Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Her fans just refer to her as TJR. And she has a ton of fans. This novel has been on many "best of" lists this year, and after reading it, I guess I'm a little surprised. It is well written and the book certainly held my interest, but the subject matter might not attract a large audience.

The book takes place in the 80's in the NASA Space Program. The group of incoming astronauts are all brilliant, talented, competitive people who form a close knit group as they await their chance to go on one of the space shuttles. The main character, Joan, also has a close relationship with her young niece who is being raised by Joan's sister and this becomes a major part of the book. Because it's the 80's, the role of women in space plays an important part in the book. 

Clearly the author had to do extensive research in writing this book. Much of the technical information about space flight was over my head but it's written in a way that is understandable.

Many fans of the book wrote about the ending and how they could hardly read it because they were sobbing so hard. Not me. I found the last 20 pages to be a bit manipulative, over dramatic, and drawn out. But still, overall, I recommend the book and I would definitely try another of her novels. - June

P.S. I'm deliberately leaving out a major theme of the book to avoid spoiling it for you. You'll understand when you read it.

So Far Gone by Jess Walter

Remember Beautiful Ruins? That was a classic and I know both us read it. Well, this is a newer book by Jess Walter, and though it isn't as wonderful, it's still a nice read. It's well written with interesting characters. And plenty of politics and religion - where the author clearly takes a stand (at least in my mind he does). 

Rhys Kinneck, a journalist, becomes unable to cope with the political climate and the way he sees the world changing and so moves to a tiny cabin in the middle of nowhere to escape it all. After all, it is 2016 and I do believe there were some people around with some negative feelings about politics and politicians then. Anyway, two children appear on his doorstep after he's been there for 7 years. Turns out they are his grandchildren. His daughter has skipped town and a friend is bringing the children to him. This happens in the first few pages. The rest of the book dives into how he ended up separating himself from family and friends and his search for his daughter who is married to a religious far-right cult member. Intriguing, huh?

I recommend it. Unless you want to reread Beautiful Ruins instead. - June

The Playground by Richard Powers

Whew! This was probably the most confusing and difficult book I've ever read - unless you count some of the technical manuals or college textbooks I've read over the years. Clearly this author had done extensive research on oceanography and also on AI. The amount of details on both of these subjects was extreme and would sometimes go on for multiple pages. Yes, I skimmed the parts that weren't important to the story or that made my eyes glaze over.

And we've read many books where the author skips around in time. Or skips from one character to another. But this author jumped to different characters AND different times so it was hard to figure out any kind of timeline.

The book is centered around two boys and follows them into manhood. One is black and one is white. Both are brilliant in different ways but they find a common bond in gaming back in the 80's. And then there are other characters: A woman who is introduced to deep sea diving by her father who goes on to devote her life to the ocean. And another woman who lives on a tiny tropical island close to Tahiti who eventually joins the two young men. All these lives are woven together as they grow together and grow apart.

The end is crazy/confusing/shocking. I can't give it away but if you get to it, you may feel disappointed like I did - not because the ending isn't "good" but because it just didn't end the way I wanted it to end.

Recommend with hesitation. - June