Chilling, atmospheric mystery of past and present horrors. It is as focused on Detective Ryan as the case itself, a slow build you can sit with for a while and contemplate little by little as it reveals itself to you. One of the most intelligent mysteries I’ve read in years.   posted Jun 17, 2013 at 2:46PM

Quiet, elegant, lyrical story of an unlikely relationship between two troubled individuals. Ogawa’s prose feels distinctly Eastern in the respectful distance between the title characters and lack of dramatic climax, but it works precisely because of this context. As brief a journey as it is, this novel will float across your memory for years to come. A perfect book club choice.   posted May 29, 2013 at 3:20PM

Reminiscent of the light, airy, innocuous writing style of Rosamund Pilcher, Lively’s story is a saga across generations, tenuously held together by the late reveal that the third generation woman cares about the first generation. Harmless enough, but unsurprising and, ironically given the title, inconsequential.   posted Apr 24, 2013 at 10:15AM

Widely praised as a skilled, even brilliant, writer, Coplin paces her story much the way life must have been in 19th-century California: slow, deliberate, simple. I can’t say her protagonists completely captured my attention, much less my heart, but this is a masterful work in many ways and sure to be appreciated by book clubs looking for meaningful discussion about complex characters.   posted Apr 17, 2013 at 10:53AM

2012 Selection for 1 Book, 1 Community (Loudoun County, VA)   posted Mar 27, 2013 at 2:27PM

2013 Selection for All Henrico Reads (Henrico, VA)   posted Mar 27, 2013 at 2:26PM

2012 Selection for Common Literature Experience (Logan, UT)   posted Mar 27, 2013 at 2:25PM

2012 Selection of One Book, One Community: Our Regions Reads! (South Central PA)   posted Mar 27, 2013 at 2:23PM

2013 Selection for One Book, One Philadelphia (PA)   posted Mar 27, 2013 at 2:22PM

2013 Selection for Everybody Reads (Multnomah County, OR)   posted Mar 27, 2013 at 2:20PM

2013 Selection for Lake Oswego Reads (Lake Oswego, OR)   posted Mar 27, 2013 at 2:20PM

2012 Selection for CommunityREAD (Findlay, OH)   posted Mar 27, 2013 at 2:19PM

2013 Selection for On the Same Page Cincinnati (Cincinnati, OH)   posted Mar 27, 2013 at 2:18PM

2013 Selection for CNY Reads One Book (Central New York State)   posted Mar 27, 2013 at 2:17PM

2013 Selection for A Tale for Three Counties (Western New York State)   posted Mar 27, 2013 at 2:16PM

2013 Selection for Rochester Reads (Rochester, MN)   posted Mar 27, 2013 at 2:13PM

2013 Selection for One Book One Community (East Lansing, MI) and One Read (Boone, MO)   posted Mar 27, 2013 at 2:12PM

2013 Selection for One Maryland One Book   posted Mar 27, 2013 at 2:10PM

2012 Selection for One Book Two Villages (Northfield, IL)   posted Mar 27, 2013 at 2:09PM

2012 Selection for Gwinnett Reads (Gwinnett County, GA)   posted Mar 27, 2013 at 2:08PM

2012 Selection for One Book One Region (Eastern Connecticut)   posted Mar 27, 2013 at 2:06PM

2013 Selection for Santa Monica Reads (Santa Monica, CA)   posted Mar 27, 2013 at 2:05PM

For those who have heard of Cork O’Connor, but never ventured inside Krueger’s world of Aurora, MN, all I can say is: pick up Iron Lake! This first of many mysteries from the Minnesota author is fast-moving, complex, nail-bitingly tense, but surprisingly warm and human in its depiction of a small-town man and his strained family life. I contend this is still the best of the series, but once you meet Cork, you will look forward to coming back for more. This is a series that is worth all the hype.   posted Mar 27, 2013 at 10:07AM

Nobody understood the human condition more than William Shakespeare and this 21st-century story of three troubled women is a testament to this, both overtly and otherwise. Brown takes her time creating three distinct women and their relationships to each other, as well as their parents, are fresh and insightful. I don’t feel the book deserves the exuberant praise it has received, as it reads to me much like other pleasant, forgettable popular fiction, but as a nice, quiet read for the uncritical reader, I can recommend a walk with the Weird Sisters.   posted Mar 20, 2013 at 10:46AM

Both title and author were unfamiliar to me, but going on a glowing review from NPR, I decided to give it a shot and was ultimately glad I did. Told in alternating stories, O’Farrell seems most assured in her storytelling when she writes about motherhood and the complex emotions that go with it. Her descriptions are some of the most vivid I have ever read on the subject and are sure to prompt lively discussion when read for a book group. That I still remember and ponder some of her observations is a testament to a worthwhile read. But be forewarned that this story also faces some glaringly obvious plot devices and uneven character development, both of which prevented me, at least, from really loving this book.   posted Mar 13, 2013 at 12:08PM

A deeply personal work of fiction, Murakami ventures this time into the more conventional territory of a college campus and its love-starved young students, but somehow still manages to find the mystical and otherworldly in this ordinary setting. There is depth and meaning just in being young and lost and, without making a production of it, Murakami knows how to convey all of it. Another masterpiece from a master writer.   posted Feb 20, 2013 at 3:27PM

There was a time (probably still unpassed) when it was uncool for a younger person to admit to enjoying Rosamunde Pilcher’s modern-day fairy tales. But years after its initial success, The Shell Seekers remains the perfect comfort read for my grandmother, my mother and myself. Nobody else quite captures the gentle saga the way Pilcher does, telling her story in sweeping flashbacks to World War II and then returning to present-day to give the reader a full picture of protagonist Penelope and the troubled, yet ultimately warm and kind-hearted person she has become. Looking for a lovely escape? You couldn’t do much better than this title, which is as warm and inviting as a cup of tea on a cold Cornwall day.   posted Feb 6, 2013 at 12:16PM

Accept the confusion and the occasional tedium of Martel’s most well-known work, and you will be rewarded at the end. It is a thought-provoking, truly memorable novel that provides endless jumping off points for conversation. Well worth the hype.   posted Jan 30, 2013 at 4:11PM

Taking place in the haunted town of Salem, Massachusetts, our protagonist, Zee, is struggling with ghosts of her own, all of whom become more vivid as the story goes on. Well-constructed and well-told, this is the kind of story you look forward to returning to and miss when it’s finished.   posted Jan 30, 2013 at 4:10PM

This is the kind of storytelling I love best in the winter: a drawn-out yarn that can make you forget your cabin fever. The book grabs you early and then takes its time as it crosses decades and floats from one troubled character to the next. Thoroughly engaging from beginning to end.   posted Jan 30, 2013 at 4:07PM

As an only casual nonfiction reader, this book blew me away with the quality of the storytelling and character development. Eggers creates a truly memorable scene as he introduces Zeitoun and his family and their New Orleans before the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina. The book causes readers to think about issues of basic humanity, but also larger issues about our government and its continual violations of civil rights in the wake of September 11. This was a wonderful discussion book for our book club.   posted Jan 23, 2013 at 3:51PM

Twisted, quirky, hilarious and tinged with unspeakable sadness. No, I’m not talking about a Wes Anderson film, but Kevin Wilson’s novel definitely calls to mind the qualities of Rushmore and The Royal Tenenbaums. The story of a dysfunctional family intent on performance art weaves in and out of the past, revealing the lasting impact of parents who are far less grounded in reality than their children. There is great pain in such a dynamic, but nevertheless, I found I couldn’t stop smiling through most of the book. A wonderful treasure for escapism seekers.   posted Jan 16, 2013 at 2:08PM

What a gem! This fast-paced, hilarious read is told from multiple perspectives and through multiple media, from emails to letters to newspaper articles. Semple’s off-kilter Bernadette is both maddening and admirable, but it is daughter Bee who is sure to win your heart. Despite the prevalence of the South Pole in the story, this book is the perfect treat to warm your heart this winter.   posted Jan 9, 2013 at 2:35PM

Looking at Russo’s career, his short, entertaining works of fiction gradually worked their way into more substantial (and longer) novels, culminating with this title, which weights in at 527 pages. I would agree that it’s not his best. For sharp, laugh-out-loud dialogue, go for Nobody’s Fool and Straight Man; for dramatic, moving storytelling, you can’t beat Empire Falls. That said, I hope Bridge of Sighs gets its due in years to come, because it is a truly stirring work and feels almost the most personal of Russo’s stories. He takes the time to let the town’s history and people reveal themselves and the complicated relationships between the main three characters are extraordinary. I wasn’t a huge fan of the ending, which seemed out of left field for me, but I appreciated the atmosphere and dramatic tension.   posted Jan 9, 2013 at 2:28PM

Former head of NBC programming Warren Littlefield provides a page-turner of a history in his look at the Must-See TV era at NBC. Beginning with Cheers, which marked the ascent of NBC after years in limbo, and going through the finale of Seinfeld, which also marked the end of Littlefield’s time at the network, the story is told in interviews with executives, creative teams and actors who were responsible for the massive hits we grew up with. It provides a fascinating inside look at what it takes to create a hit show, from support of the writers and directors to promotion to dumb luck. Unlike most books of this kind, which can turn into an expose of which actors hated each other on the set, this book is really about the creative process and the many, many talented and brilliant people needed to put a quality TV show together. As more of a fiction reader, this book was surprisingly the perfect easy read I needed around the holidays. Highly recommended to anyone who was as obsessed with Friends, ER, and Frasier as I was back in the day.   posted Jan 2, 2013 at 1:11PM

I wanted to love this book, given its years of praise, but in the end, I couldn’t bring myself to embrace it the way others have. It is well-written with fully three-dimensional characters, but after slogging through its poetic asides and endless metaphors, I felt no closer to these people than I had at the beginning. Nor, as an Agnostic, did I relate to the author’s faith-filled worldview, which may have kept me from appreciating this book on a deeper level. It left me with much to think about and discuss with my book group, but it ultimately joins the ranks of books whose cult following eludes me.   posted Dec 5, 2012 at 9:48AM

Readers may know Russo from his award-winning Empire Falls or for Nobody’s Fool, subsequently made into a film of the same name. But each and every Russo novel is filled with fascinating characters, troubled and compelling family relationships and beautiful narrative. The Risk Pool, the story of a deadbeat father and his complicated relationship with his son over the years, is no exception to the rule. It is longer than other works by this author, as it spans the years and phases of the relationship, but it is one of Russo’s most satisfying novels, maintaining the author’s trademark humor, while also delving into the complexities of this family in what is often heartbreaking honesty.   posted Nov 28, 2012 at 11:00AM

Share 20 years with friends Emma and Dex, who are shown on July 20 of each year. I absolutely adored this book and Nicholls’ extraordinary ability to show the struggles of young people over time in their careers, relationships and self-confidence. While neither of these individuals is always likeable, both are understandable and sympathetic on various levels. I came to care deeply about their story and what they meant to each other in a way I can’t think of with other books I’ve read recently. It’s disguised as a beach read, but there is so much more there as you delve in.   posted Nov 20, 2012 at 1:01PM

I thought I was on Holocaust/World War II overload before I picked up this book, but it shows what a brilliant writer and thinker Jenna Blum is that I found myself fully immersed in the world she created, which caused me to think about this era in a whole new way. I read this book two years ago and I still find myself haunted by her tragic heroines, each with her own demons to overcome. It is not an easy read, but a thoroughly satisfying one. Truly one of the most extraordinary books I’ve read in years.   posted Nov 14, 2012 at 10:00AM

I have loved Lupone’s work since I was a teenager, obsessed with her Evita on CD. So it was a no-brainer that I would enjoy reading her story and, as expected, Lupone delivers a funny, engaging yarn of her love of performing from childhood to the present. Of particular interest is the saga of her termination from Sunset Boulevard, which gives you a sense of the cold business side of theater that can outweigh the artistry we see on stage   posted Oct 31, 2012 at 9:14AM

Not as shocking or inspirational as one might expect from the interesting subject matter, but Lemmon’s story is informative and triumphant and important. Personal narratives such as this offer a window into a country most of us know too little about, as well as perspectives about the Taliban, women prior to the new government, and civilian reaction to the September 11 events. It is concise and well-written, suited to a group discussion.   posted Oct 24, 2012 at 3:03PM

It saddens me that this charming story is not talked about more these days. Finney creates a startlingly vivid portrait of 19th-century New York, replete with old photographs of the people and places mentioned within. As his protagonist falls more deeply under the past’s spell, so do we, and the final moments will leave you breathless. Worthy of a mass rediscovery by passionate readers of all genres.   posted Oct 24, 2012 at 2:52PM

Helen Simenson tells the story of a small English village where the gentlemanly Major Pettigrew is a prize to the swarms of widows looking for a companion. But it is the Pakistani shopkeeper who wins his heart and the two of them won mine in this gem of a story. It has Masterpiece Theatre written all over it!   posted Oct 24, 2012 at 2:48PM

I’ve been telling everyone about this book! One of the most engaging books I’ve read in years.   posted Aug 1, 2012 at 12:18PM

The title may seem to be an oxymoron. After all, Golden Richards is the husband to four wives and father of 26 children. But in Brady Udall's 600-page saga, told from the perspective of Golden, his pretty youngest wife, and socially-inept preteen son, we come to see just how alone someone can feel in a large family, where nobody has the right to think of himself first and individuality is frowned upon. The story unfolds slowly, but every new revelation draws the reader in more deeply, ensuring that finally parting with the Richards clan is such sweet sorrow.   posted Jun 20, 2012 at 11:18AM

First Lady Beth MacMann (or Lady Bethmac, as she is not-so-affectionately known) is at the center of the Trial of the Millennium: the murder of her husband, the President of the United States. Police claim she had a compelling motive (her husband was a notorious philanderer) and she admits to having thrown the murder weapon at him (a Paul Revere spittoon), but, as we soon learn, Beth was far from the only one with a motive. In his hilarious political parody, Christopher Buckley creates a cast of delightfully wacky characters and situations that will keep you guessing when you're not rolling on the floor laughing.   posted Jun 6, 2012 at 12:55PM

In only two books, J. Courtney Sullivan has become my absolute favorite chick-lit author. Her stories may not reflect my own experience exactly, but the authenticity of her characters and their relationships is remarkable. She is able to spark levels of frustration, annoyance and compassion heretofore reserved for members of my own family. The involvement is immediate and it becomes impossible to put down this tale of four college friends and their struggles after graduation. I can only hope there's a sequel in the works!   posted May 30, 2012 at 9:09AM

Narrator Calliope Stephanides recounts the history of the family, from dire poverty in Greece to race riots in 1960s Detroit. While each character faces his or her own demons, no one is more trouble than our narrator, whose sexual identity is a source of pain, humiliation, and isolation. Eugenides creates a journey of discovery for the reader, dispelling myths about and endowing humanity to the "freak." One could read this work for its many insights and perhaps I will, too, on a second or third reading. But I loved Middlesex first and foremost as a truly wonderful story told by a master storyteller.   posted May 25, 2012 at 9:39AM

Doesn't it always seem like when it rains it pours? It's not enough that Tom Violet's marriage is crumbling, his career is taking a downward spiral, and he's still working on a novel years in the making. Oh, no. Now he also has to cope with his renegade father, an acclaimed writer who abandoned his wife and son years ago, only to come back and wreak havoc in poor Tom's life at the worst possible time. Will Tom survive the insanity? Fortunately for the voyeuristic reader, it's a journey filled with humor, pathos and immense readability.   posted May 16, 2012 at 3:49PM

The stories included in Lahiri's beautiful Interpreter of Maladies are both simple and profound in their exploration of India, the United States and the uneasy cultural relationships that exist between the two. As memorable as the subject matter is Lahiri's elegant style, endowing each narrative with a story, but forgoing punctuation: her stories fade gracefully instead into the oblivion, causing the reader to think more deeply about what it has meant and what's to come for the characters. As a whole, it is a haunting work that I have thought about frequently since I finished. I have a feeling I will return to it more than once in the years to come and glean something with each new reading.   posted May 9, 2012 at 9:02AM

Simply put, this is the story of a young runaway and an older gentleman whose destinies are tied together and whose pasts and futures influence them in ways they cannot fully understand. But any plot summary would be an injustice to the layers of mystery, fantasy, intrigue and hallucination that comprise Murakami's masterpiece. While leading the readers into a completely different world, the author somehow manages to make his vision accessible, even comprehensible, and the blatant oddities cease to be frustrating or confusing so much as enlightening. It is a strange book to be sure, but unforgettable in equal measure and, above all, beautiful.   posted Apr 11, 2012 at 4:39PM

Eva Khatchadourian is reeling from shock, guilt and fury at her 16-year-old son's crime: the murder of seven of his fellow high school students and two teachers. In an attempt to understand or at least come to terms with what has happened, she begins a one-sided correspondence with her estranged husband, Franklin, and recalls the years of seemingly minor incidents in which Kevin exerted an eerie cruelty towards others. Eva saw it, Franklin did not. Are they responsible for what happened or was Kevin just born evil? Shriver's prose is intelligent, gripping and searing; her take on motherhood, privilege and the American dream are presented without sentiment, which serves to jolt the reader out of comfortable assumptions. It is a haunting story and one that leaves the reader with much to think about and discuss with others.   posted Aug 27, 2010 at 10:54AM