We Need New Names

We Need New Names is a wonderful novel by a new voice from Zimbabwe, NoViolet Bulawayo. Bulawayo writes with such direct honesty about growing up in Zimbabwe and then moving to the United States, I was completely transported by this book.

We follow Darling and her friends through their days in their shantytown, the place they came to after their real homes were destroyed. Darling is able to leave to live with her Aunt in America, but always has a sense of being displaced, missing her true home, even though she is never able to return to visit.

Bulawayo writes in a bold new style, a voice all her own, bringing images and ideas, feelings and longings to life on the page. An incredible first novel.

The Condition

The Condition by Jennifer Haigh tells the story of one family that falls apart shortly after daugher Gwen is diagnosed with Turners syndrome, a rare condition that keeps her trapped in the body of a twelve year old girl her whole life.

Haigh writes with such exquisite insight and detail that the book becomes about the human condition, specifically how we relate to each other within our families.

This is an incredible novel, I couldn't put it down. Haigh is a truly gifted writer, I look forward to reading more from her.

Beautiful Ruins

Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter is a novel that starts in a very small village on the coast of Italy in the early 1960's and takes the reader to modern day Hollywood and back.

At the heart of the novel is the love story between Pascuale and Dee.Walter writes from many different perspectives in many different formats. Sometimes this was fascinating and worked well with the overall story, and at other times I found it distracting, and just wanted to get back to Pascuale and Dee.

There's a little Richard Burton, Liz Taylor, and Donner Party thrown in for good measure. An original and worthwhile read.

The Rosie Project

The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion is a hilarious novel written in the voice of Don Tillman, a Genetics Professor with Aspergers. I didn't know this at the start of the book, and just kept thinking-what's wrong with this guy? A few pages in, I finally realized that Don must be on the Autism spectrum, (even though he doesnt realize this about himself) and everything started to make sense.

I loved this book. Don makes lists and timetables for everything, including trying to find a wife. He sticks to everything religously until one day Rosie barges into his life and all his planning seems to fall apart.

I was laughing out loud throughout the book and couldn't put it down. Simsion does a great job capturing Don's voice and making him so real that the reader can't help rooting for him.

A great read.

Still Life with Bread Crumbs

Still Life with Bread Crumbs is the latest novel by Anna Quindlen, and perhaps her best.

It is the story of Rebecca Winter, an aging photographer from NYC, famous in her younger days, but now short of money and living alone in a run down cottage in the country. She is lonely and a bit lost when we meet her, but this is a story of redemption and second chances.

What could have been an ordinary, even forgettable story is made memorable by Quindlen's wonderful writing, spare prose and humor. I loved this book, and didn't want it to end.

Songs of Willow Frost

Songs of Willow Frost is the new novel by Jamie Ford, author of Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet. The novel is set in Seattle's Chinatown, during the 1920's and 30's.

It is the Story of Liu Song, whose stage name is Willow, and her son William Eng. William is growing up in Seattle's Sacred Heart Orphanage along with many other children whose parents have died, or left them there because they cannot take care of them any more.

I enjoy Ford's novels because they are filled with historical facts and rich with details. Yet I was not quite as moved by this novel as by Hotel. I loved the character of William, but didn't connect as well with Willow.

However, this novel has much in common with Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, and if you enjoyed that book, you will surely enjoy this one as well.

Ghana Must Go

Ghana Must Go is the debut novel by Taiye Selasi. This is an extraordinary novel. It is the story of Kweku Sai, a surgeon from Ghana, and his family that he left years ago when he felt he had failed them.

Sai's ex-wife and four kids all come together in Ghana when their father dies of a sudden heart attack; his death marking a new beginning for his family.

Selasi is more of a poet than a novelist, in the sense that each word written here matters. There is nothing superfluous, only the richly detailed descriptions of the inner lives of each member of the Sai clan. Selasi weaves them all together into this unforgettable novel.

One of the best debuts I've read in years.