The House of Broken Angels

The House of Broken Angels by Luis Alberto Urrea is a novel loosely based on his family. The whole family gathers for their Mother's funeral and within a week, Big Angel the eldest son dies of cancer; but first they gather one more time to celebrate his birthday as only Mexicans can. An entertaining story full of family memories and little moments of grace, however not my favorite book by Urrea.

Urrea is the author of The Devils Highway, the true story of a deadly border crossing from Mexico through the Southern Arizona desert. This is the book I would recommend reading by this author.

The World to Come

The World to Come by Dara Horn begins when a million dollar Chagall is stolen from a museum. The story moves from the past to present day, from Russia to Vietnam to New Jersey, following an unlikely thief who believes the drawing once hung in his living room.

This beautifully written novel is nothing short of magical; wonderfully imagined and filled with Jewish mysticism, it blurs the barriers that separate this world from the next. A great read.

The Bookwoman of Troublesome Creek

The Bookwoman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson is historical fiction telling about the last of the blue-skinned people of Kentucky, particularly Cussy Mary Carter, a pack horse librarian under Roosevelt's Mobile Library Project. Scraping out a living was hard in Appalachia in the 1930's and although many people barely had enough to eat and in fact many more died of starvation and watched their children die, they still longed for the books and magazines the women of the Pack Horse Library Project would deliver weekly. Reading materials, including how-to manuals, recipes, etc. became a lifeline for many of these isolated hill folks.

Richardson beautifully portrays life in Kentucky at this time and what it was like to be blue, a rare genetic condition, and the awful prejudice people had against them. Cussy Mary is a real heroine, I wish I could have known her. A highly recommended read.

One More Year

One More Year is a collection of short stories by Sana Krasikov. The stories focus on the lives of immigrants from the former Soviet Union. I loved these stories because they gave me a window into cultures I know very little about.

They illuminate the truth all immigrants grapple with, being caught between two worlds and not quite belonging anywhere, yet desperately searching for a home, for happiness, for prosperity, for the American dream.

Honest, messy, sad, full of heart and beautifully written, a great debut collection.

Brown Girl Dreaming

Brown Girl Dreaming by Jaqueline Woodson is a beautiful memoir written entirely in poetry; memory comes alive on the page. Woodson shares her childhood in Ohio, South Carolina and New York City, each place a part of her, each side of her family shaping her into the person she would become.The writing is simple, elegant and packed with emotion and imagery of what it was like to grow up an African American girl in the 60's and 70's, dreaming of becoming a writer.

One of the best memoirs I've ever read, I loved this book. Highly recommended.

Balcony on the Moon

Balcony on the Moon: Coming of Age in Palestine by Ibtisam Barakat is a memoir picking up where Tasting the Sky left off, although this is a stand alone book. It follows her through her adolescence in Palestine from 1972-1981 as she dreams of being a writer and helps her mother pursue her dream of graduating from high school.

This is a wonderful look into a culture not often represented in literature. Barakat is determined to follow her dreams despite all the adversity facing her and her family and all displaced Palestinians. A great read.

Elsewhere, Home

Elsewhere, Home is a collection of short stories by one of my favorite African authors, Leila Aboulela,  Aboulela writes with experience about Muslim immigrants from Sudan and Egypt living abroad in Scotland and London and the challenges that they face, the longing for home which never really goes away.

Beautifully realized, these are stories that will help bridge the gap between very different cultures. A great read that couldn't be more timely.

Light From Other Stars

Light From Other Stars by Erika Swyler is a wonderful novel about a young girl growing up in a small Florida town, watching Space Shuttles launch and determined to go into space herself one day. Both her parents are scientists and her father is working on an invention that will have ramifications for the whole town.

Traveling back in forth in time and space, Swyler has crafted a fantastic story about the relationship between parents and their children, the responsibility and accountability of science, the joy and wonder of the unknown, as well as an exploration of friendship, love, loss and grief.

An awe-filled adventure for those willing to suspend their disbelief and enjoy the ride.

Less

Less by Andrew Sean Greer is the story of Arthur Less, a failing writer about to turn fifty, whose boyfriend of nine years is getting married someone else. To avoid the humiliation of the wedding, Arthur pieces together a round the world book tour in order to be out of the country when it takes place.

Written with sharp wit, I found this book hilarious, wise and surprisingly moving. Even through all his mistakes and missteps, it was impossible not to root for Less. A great read.

Clever Girl

Clever Girl by Tessa Hadley tells the story of Stella, an ordinary Englishwoman whose life unfolds in snapshots in the novel, moving from the 60's to present day. Nothing extraordinary happens here, however it is Hadley's writing that elevates the ordinary to the extraordinary, deftly describing the ways in which Stella relates to the world and everyone around her.

A subtle, yet beautiful book.

Severance

Severance by Ling Ma is a post-apocalyptic novel set in NYC in the very near future. Candice Chen is so committed to the routine of her workday, she barely notices when Shen Fever sweeps the city and she is eventually left to survive alone.

Ma writes in a wonderfully satirical voice about the end of the world and her place in what is left of it. A funny, insightful and slightly eerie look at a path that is all too easily imaginable for our future. A great debut novel from a fresh new voice.

26a

26a is a semi-autobiographical novel by British author Diana Evans. In an attic room in London, two identical twins grow up together, sharing everything, and avoiding the unhappiness of their parents below. On a trip to Nigeria to visit their Mother's family, unexpected events lead to the first secrets between them, and their lives begin to slowly drift apart.

Beautifully written, Evans is a master of using language in new and creative ways. Poetic, full of humor, tragedy, and also hope. A stunning debut.

The Secrets Between Us

The Secrets Between Us by Thrity Umrigar revisits characters from her earlier novel A Space Between Us. Umrigar is one of my favorite Indian authors. Here she writes about the least visible of all people, a low caste illiterate woman who lives in a slum in Mumbai, and another who is homeless, both struggling to scrape by and hold on to their dignity.

The sights and sounds of Mumbai come alive, and the characters are so real I could not put this book down. It brings to light the most marginalized women in society, those with little chance to rise out of poverty, cast aside simply because of the circumstances of their birth . Yet through strength and perserverance and friendship coming from unlikely places, there is a glimmer of hope. A beautiful book.

Lost Children Archive

Lost Children Archive by Mexican author Valeria Luiselli is one of the most extraordinary books I’ve read in years. The characters remain unnamed, simply Ma, Pa, the boy, the girl. Told in alternating voices and filled with quotations, documents, polaroids, poems, musical references, the story becomes an incantation, a migration, a conversation with the past.

The family takes a road trip, searching for lost immigrant children, searching for their place in the world. They record sounds, language, birdsong, whispers of voices on the wind of people who no longer exist. Luiselli takes the reader on an incredible journey in this novel while exploring the experiences of Mexican immigrants and Native Americans. This is both a timely and important novel and a literary masterpiece.

The Dragonfly Sea

The Dragonfly Sea by Kenyan author Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor is historical fiction based on the little known fact of Chinese sailors being shipwrecked on the small island of Pate on Kenya's eastern seaboard some 600 years ago. It is a coming of age story of Ayaana, a small girl growing up outcast and fatherless on Pate until she claims a sailor Muhidin, as her father. When dignitaries from China come to Pate and do DNA testing, Ayaana, now 21 is chosen to by the emissary between the two countries, called the Descendant. Her journey takes her far from home but ultimately this is a book about homecoming.

Adhiambo Owuor's writing is so delicious it reminded me of the first time I tasted a mango, something unique, extraordinary and indescribable. Filled with Kiswahili phrases, the lyrical, poetic language of the book washed over me like a warm tropical sea from which I did not want to emerge.

The Island of Sea Women

The Island of Sea Women is the latest historical fiction by Lisa See. This time she focuses on the little known Korean Island of Jeju where the women are the providers and the men stay home with the children. As soon as they are old enough, girls learn to dive from their mothers and grandmothers, harvesting riches from the sea.

The book follows two best friends through decades of colonialism, war, marriage, children and into modern times. See highlights the strength of women in all her novels, weaving culture and history together to create an unforgettable story. At times tragic and quite sad, it is not my favorite of See's books, but still a worthwhile read.

The Far Field

The Far Field by Madhuri Vijay is the book I've been most disappointed by this year, probably because of all the hype around it and how much I was looking forward to reading it. Although parts are beautifully written, I never understood or liked the main character, Shalini.

She is a wealthy, naive young woman from Bangalore who goes to live for a time with a family in Kashmir, this part is semi-autobiographical. However, the choices she makes are hard to understand and they endanger all the people around her. At the same time, I never really learned anything about the real situation in Kashmir from reading this book. I felt frustrated and disappointed and I don't understand all the praise this book is getting. There are far better books coming out of India these days in my opinion.

Mama's Last Hug

Mama's Last Hug, Animal Emotions and What They Tell Us About Ourselves by Frans De Waal is a book about the study of chimpanzees and other animals over the course of many decades. De Waal, one of the worlds leading primatologists, concludes that we should be treating animals better since they too have emotions. That this is still unknown to so many people is baffling to me.

I'm glad this book is out if this is what is needed to help change the minds of the majority who treat animals as if they are machines, and if it helps bring awareness to the horrible way they live in factory farms and laboratories, for it is truly a crime. Anyone whose spent any real time with animals understands this.

Practical Magic

Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman is the original book about the Owens family, of which the more recent The Rules of Magic is the prequel. I really enjoyed The Rules of Magic, but was disappointed in this book, it felt dated and indeed it was written in 1995. Too little magic, too many abusive relationships, it just wasn't a very good book and it was turned into an even worse movie.

I still think Hoffman is a great writer, but this is not one of my favorites.

You Think It, I'll Say It

You Think It, I'll Say It:Stories by Curtis Sittenfeld, author of American Wife, reminded me why I don't read short stories. Even when written by writers I like, they almost always disappoint. Here were several stories with unlikable characters that made me wonder why I wasted my time reading about them. Skip this collection and pick up one of Sittenfeld's novels instead.