The Hole We're In

The Hole We're In (2010) by Gabrielle Zevin. This is an enjoyable, fun read that also has something to say about the way we live today. The Pomeroy family, who form the core of this book's plot, are in some ways a typical American family. Most of all, they are deeply in debt. No one in the family, except the "baby," Patsy, seems to have any sense when it comes to handling money. The book touches on the one-time popularity of Britney Spears and the after-effects of the Iraq war. It's not a terribly deep book, but it's a great entertainment. Grade: B+

Brooklyn

Brooklyn (2009) by Colm Toibin. Eilis Lacey is a young Irish lassie who is sent to America to find work in the middle of the 20th century, after World War II. She lands in Brooklyn, where an Irish priest helps her find lodgings and work. She soon finds that she is dealing with a crushing homesickness, but somehow this if overcome and she continues working at Bartocci's, the Brooklyn department store where she is working from the bottom up. After a while, she finds her footing in the New World, and it is a shock to her when events back in Ireland force her to return home for a visit. The question then becomes, will she get trapped in the flypaper of the old life in Ireland, or will she find the gumption to make the return trip and resume her life in America? This is a very engaging, readable novel that captures the imagination and makes the reader keep turning pages and longing for more. I enjoyed it. Grade: B+

The Ask

The Ask (2010) by Sam Lipsyte. The ask is what a fund-raiser for a non-profit college extends to a potential donor. The protagonist of this novel, Milo Burke, is a failure at the ask, and early in the book he is fired from his job as a fund-raiser for a mediocre New York City university. The plot of the book scarcely matters, however, as it is the verbal fireworks of Lipsyte that really make the book what it is. The language is so dense, so finely crafted, that at first it is hard to follow. But once I got into the flow of the book, I was continually delighted by Lipsyte's turns of phrase, by his angled insights into the modern human condition. This is a great little book. Grade: A-

Falling Through the Earth

Falling Through the Earth (2006) by Danielle Trussoni. The author is part of the post-Vietnam generation -- the daughter of a Vietnam veteran. She tells her story with affection and with insight. Her father was a tunnel-rat in Vietnam, and the war left him marked for life. Danielle Trussoni even travels to Vietnam in the search for clues about her father's character. She finds a few answers, and they are by turns surprising and predictable. I really enjoyed this book, although it doesn't quite measure up to the standard set by "The Glass Castle" or "The Liar's Club." Grade: B+