Nightwoods

Nightwoods (2011) by Charles Frazier. The author of Cold Mountain brings us another drama set in North Carolina, this one set in a small town in the early 1960s. The bare bones of the story are that two sisters, Luce and Lily, have been separated, but that now Lily has been killed and her two young children, Frank and Dolores, have come to live with Luce. Bud, Lily's former husband (who killed her) believes that Lily has passed a great deal of money on to Luce, money that should by his (Bud's), and that he intends to have it. The language, as usual with Frazier, is lyrical and beautifully descriptive, and his feeling for human relationships is unerring. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and I would recommend it to any thoughtful reader. Grade: A-

Here Comes Trouble

Here Comes Trouble (2011) by Michael Moore. Documentary filmmaker and all-around gadfly Moore has written a book in which he documents scenes from his own life. What led him to be the person he is today? Find the answers here. At first I found this book a little hard to get into, but by the time I got to the end I was gobbling it up like some thriller. Moore started out as a long-haired hippie back in the '60s, and surprised everyone when he won election to his local school board at the age of 18. What this book really addresses is life before "Roger and Me," his documentary which made him truly famous. The stories contained in this book eventually knit together into a cohesive whole which gives us a portrait of the artist as a young man. It may be a little self-serving at times, but I was willing to go along with the flow. Grade: B+

Fiction Ruined My Family

Fiction Ruined My Family (2011) by Jeanne Darst. Brilliant, dazzling, literate, hilarious ... these are just a few of the adjectives that come to mind when describing Darst's memoir. With chapter titles like "Give Us This Day Our Daily Bourguignon," "Les Missourables," and "A Room with a Poo," this book amuses from beginning to end, while at the same time telling the very sad story of Darst's parents -- her mother a hopeless alcoholic, her father a failed writer -- and how they affected her life. Darst flirted with becoming an alcoholic (like her mother) and a failed writer (like her father), but she got sober and has, apparently, turned her life around. This book is certainly evidence that she can write, and I enjoyed it immensely. Grade: A

A Stolen Life

A Stolen Life (2011) by Jaycee Dugard. This is one of the saddest books you will ever read, all the more so because it's true. At the age of 11, Jaycee Dugard was kidnapped by a pedophile named Phillip Garrido. He kept her for 18 years in a shed in his back yard and used her for a sex slave for much of that time. He also fathered two children by her. Jaycee's memoir about her captivity and enslavement (and eventual freedom) is horrific and touching, made so by her innocence at the beginning of her ordeal. Luckily, things turned out as well as can be expected -- she is now reunited with her mother, sister and aunt, and her two daughters are attending school. Jaycee is still dealing with what must be PTSD, but she is making progress -- enough so that she was able to write this moving memoir and establish a foundation to help other victims of abduction. This book is a great read, though grim at times. Grade: A-

Wendy and the Lost Boys

Wendy and the Lost Boys: The Uncommon Life of Wendy Wasserstein (2011) by Julie Salamon. This was one of the most enjoyable books I've read this year. Not because Salamon is especially talented; she is a good researcher and a straightforward story-teller. But because of the content, the very extraordinary life that Wendy Wasserstein led. She wrote many plays, but of them all The Heidi Chronicles is especially notable. For this play she won a Pulitzer Prize and a Tony. After that, her fortune was made. The "lost boys" of the title seems to refer to the many men, all unsuitable, that she fell in love with. Many were gay, some were married. Many of them fell in love with her, but they could not give her what she wanted -- marriage and a family. Eventually, at the ate of 49, Wasserstein had a child as a single mother. She never did reveal the name of the father, if she knew. Six years later, at 55, she died of cancer. Her obituary ran on the front page of the New York Times. An uncommon life, indeed. Grade: A

The Leftovers

The Leftovers (2011) by Tom Perrotta. On October 14th in an unspecified year, the Sudden Departure occurred. Some referred to it as the Rapture, but that didn't make sense, since millions and millions of people from all over the world disappeared at the same time. What this book is about, however, is not the people who left, but those who are left behind. How do they cope with the loss of mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, daughters, sons, whole families? Some just try to carry on and make the best of what's left of their lives. Others join strange groups like the Guilty Remnant, who wear white robes, keep a vow of silence and must smoke cigarettes at all times. It's a weird world Perrotta has created, and I suppose it's all right as speculative fiction. But I really felt that some of the ways people reacted to the Sudden Departure weren't true to life. They wouldn't happen that way. Not very bloody likely. Still, an interesting book. Grade: B

The Language of Flowers

The Language of Flowers (2011) by Vanessa Diffenbaugh. In this book, Diffenbaugh tells the story of Victoria, a girl who has been bounced from foster home to foster home throughout her life, but who also has an extraordinary talent for interpreting the "language of flowers." When she finally, last chance, ends up in a foster home where she is wanted and loved, she sabotages her chances and ends up in a group home. After aging out of the group home, she is briefly homeless -- until she connects with the owner of a flower shop, who recognizes her talent and gives her a chance to build a life for herself. Constantly sabotaging herself, unable to accept love, Victoria will break your heart. But then, in the book's finale, she and the other characters will stitch it back together. Sometimes this book is hard to read, but it ends up being very rewarding. Grade: A-

City of Promise

City of Promise (2011) by Beverly Swerling. The subtitle of this book is, A Novel of New York's Gilded Age. It's a historical fiction which tells the story of Mollie Turner and Josh, her husband, and their struggle to make their fortune in New York City from 1864 to 1883. While Josh is engaged in developing property and building some of the first proto-skyscrapers, some evil men from his past in the Civil War dog his steps, and aren't above harming Mollie to get at Josh. I don't read much historical fiction, but I suspect this book is typical in the way it blends actual events with the made-up adventures of the characters in the novel. It makes for quite an entertaining read. It's not a great book, by any means, but it will keep you engaged and make the time pass pleasantly enough. Grade: B+

Wonder

Wonder (2012) by R.J. Palacio. Auggie Pullman was born with a facial deformity that prevented him from going to regular school -- until now. At the age of 10, his home-schooling is over and he's going to enter the fifth grade. Naturally, he's apprehensive -- he'll have to mix with "normal" kids and put up with the jibes of the mean ones. This book traces the story of his year in fifth grade -- meeting a few nice kids, dealing with bullies, trying to fit in. It's an uplifting tale, ultimately, and you may shed a few happy tears when Auggie finally triumphs. This book was written for a "young adult" audience, but really anyone can read it and gain satisfaction from it. Grade: A

The Memory of All That

The Memory of All That (2011) by Katharine Weber. The author's grandmother, Kay Swift, had a 10-year love affair with composer George Gershwin in the 1920s and '30s, a fact which forms the core of this book. Also important to the story is Weber's relationship with her strange father, Sidney Kaufman, a movie backer and producer who, in Weber's words, lost a dime of his wife's fortune for every nickel he made in his career. Kaufman was a notorious womanizer who made propaganda and training films for the OSS during World War II, and who produced the first movie with smells, a flop that he named Aromarama. The Memory of All That is a colorful, evocative and occasionally funny look at an eccentric and highly influential American family. I liked it very much. Grade: B+