Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner

I'd read this a long time ago and remembered it as being beautifully written.  I had forgotten all the details of events including the tragic ending.  With this rereading, I was not so impressed but I think it is because I have read so much impressive writing lately.  This story within a story is a quintessential tale of the west.  At the center is Susan Burling Ward, author and artist who leaves her glittering life in the East for an adventure in the West which she hopes is temporary.  Her engineer husband,  Oliver Ward is the one responsible for their treks through many western states and Mexico.  Their life is often hard and often they spend months apart but, for the most part they rise to the occasion.  We learn of their story through Susan's grandson, Lyman Ward.  He is attempting to write his grandmother's biography although he has many challenging physical limitations.  In fact, the letters Lyman refers to for his grandmother's history are real letters from a woman named Mary Hallock Foote. It is history with a little melodrama but powerful descriptions of the early desolate west.  Life is a struggle for all the characters as they search for their angle of repose.

Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

Owens is a biologist and a naturalist who has written multiple memoirs and, although this is her first novel, her love of nature comes through on every page.  The story begins in 1969 with a body discovered in a North Carolina Swamp.  Then the narrative jumps back 17 years to the story of 10 year old Aya. One by one Aya's brothers and sisters and even her mother leave the isolated marshland of North Carolina.  She is left with her father who is often drunk, sometimes violent, frequently absent for long stretches of time - and then gone for good.  This is a story of survival through Aya's wit and the kindness of a few wonderful characters.  Bullied after her attempts to go to school, she hides from the authorities until she is forgotten.  Using her fishing and scavenging skills she not only avoids starvation but records the beauty of the marsh that protects her with detailed naturalist drawings.  Eventually she is befriended by a young boy named Tate who teaches her to read.  Their relationship will change the direction of the life of the "marsh girl" forever.  This is both a gentle and a powerful story particularly for anyone who appreciates the natural world.

The Trouble with Goats and Sheep by Joanna Cannon

It is hard to classify this book.  It is at its heart a mystery.  Mrs. Creasy is missing from this small English town.  It is hard to tell if the neighbors want her to be found because they share a secret they fear she will reveal.  But 10 year old Grace and her best friend Tilly are determined to solve her disappearance.  In the process, more question are raised.  Where does God live?  Is there a reason that many of the people on the block want to blame Walter, the eccentric loner at the end of the street?  Is the stain on the drainpipe really the face of Jesus?  Life is both simpler and more complicated through the eyes of these two children which give it a bit of a coming of age vibe.  It turns out there is more than one secret to be discovered.  It turns out humanity may have a very flawed method of identifying the sheep and the goats which makes this a very thoughtful mystery with an "Aha" ending.  If the mystery doesn't hook you, you can always see how many British sweet and British TV shows you are familiar with.

Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz

I picked this up because the author also writes the British TV series Midsomer Murders and the twists and turns in this book are just like the series with possibly less blood.  When mystery author Alan Conway sends the proof of his latest book, Magpie Murders, to his editor Susan Ryeland, the last chapter is missing - and Alan is dead - an apparent suicide.  But the character in the novel and the real life Alan share many similarities. Ryeland suspects that there are clues to be followed in this final book that will not only allow her to finish the mystery but also satisfy her growing belief that it wasn't suicide at all.  Serious mystery readers will probably recognize many Agatha Christie like characteristics. It made a great airplane read!

Born to Run by Bruce Springsteen

So much of this biography was familiar - life in the 50's is New Jersey was so much like the 50's in West Mifflin.  His description of his early life provided many smiles of recognition.  Not as familiar was the unusual Irish Italian mix of family and neighborhood.  I do have to admit that I did not read every word of every step in his musical journey but I was surprised at how well it was written.  A very pleasant read.

Leonardo Da Vinci by Walter Isaacson

If you want to know everything possible about all the art Da Vinci produced than the 500+ pages are definitely worth it.  Isaacson has borrowed from many earlier biographies to see Da Vinci as more than an artist and he is just as interesting a person as we have come to expect.  My favorite section was on the Vitruvian Man and the authors's own take on the legacy of Da Vinci.  His attitude of Michelangelo is also an interesting read. Such a big person surely deserves such a big book.

The Ghost Writer by Alessandra Torre

Helena Ross is a famous writer of successful romance novels and she is dying.  With just months to live she has one more book she needs to write and it is to be her confession.  Readers of her novels could not have imagined her life of isolation.  When she realizes that she is not well enough to finish the book, she decides to hire a ghost writer.  Surprisingly, her choice is Marka Vantly, her major writing competitor.  But Marka is not who Helena imagines.  There are secrets everywhere that make the book hard to put down.  The clues to the "confession" are slowly released mixed in with back story of a life that is unravelling.  This is easily a one sitting read.

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

There has been a trauma early in Eleanor's life that, as the reader, you think you have figured out.  It has made  her a decidedly socially awkward person. She has a job she does quite well but is the butt of many office jokes.  She spends her weekends drunk so she won't have to think about how lonely she is. All of that changes.  Eleanor's directness is in humorous conflict with a world that seemed to function more on politeness than truth but there is also a lot of sadness.  It turns out that one friend can make all the difference in the world.

Bear Town by Fredrick Backman

As much as I loved A Man Called Ove, I hated this book.  It was not that it was badly written but I hated having to read about the jock culture.  I hated the bullying.  I hate the price Maya must pay to try and fit into this culture.  I guess the fact that this story of playing hockey in a small town in Sweden has the capacity to make me so outraged is probably a good thing if that was Backman's intent.  To be fair, there is a lot to think about in terms of family and community and personal responsibility but the argument that being good at a sport is an excuse for bad behavior just doesn't fly for me.

American Pastoral by Philip Roth

Caught up in the Great American Read frenzy, one of my book groups decided to up the ante and read an old classic. Can't remember how the conversation lead us to this one.  Seymour Levov aka Swede was the high school hero of Newark, New Jersey before WWII.  He comes home after the war to marry Miss New Jersey and take over the family business.  All is well until his lovely daughter Merry gets sucked into the protests of the 60's with tragic consequences.  How do we know all this? Roth's favorite narrator, writer Nathan Zuckerman went to school with his brother, Jerry.  When they meet at a high school reunion, Jerry shares that life for the Swede has not gone so well.  When Swede gets in touch with Nathan and asks him to write a story about his father, the telling begins.  There is very little room for the reader's thoughts here because every possible internal dialog is shared.  More than I wanted to hear/read actually.  I think this book has been described as the modern Job story.  I get that.  It won the Pulitzer which I wonder about.  I also wonder if I am supposed to think that Swede is to blame for Merry's mistakes.  Or maybe all the people like Swede are to be blamed for the 60's. Guess I should go back and read Job.

Standard Deviation by Katherine Heiny

Someone recommended this book to me because, as a teacher, they thought I would enjoy the character of the non-neurotypical young boy in the book.  Matthew's struggle to make friends is oh so familiar but this is not his story.  The marriage of his upper middle class, New Yorker, parents is.  Graham is 15 years older than out-going Audra.  While she has her pulse on the neighborhood and no apparent verbal filter (which is sometimes very funny), he sometimes misses the quieter although colder life he shared with his first wife.  When he runs into his first wife again, they begin a Audra approved purely intellectual affair with Graham's internal musings providing much of the thoughtful meat of the story.  There are many delightful moments of quirky detail - some having to do with the fact that Matthew is considered a "folding genius" by the mostly over 35 members of his origami club.  Mostly it is a beach read for people who also like the NYT crossword puzzle but maybe can't finish it past Wednesday.

Two Girls Down by Louisa Luna

Aah those lazy summer mystery reads.  Alice Vega is an expert at finding lost children.  She is 18 for 18 - but not all of them were happy endings.  When 10 year old Kylie and 8 year old Bailey go missing from their small town grocery parking lot, the deadbeat dad seems an obvious candidate for the guilty party.  But there are a whole host of questionable characters to suspect and even a few cold cases to throw in before this case gets closed.  Definitely worth the shady afternoon with my feet up.

Exit West by Mohsin Hamid

This is a refugee story.  Gentle, reserved Saeed loves his family and his country.  Nadia is fiercely independent and dreams of a place away from all the ceaseless, senseless fighting.  They meet in a class that is miraculously still happening in a safe part of their war torn city. As the war escalates, they learn of "doors" that will lead them away.  This is not about the dangerous traveling part of their journey as going through the door immediately deposits them in the next camp, abandoned building shared by other refugees, tent city, etc.  They eventually arrive in the refugee area of a non-welcoming London.  There is a dystopian futuristic feel of the book if you accept that the refugee driven turmoil of today will likely remain for years to come.  Mostly it is about what happens to two loving people as they lose a sense of self and country as refugees.  A lot to think about in only 226 pages.

The River of Doubt:Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey by Candice Millard

In 1914, following a failed attempt to get back into the Presidency, Theodore Roosevelt decided to explore an uncharted tributary of the Amazon - the River of Doubt.  He and his entourage, which included his son, encountered unfriendly natives and unnavigable rapids. They battled malaria and near starvation.  It was an amazing journey.  But another part of the story was the strength and character of Roosevelt himself.  Whatever you think of his politics, there is much to be admired about him in this epic tale.

The Swans of Fifth Avenue by Melanie Benjamin

This was a book hat I thought was frivolous until I realized that t was as much fact as fiction.  When Truman Capote was at his height as a literary celebrity, he gathered around him many of the women of New York's most prominent families - his swans.  He sailed on their yachts, lounged by the pools at their summer homes, was the life of their parties - and shared their secrets.  Searching for a story that would match In Cold Blood, he betrays their trust.  The results - tragic.

Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward

Jojo and his younger sister are being raised by their maternal grandparents in a poor coastal town in Mississippi.  Their mother Leonie is too overwhelmed by life and drugs to pay attention.  Their white father is about to be released from prison so Leonie takes the children to bring him home.  In the times it takes them to make the journey, a world of hurt is revealed.  The grief is all real but Jojo is also visited by the ghosts of Leonie's brother who died a early tragic death and a young boy with an early connection to his grandfather.  This book is a beautiful and eloquently written window into a life from which my white privilege with forever protect me.  I wish it was historical fiction but unfortunately it is not.  Winner of the 2017 National Book Award.

The Weight of Ink by Rachel Kadish

At almost 600 pages, this novel seems intimidating but there are sooooo many story lines to follow that all those pages may be necessary.  It is primarily the story of two women separated by centuries.  First is Ester Valesquez  - born in Portugal in the 1600's, Jewish and most uniquely educated.  She runs from the Inquisition to Amsterdam and then London where she is hired as a scribe to an important rabbi.  But Ester's mind is not made for copying someone else's words.  She has ideas and thoughts of her own. Ideas that she hopes are worthy of a discourse with Spinoza - except that she is a woman and not likely to be taken seriously.  Helen Watt's story is of a contemporary British academic struggling with failing health.  She has a love of Jewish history and a determination to find a crowning achievement to tbalance he struggle she has faced finding respect in her male dominated world.  What brings them together is the discovery of a set of ancient documents hidden in the staircase of an old London home.  They are signed "Aleph" but as Helen and her mostly annoying assistant, American grad student Aaron Levy, search for Aleph's identity, they discover something much more profound.  And then there is the plague and Shakespeare and multiple backstories of loves lost and strengths found.  I guess 600 pages is what is needed.

Ruthless Tide by Al Roker

In the 1880's a group of steel industry millionaires decided to build a dam just upriver from the industrial city of Johnstown.  They wanted to create a summer recreational area for the proud creators of the Gilded Age.  Known as the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club, membership was limited to the likes of Carnegie, Frick and Mellon.  They could have made sure the dam had a means to release water should the need arise.  They could have provided a working spillway.  They did neither.  So on May 31, 1889, following days of torrential rains, the earthen dam gave way devastating the towns below.  Thousands died.  Thousands more lost everything.  Roker draws heavily on the stories left by a core of survivors and other books about the Johnstown flood.  Like many of the other books, there is an emphasis placed on the refusal of the club or its members to accept any responsibility.  The Johnstown Flood was a pivotal event in the way the public and eventually history viewed the wealthy industrialists.  Surprisingly well written, I still think the David McCullough version is my favorite.

Carrying Albert Home by Homer Hickam

Subtitle: The Somewhat true story of a Man, His Wife, and Her Alligator.
The man and wife in this case are the author's parents.  Homer senior was a coal miner in Coalwood, West Virginia.  Elsie was his high school sweetheart who reluctantly returned from an escape in Florida to marry him.  Albert is the alligator.  When Albert outgrows his cement "pond", Homer and Elsie decide to take him back to Florida where his life began until Buddy Ebsen - the Buddy Ebsen - sent the alligator to Elsie as a wedding gift.  But it is the 1930's and the only affordable way to go is a road trip.  Homer thinks the roundtrip will take 10 days but what he doesn't realize is that Elsie has other plans.  And so the adventure begins complete with bank robbers, a pet rooster, and an encounter with John Steinbeck.  Theoretically, the story is based on real events but I'm sure the truth is stretched  quite a bit.  No matter - the heart of the story is the relationship between Homer and Elsie.  Sometimes funny. sometimes too over the top - each chapter is single adventure making it a great road trip read.

The Door by Magda Szabo

Never in a million years would I have read this book if it hadn't been chosen by one of my book groups. Szabo is an award winning Hungarian author but I had never read anything by her.  This book she describes as "thinly veiled personal history".  Struggling author Magda hires a housekeeper named Emerence.  It is the relationship between Magda and Emerence that forms the core of the story.  It turns out to be a connection of hard earned trust and ultimate betrayal.  A short intense book that generated a deeply personal book group discussion.

The Alice Network by Kate Quinn

Based on a real spy network, the story spans WWI and II.  When Mrs.St Clair takes her daughter Charlie to Europe, hoping to take care of an unwanted pregnancy in Switzerland, she has no idea that Charlie has another plan.  Charlie hopes to find her cousin and good friend Rose who seems to have disappeared in France during WWII.  Charlie manages to connect with Eve  - a member of the "Alice" spy network during WWI.  Together with Eve's charming but war damaged driver Finn, they being the search for Rose.  It is also a journey of self discovery for the three of them. A story of great courage and history that was all new to me.

Gentleman from Moscow by Amor Towles

In 1922, Count Alexander Ilyich Rostov is placed under house arrest for being a member of the former aristocracy and authoring a "dangerous" poem.  His "house" is the Metropol Hotel - a grand world unto its own directly across the street from the Kremlin.  Banned from his elegant suite, he continues life in the servants quarters in the hotels upper floor.  But Rostov is the least isolated person imaginable.  Observant, thoughtful, wise in so many ways, and friends to the hotel staff as well to the Metropol's visitors of importance - he is the person you would most want to share a table with in the fine dining rooms of the Metropol or share a chat in the second chair of his "suite" both of which can be completely imagined thanks to the rich detail provided by Towles.  With humor and frequent philosophical insights - reading this book is chance to ponder both history and life with one of the most engaging of gentlemen.  On my list of favorites.

The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane by Lisa See

As a young girl, Li-Yan gathered tea with her family in the hill country of China just north of what was then Burma.  As members of the Akha minority, they were both isolated from and victims of the changes in 20th century China.  The Akha people are ruled by the stern hand of tradition - traditions that force Ahka out of her village and on a long journey to the cities of China and eventually to the United States in search of a daughter she thought might have been lost forever.  As much as this is Li-Yan's story it is also about the tea - ancient tea cakes that carry the history of the owner as well as the finest flavor in the leaves.  There may be a few too many coincidences to make this completely believable but it reads like a fascinating multi-layered family history of a part of China we rarely hear about.

Hamilton by Ron Chernow

This is a chunk of a book but since I was getting a chance to see the amazing Broadway version of this history, I vowed to read it first.  I figured I was going to be schooled but I was not prepared to be both enlightened and disturbed by our early history and to see the weaknesses in the early thinking of the founding fathers so eerily played out today. Worth every minute and every page.

Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng

When Mai and her daughter Pearl rent a house from the Richardson family, Mai promises Pearl that this is a place they will stay.  Shaker Heights, a Columbus suburb, seems idyllic in a Stepford Wives kind of way. Neither family has any idea how intertwined their lives would become.  The Richardsons are a successful family - beautiful house, three perfect children and the fourth, Izzy, a challenge unwilling to fit the mold.  Mai is an artist, whose nomadic thrift store existence has contributed to the confidence of her intelligent daughter Pearl.  For all the teen-agers in both families, the grass is always greener in someone else's "perfect" home. This is a story about what it means to be a family, the nature of motherhood, adoption - many things any book group might want to discuss. 

Celine by Peter Heller

This is a mystery frosted in great characters and sprinkled with humor.  Celine Watkins, New England blue blood turned crusty Brooklyn PI, isn't sure being 70 is cause for retirement. When Gabriela Lamont calls her and begins to share her story, Celine and her partner in crime husband Peter think that they may take at least one more case.  Over 20 years ago, Gabriela's father, a famous photographer for National Geographic, was supposedly killed by a bear just outside of Yellowstone.  This made Gabriela a wealthy woman but she never believed her father was actually dead.  She begins a search on her own but eventually hits a wall and contacts Celine. Skeptical at first,  when Gabriela's research file disappears, Celine's instinct kicks in and the search begins.  There  is a lot of interesting back story to both women's lives and Peter is a delight. Gotta love 70 and still up for adventure.

La Rose by Louise Erdrich

A hunting accident on the Ojibwe tribal lands of North Dakota changes the lives of five year old LaRose and his family forever.   When LaRose's father, Landreaux , accidentally kills Dusty, the young son of his good friend and sister-in-law, he is overcome with guilt.  After hours in a sweat lodge, he and his wife determine that their  son, LaRose, must be given to Dusty's family in exchange for the life Landreaux has taken.   Jump to 1839 and the original LaRose, a young girl who finds herself running from an abusive situation and finds an unusual power to survive - a power that  passes from generation to generation - from LaRose to LaRose.  Using multiple back stories, a little magical realism, and  large pieces of Native American history, Erdrich explores both guilt and forgiveness in two families and multiple generations.  Hardly a sunny read but lots to talk about.

Astrophysics for People in a Hurry by Neil DeGrasse Tyson

This title should keep going to say...people in a hurry but still willing to ponder and puzzle through some pretty challenging ideas - it is still astrophysics.  The best thing is that Tyson makes feeling like such a dummy so much fun.  In the end, it is all so amazing  and wonder worthy - certainly reason enough for both star gazing and traveling long distances just to see an eclipse.

Pachinko by Min Jin Lee

In the decades before WW11, Korea was controlled by Japan.  They were not even allowed to speak Korean.  Strangely enough, many escaped to Japan where they lived in poor Korean communities but were able to take advantage of greater opportunities depending on how much they embraced Japanese culture.  Pachinko is a game of chance popular in casino type settings in Japan.  A ball is set in motion and its direction changed by pegs set randomly in the board.  This is a story of four generations of a Korean family whose only daughter is lured to Japan hoping for a better life for her unborn child.  But like the game, there are realities and events that alter the path she anticipates.  And so it goes generation after generation - chances and challenges - the push and pull of the culture of history and the culture of opportunity - the life of the immigrant.  An interesting look at a history I knew little about.

Grief Cottage by Gail Godwin

Marcus and his single mom have always lived close to the edge.  When she dies, he is sent to live with a reclusive great aunt on an isolated island off the coast of South Carolina.  Aunt Charlotte is an artist of some note and many of her painting are of a tumble down structure referred to by the islanders as Grief Cottage.  The family that owned the cottage, including their young son, disappeared during a hurricane and the story intrigues lonely Marcus.  As he works up the courage to explore the cottage, he believes he sees someone there - a ghostly image of a young boy.  As Charlotte sorts out some of her life demons, Marcus uses what he learns about the cottage to find his own way forward.  A good mix of mystery, great characters and thoughtful ponderings.

A Clearing in the Wild by Jane Kirkpatrick

This is the first in her "Change and Cherish" series and is based on the real historical events that led to the creation of the Aurora Colony in Oregon. New bride Emma is not willing to be a submissive silent partner to her husband Christian, a leader of the German communal colony in Bethel, Missouri.  When Christian is selected as a scout by the colonies spiritual leader, Emma refuses to stay behind when they head west to find a new location and so the challenges begin - both the difficulties of the trail and  Emma's internal questioning.  Kirkpatrick tends toward the Hallmark strong woman version of history and that is what this is.  Our book group chose this because one of the members has a family connection to the Aurora Colony but that only happens at the very end of the book.  Maybe on to book two....