A Nice Little Place on the North Side: Wrigley Field at One Hundred

A Nice Little Place on the North Side: Wrigley Field at One Hundred
by George F. Will
Crown, 2014.  223 pgs.  Nonfiction.

     George Will is probably best known for his political columns in the late-lamented Newsweek  magazine and now for his participation on ABCs Sunday Morning news show. But he writes about baseball from time to time, too, and as one of millions of hapless Cubs fans, he has a lot to talk about. In this slim volume his topic is perfectly suited to the wry humor of his delivery, as he explains how Wrigley has made the Cubs what they are and have been, both for good and ill.  P.K. Wrigley, the chewing gum magnate who built Wrigley didn't care so much about winning and losing as he did about creating a place where the whole family could come and enjoy the day in "the friendly confines" and beautiful spaces of Wrigley - a picnic-like atmosphere, is how he expressed it. Apparently he foresaw what would not be happening on the field; i.e., winning, so he made the surroundings so pleasant that even now, after all these years of losing records, Wrigley's stands are generally sold out which makes the Cubs even less likely to win because there is no financial incentive to pay for a team that could win. Will incorporates American History, religion, philosophy, and architecture, among many others things, in his ruminations about one of the two most iconic ballparks in America and it is fine, fine reading, whether you like baseball or not.

LW

The Answer to the Riddle Is Me

The Answer to the Riddle Is Me: A Memoir of Amnesia
by David MacLean
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2014. 292 pages. Biography.

David MacLean wakes up one day on a train station platform in India. He doesn't know who he is or why he is in India - or even why he is at a train station. Plagued with hallucinations, paranoia, and severe depression, MacLean struggles to reconstruct his forgotten life after a serious reaction to a common anti-malarial drug causes severe amnesia.

I picked this up because the concept sounded intriguing - who doesn't want to read about amnesia? (Every author falls back on amnesia as a plot at some point, after all.) This is a heart-wrenching account of the realities of amnesia, told in startling detail. MacLean is very open about exactly how he felt during the first years of his new life, addressing his confusion and vulnerability fearlessly. But what I loved most about this book was the writing itself. MacLean is a novelist, and it shows even in a nonfiction work. The book reads very much like a novel - the prose is bright and vivid, and he uses common fiction tropes, like shortened chapters to lend a feeling of the episodic nature of his early awakening in amnesia, that make it a much less dense read than many nonfiction books. Beautifully written and eminently readable.

JH

Play It Again

Play It Again: An Amateur Against the Impossible
by Alan Rusbridger
Farrar, Straus and Girox, 2013. 403 pages. Biography.

When Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger went to his annual amateur piano camp and heard one of his fellow amateurs pull off playing Chopin's G minor Ballade, he is amazed. And inspired. This is one of Chopin's most challenging pieces - a song that even professional pianists sweat over playing. Thus begins his journey into learning the G minor Ballade for himself, over a period of 16 months, with 20 minutes of practice a day whittled out of one of the most hectic work schedules in the news industry - and in a news season that included the release of the Wikileaks documents and working with the volatile Julian Assange and the infamous World of the News phone tapping scandals, both of which were coordinated by Rusbridger. Rusbridger's success shows that a dedicated amateur can take on the impossible and do amazingly well in the end.

The premise to the book is interesting: can an amateur take on the job of a professional and do it even passably well? Rusbridger seeks the answer both through his own experience as well as through interviews and consultations with professionals, both musicians and scientists. While the cover description calls it a battle cry for all amateurs, not necessarily musicians, I found that the text itself was full of enough musical terminology as to make it difficult for non-musicians to read. Even as an avid amateur pianist myself, I soon started skimming through what seemed never-ending descriptions of changing his fingerings for passages and his quest to find the best antique piano to put in his new music room at his summer cottage. The most fascinating part was his behind-the-scenes description of some of the biggest headlines of the day (Julian Assange came off as considerably less neurotic in the standard press than he is in this book) and his discussions with behavioral scientists, neurosurgeons, and professional musicians about the possibilities of amateur musicians to tackle even the hardest pieces in the repertoire. Overall, great for a reader who is profoundly interested in how to make good music, even as an amateur.

JH

India Black

India Black
by Carol K. Carr
Berkeley Prime Crime, 2011. 296 pages. Mystery.

When a customer dies (of natural causes) in India Black's place of business, the formidable abbess of the Lotus House brothel has only one mission: to get rid of the evidence and protect her business from scandal. Little does she know that a chance encounter with one of the government's special service agents, known only as French, will lead her to a wild adventure involving kidnap and Russian spies.

I picked this series up on a whim and have not regretted a moment of it. India Black is a truly well-constructed character who has you rooting for her in spite of, or perhaps because of, her profession. She is sharp and resourceful and her interactions with French are ingenious. The mystery is a fun romp, but it is the characters who are the most enticing part of the story.

I hesitated as to whether I could categorize this as a clean read or not. In spite of everything, India is a madam and she is very frank when it comes to discussing her trade. No euphemisms for her! This is her life and trade and she has made her peace with it. However, while the first book does have the most content of the series (that I've read so far), it still is not the graphic content that I've seen in other books. Carr seems less concerned with describing graphic sexual encounters than with creating well-rounded characters.

JH

Runner

Runner
by Patrick Lee
Minotaur Books, 2014.  328 pgs.  Mystery

     Weird but exciting, Runner tells the story of Sam Dryden, an ex-Special Forces soldier who is out jogging one night when he sees a young girl being chased by what appear to be some kind of commandos. She asks for his help and he hides her, the two hanging from the bottom of the boardwalk until the danger passes. Young Rachel apparently has skills perceived to be dangerous to either the government or some entity associated with it, and quite a lot of people, with access to the most sophisticated surveillance satellites ever developed, want her dead. Unfortunately, she can't remember any of her life before the past two weeks, though she has retained the startling ability to read minds which she uses to great effect to help the two make their escape. Things get exponentially stranger as the story progresses and as Rachel's true abilities begin to emerge, it gets harder and harder to know who are the good guys and who the bad. Runner is a fast and furious read, and Sam, who recently lost his wife and daughter to a car crash, is a deeply sympathetic character with a fabulous set of skills. Things got a bit too violent, and a lot too strange for me towards the end of the book, but it was a ripsnorter and no mistake.  I hope there is no sequel because one hate's to think of what Rachel could do as an angst-ridden teenager.

LW

Stone Cold

Stone Cold
by C. J. Box
G. P. Putnam's Sons, 2014.  370 pgs. Mystery

     Joe Pickett, the best sort of game warden who has lately dealt as much with the deaths of people as the poaching of animals, finds himself in another sticky wicket as he is on secret assignment from the governor to investigate a wealthy benefactor of the people of  Medicine Wheel County. Wolfgang Templeton is rumored to have been a Wall Street tycoon who got fed up with the business and fled, but not without taking a pile of dough with him. Templeton is also rumored to be a financier of contract hits on some marks richly deserving of death. Joe is not welcomed with open arms when he arrives under cover of an assignment to relocate a flock of pheasants (which would be instantly poached) and to help the resident warden locate places to establish wildlife appreciation centers. Most of the county's population is beholden in some way to Templeton and the last investigator to the county died mysteriously in a motel fire. Joe's life is threatened as well, perhaps by a friend who may have gone to the dark side. A side-story in which Joe's daughter Sheridan is keeping her eye on a loner Goth with a gun obsession at her dorm at the University of Wyoming keeps that tension ratcheted right to the breaking point in another great mystery from the Mountain West.

LW

Vampires In the Lemon Grove

Vampires in the Lemon Grove
By Karen Russell
Knopf. 2013. 256 pgs. Short Stories

I am a big fan of Karen Russell (St. Lucy's School for Girls Raised by Wolves, and Swamplandia!), and her third book  is another stunning collection of short stories that did not disappoint.

 Russell's style pulls from magical realism and southern gothic tones with fantastical elements that weave together to create shockingly believable worlds that strike at the very core of human experience. In these stories the theme of metamorphosis carries through as young girls in Japan morph into silk worms, a bullied epileptic boy transforms into a scarecrow, ancient Italians emerge as lemon sucking vampires, drought riddled cropland in Nebraska starts growing the bones of those who died for the land, and a traumatic memory of an Iraq War veteran transfers to his massage therapist. These are stories that will flood your imagination with both tender and haunting images that are hard to shake. ZB

Burial Rites

Burial Rites
By Hannah Kent
Little, Brown and Company. 2013. 448 pgs.

This book not only grabbed my attention in story but the setting was incredible and so new that I did additional looking to see the homes that were talked about and the way people lived on these freezing farms. Based on a true story, Kent has taken the dark reality of Agnes Magnusdottir's execution (the last in Iceland) and has given a sad and thoughtful background to her crime and the result.

Agnes unravels her story bit by bit to a young priest in training and it is revealed that her crimes could be considered justifiable but also gives Agnes the personality of someone who is complex and led a hard life. The family Agnes is sent to stay with before her execution is drawn in to her story and even begins to care for this criminal as they learn her life leading up to her conviction. The writing is captivating as Agnes narrates her story and the priest grows to care about her.

EW

Finding the Dragon Lady

Finding the Dragon Lady: The Mystery of Vietnam's Madam Nhu
by Monique Brinson Demery
Public Affairs, 2013. 280 pgs. Biography

While I always enjoy books on history, biographies and the Vietnam War era is particularly fascinating, he thing that drew me to this book was the cover. Fabulous! In this book the author alternates between her quest for and on-and-off-again telephone conversations with the mysterious Madame Nhu and a brisk and lively account of Nhu's life in Vietnam. As the sister-in-law to the head of state of South Vietnam, Madam Nhu acted as de facto First Lady of her nation and courted controversy both at home and abroad. The author does a good job portraying the humanity of her subject while still being honest about the merits underpinning her notorious reputation. I would recommend this to anyone fascinated by history with a greater emphasis on individuals rather than broader conflicts or events.

CHW

Orfeo

Orfeo
by Richard Powers
W. W. Norton, 2014.  369 pages.  Fiction

     Richard Powers' profoundly literary novel is also, in its way, a thriller. Peter Els, a composer, retired music teacher, and former chemistry student, has set up a bioengineering lab in his kitchen which against all odds has drawn the attention of Homeland Security. Els googles around to see how much trouble he might be in, and then realizes he is tightening the noose around his own neck.  So he runs. Reflecting on his life as he crosses the country, he draws the reader into the world of avant-garde music, and then of other varieties of experimental music as he tries to discover and transcribe the very essence of music. And he can't let his quest go, even when it tears him away from what should be most dear to him and when, the strands of the creation's deepest nature and his need to make music intertwining, he finds himself in peril of his life. Orfeo is a work of extraordinary depth and range, a story of one life and of life its very self.

LW

    

A Mad, Wicked Folly

A Mad, Wicked Folly
By Sharon Biggs Waller
Viking Juvenile, 2014. 448 pages. Young Adult

When seventeen-year-old Victoria Darling is caught posing nude for fellow students in her life drawing class, she scandalizes both her family and 1909 London's proper society. Aghast, her parents rush her home from her French finishing school, where her mother launches an immediate campaign to try repair her daughter's damaged reputation. Part of Vicky's mother's reparations? A marriage to a suitable young man, who turns out to be handsome and charming, but not without his own secrets. But Vicky has other things on her mind: namely, her art. While her parents make every attempt to crush her artistic goals, plucky Vicky finds a way to thwart them. On the way, she gets involved with the suffragette movement, applies to London's Royal College of Art, and meets a kind young police constable who may just be her muse . . . or the love of her life.

As the door to her gilded cage begins to close, Vicky must decide how much she's willing to sacrifice to pursue her true calling -- and her happiness.

A Mad, Wicked Folly surprised me in more ways that one, the first being how much I responded to the novel's love story (romantic subplots not generally being something I enjoy). There were moments between Vicky and Will that had my heart in a fist, and Waller's light treatment of tender moments was a true delight. Vicky is a plucky, tenacious, and passionate character whom readers will easily connect with  and root for, especially as she takes up the suffragettes' cause. Fantastic historical fiction.

CA

The Nazi Hunters

The Nazi Hunters:  How a Team of Spies and Survivors Captured the World's Most Notorious Nazi
by Neal Bascomb
Arthur A. Levine, 2013.  245 pgs. Young Adult Nonfiction

Adolf Eichmann, architect of the Holocaust and responsible for the deaths of many millions of Jews during World War II, escaped from a prison work camp and managed to make his way to Argentina where he hid for many years under the name Ricardo Klement. Jews dedicated to finding and prosecuting Nazi war criminals could not find Eichmann until a teenage girl whose father was half Jewish started dating a boy named Nick Eichmann who boasted about his father's Nazi past. At first dismissed by Israeli intelligence (Mossad), Sylvia Hermann's story eventually led to the identification of Eichmann and  to an ultra-secret Israel operation to kidnap him and take him back to Israel for trial. Evidence suggests that young people are not much interested in history these days, but Bascomb's The Nazi Hunters . . . is just the kind of tense, even harrowing, adventure story that could change some minds.

LW

The Winner's Curse

The Winner's Curse
By Marie Rutkoski
Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2014. 368 pages. Young Adult

As a member of the ruling Valorian class and the daughter of the famous General Trajan, seventeen-year-old Kestrel has a choice: enlist in the army and continue her father's legacy of warfare and bloodshed, or marry before she turns twenty. Kestrel doesn't want to do either, quite frankly, as her heart belongs to her music, not to the battlefield or to any man.

But when she impulsively purchases a nineteen-year-old Herrani slave at auction -- Arin, a young man her father's wars enslaved -- she inadvertently sets a Herrani rebellion in motion. Worse, the more often Kestrel's path crosses with Arin's, the more their relationship evolves into something beyond master and slave. As truths are exposed and Arin's true heritage comes to light, Kestrel begins to wonder where her loyalties should lie, and whether she should choose the morality of helping to free an oppressed people, or the honor of not betraying her own.

With an airtight plot and a cast of beautifully dynamic, yet flawed characters, Rutkoski has created a world full of intrigue, shifting alliances and sympathies, multiple double-crosses, and (don't let the cover fool you) action-packed battle scenes. Kestrel is a fully-fleshed heroine who, while strong and intellectually brilliant, knows her own faults and how to use her strengths to compensate for them. Arin is equally compelling, and the way Rutkoski balances, shifts, and exchanges power between the two throughout the novel's course is nothing short of riveting. Add Rutkoski's gorgeous prose and seamless fantasy world into the mix, and you have the recipe for a novel that will be topping many YA Best of 2014 lists. Nothing short of fantastic.

CA

Boxers and Saints

Boxers and Saints
By Gene Luen Yang
First Second, 2013. 325 and 170 pages. Graphic Novel

In Boxers, bands of Christian missionaries roam China's countryside, bullying peasants, dishonoring Chinese gods and traditions, and robbing. But once a beloved shrine to villager Little Bao's favorite god is destroyed, the young man decides he's had enough. Calling upon the powers of the ancient gods, protectors of China, Little Bao recruits and army of commoners trained in kung fu, men and women who will fight to free China from the "foreign devils" who may destroy everything they love about their country. Though Little Bao's army of "Boxers" is mighty, he soon realizes that the cause of protecting his homeland isn't as clear-cut as it seemed . . . especially once Little Bao and his army encounter a train full of "secondary devils," or Chinese converts to Christianity, and the lines between right and wrong become blurred.

In Saints, Four-Girl isn't even given a proper name until she converts to Catholicism and is baptized by they very priest who terrorized Little Bao's village. Four-Girl, now known as Vibiana (a Christian name she chooses for herself), begins to see visions of Joan of Arc, and is inspired to leave home and find fulfillment through service to the Church.

Little Bao's and Vibiana's paths collide with disastrous results, ones that will change them both -- and all of China -- forever.

Yang's spare, clean artistic style lends grace to a very violent period of China's history, and the juxtaposition of Little Bao's and Vibiana's respective stories and closely-held beliefs allows Yang to explore all the facets and intricacies of China's Boxer Rebellion. Both protagonists are sympathetic, dynamic, and so very human; they make mistakes, they love, and they lose. A compelling look at a difficult and little-known period in China's history.

CA

Thrice Told Tales

Thrice Told Tales
By Catherine Lewis
Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2013. 136 pages. Young Adult Nonfiction

Using the old story of the Three Blind Mice, writing professor Catherine Lewis teaches her readers all about the building blocks of literature, from bildungsromans to foreshadowing to leitmotifs and more. This cheeky little guide will help any writer fine-tune their work, and blends a little of Mother Goose with a bit of Edward Gorey to make all principles inside both easily understood and memorable.

I love this little book! It's perfect for anyone who wants a better understanding of literary elements, and would be a great resource for AP English students looking to master the terms before their exams. Witty, whimsical, and delightful.

CA

The Martian

The Martian
by Andy Weir
Crown, 2014. 369 pgs. Science Fiction

     When Mark Watney's crew leaves him behind on Mars because they think he is dead, he must figure out how to survive until the next Mars mission shows up four years' hence.  Chances of living that long and being rescued?  Slim to none. But he sets about it.  A botanist, he first figures out how to create arable soil in which to grow potatoes, and then has to figure out how to water his crop. Explosions, habitat breaches, and sandstorms, among many other things, keep Mark's life interesting--perhaps hardest to take is the relentless supply of 70s TV episodes stored on his commander's abandoned data stick.  Weir's narrative takes several surprising turns which I will keep to myself, but if you think you will tire of Watney's Robinson Crusoe life, keep going. There is much more to be had in this old-fashioned, deeply satisfying sci-fi thriller.

LW

Fallen Women

Fallen Women
By Sandra Dallas
St Martin's Press. 2013.

Sandra Dallas takes on the city of Denver in 1885 in this book about a sister looking for her sister's Killer. Beret Osmundsen had broken ties with her sister Lily after an incident in New York, and sends her away. Lillie ends up in Denver with her aunt and uncle, and Beret hears nothing, until she is notified of her sister's death. Even more shocking is that Lillie had become a prostitute and was pregnant. Beret takes on the task of bringing the murderer to justice and discovering why Lillie felt the need to work in a brothel. With the help of Detective Sergeant Michael "Mick"  MCCauley, she finds things out that she never wanted to know, as well as the back alley lives of people in Denver.

The setting of the book was wonderful and described 19th century Denver in a very accurate and exciting way. The characters were just as well written and the relationship of Beret and Mick drew my attention. The mystery holds up as there are so many small discoveries and lies that there really was no way of knowing who killed Lillie or why until the end.

Ignite Me

Ignite Me
By Tahereh Mafi
Harper Collins, 2014. 416 pgs. Young Adult.

I couldn't finish this fast enough and then I was so sad it was over. In the conclusion to the popular Shatter me series, the characters are face with difficult decisions, and relationships are strained. Juliette has no idea in the beginning if her friends, the rebels, or if anyone else is alive. She has to work with Warner, her one time enemy, but clearly something else, in order to find the rebels and finish what her friends started. Her ultimate goal is to take down The Restablishment.

Warner and Juliette have an incredible chemistry and their actions towards each other and away from each other hint at their feelings but also the confusion. Juliette wants to use her powers to save the world she wants and with her friends, they come up with plans, train to fight, and their will to survive grows. It has lots of action, romance, and hysterical quips from Kenji and makes it a very fast, enjoyable read. Fans of Hunger Games and Divergent will like the dystopian world and thrills that this series provides.

Jump the Gun

Jump the Gun
By Zoe Burke
Poisoned Pen Press, 2013. 180 pages. Mystery.

When Annabelle Starkey leaves her Chicago book conference for a romantic getaway in Las Vegas with Michael, a stranger she meets in the bar, the weekend goes from romantic to terrifying when she and Michael are kidnapped at gunpoint, her room searched, and her friend (who is cat-sitting for her) is killed in Annabelle's apartment. But are the thugs after her? Michael? Or is Michael the one orchestrating the crime spree?

I picked up this book because, prominently displayed on the cover, is a glowing review from the Kirkus Review Journal. After reading a few pages, I discovered why relying exclusively on other people's opinions can be a dangerous thing. I spent most of this book confused. It was full of campy movie wit and the plot was very convoluted. And, then, I never quite understood why they did most of the things they did. Do women really fly across the country with strange men? was only the beginning. Too far-fetched, poorly written, frustrating. I'm disappointed, Kirkus.

JH

Hope Springs

Hope Springs
By Sarah M. Eden
Shadow Mountain, 2014. 391 pages. Romance.

Part two of the Longing for Home saga, Hope Springs follows the story of Katie Macauley, an Irish immigrant who arrives in a small Wyoming frontier town and finds herself in the middle of a bitter rivalry between the Irish and non-Irish communities. In the second book, Katie's courage will be put to the test as tensions escalate and tempers reach the boiling point. And she will finally have to decide between the two men she loves.

Sarah Eden has made a name for herself with her clean-read, Regency romances, so her Western setting Longing for Home series is a bit of a departure for her. But the departure works marvelously. The books themselves are much longer than her Regency books, which allows for greater character development. And, unlike her Regency novels, the outcomes for the characters are not unfailingly happy, although the plot resolves itself in the best way possible.

JH

Dark Invasion: 1915 : German's Secret War and the Hunt for the First Terrorist Cell in America

Dark Invasion: 1915: German's Secret War and the Hunt for the First Terrorist Cell in America
by Howard Blum
HarperCollins, 2014.  473 pgs. Nonfiction

While America was still a neutral with regard to World War I, German diplomats turned secret agents mounted a campaign of sabotage against U. S. shipments of goods and arms to Allied forces. Beginning with planting slow-fused bombs on ships and ending with the destruction of the Black Tom munitions depot, German agents did all they could to cut off supplies to their enemies, while trying to avoid drawing America into the fight. Captain Tom Tunney of the NYPD and his small team managed, with some help from the Brits, to expose the German machinations, including an assassination attempt against J. P. Morgan, Jr., and the introduction of anthrax and glanders' bacteria into populations of mules and horses being sent to the front. Blum's thorough and suspenseful treatment of these little-known episodes in American history is a fascinating addition to the wealth of books that are appearing for the Great War's centenary.

LW

An Officer and a Spy

An Officer and a Spy

by Robert Harris

Knopf, 2014.  429 pgs.  Historical Fiction 

Robert Harris takes on the Dreyfus Affair in his latest historical thriller, “An Officer and a Spy.” If you dust off your high-school history, you may remember this story of a Jewish officer accused of treason, drummed out of the French army in 1895, and sent to solitary confinement on Devil’s Island. In this deft reenactment of that time and event, Harris employs Georges Picquart, the historical challenger of Dreyfus’ sentence, as his narrator. Picquart is not an overly sympathetic character.  He’s stiff, a bit chilly, is having an affair with another man’s wife, and doesn’t even like Dreyfus, whom he tutored in military training.  But as the newly-minted head of the French Army’s Intelligence Division, he wants justice to be done and finds, as he investigates, that it has not been. After a bit of a slow start as Harris builds background, “An Officer and a Spy” generates considerable suspense and tension as Picquart figures out that the team in his own office is working against him because they want the Jewish Dreyfus to be guilty to cover their own ineptitude and anti-Semitism. Those who defend Dreyfus, notably Emile Zola with his famous “J’Accuse” essay, are charged and jailed or exiled. The final working out of the problem is neither sentimental nor any more satisfying than it must have been in real life, but feels true to the time and the characters involved. Robert Harris, master of historical fiction, has done it again in this fine novel of turn-of-the-century France, an excellent book filled with a perfect mix of fact and fiction. 

LW

Courting Greta

Courting Greta
By Ramsey Hootman
Gallery Books, 2013. 376 pages. Fiction.

When former computer programmer Samuel Cooke starts life as a high school computer teacher, he forms an unlikely relationship with tough gym coach, Greta Cassamajor. But between their past hurts and Samuel's over-arching consciousness of his physical limitations as a result of spina bifida, the relationship seems doomed from the start. Will they be able to let down their barriers and really experience the growing love between them?

I picked up this book thinking it would be similar to The Rosie Project, which was a fun book. This didn't have the same lightness of touch that Graeme Simsion was able to create, but Hootman did do a great job of creating a unique story and tension between the characters. You are able to empathize with both sides of the relationship, even though you see it all from Samuel's perspective. The book is pretty heavy on language and does have some sexual content.

JH

Thin Space

Thin Space
By Jodi Casella
Simon Pulse, 2013. 243 pages. Young Adult

Responsible for the car accident that killed his twin brother, Marshall Windsor is consumed with the idea of finding a thin space -- a mythical point where the barrier between this world and the next is thin enough for a person to step through to the other side. Marshall only has one chance to make amends, and so he spends his time scraping his bare feet along the ground -- at home, at school -- in order to try to slip through and find his brother again. 

When a new girl moves into the house next door, the same house Marshall is sure holds a thin space, she may be the key to (or the unraveling of) all his secrets. As they get closer to finding a thin space -- and to each other -- Marshall must decide once and for all how far he’s willing to go to right the wrongs of the living . . . and the dead.

The grief in these pages is almost palpable; Casella does an excellent job of rendering Marshall's suffering (and obsession), and it's the emotional arc that drives both the protagonist and the reader on to the story's climax and end. While not the most thrilling of reads, this one will certainly linger with a patient reader long after the last page is turned.

CA

A Trick of the Light

A Trick of the Light
By Lois Metzger
Balzer + Bray, 2013. 196 pages. Young Adult

Mike Welles feels like his life is spiraling out of control: his dad's gone, his mom's barely able to get out of bed, and everything at school -- from sports to friends to girls -- seems to only get more confusing and frustrating by the day. Then there's this voice in his head, a friend who claims to want to help Mike regain control again. Even better, the voice tells him that it can help Mike become stronger, faster. Thinner. The voice will help Mike end the tailspin his life's in . . . if only Mike will listen.

Lois Metzger's A Trick of the Light is an absorbing, terrifying look at anorexia in young men. Told from the perspective of the psychological disease itself, readers watch as Mike descends into the horrors of extreme weight loss and over-exercising. Metzger's approach is empathetic yet absolutely stark in its portrayal of Mike's descent, making this an excellent cautionary tale for readers of all ages.

CA

The Tyrant's Daughter

The Tyrant's Daughter
By J.C. Carleson
Knopf Books for Young Readers, 2014. 304 pages. Young Adult

When her father is assassinated in a military coup, 15-year-old Laila flees her palatial life in an unnamed middle eastern country with her mother and younger brother. Now exiled to a drab apartment in the U.S., Laila and her younger brother Bastien (whom Laila nicknames "the King of Nowhere") struggle to adapt to American life, while their mother plots with CIA operatives and rebel factions from home to regain the throne their family has lost. As Laila begins to unravel the snarl of uneasy alliances her mother has wrought, she knows she cannot stand idly by and allow her mother to launch another coup -- but should Laila try to stop the coming international crisis when it means a possibility of returning home?

J.C. Carleson has built a powerful, affecting novel on the foundation of her experiences as a CIA agent in the middle east. Laila's voice is deft, lyrical, and laced with the grief of losing her father, her country, her culture, her safety . . . all while finding out that the man she adored is seen as a monster on the international stage. While the end feels a little rushed, and there are a few minor inconsistencies in the latter half of the book, the novel is an engrossing, illuminating read that will certainly help readers understand the middle eastern mindset a little better.

CA

Confessions of a Bad Teacher

Confessions of a Bad Teacher: the Shocking Truth from the Front Lines of American Public Education
by John Owens
Sourcebooks, 2013. 244 pages. Nonfiction.

When John Owens left a lucrative publishing career to teach English in New York City's public schools, he didn't realize how authoritarian public schools had become. Branded a "bad" teacher after one year of teaching at a low-achieving school in the Bronx, Owens was forced to leave students who loved his class and return to the publishing industry for not falling in line with the often contradictory dictates of the school administration. This book gives his first-hand look at American education, the good teachers who are being ousted by a bad system, and some ways that public schools can again achieve educational success.

Owens is a natural storyteller and is able to describe the workings of his high school with extraordinary and often disturbing clarity. His final chapter, where he outlines his recommendations to improve education in America, is very well thought out and shows a lot of passion for his topic. Readers would do well to remember - and Owens is quick to point out - that he is talking only about one school and one specific school system. The things he is describing may not happen in their particulars in every school in the nation. But the overarching concern Owens has is to have society more involved in the American educational process and removing a lot of the bureaucracy that is currently hindering educational success across the board. Over all, a very interesting and informative read.

JH

The Anatomist's Wife

The Anatomist's Wife
By Anna Lee Huber
Berkley Prime Crime, 2012. 347 pages. Mystery.

After her deceased husband's medical colleagues discover that she was forced by her husband to attend and document hundreds of autopsies and human dissections for his treatise on anatomy, Lady Darby finds herself ostracized by society and threatened with prison or an insane asylum by the authorities, who consider her participation in the procedures criminal. But when she takes refuge at her sister's remote Scottish estate after being cleared of all criminal charges, Lady Darby is once again confronted with corpses when a guest is heinously murdered in the garden. Using her new-found knowledge of the human body, Lady Darby is asked to assist the handsome and rakish Sebastian Gage, private investigator, to find the killer.

I was pleasantly surprised by this book and ended up reading it in just a few days, I was so eager to see how it ended. The plot moves quickly and the characters are very well written and have interesting depths to explore. It also shows a lot of the societal biases present in English society right after the Napoleanic wars, which adds fascinating historical touches to the mystery plot. Very enjoyable!

JH

The Golden Day

The Golden Day
By Ursula Dubosarsky
Candlewick Press, 2013. 150 pgs.  Young Adult

The '70's, a time of turmoil...eleven young girls set out with their teacher on a field trip to a beautiful garden to "think about death."  Eleven young girls return, not with their teacher but with a secret that changes and bonds them together in fear and friendship.

This unique book seemed slightly haunting to me.  Written in a flowing, clean, easy to read style, Dubosarsky constantly kept a sense of foreboding floating around.  I thoroughly enjoyed it (for a few split seconds it reminded me of a grown up adventure from the children's book Madeline, but don't let that deter you).  I would recommend it to any young adult because it was a fun read and to reluctant readers because of the short length combined with easy reading style.
mpb

The Cartographer of No Man's Land

The Cartographer of No Man's Land
by P. S. Duffy
Liveright, 2013. 371 pgs. Fiction

The 2014 centenary of the beginning of World War I has brought to us the tender-hearted and terrible story Angus MacGrath, a Canadian waterman and artist who defies his pacifist father to enlist as a cartographer so he can look for his missing brother-in-law who is also his best friend.  But London is already crawling with cartographers so Angus is sent to the front.  Back home his son, Simon Peter is trying to grow up without his father, sometimes caught between his anxious mother and his angry grandfather. The particular horrors of the war in the trenches are laid bare here, as are the contrasting beauties of life on and off the water back home. How Angus loses himself and his art, but then finds himself again for his son's sake, is the burden of this powerful, beautiful narrative.

LW