The Identity Man

The Identity Man (2010) by Andrew Klavan. John Shannon is a petty crook, framed for a murder he didn't commit. After he goes on the run, he has a stroke of luck which is scarcely to be believed. Told by a mysterious, foreign stranger that he has "made a friend," Shannon is drugged and whisked away to a safe-house, where he undergoes plastic surgery to change his appearance and is given a whole new identity. Our sympathies are with Shannon, because he saved a woman from being brutalized during a robbery-gone-bad that he was involved in. Like him, we want it to be true -- the new identity, the opportunity to work and make an honest life, the woman he meets and falls in love with. But of course, nothing in life or in books is that simple. The complications that follow are at times a little hard to understand, but it all comes down to a slam-bang action finish and a satisfying epilogue. Grade: B+

Matched

Matched (2010) by Ally Condie. In a future society, people are matched with their future mates at the age of 17, and the matches are determined by the state. Familiar-sounding scenario doesn't bring much originality to the concept. It's kind of a mash-up of 1984, Brave New World, and The Hunger Games. This book was obviously written with sequel in mind, because there is no clear resolution of any kind at the end. It's also intended for young adults -- there's not much meat on these bones for adult readers. On the other hand, it is an easy read. Grade: B

The Position

The Position (2005) by Meg Wolitzer. The position referred to in the title is a sexual position called Electric Forgiveness, described and illustrated in Paul and Roz Mellow's book Pleasuring: One Couple's Journey to Fulfillment. The book is a compendium of every sexual position the Mellows could fit in, illustrated with drawings, and it is a tremendous hit with the book-buying public. It is not a hit, however, with the Mellows' four children, who discover a copy of it and recognize their mother and father. The children range in age from teens down to age 6, and they all are affected profoundly, if in different ways, by the book. Wolitzer's novel follows the lives of the children and their parents as they grow from the '70s, when Pleasuring was published, to the present day, when they all must deal with each other as adults. Wolitzer does a competent job of describing the family dynamics and the lives of the Mellows as they advance into the 21st century, but there's something lacking in this novel. None of the characters really grabbed me as somebody I might want to know, or somebody who I could care about if they were real. All the right ingredients are here for an absorbing novel, but they just didn't gel for me. Grade: B

Emily, Alone

Emily, Alone (2011) by Stewart O'Nan. Emily Maxwell is old, and she lives alone with her dog, Rufus. There's really no story here. O'Nan describes in minute detail the daily life of this old woman, her friend and sister-in-law Arlene, and their comings and goings together. Emily desperately wants to be included in the lives of her children and grandchildren, but they all, in their various ways, shut her out. She listens to music. She gets a new car. She visits the graves of her husband and her parents. I kept expecting some dramatic turn to make all the accumulation of detail worth the effort, but it never came. This is a highly accomplished book, but not a page-turner. Grade: B

To Kill a Mockingbird

To Kill a Mockingbird (1960) by Harper Lee. Pulitzer Prize-winning classic tells the story of Atticus Finch and his son Jem and daughter Scout, living in the small Southern town of Maycomb, Alabama in the 1930s. Atticus is a lawyer, and although the story starts out as a childhood reminiscence of Jem and Scout (told in the first person by Scout), the core of the book involves Atticus defending a black man who has been falsely accused of raping a white girl. Also central to the book is the story of Boo Radley, the Finch's reclusive neighbor whom the children are all irrationally afraid of. This is quite simply one of the best books ever written about America, about race relations, and about justice. It is not to be missed. Grade: A

Bloody Crimes

Bloody Crimes (2010) by James Swanson. The full title of this book is Bloody Crimes: The Chase for Jefferson Davis and the Death Pageant for Lincoln's Corpse. It brings to life a piece of American history by comparing and contrasting Lincoln and Davis, the presidents, respectively, of the United States and the Confederacy during the Civil War. It is exceptionally well written and researched. Facts both personal and historical about both men help to illuminate a crucial period in American history, and Swanson's descriptions of Lincoln's final journey, in particular, bring back the horror and the tragedy of his assassination right on the cusp of victory. It is not a melancholy book, however, keeping everything in historical perspective as it does. It's a history book that reads (for the most part) like a novel, and I really enjoyed it. Grade: A-

Rebecca

Rebecca (1938) by Daphne du Maurier. This 1938 novel still reads well today. An Oscar-winning movie, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, was made from the book in 1940. Having seen the movie before I read the book, my impressions of the book were inevitably colored by my foreknowledge of crucial events, and also by my memory of the actors who had appeared in all the main roles in the film. For those who are unfamiliar with it, the book is about a young woman (ever nameless) who meets and marries a wealthy man twice her age and goes to live with him at his estate and mansion known as Manderley. There she lives in the shadow of Rebecca, his previous wife, who had died in mysterious circumstances just the year before. Always imagining that she is being compared unfavorably to Rebecca, the young woman is miserable most of the time, until the book's climax resolves her concerns. The book is poetically written, with strongly colored descriptions of scenery and landscapes, as well as of the mansion itself. It's a pleasurable read -- though the story is morally ambiguous at its core, and I didn't feel that the author adequately explored this moral ambiguity. Grade: A-

How Did You Get This Number

How Did You Get This Number (2010) by Sloane Crosley. The essays in this book are funny, original and entertaining. They can also be surprisingly moving, as is "Off the Back of a Truck," the tale of a failed romance; and "Lost in Space," the story of Crosley's learning disabilities. Most of the essays are autobiographical, telling about childhood pets; trips to Portugal, Paris and Alaska; and life as a New Yorker, out of which she gets a lot of mileage. Her writing style is a little hard to penetrate at times, but I think this is more from my lack of familiarity with it than from any fault with her skill as a writer. I really enjoyed this book, and my first instinct on finishing it was to read it again. Grade: B+