The Optimist's Daughter by Eudora Welty
193 pages

What’s it about?
 This is a short novel that is divided into 4 parts.  It was written in 1972 and won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction.  Laurel is a middle-aged woman who returns to New Orleans to take care of her father after he has eye surgery.  Her stay is complicated by her father's second wife, Fay.  The novel centers around love and loss.

What did it make me think about?
 For some reason I felt as if I was reading a play as I read this novel.  It is very Southern, and beautifully written.  I have to note that many of the same themes run through this story that run through a lot of recent novels.  How do we come to terms with losing those we love- and how do we come to terms with the choices they have made?

Should I read it?
 This is a short novel with big themes.  Well worth the time but it does seems like a piece from a certain time and place.  

Quote-
"He, who had been the declared optimist, had not once expressed hope.  Now it was she who was offering it to him.  And it might be false hope."

If you like this try-
A Spool of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler
Lila by Marilynne Robinson
Driftless by David Rhodes

 8 stars

Everything Happens For A Reason and other lies I've loved  by Kate Bowler
166 pages

What’s it about?
 Kate Bowler is an assistant professor of theology at Duke Divinity School.   Her area of study is the prosperity gospel- the idea that all the good fortune in our lives is a blessing from God and all the misfortune is a sign of God's disapproval.  At the age of 35 Kate is a young professional, wife, and mother, but then she is diagnosed with stage four colon cancer.   This is her story.

What did it make me think about?
 This book was so honest, and sad, and funny- yes funny.  ​"Laceye learns where all the diaries are kept that I would rather not leave for posterity.  The diary of twelve-year-old Kate will be allowed to remain, because it is a daily account of what boy named Colin was doing and I am convinced that if Colin committed a crime in 1992 and is later put on trial, my diary is so thorough that it would either convict or exonerate him."    This story, which is tragic in many ways, would have been too much to bear if Kate Bower did not view the world with humor.

Should I read it?
 So, this is my 2nd book in a row that I saw on some list and picked up from the library on my way to the airport.  No turning back now....  luckily two pages in I was hooked.  

So how do people of faith handle death and dying?  How does this fit in to the idea of a prosperity gospel?   In this book Kate Bower sheds some light on her own journey, and also shares some ideas of how to help those who are working through difficult experiences.  Interesting indeed.....

Quote-
​"But what gives the prosperity movement breadth and depth for many is its thorough accounting for the pain of life, and for the longing we have for restoration.  Those Americans trapped in failing bodies or broken relationships  or the painful possibility that their lives may never be made whole can turn to this message of hope.  If it is a game- with rules for success that anyone can use- then maybe they can win."

"I failed to love what was present and decided to love what was possible instead.
​            I must learn to live in ordinary time, but I don't know how."

If you liked this try-
Being Mortal by Atul Gawande
H is For Hawk by Helen Macdonald
On the Move by Oliver Sacks
The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion


9 stars

Circe by Madeline Miller
385 pages

What’s it about?
Helios is the powerful god of the sun.  He takes the nymph Perse for a wife and their first daughter Circe is born soon after.  She is a strange child and struggles in this world of gods.  This is Circe’s story-  told by Madeline Miller.
​
What did it make me think about?
This made me think about a Greek Mythology class I took at the University of Illinois a very long time ago.  Professor Scanlon would have loved this book!  I really do need to tackle "The Iliad" and “The Odyssey” one day.  Maybe later....

Should I read it?
So, earlier Madeline Miller wrote a runaway bestseller titled "The Song of Achilles" which I was just not interested in reading.  I did not realize that Circe was another novel from this same author.  Since it arrived in my library hold stack I decided to give it a try.  So glad I did!  This was so different than any book I have read recently.  The characters are all taken from Greek mythology and twisted into a story that is fast paced and interesting.   I recommend this one.

Quote- 
“That is one thing gods a mortals share.  When we are young, we think ourselves the first to have each feeling in the world.”

If you like this try-
The Buried Giant by Kazoo Ishiguro
Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His yeats of Pilgrimage by Haruki Murakami
The Enchanted by Rene Denfield

8 stars

Warlight by Michael Ondaatje
285 pages
 
What’s it about?
“In 1945 our parents went away and left us in the care of two men who may have been criminals.”  This is the lyrical, mysterious story of fourteen-year-old Nathaniel and how the period of time after the war shaped him into the person he becomes.  
 
What did it make me think about?
The epigraph at the beginning of this book says, “Most of the great battles are fought in the creases of topographical maps.” Hmmm....   This book is mysterious from the epigraph on.   What exactly is this book about?  As the story unwinds we come to feel that this book is about many things.  Wars are won on the battlefields, but they are also won by the work of many average, ordinary citizens stepping up in extraordinary ways.  What happens when the war ends?  How does life resume?
 
Should I read it?
This is a beautiful book.  Part mystery and all literature.  It unwinds slowly and the style of the writing is center stage.  For any fan of Michale Ondaatje’s earlier work- don’t miss this one.  However, if you prefer a quick page turner….then you will probably not be putting this one on your nightstand.  You will be missing out though!
 
Quote-
“We are foolish as teenagers.  We say wrong things.  Do not know how to be modest, or less shy.  We judge easily.  But the only hope given us, although only in retrospect, is that we change.  We learn, we evolve.  What I am now was formed by whatever happened to me then, not by what I have achieved, but by how I got here.”
 
If you like this try-
A God In Ruins by Kate Atkinson
Days Without End by Sebastian Barry
Driftless by David Rhodes
The Enchanted by Rene Denfield

9 stars

White Houses by Amy Bloom
240 pages

What’s it about?
This is the story of an unlikely love between two middle aged women.  Coincidentally the women happen to be Eleanor Roosevelt and journalist Lorena Hickok.  They have a relationship that quickly becomes an affair of the heart.  They are only together under the same roof for 6 years (yes- Eleanor was married to FDR and the roof they are under is the White House) but remain close for the remainder of their lives.

What did it make me think about?
This is such an incredible story and my feeling was that this book just doesn't do the actual history justice....

Should I read it?
Recently thousands of letters between Eleanor and “Hick” have been discovered. This is an imagined story- but a story with a lot of written history surrounding it.  Amy Bloom has written a book about two very interesting women but I found her imagined story kind of bland.   However, it does not require much time to read so if you like historical fiction then enjoy.

Quote-
“Her propriety, my brass knuckles. Her Hyde Park–iness, my South Dakota gloom. The Roosevelts cultivate chin up and make the best of it. None of them ever see that what they’re making the best of is tons of money, a tenements worth of servants, and such a grand old name that it doesn’t matter that two hundred years ago they were no better than the Hickoks of South Dakota, which is a damn low bar. Rich people.”

If you like this try-
​Circling the Sun by Paula McLain
Georgia by Dawn Tripp
Euphoria by Lily King
The Other Einstein by Marie Benedict

7 stars

The Gunners by Rebecca Kauffman
260 pages
 
What’s it about?
So my first thought was, “this is a remake of ‘The Big Chill’ for millennials”.  I may not have been too far off with my first thought....  Much like “The Big Chill” this was thoroughly entertaining from beginning to end.  Who isn’t drawn in by a group of childhood friends who years later are drawn back together for the funeral of one of the group?  Did I mention it was a suicide?
 
What did it make me think about?
This novel is about friendship- pure and simple.  Especially long enduring friendships.  Rebecca Kauffman addresses her characters emotional lives head on- in a way that most writers don't.  It made for a different kind of novel. 

Should I read it?
SO- keeping in mind that I may have just been in the mood for something quick and easy- I would say yes!  This novel was just fun to read.  Lots of drama, lots of quirky characters, and some mystery.  I must tell you that you will need to suspend your disbelief and just go with it (for example- if Mikey is truly that well-loved wouldn’t he have made some more friends over the years….).  But so what! Sometimes it is fun to just read something that is engrossing and keeps you interested.  I would say this is a really good summer, beach read with some thought provoking, deep points made by the author.
 
Quote-
“He said, ‘I think at various times in life we’re either more or less true to who we really are. But that essence, that who we are…I don’t know if that that ever changes.’”
 
If you liked this try-
How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia by Moshin Hamid
​Standard Deviation by Katherine Heiny
Goodbye Vitamin by Rachel Khong
Rabbit Cake by Annie Hartnett
​Black Bear Lake by Leslie Liautaud

9 stars