Project in Brooklyn.  The story centers around an old church deacon named Sportcoat that can't stay away from the booze.  His wife Hettie has died and he spends too much time drinking and talking to her ghost.  He is obsessed with finding the Christmas Club money she left somewhere because he is afraid the church people will think he stole it.  One day he drinks too much and walks up to the neighborhood drug dealer and shoots him.  Now the whole neighborhood gets involved to protect him.

What did it make me think about?
 Brooklyn and changing neighborhoods.

Should I read it?
 This was my favorite James McBride novel to date.  I loved the characters and he just brings Brooklyn in the 1960's to life.  It takes some patience in the beginning but if you stick it out Sportcoat may be one of your favorite literary characters this year.

Quote-
​"She'd known most of them her whole life.  They stared at her with that look, that projects​ look: the sadness the suspicious, the weariness, the knowledge that came from living a special misery in a world of misery.  Four of their numbers were down- gone, changed forever, dead or not, it didn't matter.  And there would be more.  The drugs, big drugs, heroin, were here.  Nothing could stop it."

If you liked this try-
Dominicana by Angie Cruz
Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead
Ruby by Cynthia Bond
Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward

9 stars

Valentine by Elizabeth Wetmore
306 pages

What’s it about?
This novel takes place in 1976 in and around the oil fields of Odessa, Texas.  Gloria is just fourteen-years-old when she shows up at the front door of MaryRose White-head’s ranch house.  She has been raped and beaten and is not safe yet.
​
What did it make me think about?
Class, racism, and justice. 

Should I read it?
This book was not what I expected.  The story is told from multiple perspectives.  With each perspective we see how this crime affects the community.  This was a really good book.  It is well-written and fast paced.  I always love a glimpse into a different world and West Texas in the 1970's was a world I had not heard much about.  In the end this book demonstrates both the ease and the difficulty in dehumanizing another person.

Quote-
“Ginny’s grandma was a toothy old woman, a believer in hellfire and hard work and punishment that fit the crime. If the devil comes knocking on your front door in the middle of the night, she liked to say, chances are you flirted with him at the dance.  When she delivered the punch line, she clapped her hands twice sharply, just to make sure Ginny was paying attention.”

If you liked this try-
American Dirt by Jeanine Cummings
Dominicana by Angie Cruz
Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward
Women Talking by Miriam Toews
​
 8 1/2 stars

Dept. of Speculation by Jenny Offill
177 pages

What’s it about?
 This is the story of a marriage at the breaking point.  The narrator is "the wife".  As we read she retraces the steps that got her to this point in her marriage.

What did it make me think about?
 LESS IS MORE!  How could an author manage to pack so much into 177 pages.  

Should I read it?
 This small book is a literary tour-de-force.  It is disjointed, moving, and beautifully written.  How did I miss it for so many years? 

Quote-
​"How has she become one of those people who wears yoga pants all day?  She used to make fun of those people.  With their happiness maps and their gratitude journals and their bags made out of recycled tire treads.  But now it seems possible that the truth about getting older is that there are fewer and fewer things to make fun of until finally there is nothing you are sure you will never be."

If you liked this try-
The Animals by Christian Kiefer
​​Census by Jesse Ball​
​​On Earth We're Breifly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong
The Incendiaries by R.O. Kwon
​
9 1/2 stars

The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abbi Waxman
333 pages

What’s it about?
 Nina Hill lives a very scheduled life in L.A. with her cat Phil, a few close friends, and her dream job at a independent bookstore.  When the father she never knew suddenly dies and leaves her with a bequest in his will (and lots of new relatives) Nina is taken aback.   Add a new love interest and suddenly her very controlled life- is out of control...
 
What did it make me think about?
 OK, so I loved The Garden of Small Beginnings by Abbi Waxman and have had this next book on my shelf for awhile.  I was just waiting for the right time to read it.  After too many serious books in a row (and stay at home rules) a little romance, glib dialogue,  and irreverence seemed perfect!

Should I read it?
 Abbi Waxman writes characters that I miss after I turn the last page.  I still think ​The Garden of Small Beginnings is my favorite of the two books, but I certainly enjoyed this novel as well.  She writes such smart, snappy dialogue and you just want her characters to find love and happiness.  I highly recommend this book for those moments when you need an author with a light touch.

Quote-
"'That was back when you called someone on the phone and had to physically lift a receiver to talk to them'.  
'Weird', said Polly.
'Yeah,' said Liz, 'you couldn't hide behind a veil of casual, the way you guys do.  But you could slam the phone very loudly, which was satisfying.'  You could also have a private life, she thought to herself, and not get haunted forever by poor decisions, but decided not to rub it in.  It wasn't as though millennial didn't know what they'd lost; they simply weighed it up against everything they'd gained and decided it was probably a wash."

If you like this try-
Rabbit Cake by Annie Hartnett
​Standard Deviation by Katherine Heiny
The Gunners by Rebecca Kauffman
Goodbye Vitamin by Rachel Khong

8 stars

The Splendid and the Vile by Erik Larson
585 pages

What’s it about?
 Erik Larson takes us back to London in 1940-1941 as Churchill takes over as Prime Minister of England and the Blitz begins in earnest.  Somehow Churchill manages to instill fearlessness into a whole population as they face night after night of intense bombing.  45,000 people will be killed in this bombing campaign over the next year.  It is easy to forget that England stood virtually alone against Germany in 1940.  Erik Larson shows us that Winston Churchill was the right person to lead at that particular time in history.  
 
What did it make me think about?
 The Blitz certainly puts "stay at home" orders in a new perspective...

Should I read it?
 This was an interesting look at a slice of history that most of us don't know much about.  World War 2 is often talked about and I knew about the Blitz but this book filled in so many blanks.  I would highly recommend this book to anyone who likes history.

Quote-
"He might have been speaking before the House of Commons, rather than to a small group of men fogged by cigars and alcohol in a quiet country house.  'We seek no treasure,' Churchill said, 'we seek no territorial gains, we seek only the right of man to be free; we seek his right to worship his God, to lead his life in his own way, secure from persecution.  As the humble laborer returns home from his work when the day is done, and sees the smoke curling upwards from his cottage home in the serene evening sky, we wish him to know that no "rat-a-tat-tat"- here Churchill knocked loudly on the table- 'of the secret police upon his door will disturb his leisure or interrupt his rest.'  He said 'Britain sought only government by popular consent, freedom to say whatever one wished, and the equality of all people in the eyes of the law.  But war aims other than these we have none.' "

If you liked this try-
​Forty Autumns by Nina Willner
One Summer by Bill Bryson
Red Notice by Bill Browder
The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown

9 stars

The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel
301 pages

​What’s it about?
 This book follows two Canadian born half-siblings as they move through their lives.  Paul struggles with addiction and Vincent finds herself caught up with a man that runs a Ponzi scheme.  When the Ponzi scheme fails we see how different people, including the perpetrator,  are affected.  

What did it make me think about?
This book covers greed, privilege, addiction, and people living in the margins.  

Should I read it?
 I LOVED Station Eleven by the same author, and this book is an equally impressive display of writing.  However, I found this book slightly dry, and easier to put down.  I did enjoy the story, but I can't say any of the characters were that compelling. The character that I was the most interested in was  Jonathan Alkaitis- the man that runs the Ponzi scheme.  He ruins so many lives, including his own, yet always seems slightly mystified about how he got there.  ​"He carried himself with the tedious confidence of all people with money, that breezy assumption that no serious harm could come to him. "  So many of the characters are forced onto a different path after the Ponzi scheme is discovered.  This book underscores how tenuous are lives are.  Anyone's life can change in a minute- as we are seeing right now during the Coronavirus crisis.  It also explores the notion that we can "know" and "not know" at the same time.  Interesting thoughts- and an interesting book.
​
Quote-
"One of our signature flaws as a species; we will risk almost anything to avoid looking stupid."

"He could live without retirement savings.  No one in this country actually starves to death.  It's just one future slipping away and being replaced by another. "

If you liked this try-
How To Get Filthy Rich In Rising Asia by Moshin Hamid
​Driftless by David Rhodes
The Mars Room by Rachel Kushner
Idaho by Emily Ruskovich

​8 stars

The Sound Down Motel by Simone St. James
326 pages

What’s it about?
 This ghost story/mystery flips back in time from the 1980's to present day.  20-year-old Viv Delaney shows up in Fell, New York and takes a job as the night clerk at the Sun Down Motel.  A short time later Viv disappears with no trace.  Her niece Carly comes back to Fell in 2017 to try to figure out what happened.  Ghosts, murders, and a creepy hotel are the backdrop to this murder mystery.

What did it make me think about?
 This was a plot driven mystery.  No thinking required.  Just turn the pages.

Should I read it?
 This started out slow for me.  Very implausible, lots of ghosts- but I kept at it and the plot picked up.  If you suspend your disbelief and hold on this book turns into a satisfying murder mystery.  

Quote-
"Night people were not the same as day people.  The good people of Fell, whoever they were, were sound asleep at three a.m. Those people never saw the people Viv saw: the cheating couples having affairs, the truckers strung out on whatever they took to stay awake, the women with blackened eyes who checked out at 5 a.m. to futilely go home again."

If you liked this try-
My Sunshine Away by M.O. Walsh
The Long and Faraway Gone by Lou Berney
The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes
The Kept by James Scott

7 stars

Apeirogon by Colum McCann
457 pages

What’s it about?
 Apeirogon: a shape with a countably infinite number of sides.  In this book Colum McCann writes about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and it's infinite number of sides.  Much on the novel is based on the lives of real people. Bassam Aramin and Rami Elhanan travel the world speaking about their personal experiences and their belief that no occupation is sustainable.  Rami lost his 13-year-old daughter to suicide bombers. Ten years later Bassam loses his ten-year-old daughter when a young Israeli soldier mistakenly hits her in the head with a rubber bullet.  The ambulance with Bassam and his daughter are held at a checkpoint for hours on the way to the hospital.  " 'I still sit in that ambulance every day' Bassam tells us.  'I keep waiting for it to move.  Every day she gets killed again and every day I sit in the ambulance, willing it to move, please move, please please please, just go, why are you staying here, let's go.' " The two men meet and recognize the need to use their grief to make people understand how the occupation is affecting both sides in this conflict. 

What did it make me think about?
Life in any occupied zone.  "You  see the occupation exists in every aspect of your life, and exhaustion and a bitterness that nobody outside it really understands.  It deprives you of tomorrow.  It stops you from going to the market, tot he hospital, to the beach, to the sea.  You can't walk, you can't drive, you cannot pick an olive from your own tree which is  on the other side of the barbed wire.  You can't even look up at the sky.  They have their planes up there.  They own the air above and the ground below.  You need a permit to sow your own land.  Your door is kicked in, your house is taken over, they put their feet in your chairs. Your seven-year-old is picked up and interrogated.  You can't imaging it.  Seven-years-old.  Be a father for a minute and think of your seven-year-old being picked up in front of your eyes.  Blindfolded.  Zip ties put on his wrists."
 
Should I read it?
 This is an exceptional book.  Written in 1001 short chapters (perhaps a nod to the 1001 Arabian Nights) it highlights the many sides to a story that is complicated and fraught with tension.  Neither side is listening to the other- maybe because to listen would make you see the humanity in the other viewpoint.  I would love to hear Bassam and Rami speak in person.  I can not imagine anyone reading this book and not admiring both of these men. They are a testament that something good can come from terrible tragedy.  Colum McCann is a gifted writer and this is a masterpiece of a book.  Be prepared to take it slowly.  This is NOT a page turner.  This is a book that will change your viewpoint and make you think.

Quote-
​"His was a responsibility not to diminish.  He wanted to talk about the use of the past in the justification of the present.  About the helix of history, one moment bound to the next.  About where the past intersects with the future."

"Some people have an interest in keeping silence.  Others have an interest in sowing hatred based on fear.  Fear makes money, and it makes laws, and it takes land, and it builds settlements, and fear likes to keep everyone silent."

" 'Once I thought we could never solve our conflict', Bassam tells us; 'we would continue hating each other forever, but it is not written anywhere that we have to go on killing each other.  The hero makes a friend of his enemy.... When they killed my daughter they killed my fear.  I can do anything now."
 
If you liked this try-
Milkman by Anna Burns
The Sound of Things Falling by Juan Gabriel Vasquez
Women Talking by Miriam Toews
Asymmetry by Lisa Halliday

9 1/2 stars

Long Bright River by Liz Moore
480 pages

What’s it about?
 Mickey and Kacey are sisters who grew up in a  working class Philadelphia neighborhood.  Although they were once close, they now no longer speak.  Kacey is an addict living on the streets of the old neighborhood, and Mickey is a patrol officer in that same neighborhood.  Then a string of murders hit the neighborhood and Kacey goes missing.....

What did it make me think about?
The title of the book refers to the long bright river of departed souls from the opioid crisis.  This book made me think about addiction, gentrifying neighborhoods, the way we police those neighborhoods, and of course- family. 

Should I read it?
 This was a great book!  One of my favorites so far this year.  This was a family drama wrapped up in a mystery.  It also gave me a glimpse into a world I do not live in.  

Quote-
"In a moment of clarity, once, Kacey told me that time spent in addiction feels looped.  Each morning brings with it the possibility of change, each evening the shame of failure."

If you liked this try-
The Long and Faraway Gone by Lou Berney
My Sunshine Away by M.O. Walsh
The Child Finder by Rene Denfeld
Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter by Tom Franklin

9 1/2 stars