Best Boy by Eli Gottlieb


This story is told by Todd Aaron, a fictional man in his 50's who is autistic. This first person narrative is written so well that the reader feels his fear, his strength, his goodness, his sweetness, and the resilience he needs to successfully live his life. The author, Eli Gottleib, whose brother has autism, has the ability to show the reader the world as Todd sees and experiences it. We see what Todd's life is like from his perspective: the anxiety, nervousness and logical reactions to the uncomfortable situations that plague him. The publisher's comment describes it accurately as "a piercing, achingly funny, finally shattering novel no reader can ever forget." It does, however end satisfactorily. I couldn't put it down and highly recommend it.



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Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This is NOT a sequel, but a very early 1957 DRAFT of Harper Lee's bestseller, To Kill a Mockingbird. It was edited and rewritten and thoroughly edited again before it was finally published 4 years later as TKAM and imho this early draft should never have been published. The main characters may be the same, but this is an entirely different story in both shape and tone from “TKAM.” I liked the young Scout much better than the mature Jean Louise and this older racist version of Atticus Finch is certainly not the heroic and inspiring character we’ve so admired these past 55 years. There is a faint glimmer of plot but it is not coherent. It is not robust. The prose is flat and meandering. So disappointing.

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Longing for Home by Sarah M. Eden
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

2.5 stars
Good plot & setting, interesting yet somewhat unbelievable characters. Audiobook narrator excellent. But story drags along with not enough happening and then just ends, with only an implied conclusion. The rest of the story is in book 2. I hate that.

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The Fourteenth Goldfish by Jennifer L. Holm
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

3.5 Stars, actually:
4+ stars for kids grades 6 and up
3 stars for adults
A good book for encouraging kids become excited about science, it is also explores family and friend relationships and adjustments to change and diversity.

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Marker by Robin Cook
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is a great medical thriller with a reasonable extrapolation on the possible future weakness of health insurance if major diseases carry genetic testing markers. I haven't read any Robin Cook mysteries for years and am glad I picked up this page turner. It is #5 in a series, but stands alone. Good characterization and no smut.

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The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova


I have been trying to like this highly rated book, but I am 208 pages into in and unwilling to plod through the other 500 pages.....as another reviewer put it so succinctly, I am unwilling to "read this thing about someone reading something else somewhere . . . reminded of my own refusal to allow the dry tome to defeat me." Perhaps after 700 pages it would be higher, but at this point I would be hard pressed to give it even 1 star...

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The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Hah! I don'teven like SciFi but this weird little book was laugh-out-loud entertaining, and the audio narration was perfect. Perfect book for middle, junior & young adult readers.

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Euphoria by Lily King
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Historical fiction loosely based on the lives of Margaret Mead, her husband Reo Fortune, and fellow anthropologist Gregor Bateson in 1930's New Guinea. I wanted to like the book more than I did and was disappointed the author chose to veer away from the actual history of the relationship between these three persons, ending their story in a sudden disappointing way. At times the writing is almost lovely...but it never really thrilled me and I was repulsed by the overly descriptive exploration of sexual norms, the psychological abuse, and the lack of the story to ever go anywhere. I am ready to read something uplifting now.

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Letters in the Jade Dragon Box by Gale Sears
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I read this a while back and remember it as an interesting and occasionally moving story about the life of a young girl who was sent away from her parents to a great uncle because of the ruthless actions of dictator Mao Tse-Tung. The story is based upon actual events, "real-life experiences of one man who was offered truth that would heal his heart, his spirit, and his family. His story helps shed light on a time and a place where, despite all odds, truth refused to be broken."

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Suite Française by Irène Némirovsky
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Irene Nemirovsky, a Russian/French Jew, wrote this unfinished novel while hiding from the Nazis during World War II. Part one, "Storm in June," provides a glimpse into the lives of many different French persons as they flee Paris for anywhere that will provide them safety, food, and a drop of petrol. Part two,"Dolce," focuses on the villagers of one area and their interactions with the German soldiers who were assigned to live with each family.
Nemirovsky, writing as it was happening, intended this to be a novel in 5 parts, but she was captured and sent to a concentration camp, where she died, before she was able to complete it. Though unfinished, her collection here is well worth reading as two novellas. I love her descriptions of time and place. Her characterizations are wonderful. She was a gifted writer.
The best part of this novel for me, though, was the appendices. Appendix I is a reprinting of the author’s handwritten notes on her life in France during the war and her plans for the five-part novel. (She was only able to complete two parts before she was sent to a concentration camp.) Appendix II is a reprinting of correspondence between the author, her family, and her friends, both before and after she was sent to a concentration camp. It was heart wrenching.

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