The Paris Wife

The Paris Wife (2011) by Paula McLain. The story of Ernest Hemingway and his first wife, Hadley, is told in fictionalized form -- from the point of view of the wife. They did live mostly in Paris, although they moved briefly to Canada and traveled widely around Europe. Hadley was very much in love with Ernest, but he, as always, was more in love with his work. They had one child, a son, before eventually splitting up over Ernest's affair with an American socialite. The book is very well written and well researched, and will provide entertainment for those interested in American literature, as well as casual readers. Grade: A-

The Irresistible Henry House

The Irresistible Henry House (2010) by Lisa Grunwald. Henry House is an orphan (supposedly) raised by the Home Economics class of Wilton College starting in 1946. He is so adorable that Martha Gaines, who runs the Home Ec program, cannot bear to give him up when his two year tenure as a "practice baby" has run its course. Henry is mothered by six mothers, all students in the practice baby program, plus Martha. He learns to please them all by never choosing a favorite, and this is reflected in his later life when he is unable to choose one girl over another, one woman over another, one girlfriend over another. He is a talented artist, and this leads him to travel to California, where he gets a job in Walt Disney's animation studios. Later, he travels to London, where he works on the Beatles' "Yellow Submarine." His adolescent, teen and young adult years are all set against the backdrop of the '60s, a time of turmoil, free sex and drugs. Henry's ultimate goal, although even he may not have realized it, is to find love. Eventually, when he sees himself in the eyes of another house baby named Peace, he realizes what he must do to complete his journey. I found this novel enchanting and very entertaining, and its ending satisfying. Grade: A

The Evolution of Bruno Littlemore

The Evolution of Bruno Littlemore (2011) by Benjamin Hale. It is very seldom that I quit reading a book in the middle. I made it through 300 pages of this book and then I just couldn't go on. This novel features a first-person narrative by a chimpanzee -- a very intelligent chimpanzee -- named Bruno. The sticking point for me is that Bruno falls in love with a human woman named Lydia and commences a sexual relationship with her, which she consents to. I just couldn't buy it. The technical term for it is bestiality, and I found it utterly disgusting to contemplate. This was not a book that I enjoyed reading, and I can't see any reason to keep reading a book when you're not enjoying it. Grade: F

An Object of Beauty

An Object of Beauty (2010) by Steve Martin. Martin tells the story of Lacey Yeager, a young art dealer, through the voice of Daniel Franks, an art writer. Lacey comes to New York as a young woman and quickly rises in the art world, thanks to a good eye for good art and plenty of chutzpah. She is lacking, however, in the personal relationships department. She uses men and tosses them aside, never falling in love herself. Her story is also the story of the art world in the '90s and 2000s -- the bubbles, the at-times inflated prices, the occasional recessions. The sweep of her story includes the events of Sept. 11, 2001, but those events make only a temporary impression on her. Martin shows a keen eye for human behavior, as well as an esoteric knowledge of art and the art world, in this book, which is nicely illustrated with a number of color prints of works of art that are discussed in the book. It's really a wonderful novel, but a little emotionally cold. Grade: A-

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie (2009) by Alan Bradley. This book introduces 11-year-old sleuth Flavia de Luce, a clever girl in a dysfunctional family who lives mostly in her own head. She lives in England in the post-War years (1950, to be exact), a time of relative innocence which doesn't prevent her from turning up murders left and right. The charm of the book lies in Flavia's mixture of youthful innocence and worldly knowledge beyond her years. She makes a pest of herself, but ends up solving the murder in the end -- but not after being placed in great bodily jeapordy herself. I found this little mystery to be tremendously diverting, and would recommend it to anyone looking for an entertaing read. Grade: B+

History of a Suicide

History of a Suicide (2011) by Jill Bialosky. For 240 pages, Bialosky struggles in vain to extract some sort of meaning, some redemptive explanation, from her sister's suicide in 1990. Bialosky attacks the problem from every angle, from the personal to the psychological to the mythological to the poetical. Her own suffering is abundantly clear -- her sister's suicide has profoundly and forever changed Bialosky's life, and not for the better. But Bialosky, a person who cannot imagine committing suicide herself, is unable to penetrate the mind-set of someone who not only could, but did. At the end of the book, I got the feeling that she was no more enlightened than at the start, and that her book really has little to offer curious readers except a tale of suffering and woe. I felt Bialosky's pain, but I am no closer to understanding suicide. She writes well. Grade: B

The Book Thief

The Book Thief (2006) by Markus Zusak. Liesel Meminger is a young foster daughter living in Nazi Germany during World War II. Her real parents have been taken away by the Nazis because her father is a professed communist. Liesel succeeds in forming a bond with her foster parents, Hans and Rosa Huberman. She loves books, something that does not endear her to the Nazi authorities. She is poor, of course, and the only way she can get books is to steal them. "The Book Thief" is narrated by Death, who has a lot to do during this period in history. This book is designated "Y," or Youth, by the library, but I think it has a lot to offer for adult readers. It would be hard not to become involved in Liesel's story, and the stories of those she becomes involved with while living on Himmel (Heaven) Street in Molchin, a suburb of Munich. I found this book absorbing and moving. Grade: A

Not Becoming My Mother

Not Becoming My Mother (2009) by Ruth Reichl. Reichl explores the past in this slim volume, documenting the ways in which her mother sacrificed so that she, Reichl, would not have to become her mother. Notably memorable are her memories of her mother's cooking, which has to be the worst ever. As Reichl puts it, "my mother was a great example of everything I didn't want to be, and to this day I wake up every morning grateful that I'm not her." This is an affectionate memoir about a mother who, truth be told, was not really a very good mother. Reichl seems to have turned out all right, however, so it wasn't a complete waste. Grade: B

A Red Herring Without Mustard

A Red Herring Without Mustard (2011) by Alan Bradley. Set in the early 1950s in England, this book continues the adventures of amateur sleuth Flavia de Luce, a precocious 11-year-old who solves crimes while adults move in their slow orbits above her. Flavia is an utterly charming heroine, and the book is told in her voice as she struggles against the constraints of her older sisters Ophelia and Daphne, who delight in tormenting her. Along with their father, they all live in the old family estate of Buckshaw, which has definitely seen better days. From there, Flavia roams about the countryside on her faithful bicycle Gladys, which she imbues with a personality that is spirited yet loyal. My only criticism of this book is that the mystery itself is not terribly interesting, and the resolution comes about rather abruptly and is not very satisfying. Nevertheless, the book is a pleasure to read if only to see the world through Flavia's eyes. Grade: B+

The Immortal Game

The Immortal Game: A History of Chess (2006) by David Shenk. This is a dream book for chess lovers, and can even be instructive for those who have yet to learn to play. Shenk starts with the basics, and advances through ever more sophisticated lessons, until he is using some of the most brilliant games of history to illustrate principles of chess tactics and strategy. He intersperses chapters on the history of the game with chapters carefully analyzing what he has dubbed "the immortal game" -- a game played in 1851 between Adolf Anderssen and Lionel Kieseritzky. It's a most enjoyable way for anyone interested in chess to learn more about the game and gain some additional skill. I found it an unallayed pleasure to read. Grade: A

House of Prayer No. 2

House of Prayer No. 2 (2011) by Mark Richard. This memoir is an extraordinary work. For one thing, it's told in the second-person, present tense, a very unusual choice. For another, it's very short, barely 200 pages. For another, it describes an extraordinary life. Richard has lived a wonderfully picaresque existence, made all the more interesting by the fact that he had a disability (his hip bones had to be operated on multiple times when he was a kid, and later replaced when he became an adult). Through all his trials, he managed to work a multitude of jobs, until his writing ability made a career for him and he started working in TV and motion pictures. It's a wonderful story of success in the face of adversity, and it's written in an incomparable style, unlike anything I've read before. Makes me curious to read more by this author. Grade: A

Lost in Shangri-La

Lost in Shangri-La (2011) by Mitchell Zuckoff. This book starts off slowly, but then it really builds momentum. The story is a true story about a group of American servicemen and -women in the waning days of World War II, who get lost in the remote regions of the island of New Guinea and come upon an isolated tribe which has never been exposed to modern man. The way they get lost is in a plane crash. Out of a crew of 24, there are only three survivors. They crash because they are sightseeing over a high plateau in rocky mountains, and one of the pilots fails his responsibility. The tribe (or rather, tribes) of people they find living on the plateau have a distinct culture and mythology which has been handed down through millennia of living without contact with the outside world. Learning about the people of "Shangri-La" is the most fascinating thing about this book; but it's not the only fascinating thing. It's a great book and I recommend it highly. Grade: A-