Don't Miss Lists and Other Reading Resources

October - December 2008

Akpan, Uwem. SAY YOU'RE ONE OF THEM.

This is a collection of five vivid short stories by a Nigerian Jesuit priest, depicting poverty and violence in the lives of African children.

Alameddine, Rabih. THE HAKAWATI.

A young man who has returned to his native Lebanon to visit his dying father recounts the story of four generations of his family, interspersed with traditional Arabian tales, mixing the past with the present, and the realistic with the fantastic.

Benioff, David. CITY OF THIEVES.

In this adventure novel set in Leningrad during the siege of World War II, two men condemned to death are released and given five days to find a dozen eggs for a Soviet officer's daughter's wedding cake, a dangerous and seemingly hopeless search that takes them behind enemy lines.

Carter, Stephen L. PALACE COUNCIL.

In this complex thriller set in the political world of the 1950's - 1970's, a young black novelist's accidental discovery of the body of a murdered attorney leads him to uncover a sinister and dangerous organization; at the same time, he tries to find his beloved sister, whose disappearance may be connected to the murder.

Eng, Tan Twan. THE GIFT OF RAIN.

In this historical novel set in Malaysia during the second World War, a half-British, half-Chinese man learns the martial art of Aikido from a Japanese diplomat, and then finds his loyalty divided when war starts and the Japanese invade.

Fonseca, Isabel. ATTACHMENT.

When a married couple go on sabbatical to a tropical island, the wife, who has given up her own career for her family, discovers her husband has been having an affair, causing her to question the value of her marriage.

Furst, Alan. THE SPIES OF WARSAW.

In this espionage novel set in Poland in 1937, the French military attaché in Warsaw sets up a spy network and learns that the Nazis are planning an attack through the Ardennes forest.

Hemon, Aleksandar. THE LAZARUS PROJECT.

A Bosnian man, who has fled war-torn Sarajevo for Chicago, becomes obsessed with the story of a Jewish immigrant who was murdered almost one hundred years earlier, in 1908, and returns to his homeland to explore the man's past, as well as his own.

Harrison, Colin. THE FINDER.

In this thriller set in New York, a beautiful Chinese woman, who has been stealing business information and passing it on to her brother, goes on the run when the scam is discovered; her ex-boyfriend, aided by his dying father, a retired policeman, sets out to find her.

Oates, Joyce Carol. MY SISTER, MY LOVE: THE INTIMATE STORY OF SKYLAR RAMPIKE.

A boy tells the bizarre story of his little sister's life and death, in this novel inspired by the murder of child beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey.

Ozick, Cynthia. DICTATION: A QUARTET.

This is a collection of four stories, with themes including revenge, obsession, and self-deception. In the title story, the secretaries of two famous, egotistical writers concoct a scheme for their own literary immortality.

Robinson, Roxana. COST.

When a woman learns that her younger son has become a heroin addict, she stages an intervention, which brings intense trauma for every member of the family.

Samarasan, Preeta. EVENING IS THE WHOLE DAY.

The secrets of a wealthy Indian family living in Malaysia are gradually revealed after the suspicious death of the family's grandmother and the dismissal of their servant girl.

Wroblewski, David. THE STORY OF EDGAR SAWTELLE.

In this literary thriller set in the backwoods of Wisconsin, the mute son of a family that raises a rare breed of unusually intuitive dogs goes on the run after the sudden death of his father, accompanied by three of the dogs.

Bausch, Richard. PEACE.

In this gritty short novel set in Italy towards the end of World War II, a small squad of American soldiers, traveling through the mountains in winter, enlist an elderly Italian farmer as a guide, though they are not sure they can trust him

Erdrich, Louise. THE PLAGUE OF DOVES.

This novel about the inhabitants of a small North Dakota town centers on the horrifying murder, back in 1911, of a white family, and the lynching of three Ojibwe Indians falsely accused of the crime.

Freely, Maureen. ENLIGHTENMENT.

In this political thriller, a former Turkish student radical, married to the daughter of an American CIA agent, is detained by Homeland Security. Then his wife disappears, after asking a journalist to write an article publicizing their situation.

Galchen, Rivka. ATMOSPHERIC DISTURBANCES.

A New York psychiatrist, who believes that his beloved wife has disappeared and been replaced by a copy, goes to South America to find her; at the same time, one of his patients, who believes he is part of a secret plan to control the weather, also disappears.

Greer, Andrew Sean. THE STORY OF A MARRIAGE.

A woman who married her childhood sweetheart after World War II discovers she really knows very little about him, after another man, his former boss and lover, reappears in their lives.

Pelecanos, George. THE TURNAROUND: A NOVEL.

In 1972, three drunken white teenagers drive into an African-American neighborhood in Washington, D.C., looking for trouble and set off a violent incident. Thirty years later, two survivors, one white, one black, connect with each other, raising the possibility of forgiveness and redemption.

Reich, Christopher. RULES OF DECEPTION.

In this international thriller, a surgeon who works for Doctors Without Borders discovers, after the accidental death of his wife while mountain climbing in Switzerland, that she was an undercover agent involved in a complicated plot.

Shaara, Jeff. THE STEEL WAVE: A NOVEL OF WORLD WAR II.

The second book in the author's World War II trilogy tells the story of the D-Day invasion in 1944, portraying both historical characters and the ordinary soldiers who carried out their plans.

Strauss, Darin. MORE THAN IT HURTS YOU.

The life of a happily-married ad executive turns into a nightmare after his eight-month old son mysteriously stops breathing several times, and his wife is suspected of abuse.

Talarigo, Jeff. THE GINSENG HUNTER.

The main character of this contemporary novel is a half Chinese and half Korean man who makes a quiet living finding and selling ginseng along the Chinese-North Korean border, until North Korea's repressive political climate intrudes.

MORE FROM MADREADS: Book News and Reviews from Madison Public Library

Madison Public Library librarians review a new book every day on our blog, MADreads. Get ideas on new books to read, and share your thoughts with us.

Ipswich lace and the witches of Salem

I’ve heard of fortune telling by reading tea leaves, palms, tarot cards, crystal balls and Ouija boards, but reading patterns in lace is new to me. The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry features the Whitney women of Salem and their psychic ability to read lace. This talent is complex–not only must the reader recognize the patterns in the lace, they must also decode what the patterns mean. The main character, Towner Whitney, has been away from Salem for almost 15 years, since the death of her twin sister. She blames her sister’s death on a bad reading of the lace and has reluctantly returned because her great aunt Eva is missing.

There are so many captivating elements in this book; I hardly know where to begin. Each chapter of the book starts with a snippet from Eva’s The Lace Reader’s Guide and provides historical and cultural references to Ipswich lace. Much of the story takes place in Salem, on fictional Yellow Dog Island and in the water in between. Salem is a fascinating backdrop for a story, with Wiccans and tourists and protesting Calvinists on every corner. And finally, the Whitney family dynamic provides a tangled web of intrigue and heartache around which most of the action in the story takes place.

Many characters in this novel possess some kind of clairvoyant talent and Towner’s psychic abilities are far stronger than she (and the reader) understands. Towner’s memories of growing up in Salem and her childhood relationships haunt her. The mystery of her past along with the present day mystery surrounding the disappearances of her great aunt and a teen runaway pull the reader along in this complicated tale of women, water and what may be hiding in the lace.

Reviewed by Molly, Central

Orphans tales

Reminiscent of Scheherazade and her need to tell a story in order to live one more night, In the Night Garden begins with an orphan with no name or history telling stories to the son of the Sultan. Catherynne Valente has written a very intricate novel portraying another world inhabited by fantastic creatures and races, each with their own culture and traditions.

Using multiple short chapters or vignettes that allow her characters to tell bits and pieces of their own stories Valente spins and intriguing web. It is not until almost the middle of the book that the reader realizes that those bits and pieces are slowly coalescing into a unified picture of a world and its peoples.

Winner of the James Tiptree, Jr. Award this is a fantasy full of vivid imagery and a wonderful use of language. My only quibble is the author does not tell us enough about the orphan storyteller to make her a character strong enough to carry the reader into the story, and my hope is that the second book The Orphan’s Tales: In the Cities of Coin and Spice will improve on that aspect. An unusual fantasy that requires some perseverance by the reader but one that rewards with a rich and multi-textured tale.

Reviewed by Liz C., Alicia Ashman