A Place for Us by Fatima Farheen Mirza

Often as I read this novel I thought that this is a story about a family which is like every other family - same sibling rivalry, same disappointed parents, same love-hate connections.  But then this is a Muslin family that emigrated from India that must maneuver the minefield of post 9/11 America.  These are Americanized girls who must choose hijab or no hijab.  Layla, the mother, struggles to preserve the customs of her youth and still celebrate the choice of her eldest daughter Hadia to go away to medical school.  But the central tension is around the youngest child Amar.  From the very beginning, he is the son his sister's dote on but who cannot man up to meet his father's expectations. Just like in Exit West, there is the struggle of every immigrant to preserve their unique identity at the same time they look for a place in their new home.  The tricky part of this book is multiple narrators and the jumpy time line.  Never my favorite.

Warlight by Michael Ondaatje

The first sentence in this novel made me think I was in for a fun ride, " In 1945 our parents went away and left us in the care of two men who may have been criminals".  It never was quite as much fun as I'd hoped.  The parents are theoretically going to Singapore for business.  They are not.  The men are family friends who could be trusted.  They are not.  They are criminals - well one of them is.  Nathaniel tells the story of he and Rachel from his adult perspective, once he learns the truth (?) of his parents.  The "Moth" and the "Pimlico Darter" as the two men are affectionately (?) known are a little dangerous, a lot quirky, and never quite who you think they are.  Is this a spy novel? Just like The English Patient and The Cat's Table, I'm never quite sure what it is I am meant to understand.

Unsheltered by Barbara Kingsolver

Unsheltered is two stories, two families separated by a century but united by a house.  The post civil war story is based in reality.  Fictional character Thatcher Greenwood has moved with his extended family into a broken down house in Vineland, a real life Utopian community started in New Jersey by Charles Landis.  Greenwood's neighbor is also a real person, Mary Treat, who is a self taught naturalist who often corresponded with the likes of Darwin. Their friendship and a mutual respect for the ideas of evolution strain Greenwood's marriage and his job as a science teacher.  In the contemporary story, Willa Knox and her extended family are living in the same broken down house and slowly climbing down the ladder of success.  Educated and hard working, fate has dealt them more difficulties than they seen able to easily manage.  But it is this family that provides commentary on the current political atmosphere. Trump is never named but the identification couldn't be clearer - quote by quote.  The only positive feeling that one might glean from this novel is that we were able to overcome one miserable era in our history and should be able to do the same with this one.  Or maybe it's a political metaphor - if the house we live in is too broken down, it can leave us feeling unsheltered.

The Library Book by Susan Orlean

On April 29, 1986, a fire raged through the main Los Angeles Library.  Million of books were lost and arson was suspected but no one paid much attention because at about the same time Chernobyl and a stock market crash took up all of the media space. Finally Oleans takes a look.  She does explore the life of the suspected arsonist but those anticipating a crime mystery will be disappointed.  This is a total homage to libraries and librarians.  It is also a fascinating look as the library as a social institution from preservers of rare histories to a shelter for the cities poorest residents.  If you love libraries - you will love this book.

The Wife by Meg Wolitzer

I have not seen the movie but about half way through the book, I began to suspect the ending.  Joe and Joan Castleman are on the way to Helsinki where he is to receive an award for his body of writing.  During the flight, Joan processes their relationship - the early passion, the exciting creative years, then the strain of parenthood which isolates them from each other.  Joan is done and knows that divorce is her best answer to this unhappy marriage  but there is more to this story.  There are some great book club discussion generating passages like this, "Everyone knows how women soldier on, how women dream up blueprints, recipes, ideas for a better world, and then sometimes lose them on the way to the crib in the middle of the night, on the way to Stop and Shop, or the bath. They lose them on the way to greasing the path on which their husband and children will ride serenely through life." Now I need to see he movie.

The Fifth Risk by Michael Lewis

The Fifth Risk - after North Korea, Iran, etc - is project management. The Federal Government is complex and the starting point for many things we rely on and may believe are local or even private.  Michael Lewis explores the transition or lack thereof of the Obama administration to the Trump administration.  By law, members of the outgoing administration - all gazillion of them - secretaries and undersecretaries - department heads and those many pay grades below - are required to compose notebooks with all the information needed for the new administration to pick up the ball.  Between the November election and the January inauguration, the new team meets with the old team to ensure a smooth transition.  So what happens when no one shows up?  Lewis deep dives into the Departments of Energy, Agriculture and Commerce.  I am not a student of government and much of what I learned surprised me. I would love someone to read this book and convince me - with facts and data, not emotional ranting - that this is not true.  Warning: reading this may make your head explode.