One-Paragraph Reviews (March/April)

North of Boston by Elisabeth Elo
In this unlikely thriller, Pirio Kasparov, perfume heiress, accompanies a friend--the ex-husband of her best friend--on his lobster boat, which is rammed by a freighter under cover of fog. Why? Best not to ask too many questions! An enjoyable read, especially for beach season, when you don't feel like asking those difficult questions...

*The Hired Man by Aminatta Forna
Duro Kolak has resided in the sleepy little Croatian town of Gost all his life. One day, he sees something unexpected--a strange car at a house that carries a lot of memories for Duro and the rest of the town. Duro befriends the new residents, an English family hoping to make the house their vacation home, but others in the town are not as welcoming, and indeed may be harboring some dark secrets.

*The Silver Star by Jeannette Walls
Bean and Liz are used to having to fend for themselves--their singer/songwriter mother doesn't do motherhood very well. When she decides she needs to take some time on her own to "find herself", the girls take it in stride until the day they discover someone has "ratted them out" and called the police; to avoid being taken into protective custody, the girls travel on their own to their mother's estranged family in Virginia. Bad things happen, but also much that is good in this sweet coming-of-age novel.

*The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker
In Jewish tradition, a golem is a clay figure that may be brought to life to do the bidding of a master; a jinni (genie) is a similar mythological figure in Eastern tradition. The two come to life in the Mideast, and then come together in nineteenth-century New York in this magical, compelling, very different first novel.

*Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger
Krueger is best known as a mystery writer, and there is certainly an element of that in this beautifully told story of a minister's son and his family. Tragedy befalls them one hot Midwestern summer, widening the cracks in the family's foundation; the central question of whether their faith will carry them through will compel you to keep turning the pages.

*Benediction by Kent Haruf
The tender portrait of the last days of a dying hardware store owner in a small Colorado town, and a wonderfully crafted tale of the inter-dependent relationships forged by small-town living and the last reckonings brought on by a terminal illness.

*The Enchanted Life of Adam Hope by Rhonda Riley
Another very different first novel, this time set in the hills of Appalachia at the end of WWII. Young Evelyn Roe is asked to work the farm owned by her recently deceased aunt until one of her male relatives can return from the war to take it over. One night during a violent storm, Evelyn discovers a naked, badly burned man half-buried in mud; Evelyn assumes he is a war veteran and takes him in to nurse him back to health, but discovers he is not what he at first appeared to be.

*Maine Readers' Choice Award Short List Title

One-Paragraph Reviews (May/June)

The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty
Moriarty deftly mixes thriller with women's fiction in this page-turner set Down Under. One wife returns to her childhood home after learning of an affair between her husband and her cousin; another grapples with the secrets learned after she opens a letter from her husband, ignoring the instruction that it is only to be read after his death; a third comes to terms with the terrible loss she has lived with for many years.

Flora and Ulysses by Kate DiCamillo; illustrated by K.G. Campbell (Youth)
DiCamillo received the Newbery Award for this book, and rightly so. This winsome fantasy about friendship, love, and a superhero squirrel will please children and parents alike, and would also make a good family read-aloud.

Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg
Best known for her role as CEO of Facebook, Sandberg has had a stellar career; like all working women, she has also had to fight for leadership positions and struggle to balance her family life with work. In this provocative manifesto, Sandberg urges women to examine the habits that keep them from achieving their full potential.

The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics by Daniel James Brown (audiobook)
Brown interweaves the story of the Olympic nine-man crew with that of the efforts of Hitler and his cronies to use the Olympic stage as a showcase for the glories of the Third Reich. This is so good, I sat in my driveway listening to the narration of the gold-medal race, even though I knew how it ended!

The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert
Love, ambition, botany, art and evolution all come together in this sprawling historical novel, quite different from Gilbert's popular memoir, Eat, Pray, Love. Alma Whitaker has the fortune/misfortune to be born plain and intellectually gifted to a wealthy family in 1800 Philadelphia; a traditional life appears to elude her grasp, but she might find an even better substitute in her travels from America to Tahiti to Amsterdam.

Fin and Lady by Cathleen
Young Fin has seen a lot of tragedy in his young life: after losing his parents and grandparents in quick succession, he is left with no one except for his glamorous half-sister, Lady, who is barely known to Fin.  Lady takes him in and does her best to serve as a parental substitute, but has a lot of growing up to do herself; Fin's upbringing, therefore, is a rather unusual one. A sweet, nostalgic book that takes us from Greenwich Village to Capri, from the 1960s through the Vietnam War and the '70s.

Mr. and Mrs. Bunny: Detectives Extraordinaire by Polly Horvath; illustrated by Sophie Blackall (Youth)
Funny, funny, funny! Bunny towns exist right under the noses of humans in this delightful fantasy, although the bunnies try very hard not to have much to do with us. But when evil foxes kidnap Madeline's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Bunny (who have, conveniently, recently taken up detecting) decide to ignore the taboos to help the human girl. Translated from the Rabbit. ;)

The Giver by Lois Lowry (Youth)
Lowry's classic dystopian tale is the grandmother of the breed currently in favor amongst teen readers, and one of the best. At first glance, Jonas and the rest of his society appear to inhabit a world very much like our own, although greatly improved--everyone has fulfilling work, there is no hunger, there is no conflict. As the story unfolds, however, and Jonas receives his Life Assignment, we learn along with him that all is not as it seems. Read it before the movie comes out in August!

Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper (Youth)
Imagine if you were knew the answers to all the questions in school, but had no means of communicating your knowledge. This is the plight of 11-year old Melody, whose cerebral palsy makes everyone assume that because she can't control her body, she is also intellectually disabled. Luckily, her family and caregivers refuse to believe this, and the reader has the great fortune of following Melody through a school year full of both adversity and triumph. If you liked R. J. Palacio's Wonder, you'll love this too.

Euphoria by Lily King
Set in the 1930s, when anthropology was just becoming accepted as a science, and loosely based on the life of Margaret Mead, this captivating story tells of 2 married anthropologists in the South Pacific who join forces with a lonely legend in the field. Their uneasy alliance is threatened by the ambition and greed of one member of the triangle, which also has disastrous effects on their subjects.

The White Elephant by Lauren St. John (Youth)
After losing her parents in a fire, Martine goes to live with her unknown grandmother in South Africa. Lost and bereft, Martine struggles to make a life for herself in a strange new environment with a family member who doesn't seem to want her. She begins to rethink her place in her new community, though, after a number of mystical events begin to occur and an unforeseen power begins to manifest itself.