The Woman Upstairs by Claire Messud

I can't wait to talk about this book in my book group.  There are several members who insist that they can't like a book unless they like the main character, and Nora, the main character in The Woman Upstairs, isn't really very likable.  In fact, at times, she's strange, creepy, and sad.  Mostly, reading about her feelings sometimes made me uncomfortable.  I found I didn't want to pick up the book and read it just because it was like spending time with an acquaintance I'm not that fond of.  And for those people who who like a plot-driven book, they won't like this book either.  There isn't much plot, and the ending, while it has a surprise or two, isn't really very satisfying. 

Nora is a almost-forty schoolteacher in Cambridge, Massachusetts.  She's never been married and has no children.  She's been a dutiful daughter and taken care of her dying mother and elderly father.  But she's one hell of an angry woman.  The book is her story and the one year she spent meeting and loving a family who moves to her town.  Yes, she was in love with the whole family.

And yet the book is beautifully written.  This is one of the few books where I found myself using the "bookmark" and "notes" feature on my Kindle.  Here are a few examples.

As she laments her life she says, "I was suddenly aware, almost in a panic - a joyful panic - of the wealth of possibility of in the world, and also within myself.  My everyday Appleton life, my phone calls to my father, my occasional beers with friends, my Saturday-morning jobs around the reservoir - what was all that but the opiated husk of a life, the treadmill of the ordinary, a cage built of convention and consumerism and obligation and fear, in which I'll lolled for decades, oblivious, like a lotus eater, as my body aged and time advanced?"

Did I mention that there are lots of long, run-on sentences in this book?  Here's another example:

"All the cliches of a city are new to any individual visitor and hence not cliches; just as love, in spite of the paltry means we have to express it, is, each time experienced, completely new: it can be pyrotechnic in its intensity or slow and tender but overwhelming, like a glacier passing over a landscape; or evanescent but glorious like the field of fireflies on Martha's Vineyard in my youth - whatever it is, each time is familiar and new at once, an overturning."

One more thing.... Nora is only in her late 30's.  Yet she describes her life as a spinster - as if her time for love and possibly a family is over.  She talked and acted like someone twice her age, and I'm sure every 30-year-old who read the book will agree. 

So, would I recommend it?  Yes, I would.  Will my book club like it?  Maybe a few will, but I have a feeling the majority will be negative.  -June

The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith

I wonder if this is the beginning of the next series of books for J. K. Rowling.  Yes, she wrote this book under the name of Robert Galbraith.  It's a murder mystery with a private detective and his assistant diligently working to solve the crime and bring the murderer to justice.  A beautiful supermodel dies and the police determine it's suicide.  Strike, the detective, is hired to investigate and see if it might be a murder.  The plot is interesting and the characters are well developed.  And the ending is surprising although it seems that questions remain especially about how Strike was able to pull all the clues together.  My only criticism is that it could have been 100 pages shorter.  There were just so many subplots involved - how strike lost his leg, his dysfunctional family history, his relationship with his former fiancée, his flirtations with his assistant, etc. etc.  None of these really have a connection to the mystery part of the story and sometimes I think they could have been just eliminated or certainly reduced in length. However, I enjoyed it.  But I'm ready for a change from the murder mystery stories.  On to something else for a while.  -June

Mission Flats by William Landay

Carla ordered this book moments after finishing Defending Jacob because she loved the author's writing and wanted more.  I agree - Defending Jacob is a great book.  Mission Flats was Landay's first novel, and although I liked it and recommend it, I also found it to be a bit too long and confusing.  Seems as if there were so many characters (police officers, lawyers, bad guys) that I felt I needed to take notes.  And because there were so many characters involved, I never felt like I got to know any of them that well.  However, the plot is interesting and I liked the way the book started off with some seemingly unconnected events that proved to be very important in the novel.  And I really liked the main character and wondered if eventually he would resurface in another book.  -June

We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler

I was glad that I had no idea what this book was about before I started reading it (actually listening to it).  I probably wouldn't have chosen it if I'd known, so for that reason, I won't mention here what it's about.  But let's just say that it's a story about a young woman who was raised in a family that was..... hmmmmm..... unusual.  The story is told from the point of view of the woman and is extremely conversational.  She writes as if she is speaking directly to you with comments like "I'll tell you more about that later" or "I'll start in the middle of the story".  She tells us right away that she didn't see her brother and her sister for years, but she takes her time in explaining why this is so.  Very interesting and entertaining.  Recommend it.  -June

Orphan Train: A Novel by Christina Baker Kline

This year, I've read two books that have described the orphan trains that moved children from orphanages in New York to families in the Midwest in the early 1900's.  (The other book was The Chaperone) OK, I may suck at history because I had never heard of this until I read these two books.  I've heard since reading this book that there is a series of children's books that describe these trains and the children who were on them, but it's not something I've seen or heard about.  And I think it is such an interesting topic. 

In Orphan Train, we meet an elderly woman who tells her story to a teenage girl who just happens to be an orphan living in a foster home.  Their stories have similarities; however, the elderly woman's life is the one that grabbed me.  Not all the children on the trains were welcomed into loving families.  Many were made to work long hours or were abused.  We learn how Vivian (also known by several other names) experienced great hardship before finally finding a real home with responsible adults.

This is a quick read, and one that I enjoyed while learning about a bit of history.  Highly recommend.  -June

We are Water by Wally Lamb

I kept looking at reviews by the professionals until I found one with which I agreed.  It's in the Chicago Tribune and is by far more negative than I would report, but she does catch the essence of my "disappointment" - for lack of a better word.  I have loved everything Wally Lamb has written/published and don't think I am a hypercritical reader.  But, to my way of thinking/reading, he tries to do too much, tackle too many issues in a single novel and, as a result, doesn't do anything as well as he has in past works.  Still, my romance with him remains strong and I will read his next book but, perhaps, with lower expectations and, therefore, enjoy the possibility/probability of being delighted (again)! So, I recommend this book because, even when Wally Lamb is mediocre, he's much better than most! - BT

One Breath Away by Heather Gudenkauf

I don't know why I chose to read this book.  I think I read a review where the reviewer raved about it so I downloaded it from the library not really realizing what it was about.  Just thinking about the subject matter puts knots in my stomach: a man with a gun in an elementary school in Iowa.  But I was looking for a quick read between one book and another, and so I started it to see what it was like.  And I was hooked.  Although the subject is too difficult to imagine, the author does a beautiful job of describing specific individuals who are in some way related to this horrific event.  The story is told from the point of view of a policewoman, a teacher, a young female student, and a grandfather who is outside the school awaiting news.  We learn the back story of each of these characters and how their lives come together on this day.  The mystery of the story is who is the man, and it is slowly revealed as the plot moves on.  I have to admit that despite the topic, I highly recommend it.  -June

The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer

A group of teenagers meet at a summer camp and form a bond. The three boys and three girls call themselves The Interestings.  The book follows them from the time they meet at camp until they are in their 50's, and is generally told from the point of view of Jules, one of the girls.  Along the way, they obtain jobs; some are successful and some are not.  They marry and have children.  But throughout the changes in their lives, their friendship wavers at times but remains solid.  I thought this was a great book and loved seeing how the relationships changed over the years. The author has a magical way of revealing her characters so that you feel they are real - her sense of humor and detail makes it fun too. I listened to it rather than reading it, and the reader did a marvelous job of making slight changes to her voice for the different characters.  - June

The Invisible Wall by Harry Bernstein

Harry Bernstein was born around the turn of the century in England.  His street was divided with the Jews on one side and Christians on the other.  This book was written by Harry when he was in his 90's and is his story of his childhood growing up with an invisible wall on his street that separated the two groups.  While the cover promises and "love story" - and the book has a few - it mostly is a story about family, poverty, war, and the struggles the Bernstein family endured.  It's also about the love of a mother and how she will do everything possible to protect and nurture her children.  I thought this was a great book, and I loved the simply, conversational writing.  Just one thing I noticed that I'm sure no one else ever would ..... The book ends with a street party that temporarily unites the groups.  I couldn't help but see this as a musical with the cast gathering at the end for the grand finale.  Perhaps Harry had a play in mind when he wrote it.  - June

Life After Life by Kate Atkinson

One of my favorite movies is Sliding Doors with Gweneth Paltrow.  In the movie, she's a young woman coming home unexpectedly in the middle of a work day.  In the first scenario, she misses her train, but in the second, she just jumps on the train in time.  From there, the story breaks into two entirely different plots - one that follows her life after she misses the train but eventually gets home, and the second one in which she makes the train.  What I love about it is it shows how a seemingly insignificant event can make a life altering change.

I was reminded of this movie as I read Life After Life.  Ursula is born in 1911 in England.  She dies but then begins her life again.  And again.  And again.  Each time, she has a sense that there is danger so she makes a change that will keep her alive.  For example, one death occurs when their maid comes home from London with influenza and gives it to Ursula.  So in several lives after that, she does what she has to do to keep the maid from going... sometimes just a small thing but it will change their lives.

As Ursula becomes an adult, the story gets a little confusing and I admit I often had to look back to see what year she's in as I was reading.  But the stories are fascinating, and she has a wide variety of lives (marrying an abusive man, marrying a Nazi, remaining single and working during the London Blitz). 

As I think more about it, I believe that Ursula was not the only character who was reliving his/her life.  There were some clues that made me believe that they changed as Ursula's life changed, and this would only be the case if they were altering their lives too.  Just a thought I've been mulling over.

This is a book that has stayed with me for a while.  And I think that I'd like to re-read it someday - which I almost never do.  Highly recommend.  -June

The Orchardist by Amanda Coplin

Normally when I finish a book, I'm anxious to blog about it.  I either love it and can't wait to proclaim my love or I don't care for the book and want you to know why.  But I was all over the place on this one.  At times I was enthralled and other times very impatient for it to move along.  The setting and the characters are incredibly defined.  You really do know Talmadge, the kind gentle lonely man who owns an orchard in Washington State.  When two young pregnant girls arrive on his property, they become part of his life.  While the book is well written, it is sometimes hard to follow.  There isn't much dialogue, and what there is, isn't punctuated.  No quotation marks.  So I often wondered if the character actually said the words or just thought about saying them.  And I never felt I knew the motivation behind some of the things the characters did - especially Talmadge.  Did he try to save Della because his sister ran away when they were children?  Really?  Or was there another reason I missed?  And the other women in his life.... And so the question...... would I recommend it?  With reservations.  And yet why can't I stop thinking about it. - June

The Chaperone by Laura Moriarty

While I'm not usually drawn to historical fiction, this one sounded (and was!) very interesting.  It takes place in the early 1900's, and it's the story of Cora, a woman from Kansas, who is a chaperone to a 16-year-old girl as she travels to New York City during one summer.  The girl is the future film star, Louise Brooks, whose name sounded somewhat familiar to me, and after Googling her, I can see that the book really does follow her life.  But the book isn't just about Louise.  It's mostly about Cora and how, as a woman in that era, her feelings about a woman's place, sexuality, social behavior, and morality changed as a result of that summer in New York.  Her background is fascinating, but I won't ruin it for you by telling it all.  I think it's a very interesting read and it does portray a time of change - and thank God we did change.  -June

P.S.  I listened to the audiobook version, and Elizabeth McGovern was the narrator.  While I love her in Downton Abbey, I confess I didn't care for the way she read it.  She tried to use various accents (Midwest, German) and none rang true.  Plus her "normal" voice as the narrator was kind of stuffy English like it is on Downton.  So I'd recommend the paper version over the audio one.