Versions of us, by Laura Barnett

What if?  Three different versions of the same story alternate throughout this complex novel.  It is best read quickly, as keeping track of which narrative you are in can be difficult.  A chance meeting between two college students at Cambridge could have ended there, could have led to love and marriage,  to love but marriage to the wrong people, or any number of other ways.  Here are three versions of how Jim and Eva's story could have developed from 1958 to 2014.  All of us wonder at times how our lives could have gone very differently if only…..  Enjoyable and very well-written, but I found the device a bit contrived and tiring.  400 pp.

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, by Kim Barker

Ms. Barker had no experience as a foreign correspondent, a largely unused passport, spoke no foreign languages, and was a completely inexperienced journalist in many other ways when the Chicago Tribune sent her off to Afghanistan in 2002 to cover “the forgotten war” there.  That war, like the Taliban she went to interview, still lingers on well over a decade later.  Darkly funny, it is this war’s M.A.S.H., or Catch-22.  Filled with insights into the Afghan people and the country she fell in love with, and into Pakistan where she was posted afterwards.  WTF indeed.  302 pp.

Eligible, by Curtis Sittenfeld

A modern retelling of Jane Austen’s beloved Pride and prejudice with a Midwestern flavor.   In Sittenfeld’s witty version, Darcy is a darkly handsome, taciturn, Stanford-and-Harvard-trained neurologist who has moved to Cincinnati where the novel is set.  His friend and fellow doctor is Chip Bingley, who two years previously was the bachelor on the TV show Eligible but didn’t find his soulmate.  The five Bennet sisters, as always, are in need of husbands.  Let the fun begin.  I couldn’t put the book down once I started it but raced through as if I had no idea how it might end.  The author has captured Austen’s voice very well, with Mrs. Bennet and the long-suffering Mr. Bennet being particularly well-drawn.  Sittenfeld successfully mixes in such trendy topics as yoga instruction, crossfit training, transgenderism, shopping addiction, and reality TV into a comedy of manners and never loses the humanity and humor of the original.  I look forward to seeing the author at the Friends of the Library’s February event.  485 pp.

June totals!

Christa  10/2893
Cindy  6/1834
Kara  6/2152
Karen  8/2422
Linda  3/881
Patrick  5/1677
Rob 2/884

Total: 40/12,743

Old Age

Old age: a beginner's guide / Michael Kinsley 160 pgs.

Journalist Kinsley writes honestly about his situation as a Baby Boomer with Parkinson's disease.  He has already gone through the denial stage and also spent some time just ignoring it but now it seems true that he is getting older.  Oh yea, the Parkinson's thing just gave him a somewhat earlier look at the ravages of age and what is coming for everyone else.

Kinsley writes about his goals and the goals of his generation.  He writes about running into Robert McNamara on an airplane, he writes about his idea for an important legacy for the Boomer generation.

This book is light-hearted yet serious. The author comes across as someone who recognizes his blessings before considering his tribulations.  I'm not sure it is a real beginner's guide but then again, I'm not yet old so don't really need one.

I'm Thinking of Ending Things

I'm Thinking of Ending Things by Iain Reid, 210 pages

A man and his girlfriend are driving through the country to visit his parents at their farm. It's the girlfriend's first time meeting his family and instead of being wracked with nerves, she's wondering why she decided to come along, as she's considering ending things with the man. It's a fairly simple premise for a story: these two passing time talking, while the girlfriend thinks over their relationship and weighs her options.

But this is no simple story. This is easily the creepiest, tensest book I've read in a LONG time. While nothing terribly dramatic happens for the bulk of the short novel, Reid keeps the reader unsettled, slowly building the tension. I'm glad I wasn't home alone when I finished reading this late at night; I'm equally glad that I had a new light-hearted book on hand to read a bit of before I attempted to sleep. This one will stick with me and keep me shuddering for a long time.

Also: I must point out that this is Reid's debut novel. If this gripping tale is any indication of what he's got in store, I'm preparing for many sleepless nights in the future. Keep an eye on this one.

Jonah's Gourd Vine / Zora Neale Hurston, 229 pp.

A simple story of one man's rise and fall, told very, very well.  I'm intrigued by the motif of crossing the water (here, the creek) which reappears in Moses, Man of the Mountain.

Arab Jazz / Karim Miske, trans. by Sam Gordon, 242 pp.

In a quarter of Paris in which Muslims, Jews and Christians live together, sometimes uneasily, a beautiful flight attendant from a family of Jehovah's Witnesses is horrifically murdered.  The crime scene is heavy with confusing religious symbolism, and the victim's neighbor and friend, Ahmed, fears he must solve the crime before the police or risk being accused himself.

Arab Jazz has a complex and ultimately coherent plot, and very nicely developed characters.  The story unfolds in an unpredictable way; maybe that's the Jazz?

Grunt

Grunt: the curious science of humans at war / Mary Roach 285 pgs.

Mary Roach writes about the most interesting topics.  This book has chapters on shark attacks, genital reconstruction and diarrhea. How can anyone dislike science?

Per usual, Roach has a way of leading the reader through topics in the most enjoyable way.  She is the master of getting herself into unusual situations and then asks all the questions you would ask.  Have more soldiers died of diarrhea than combat injuries?  How do you protect sailors from shark attack? How great are maggots at cleaning wounds?

Another home run by Roach.  Already looking forward to her next book.