Beartown by Fredrik Backman
415 pages
 
What’s it about?
 Beartown is a dying community in the woods of Sweden.  The town has pinned its last hopes on its Junior Hockey Team winning a championship and putting the town back on the map.  With a large cast of characters this book examines the idea of what makes a community from lots of different perspectives.
 
What did it make me think about?
 This book asks so many questions.   What is loyalty?  What makes a leader?  What are the consequences of our obsession with athletes?  What does this obsession do to young star athletes?  What is required of a friend?  What does it take to be a good parent?  And it goes on and on….  I felt like there were so many ideas to explore in this book.
 
Should I read it?
 I thoroughly enjoyed the book.   The plot really picked up in the second half- but the characters were engaging from the first page.   Frederik Beckman    seems to write in platitudes, but they are all good and do not thwart the plot so how do you fault him for that?  Their were so many pearls of wisdom in this story that I had trouble picking out which quote to include.  One of my favorite themes in the novel was the power of our early friendships ,“You never have the sort of friends you have when you’re fifteen ever again. Even if you keep them for the rest of your life, it’s never the same as it was then.”  If I had included all the quotes I found memorable- my review would have been WAY too long!
 
Quote-
“Hate can be a deeply stimulating emotion.  The world becomes much easier to understand and much less terrifying if you divide everything and everyone into friends and enemies, we and they, good and evil.  The easiest way to unite a group isn’t through love, because love is hard.  It makes demands.  Hate is simple.”
 
If you like this try-
​​A Man Called Ove by Frederik Backman
The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennesy by Rachel Joyce
Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger
Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward

9 stars

The Heart’s Invisible Furies by John Boyne
580 pages
 
What’s it about?
It is 1945 and 16-year-old Catherine Googin finds herself pregnant and alone in a small Irish town.  After the parish priest casts Catherine out of town in a very public way- she makes her way to Dublin.  Catherine will reappear again in this novel but the main character is Catherine’s out of wedlock son- Cyril Avery.  Cyril has a lonely childhood with his adoptive family.   It is the 1950’s and the Catholic Church rules Dublin with an iron fist.  In this time and place Cyril discovers that he is attracted to boys not girls.   And the novel thus really begins….
 
What did I think?
Wow!  John Boyne really has a bone to pick with the Catholic Church of Ireland.  His writing is beautiful but the story goes lots of different directions.  Boyne does a good job of demonstrating how heart-wrenching being a young gay teenager was in a time of repression.  However at times I just wanted to Cyril to be honest with someone- anyone….  At heart this is a character driven novel.  The plot sometimes goes awry and I didn't always like Cyril, but it drew me in all the same.
 
Should you read it?
I enjoyed most of this book.  It is certainly a reminder of how painful life can be if you are not in the majority.   It is also an interesting look at the harm that religion can do when it is more interested in the rules- than in the person.
 
Quote-
“But for all we had, for all the luxury to which we were accustomed, we were both denied love, and this deficiency would be scorched into our future lives like an ill-considered tattoo inscribed on the buttocks after a drunken night out, leading each of us inevitably toward isolation and disaster.”
 
If you like this try-
 *A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
*And The Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini
Fourth of July Creek by Smith Henderson
Skippy Dies by Paul Murray

7 1/2 stars
 

The Power by Naomi Alderman
382 pages
 
What’s it about?
Imagine a world in the future where women develop a  power that makes it possible to physically dominate men.  How would society change?  Naomi Alderman cleverly asks this question in her new novel.
 
What did I think?
This novel is based on a really interesting question- how much does physical power really affect the relationship between sexes?  What if women were the ones with the physical dominance?  What would it change?
 
Should you read it?
This was an interesting premise and made for a pretty good book.  I would recommend this selection for book clubs.  Lots of interesting assumptions are made in this story that would generate good discussions. 
 
Quote-
“There is a part in each of us which holds fast to the old truth: either you are the hunter or you are the prey.  Learn which you are.  Act accordingly.  Your life depends on it.”
 
If you like this try-
 ​The Girl With All the Gifts by M.R. Carey
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
The Dog Stars by Peter Heller
The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell

8 stars

Grief Cottage by Gail Goodwin
321 pages

What’s it about?
 This coming of age story centers around 11-year-old Marcus.  Marcus is sent to live with his elderly Aunt Charlotte after his mother suddenly dies in a car crash.  Set on the South Carolina beach this novel was an easy read.

What did it make me think about?
Childhood friendships and the particular viewpoint of adolescents.

Should I read it?
This book was like a really good “B” movie.  Enjoyable, probably not going to win any awards, but pretty entertaining. That is not too say that this book is poorly written- it is not.  

Quote-
“What am I when I get past being a particular daughter, wife, mother, neighbor, friend?  What would be left of the essential me without any of my roles?  That was the first dead end I reached.  Maybe nothing will be left, I thought, I am my roles.”

If you like this try-
​​Kitchens of the Great Midwest by J.  Ryan Stradal
Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger
Saints for All Ocassions by J. Courtney Sullivan
​The Nest by Cynthia D''Aprix Sweeney

7 1/2 stars