Eternal on the Water by Joseph Monninger

A book club member recommended this one and said it was an adventure and love story.  Hmmmm.  Maybe some people would consider Shades of Grey an adventurous love story.  My first red flag was a comment I read in a review on Amazon.  "Henry David Thoreau meets Nicholas Sparks in this poignant love story..."  I guess I have nothing against Nicholas Sparks, but I always have a hard time with men who write romantic love stories that are marketed to women.  But since it came recommended by a friend and receives great reviews online, I read it.  And I'll admit it is very well written.  The author captures the outdoor, nature scenes beautifully and his descriptions make you feel like you are there.  But I had two problems with the book.  The first is the relationship between the Cobb and Mary, the two central characters.  Have you ever been with a couple who are so in love and so physically turned on to each other that they can't keep their hands off each other?  And you feel like you should look away or you might throw up?  That's the way they act.  The story is told from Cobb's point of view, and he is constantly and repeatedly telling us how much he loves Mary, how wonderful/beautiful/perfect she is.  We get it.  You love her.  Move on with the story.  They never fight or disagree, and they have all kinds of cute personal jokes that they banter about in every chapter.  We know from the first chapter that Mary will die, and even the difficult conversations about how she will die become tedious after a while.  The second problem I had with the book is that all the minor characters are also perfect.  Cobb's father, Mary's mother and brother, their friends, everyone is good looking, smart, politically active, kind, etc. etc.  The last book my club read was Gone Girl, and we discussed how we can enjoy a book and dislike the characters.  But in this book, all the characters are completely loveable and yet I didn't like the book.  I'm not sure what that says about me, and maybe I don't want to know.  -June

The Seduction of Water by Carol Goodman

On the cover of this book is a quote from the New York magazine describing the book as "an atmospheric thriller".  Not sure at all what that means exactly, but I was expecting something like Daphne du Maurier perhaps.  The only atmosphere in the first 100 pages is life in New York City.  Generally if I haven't fallen into a book after reading 100 pages, I give up.  But while I wasn't sure about this book, I kept on reading.  Fortunately, it did get better once Iris returns to her family's upstate hotel to research her mother's life and her mysterious death.  This book has many characters that often make the plot confusing and complicated.  There are references to her mother's fantasy books that are strange and yet are supposed to be helpful in figuring it all out.  I think the book manages to be a bit of a love story, a mystery, and a fantasy novel - and it just didn't work for me.  I read to the end to find what Iris discovered - but frankly, I was relieved to have it done. -June

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry

This is another one of those quiet, well-written books that is just a nice read.  It reminded me a bit of Major Pettigrew - in fact, in the movie in my head as I read the book, the same actor played Harold and Major Pettigrew.  Harold, however, is not as clever and quick as MP.  He's actually kind of a boring guy until one day he just sets out on this journey to see a dying friend.  Like other books I seem to have read lately, the main character spends a great deal of time looking back on his life as he walks, and he often is filled with regret.  I enjoyed the beginning of this book, but frankly found the middle a little slow.  As Harold walks, he encounters many people and learns their stories.  This happens over and over again until I was ready to just skip to the end.  There's a twist a few chapters from the end that fills in some of the blanks and makes the ending a bit more satisfying.  I told a friend to read the first third and the last third.  That's my recommendation.  -June

The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker

Sounds like a religious book, doesn't it?  Well, I'm not exactly sure what the miracles are that are mentioned in the title, but the book itself is very good.  This is a coming-of-age story that focuses on a family of three, a mother, father, and a daughter.  In addition to the preteen issues the daughter, Julie, experiences, there is also a scientific event unfolding.  The earth is starting to slow its rotation, which causes the days to become longer each day.  The affects this has on people, society, food, transportation, and the environment is profound, and all these changes take place slowly over a year.  It means the end of the earth, but it's going out with a whimper rather than a bang.  Very interesting premise and a well-written book.  -June

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

I've been saving this book since Christmas.  I knew once I started reading it, I wouldn't be able to put it down.  So true!  I think I read it in 3 days.  I've had enough friends read it to know the basic plot and even a spoiler or two, but it still was exciting and amazing.  The author does a wonderful job of slowly revealing all the twists and turns of the plot, and although it might seem completely unrealistic if you stop to think about it, it seems so true when you are caught up in it.  I loved it.  And highly recommend it.  But wait until you can devote a few days to it, because you can't put it down!! - June

Benediction by Kent Haruf

Are you looking for an exciting page-turner?  A riveting plot that hooks you at the beginning and doesn't let you go?  Well, if so, this is not the book for you.  It's beautifully written, the characters are fabulous detailed, and I loved it.  But it's one of those quiet books that is just a "slice of life" in a small town.  Dad (he goes by that name to everyone in town) has been diagnosed with terminal cancer, and as he looks back on his life, we learn his life story.  His wife and daughter take care of him, but there is also a son who is missed.  The book also focuses on other people in the town - a young girl who has come to live with her grandmother, a minister who is struggling personally, and two women who are a part of it all.  This book isn't for everyone, but it was just what I needed.  -June

The Submission by Amy Waldman

As I looked at my last review, I realized I never wrote a review about this book!  And this one shouldn't be missed.  It's one I'd never heard of, and frankly when one of my book club members suggested it, we all thought it must be a Shades of Gray type of book based on the title.  Far from it.  A panel has been formed to select the best submission for a 9/11 memorial.  We learn at the beginning of the book that the winner has been chosen, and the architect is Muslim.  Of course, this causes controversy on many levels - the victims' families, the people in New York, the rest of the nation, and Muslim groups.  This is a fabulous book and one that you'll think about long after you finish.  If there is a "right" side, I'm not sure what it is.  The ending is not what I expected but it still was appropriate - even if I wanted more from one of the characters (I won't give it away).  -June

The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman

Recently I read a book called "The Submission".  In both that book and this book, we are presented with a moral dilemma and while we may think we know which side we are on and what choice we would make, as we read the books, our minds can be changed multiple times.  Tom and Isabel are living on a small island off the coast of Australia in the 1920's tending the lighthouse.  They discover a small boat that has landed on the island with the body of a man and a live newborn baby girl.  The decisions they make as to how to handle this event and the consequences of those decisions make up the rest of the book.  I thought it was an excellent story, and although the writing sometimes became a bit wordy with excessive descriptions, I loved it. -June

Rules of Civility: A Novel by Amor Towles

Last December, a friend and I attended a book talk put on by our local independent bookseller.  As he talked about one book after another, I madly wrote down titles and authors that sounded interesting.  When he mentioned Rules of Civility, two women in the room immediately said, "That was my favorite book from this year."  Bingo.  That name went on my list.  The novel focuses on several characters living in New York in the 1930s.  This is a story of friendship, love, success, and failure.  The storyline and the characters are wonderful, but I really loved the writing style of the author most of all.  There were just little writing gems sprinkled through the book.  Here's an example of one of my favorites:

"As a quick aside, let me observe that in moments of high emotion - whether they're triggered by anger or envy, humiliation or resentment - if the next thing you're going to say makes you feel better, then it's probably the wrong thing to say.  This is one of the finer maxims that I've discovered in my life  And you can have it, since it's been of no use to me."

The main character, Kate, and her best friend, Eve, meet a man named Tinker in a bar on New Year's Eve.  They develop a friendship, and an odd kind of love triangle.  But there are other men and lots of other women who weave in and out of the storyline.  I loved this book, and I'll try to remember the author so I can grab his next book when it comes along.  -June

The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey

Generally, I'm not a fan of science fiction or fantasy novels.  I haven't read The Hobbit or The Passage or any of the Twilight books.  I even found Harry Potter to be tiring after a while (go ahead and stone me!).  But I found The Snow Child to be a very entertaining and sweet book.  It takes place in Alaska in the 20's.  Mabel and Jack live on a homestead, and are trying to get their lives back together after losing a baby.  They realize they will remain childless, and yet both of them long for children in their lives.  On a snowy day, they build a child out of snow, and she comes alive.  Mabel remembers reading a fairy tale about a snow child (and actually, I think I kind of remember something about one too - or maybe that was the gingerbread boy) and she is cautiously optimistic that this girl will be a part of their family.  Parts of the book are believable but the magic is interwoven nicely in the plot, and the characters are all interesting.  Recommend it.  -June

The Odds: A Novel by Stewart O'Nan

I loved O'Nan's small novel "Last Night at the Lobster", so I've been anxious to read The Odds which is also a quick read.  It's the story of a middle-aged couple who go to Niagara Falls over Valentine's Day to try to win back the money they have lost and to try to rekindle their love.  The author is wonderful, and he does a beautiful job of developing the characters.  I just found it to be very sad - especially how the husband tries so hard to please his unpleasable wife. Maybe it just made me a bit uncomfortable to be so thoroughly inside their heads.  The book moves from character to character letting the reader know what each spouse is thinking and it's all so very real and normal.  Most couples who have been married for years can completely relate to Art and Marion.  I loved how there is a little quip at the beginning of each chapter with "odds" such as the odds of a couple remarrying or the odds of going over Niagara Falls. -June

The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes

This is a short but very thought provoking book, and I think it should come with a label that says only people over 50 should read it.  I say that because so much of the book is about looking back on your life and your relationships, how we remember the events in our lives, and what we choose to forget.  It is beautifully written, and I'm already planning on reading another book by this author.  In the first part of the story, Tony tells about his life as a young man and his relationships with his friends and a girl named Veronica.  Then in the second part of the book, Tony looks back at that time as a 60-year-old man and events occur that make him reflect back on that time and examine what he remembers. 

At one point, Tony writes about how you look forward to your life when you are young.  And then he writes, "What you fail to do is look ahead, and then imagine yourself looking back from that future point.  Learning the new emotions that time brings.  Discovering, for example, that as witnesses to your life diminish, there is less corroboration, and therefore less certainty, as to what you are or have been."  As I read, I would often stop and reread sentences or paragraphs that struck me as incredibly written.  This is a book I will plan to read again someday - and I very rarely do that.  Highly recommend.  -June