Rooftops of Tehran by Mahbod Seraji
345 pages
 
 What’s it about?
This coming of age story takes place in Tehran during the summer of 1973.  Pasha is a 17 year-old boy making the transition into adulthood, much like every other 17 year-old boy in the world.  The Shah of Iran is still in power and this political climate creates the backdrop to the story. 
 
What did it make me think about?
This story reinforced that adolescence is a difficult time no matter the circumstances.  It also taught me more about Iran and the Persian culture.   I found the Persian culture to be really interesting.
  
Should I read it?
 This was a good coming of age story.  If you have an interest in Iran it would be an especially good choice.
 
Quote-
 “My dad is the wisest man I know.  His indirect way of warning us of the potential dangers of a conflict with the government and its agents, without ever mentioning Doctor, was brilliant.  That’s the way of the Persians- we are masters in the art of implication, sometimes at the cost of the point getting lost on an unsophisticated listener.  Facts seldom matter.  The meaning and the message are always woven into the fabric of our discourse.”
 
If you like this try-
Orhan's Inheritance by Aline Ohanesian
Girl at War by Sara Novice
Boy, Snow, Bird by Helen Oyeyimi
Mornings in Jenin by Susan Abulhawi

7 stars

​The Summer Before the War by Helen Simonson
473 pages

What’s it about?
This novel takes place in Rye, England in 1914 and centers around Beatrice Nash.  Beatrice is young, single and trying to find her way after the death of her father.  She arrives in Rye to teach Latin to the local schoolchildren.  The Edwardian lifestyle depicted in this novel will change drastically after World War 1.  This novel transports us to 1914 and gives us a glimpse into what it was to live in a small countryside village in England at the brink of war.

What did it make me think about?
This book is so charming- and managing to write a charming book is a real talent.   Ms. Simonson manages to charm you with her English cast of characters at the same time she is teaching you about a different era.   Most importantly this is a universal story about war, and what a tragedy it is at any time.

Should I read it?
Yes!  If you enjoyed "Major Pettigrew's Last Stand" then be warned that this latest novel by Helen Simonson is somewhat different.  This book has a large cast of characters, and the plot moves at a little slower pace (Beatrice doesn't actually start teaching until 2/3 of the way through the book).  However it is a wonderful novel filled with characters that you will want to spend a few days with.  Think Downton Abby in a novel... It does start out slowly, but Beatrice, Uncle John, Aunt Agatha, Hugh, Daniel, Snout and the rest make the pages move right along.  I will miss Rye in 1914!

Quote-
 "An unworthy concern flickered through her mind that Cook might now take to being absent without warning, burning gravy because of tiredness, bringing her granddaughter with her to get underfoot in the kitchen.  Agatha was forced to consider whether her sympathetic interest in her staff's families might have more to do with appearing generous than with any willingness to be inconvenienced by their actual problems."

If you liked this try-
The Love Song of Miss Queen Hennesy by Rachel Joyce
A Man Called Ove by Frederic Backman
The Tower, The Zoo, and the Tortoise by Julia Stuart
The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce

​9 1/2 stars

Eileen by Ottessa Moshfegh
260 pages
 
 What’s it about?
This dark novel is about Eileen, a 24-year old young woman who lives with her alcoholic father in a small, provincial New England town.  Eileen does not have a happy life, and she certainly does not struggle to rise above her situation.  One day a new woman walks into her workplace and Eileen suddenly takes charge of her life.  In this novel Eileen looks back at her 24 year-old self,  and tells you her peculiar coming of age story. 
 
What did it make me think about?
Ottessa Moshfegh is an interesting writer.  Her characters are dark and disturbed.  Although I see the brilliance and complexity of the novel- I did not like the book at all.  In the end you are left to wrestle with the question- did Eileen finally empower and save herself, or cross the line into evil?
 
Should I read it?
I have liked many dark books so I am not sure why this one was so difficult for me to get through.  I just wasn’t that interested.   This book was critically acclaimed and I had high hopes for it but it just left me cold.  If you prefer to like some of the characters in the story- then skip this book.  If you want a dark, psychological story then pick this one up.  It is well written and very different.
 
Quote-
 “Of course his drinking put a strain on me as a young person.  It made me very tense and edgy.  That happens when one lives with an alcoholic.  My story in that sense is not unique.  I’ve lived with many alcoholic men over the years, and each has taught me that it is useless to worry, fruitless to ask why, suicide to ry to help them.  They are who they are,, for better or worse.  Now I live alone.  Happily.  Gleefully, even.”
 
If you like this try-(*I liked the following books much more)

The Enchanted by Rene Denfeld
We the Animals by Justin Torres
A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

3 stars 

The Girl in the Red Coat by Kate Hamer
324 pages
 
 What’s it about?
 Beth is single mom trying to get past the hurt of her recent divorce and raising her daughter Carmel.  One day she and Carmel go on an outing and Carmel disappears.  This story is told from both Beth and Carmel’s perspective.
 
What did it make me think about?
 This book just made me think of turning the next page!
 
Should I read it?
 So I had read mixed reviews on this book and thought I would give it a try.  I was so surprised at how much I enjoyed this one.  The pages flew by!  If you are looking for a quick, well written, page-turner then look no further.
 
Quote-
          “What is this thing that happens?  When disaster strikes and women come, with their cakes and their bandages, with their cups of tea and their soothing fingers.  It’s the complicity of the birthing chamber, the laying out of the dead.  They pick the bits of tragedy up off the floor and try to knit them back together in some shape, the way I felt I could knit Carmel back to life.  Not the way they were before, something lumpy and misshapen- but so there’s a whole again.”

If you like this try-
The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
The Hand That Feeds You by A.J. Rich
My Sunshine Away by M.O. Walsh
An Untamed State by Roxanne Gay

​8 stars

The Turner House by Angela Flournoy
338 pages

What’s it about?
 Frances and Viola Turner left Arkansas and moved to Detroit in 1945.  For the next fifty years they raised thirteen children on Yarrow street on the East side of the city.  Frances is gone now and Viola has taken a turn for the worse.    The thirteen children will need to decide what to do with the house on Yarrow St.,  as they owe the bank more than the house is worth.  This novel fully imagines what life on the East side of Detroit was then, and what it is now.

What did it make me think about?
 The power of family, the great migration of African-Americans from the South to industrial cities, and sadness for what many inner cities have become.

Should I read it?
 This book has much to recommend it, but I liked it rather than loved it.  

Quote-
"Slavery.  Did there ever exist a more annoying way to try to make a modern-day black man feel like his troubles were insignificant, that he should be satisfied with the sorry hand society dealt him."

6 stars