Miracle at St. Anna

Miracle at St. Anna by James McBride, 271 pages.
I read McBride's first novel when it first came out, I remember really liking it. On the second reading, that holds true, I really liked it, but having recently read the author's prize-winning account of John Brown, The Good Lord Bird, which was one of the best books I have read in several years, this debut did suffer a little by comparison. This was still an exciting account of the war in Italy. The main focus comes when four African-American soldiers become separated from their unit during a fierce battle. They find a traumatized orphan, the head of a statue, and, eventually, a group of partisans with secrets of their own. By the time you got to the end of the book, I had long forgotten the twists and turns set up in the very beginning, but it was still a satisfying, though sad, conclusion.
The really great thing about listening to the book was hearing the narration by the awesome Wendell Pierce. He does a great job setting the tone of the book; it is a great read.

Invasion of the Tearling by Erika Johansen

Invasion of the Tearling by Erika Johansen, pages 514 pages.
The second installment of the Tearling series has Queen Kelsea Glynn trying to find a way to keep her kingdom free and full of the living as the neighboring kingdom, Mortmesne, sends their larger and better equipped army ripping through the Tearling. As Kelsea begins to better understand her own powers, she also finds an odd connection to a woman in her distant past, a woman in the 21st century US.
As original and compelling as the first volume. Fans of fantasy should enjoy this.

The Fellowship of the Ring

The Fellowship of the Ring: Being the First Part of the Lord of the Rings, by J. R. R. Tolkien, 423 pages.
We listened to this late in the summer and into the fall on some  road trips. I've read Tolkien's books a number of times in the past, but this is the first time I have listened to it. The nicest surprise was hearing all of the poems and songs, which I always skipped over. Inglis, the narrator, gives them all a wonderful rhythm and tune, and makes them enjoyable.
Read by Rob Inglis.

A Visit from the Goon Squad

A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan, 273 pages.
This was one of our book discussion selections. Everyone liked it more or less. This series of interconnected stories revolving around different musicians and music industry big-wigs from the 1970s through the present day, presents intricate gems with characters who rise and fall, find their muse and lose it. Egans characters are the best part of these stories.
A really good read for those who enjoy well-crafted stories, music, and character driven tales.

You Too Can Have a Body Like Mine

You Too Can Have a Body Like Mine by Alexandra Kleeman, 283 pages

Christa did a great wrap-up of the seminal points here, so I won't retread what she wrote, at least not too much. Our narrator, A, has an obsessive roommate, B. Both of them have low self-esteem issues, though it's hard to say who's in worse shape. A also has a boyfriend, C, and their relationship seems to be the textbook definition of dead-end. Then there's a whole bunch of stuff about beauty cream commercials, and the disgusting-sounding (yet somehow really enticing to A) Kandy Kakes, and a lot of talk about oranges. Oh, and a really creepy cult.

I honestly don't know what I think of this book, other than that it's really weird. So if you're up for an odd book, go for it. Just don't expect to crave an orange afterward.

A Bride's Story, Volume 6

A Bride's Story, Volume 6 by Kaoru Mori  196 pp.

This is a continuation of the story of Amir and her child husband, Karluk. Karluk is now thirteen and starting to take the idea of manhood seriously, although the marriage has yet to be consummated. Amir's affection for the boy has increased although she treats him more like a younger brother than a husband. The Halgal clan Amir was from has fallen on hard times and is battling with the Badan clan for land for grazing their horses. The Badans have artillery from the Russians and plans to attack the peaceful village where Amir and Karluk live. The agreement between Amir's father and the Badan leader turns out to be a false promise and the battle turns into a disaster. Amir's brother is there to save the day. Once again the pen and ink artwork in this graphic novel is beautifully detailed and is what has drawn me to continue reading this series.  

Being Mortal

Being Mortal by Atul Gawande  282 pp.

I'm going to start by saying this should be required reading in every medical school/intern-residency program. It should also be read by every doctor who deals with any possibly life threatening condition. (Wouldn't that be all of them?) Dr. Gawande researched and experienced the good and bad in the care of the dying in this country with both patients, friends, and family members. He explains how too many in the medical profession are so wrapped up in "fixing diseases" that they overlook what treatment is doing to the person's life and spirit and the lives of their family. He also points out the ways in which the concept of nursing homes fails. Quite a bit of this book is depressing, especially if you've ever experienced a life threatening illness (like me...twice) or care for an older family member (me too, again, with my siblings). Gawande does give hope at the end when he discusses the increasing use of hospice and other alternatives to hospital end of life care. This is an important book for anyone dealing with aging and declining family members and those of us who will be on that downhill slide sooner or later.

Rabid

Rabid: A Cultural History of the World's Most Diabolical Virus by Bill Wasik and Monica Murphy, 275
pages

In Rabid, Wasik and Murphy provide an in-depth look at rabies, a ridiculously scary and deadly (still kills almost 100% of those who contract it and are not treated immediately) virus that has plagued the world for millennia. This history looks at the earliest-known descriptions and treatments of rabies and brings us through to the modern-day fight against the disease, spending a full chapter on Louis Pasteur, who created the first rabies vaccine and post-transmission treatment. Wasik and Murphy also spend plenty of time looking at rabies in popular culture, exploring how this, yes, diabolical virus permeated literature from the Brontes to Zora Neale Hurston to Stephen King, and influenced the descriptions of paranormal creatures such as vampires, zombies, and werewolves. It all makes for a fascinating and frightening book.

Ancillary Justice

Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie, 409 pages

In Leckie's debut novel, the narrator is Breq, an artificial intelligence that was once the operating system of the Justice of Toren, a large ship full of soldiers, all of which are at our narrator's command. But now that intelligence is trapped inside a single fragile human body, and Breq is bent on taking revenge upon the entity that forced this change. While it could be a typical revenge story, the AI component, as well as the use of only female pronouns (Breq, and the race with which she is most closely associated, don't care about or distinguish genders), give it a bit of a twist. I look forward to seeing what Breq does in the rest of the trilogy.

Mark Rothko: toward the Light in the Chapel / Annie Cohen-Solal 282 pp.

Another Yale University Press title from the Jewish Lives series.  This was originally written in French and translated, as far as I can tell, by the author.  Rothko's story is interesting and multi-faceted, from boyhood in a shtetl in present-day Latvia complete with Talmudic school,  adolescence in Portland, Oregon, to New York artist.  And after reading, I may now be able to look at a Rothko painting and say something besides, "Hunh.  Colored stripes."  But I can't tell if the author simply tried to cover too much in too little space, or if she simply should have allowed someone else to translate, but the text feels full of holes.  Part of the problem is certainly the difficulty in writing about a non-verbal creative process.  An added shortcoming is that long stretches read more like a history of 20th century American art rather than the story of one man.  A book this length requires greater focus, or maybe simply a different focus.