Truly, Madly Guilty

Truly, Madly, Guilty is the new novel by Liane Moriarty. Moriarty is one of my favorite writers; her books draw you in and you just can't put them down, This one is no exception. There is a mystery at the heart of the novel that takes place on a sunny day during a backyard barbecue in Sydney, and when you think you've figured out what happened, keep reading, you're probably wrong.

Although I appreciate Moriarty's writing skill and her gift for keeping the reader in suspense, I found myself disappointed as I just didn't care about any of the six adult characters in the novel. Well written and entertaining, but forgettable, not Moriarty's best book.

The Forgetting Tree

The Forgetting Tree by Tatjana Soli is a novel set on a large citrus ranch in Southern California that has existed for many generations. When tragedy strikes, it seems there is no moving forward, yet somehow the family does. Years later, illness strikes Claire, the mother, and a Caribbean born caretaker is found as a live-in aid, bringing two radically different cultures together.

At this point the book takes some very strange turns and I felt like I was reading a whole other novel. Interesting and well written, yet I just didn't believe everything that happened could occur without the family ever knowing or intervening. I couldn't fully buy into the story, so it left me feeling disappointed.

Homegoing

Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi is a novel that spans 300 years of one family's history in Ghana and America. The novel goes back and forth between two branches of the family tree, each chapter skipping to the next generation. Written in this style, the book felt more like a series of connected short stories than a novel; each time I grew interested in a character, the story moved on to another completely new character.

What Gyasi set out to accomplish was enormous, and I'm not sure she was entirely successful. The book has moments of brilliance, and is worth checking out for a deeper understanding of Ghanaian culture. However, as far as a good story goes, there is very little redemption here, and never a chance to get to know any of the characters enough to deeply care about them.

The Girl With the Ghost Eyes

The Girl With the Ghost Eyes by M.H. Boroson is a novel set in San Francisco's Chinatown at the end of the 19th century. A daughter of a famous exorcist is cursed with being able to see spirits. She is drawn into a plot to take control of Chinatown by gangsters, spirits, curses and evil spells. She must call on all her magical and martial arts training to fight them, with the help of a little spirit in the shape of an eyeball.

Enter Boroson's strange yet historic world of old Chinatown. He grew up obsessed with kung fu movies and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and in fact, this would make a much better movie than a book. A fun and fairly entertaining read.

Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl

Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl by Mona Awad is a collection of 13 short stories that read together as a book. Lizzie is the girl in the title who is fat most of her life, until she gets thin. Even after she gets thin, she still sees herself as a fat girl.

Awad's writing is clever and witty, sad and tender. She brings into the spotlight our culture's obsession with body size. Her observations are spot on, yet I found this a painful book to read. I was hoping Lizzie just might find a way to be happy with herself. Well written, but sad.

Falling

Falling, A Love Story, by Jane Green, seems full of cliche characters in a very predictable story, but it takes a rather tragic turn near the end. This makes the book less predictable, but not better, just sad.

I used to like some of Jane Green's books, but this is one to skip.

And After Many Days

And After Many Days by Jowhor Ile is a deceptively simple little novel that packs a huge emotional punch. Ile's writing is sparse and lyrical, the spaces he leaves speak volumes.

It is the story of the Utu family and their three children. When Paul, the oldest boy, goes missing one day, the family is thrown into disarray. Mostly told from younger brother Ajie's point of view, the novel is partly a portrait of a Nigerian family struggling to put the pieces together and partly the story of a Nation in a state of unrest.

A beautiful and powerful book not soon to be forgotten. A great new voice in fiction from Nigeria.

Gold Fame Citrus

Gold Fame Citrus by Claire Vaye Watkins is a fever dream of a novel set in an imagined near future where the drought in Southern California has reached extreme measures and everyone except a few stragglers have been evacuated. Luz and Ray, squatting in a starlet's mansion, are drifting through the days playing house until they encounter a child and decide to head east and look for a better life.

The Amargosa, a huge dune sea growing and swallowing everything in its wake is overtaking the Southwest. Vaye Watkins has created a plausible future in this upsetting, original and gripping novel.  Some of the characters encountered along the way seemed a bit cliche to me, and the plot seemed to get lost, but the fabulous writing made up for it. A great new voice in fiction.

The Year of the Runaways

The Year of the Runaways by Sunjeev Sahota is another immigrant book, this one much grittier and more painful than Behold the Dreamers. It tells the story of four Indian immigrants, three young men and one young woman, all trying to make a better life for themselves and their families by finding work in England. Once there, the reality of finding any kind of work is brutal and if they are there illegally, almost impossible.

Sahota follows the lives of these four not quite friends as they intersect and come to depend on each other. An incredible novel, painting a very vivid and often grim picture of the struggles of immigrant life. It also gives a not very pleasant look into Indian culture and caste system.