The People in the Photo by Helene Gestern

This is a quick read written entirely in letter/email form.  It's a story of family secrets, and how they can affect the family members.  Helene's mother died when she was only 3, and she wants to know more about her.  Her father and stepmother wouldn't answer her questions about her mother, and now that they are not around to help her, she is researching on her own.  She begins a correspondence with Stephane who lives in England and who's father knew Helene's mother.  Their letters are a bit formal and stuffy, but as they begin to uncover some of the mysteries of their parents, their relationship changes.  What they uncover is not earth shattering, but it is an interesting, well-written book.  Recommended.  -June

Why Can I Be You by Allie Larkin

I need to stop looking at book reviews from readers.  This novel receives rave reviews, and I just have to assume that they are all written by 18-20 year olds.  Since I am a few years north of that age, I had a hard time relating to the characters in this novel.  It's definitely chick lit - and although well written, it's so far fetched that it is simply silly.  (Although someone somewhere loves it enough to make it into a movie!  Coming soon!)  Basically, it's the story of a young woman who goes on a business trip after being dumped by her boyfriend, and she is mistaken for someone else by a group of friends attending a high school reunion.  Instead of correcting them, she decides to play along and become someone else for a week.  Believable?  No.  I suppose there's a message in there - we should be happy to just be ourselves and not try to someone else - or something like that.  But it was all just too predictable and fluffy for me.  -June

The Pecan Man by Cassie Dandridge Selleck

Thanks, Tillie, for a good recommendation.  This is an interesting book about an elderly Southern white woman who is looking back on her life.  Many years ago, she hired a black, homeless man to work in her yard, much to the horror of friends and neighbors.  After that, there's a murder, a car accident, and a prison sentence - and most of all, lots of secrets.  It's well written, and definitely recommended.  BT, it's coming to you along with another one of Tillie's recs that I just couldn't get into.  See what you think.  -June

The Position by Meg Wolitzer

I had the chance to see Meg Wolitzer at a book reading when The Interestings was being released in paperback.  She was a vibrant and entertaining speaker, and I thoroughly enjoyed hearing her talk about her books.  And I really liked The Interestings.  So when I saw one of her earlier books available through Book Bub for $1.99, I grabbed it.  Besides, the premise sounded very promising.  Four siblings (age 6 to 16) discover that their parents have written a sex "how-to" book complete with drawings of themselves in the act.  Once the children make this discovery, the author moves from one family member to the next about 30 years later.  I suppose it could be said that their parents' book had a profound influence on their lives, and perhaps in some ways it did, but for the most part, the book becomes a character study of each of the grown children and their parents.  I love the way Meg Wolitzer writes.  She develops her characters so you know them and understand them.  I really enjoyed this one and now want to read more from this author.  - June

The Aviator's Wife by Melanie Benjamin

Months ago, I tried to listen to the audio version of The Aviator's Wife but found that I was totally frustrated with the author's writing style.  So imagine how excited I was when this book appeared on my Book Club list.  Perhaps, I thought, I'll like it better if I'm reading it rather than listening to it.  And yes, I did.  But only because when the author wrote something that she'd already told the reader 5 other times, I was able to skip forward easily to the next page.  For example, how many times would you think she had to tell us that Charles Lindburgh had a cleft chin?  The answer - 9 times.  Most readers might have picked that up after the first or second time, but just in case you're an idiot, the author makes sure you know about it.  Or how about the number of different types of "grins" that either Anne or Charles gave each other.  Stupid grin, proud grin, surprising grin, carefree grin, earnest grin, toothy grin, tomboyish grin, jaunty grin - and the list goes on and on.  Let's just say there was a lot of grinning going on even though it turns out that Charles Lindburgh was a jerk.  All that being said, I did find that the story told was interesting.  The parts of the book that were based on fact (the flights they took, the kidnapping, the obsession by the press) were fascinating.  Perhaps I would have been better off reading a good biography on Anne or Charles rather than a fictionalized version told as if Anne was writing it herself, grinning and admiring Charles cleft chin. - June