Giovanni's Room

 Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin (1956) 192 pages

I listened to the audiobook on Libby narrated by Matt Bomer. It included an Introduction by poet Kevin Young that provided a lot of context. In a not-quite chronological narrative we meet David, a white American, having a "gap year" in Paris. There are conventional expectations back home and he is engaged to a young woman, but she is spending time away from him in Spain. David has a passionate affair with Giovanni, an Italian working in a bar in Paris. The two young men become roommates, but through self-denial and homophobia, David cannot admit that he is gay. When his fiancé joins him some sexist views come to light and a murder adds tension to the situation. The mysteries of the human heart are brilliantly explored by Baldwin.  

The Bright Side of Disaster

The Bright Side of Disaster by Katherine Center (2007) 249 pages

This book was responsible for me waking in the middle of the night to read more because the story was going so well, and then when things took a turn for the worse, I had to finish it, making me groggy the whole next day. But... it's the kind of story that a woman can relate to, even long past child-bearing years.

Jenny is engaged to Dean, and she is unexpectedly pregnant. Then Dean leaves her and the baby is born. All the details ring so true: Jenny's first-person narration of her pregnancy, heartbreak, labor, and then falling in love with her baby. It's a great story with its expected and unexpected ups and downs, a lot more than what I've indicated.  Plus what I've already said is on the book's flap, so it can't be called a spoiler. See if you can finish it before bedtime!