Devil in the Grove by Gilbert King

A well-written, well-researched book, it is no wonder it received a Pulitzer Prize.  This is the story of Thurgood Marshall and racism in the south in the 1940's and 1950's.  There is so much in this book that I never knew about and although I thought I was somewhat familiar with Marshall's life, I really didn't know much at all.

But I feel I need to warn you.  I couldn't read it before I went to sleep.  And I could only read it for a few pages and then I had to put it away.  It is hard to read this part of our history and realize it is not that long ago.  And then to turn on the news and see the acts of racism that still exist.  I'm sending it your way, BT.  I think you can handle it better than I did.  -June

The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown

Obviously, I'm not a big reader of non-fiction.  But after listening to an interview with this author and reading some of the book reviews, I was anxious to read this one.  The story is all about the 1936 US Olympic Gold Medal Crew team.  They were just a bunch of kids attending the University of Washington - sons of farmers and blue color workers.  And they ended up competing against the east coast schools and ultimately went to Berlin and won in front of Hitler.  But history has ignored them up until now.  After the Olympics, they came home and finished college, got married, started families, and put those gold medals in the attic.

I learned a lot more about boats and rowing than I needed to know, but the author had obviously done his research.  The stories of the individual young men was well written and often heartbreaking.  I'm sure this will be a movie, but I almost don't want anyone to mess with this wonderful story.  Highly recommend.  -June

The Banks of Certain Rivers by Jon Harrison

I really need to be better about posting right after I finish a book.  I loved this book and recommended it to several friends, but then forgot to write about it here.  And with my feeble memory...... well, I remember the book but some of the details have slipped away in the 5 or 6 weeks since I finished it.  Ahhh, senility.

This is one of those books that appeared on BookBub and sounded interesting and was very inexpensive.  And it turned out to be a good read.  This is the story of a man who is a high school teacher and coach.  He's married with a son; however, we quickly learn that his wife has been in an accident and is hospitalized.  Our beloved coach is accused of something and the trouble escalates.  I don't want to spoil it for you, but the case of characters is interesting and the relationship between the coach and his son is key to the book.  There's even a touch of technology there that the geek in me appreciated.  I recommend this one.  -June

Happy All the Time by Laurie Colwin

I love listening to Maureen Corrigan on NPR's Fresh Air when she reviews books.  She does a wonderful job of describing a book, and I've found some great ones thanks to her.  Recently, she discussed the books by Laurie Colwin, an author from the 1970's who I'd never heard of but whose books looked somewhat familiar to me.
http://www.npr.org/2014/11/24/365227833/decades-later-laurie-colwins-books-will-not-let-you-down

Coincidentally, BookBub had one of Colwin's books on sale a few weeks later so I grabbed it for my Kindle.  Happy All the Time is a story about two young male long-time friends, Guido and Vincent, who are well educated, urban and a tad nerdy in an age that the word "nerdy" wasn't around.  Through the course of the book, they meet and fall in love with two very difficult women, Holly and Misty.  Both the women are aloof and distant while the two men are emotional and caring - an interesting twist on the typical stereotypes we usually see in books and in life.  

The plot?  Pretty nonexistent.  They meet, they marry, life goes on.  But we know these characters, their relationships and their many quirks.  The writing is clean - no flowery stuff here.  And even though this was written 30 years ago, it could have been written this year (with the exception of the non-stop smoking and the reference to public telephones).  I'd like to try reading one of her books about food which Maureen also refers to and likes. - June

What She Left Behind by Ellen Marie Wiseman

What a story!  If only I could tolerate the author's writing!  But that story...... just so interesting.  Have you ever driven by one of those huge, old mental institutions?  There's one up in Traverse City, Michigan, and it is simply haunting.  A few years ago, a developer bought it and turned it into condos and restaurants.  While it's beautiful, I feel as if the souls of those who lived there might still be hanging around.  And I feel guilty sipping wine in the restaurant in the basement level where the patients did their laundry or were given shock treatments or worse.  But back to the book.

This is one of those books where we have two separate story lines that eventually merge.  The first story is about Izzy, a high school girl who is living with a new foster family because her mother is in prison after killing her father.  The second story is about Clara, a young woman who was sent to an insane asylum in the 1930s when her wealthy parents did not approve of her boyfriend.  As you can probably guess, the author jumps from one character to the other as we learn about the lives of both of these women.  Clara's story is tragic.  The institution where she is sent is horrific and the staff cruel and uncaring.  Izzy's story reads more like a teenage romance novel where the most popular girl is mean to her and the most popular boy is attracted to her.  But despite this, the story continued to be good.  But some of the writing just became too overly dramatic.  Here's a sample:

About three-quarters through the book in a section about Izzy, the author writes:
"Izzy steeled herself, her stomach clenching.  Her lungs felt like they were wavering inside her chest, as if at any second her organs were going to spasm once and shut down forever, leaving her dead on the floor."

In the very next chapter, the author describes Clara's feeling this way:
"Every time the thought crossed her mind that something horrible might have happened to him.... her chest felt hollow and cold, as if her lungs and heart were gone and she would drop dead at any second."

The events described in these two chapters are indeed traumatic, but I found these descriptions to be just over the top.  Way too much "dropping dead" and way too much time repeating the same emotional state over and over.  Despite it's faults, I continued to read and needed to know how it all turned out.  Would you imagine that it ends with a happy fairytale ending?  Surprise!  It does!  A little far-fetched but satisfying in a way too.  Recommend with reservations.  -June

Dear Committee Members by Julie Schumacher

This book should be required reading for anyone in academia.  Or anyone who has ever had to write letters of recommendation for people who you don't really recommend.  Or really this should be read by everyone because it is so darn funny.  The entire book is a series of letters written by an aging, cranky English professor.  It is so hysterical that I had to stop reading it in public because I was embarrassing myself as I laughed out loud.  The professor has an ex-wife, a girlfriend, and a department head also receive his rambling, witty correspondence.  But the best ones are his letters of recommendation.  (I can hear you laughing from here, BT)  -June

The Old Neighborhood by Avery Corman

This book came out in 1980, and I stumbled across it through Book Bub.  Lately I've found several good books that have popped up there, and the price is certainly right.  Some of the selections are pretty lame, but this one was definitely a winner.  It's all about Steve Robbins, a guy from The Bronx who wants to succeed in advertising.  We follow his career as he climbs the corporate ladder and achieves his dreams.  The author creates some wonderful characters and interjects humor throughout the story.  It's a quick read but I loved every page.  Highly recommend.  -June

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