State of Wonder and Before I Go To Sleep

The best thrillers sometimes turn out to be the ones that aren't even billed as such. To be able, at the end of a book, gasp with surprise, is a rare pleasure. That gasp was the difference between Ann Patchett's State of Wonder and Before I Go To Sleep by SJ Watson.
The blurbs on Watson's book referred to it as "Memento on meth" and it was reminiscent of Memento. Christine wakes up every morning with no memory and has to quickly learn who to trust. A daily phone call from her doctor tells her where to find her journal, where she writes down what she pieces together (and what she also has to read every day) about her life. It is a fast paced if generally unbelievable book. It didn't take me long to figure out the real story, although in the end there were a lot of unanswered questions. Still, it was entertaining!
State of Wonder reminded me of Bel Canto-- many unrelated characters thrown together, forced to interact and with the outcome a surprise. Marina Singh is sent to the Amazon by the pharmaceutical company she works for to get an update from her med school mentor, Dr. Swenson, on the latter's research and to find out more about the mysterious death of her colleague. Marina becomes enthralled with the Amazon tribe she lives with, Dr. Swenson's research, and Dr. Swenson's "adopted" son Easter. The final Amazon scene is exciting as any Indiana Jones movie and my jaw dropped.
3 stars for the Watson book and 5 stars for the Patchett.

Apollo's Angels: A History of Ballet

Ballet was a huge part of my life up until high school. I learned grace, discipline and French. I made friends I still have. After reading a review of Apollo's Angels: A History of Ballet by Jennifer Homans I knew I had to read the book, even though it is 600+ pages.
Ms. Homans traces ballet and dance from the 18th century through contemporary times as a party of larger world history. Ballet was important pre and post French Revolution and some of the greatest celebrities were defectors from the USSR (remember Baryshnikov in Sex and the City?). She reminds us that ballet stars influenced culture and although we might think it elite and esoteric today, there have been times when dancers and choreographers risked their lives for it. This volume is well edited, with facts and pictures. Dance is also ephemeral: of the hundreds of ballets Balanchine choreographed, for example, only a handful are remembered.
Ms. Homans ends the tome believing that ballet is dying. She argues there are no true stars and it doesn't have the same influence as in the past. But I disagree. Last night I sat on the Esplanade and listened to the Landmarks Orchestra perform Tchaikovsky, with members of the Boston Ballet dancing parts of The Nutcracker, Swan Lake and The Sleeping Beauty. And there was a crowd of people with me. And what about shows like, Dancing with the Stars? And the Zumba craze? Maybe not ballet, but people love dance and I'm not ready to give up on it.
This book took me months to read, but it was worth it. 5/5 netflix stars.

Super Sad True Love Story

If you've ever felt like your phone is not up to speed, this book is for you.
If you've ever left a note, or been left a note, about replacing toilet paper, this book is for you.
If you've ever been the bottom of the totem pole at work, this book is for you.
If you've ever called someone, or been called, a "tuna brain", this book is for you.
If you've ever had a best friend that lives far away and you miss and email everyday, this book is for you.
If you are an older sister, this book is for you.
If you are Jewish, this book is for you.
If you are Korean, this book is for you.
If you are neither Jewish nor Korean, this book is for you.
If you are a sad sack, this book is for you.
If you spent time in Italy, this book is for you.
If you are willing to snort from laughing, on the bus, this book is for you.
If you read one book this year, this book is for you.
Super Sad True Love Story by Gary Shteyngart.
5/5 netflix stars

The Tiger's Wife: A Novel

I didn't set out to read a book about the death of a grandparent so soon after my own grandma passed away, but Tea Obreht's debut novel piqued my interest. The Tiger's Wife is equal parts fable, memory and nostalgia.
Natalia is a young doctor in her imaginary Balkan country, war torn and ravaged. On a mission to "the other side" she learns of her grandfather's passing and spends the next few days remembering him while she attempts to find the belongings he had on him when he died, including a copy of The Jungle Book Natalia remembers well. Natalia carries her memories of her grandfather, but also two stories her grandfather told her: one, the story of the Deathless Man and two, the story of the Tiger's Wife. Both recall the best writers of magical realism.
Natalia struggles with fulfilling her professional role and being with her grandmother to mourn. I was able to empathize; contemporary society doesn't allow time for grieving, or death. But this book reminded me that I can take my time, that the memories I have of my grandma will stay with me, and I can recall them at will, just as Natalia did.
The Tiger's Wife is remarkable in part because of Obreht's young age and for that I'm thankful. I look forward to many more novels from her.
4/5 netflix stars

Enough About Love

Enough About Love by Herve le Tellier is just longer than a novella; a few character sketches. Set in contemporay France, it tells the story of two couples, upper middle class, doctors, writers, a lawyer, with children. The women each meet someone else and either leave, or contemplate leaving their families. Le Tellier composes the chapters from individual and couple standpoints and is non-judgemental, in the way only the French can be when it comes to affairs. A book like this can easily been read as a film and I kept imagining Juliette Binoche as the lawyer.

This was a subtle, yet easy read, but for me, ultimately, unremarkable. I'd be suprised if I remember it in a year. 3/5 netflix stars.

Claire DeWitt and the City of the Dead

In elementary school we participated in BookIt, which was a program where we set a goal of a number of books to read and when we reached that goal we'd get a coupon for a personal pan pizza from Pizza Hut. It never took much for me to be motivated to read, but getting that pizza was pretty special. A few weeks ago I got an email from the library that four books I had requested were ready to pick up. Panic! How would I read so many books? Obviously I need to motivate myself with pizza, so from here on out, it's a book a week!

Fortunately Claire DeWitt and the City of the Dead by Sara Gran was both short and a mystery-- a perfect quick read. Claire is hired to investigate the disappearance of man's uncle in Post-Katrina New Orleans. Her detection methods are based on her mentor, Constance, as well as a book by Silette called Detection. Her methods also include copious amounts of booze and prescription and non-prescription drugs. Besides her actual case, several other "mysteries" are alluded to, making a strong case for future books.

New Orleans is portrayed as fairly post-apocolyptic in this book, not so different from Zeitoun. It's the perfect setting for crime noir and Gran's writing is spot on. A favorite quote, that represents a colleague, but could refer to many inhabitants of New Orleans: "Some people, I saw, had drowned right away. And some people were drowning in slow motion, drowning a lit bit at a time, and would be drowning for years. And some people, like Mick, had always been drowning. They just hadn't known what to call it until now. "

4/5 Netflix stars (and one book closer to my pizza).

Swamplandia!

Summer's here, which means vacation time. So I'm taking a vacation from reading books based in the midwest and heading straight to Florida. Swamplandia! by Karen Russell is everything its title implies. Like the Binewski family in Katherine Dunn's Geek Love, the Bigtree "tribe" live on the edge of society and earn a living being themselves. They live on one of Florida's 10,000 islands and runs a tourist show of alligator wrestling. Aside from the thousands of "mainlander" tourists, the kids only interact with each other and are blissfully unaware of life on the mainland. Kiwi is the oldest and has dreams of attending Harvard. Dreamy Ossie communes with and runs away with a ghost, leaving the youngest, Ava, to fend for herself.

Russell's Florida swamplands have Weed Witches instead of bagladies, long abandoned dredgeboats are homes to marriage inclined ghosts from the 1930s and dank canals lead to the Underworld. Each of the children live on the brink of reality and they compellingly pull us along a journey of questionable danger. Susan Orlean nearly forgets her journalistic bias in favor of seeing a rare orchid in The Orchid Thief, so why wouldn't the reader think the Bird Man a contemporary Charon?

Ms. Russell's novel is a fascinating read-- equally creepy, mysterious and funny (Kiwi's jobs and interactions with fellow "new hires" in competitor World of Darkness are worth the cover price) and Ava's love for her family is priceless. 5/5 netflix stars.