State of Wonder by Ann Patchett

Ann Patchett is one of my favorite authors. I can still remember many wonderful details from her book Bel Canto, and I read it almost 10 years ago. That's an amazingly memorable book. So I was excited to pick up Patchett's new one and find out if it had the same magical feel and vivid details that Bel Canto did.

State of Wonder is the story of Marina Singh, a research scientist quietly studying lipids with her lab partner Anders Eckman. She is farily content with her life, even though she is midde-aged, single, childless, and sleeping with the boss. But then the boss sends Eckman into the Amazon jungle to find out the progress of a research project funded by the drug company she works for. The project involves the life-long fertility of a Brazilian tribe and the doctor, Annick Swenson, who changed Marina's life forever without even knowing it. When Eckman fails to find out the needed information, Marina's boss and boyfriend sends her to the jungle as well, forcing her into a world full of danger, uncertainty, oppressive heat, and strange customs. Marina must find out the research's secrets, deal with the doctor who changed her career, find out the details of Eckman's "failure", and keep herself alive despite swarms of insects, huge snakes, threat of malaria, and other jungle pleasures.

I loved this book for its believable characters, wonderful details of the Amazon, and its extremely interesting medical research premise. Could it be possible for a 70-year-old woman to give birth? Why would she want to? Are medical breakthroughs really found in the way that Dr. Swenson employs deep in the jungle? If we just found the right bark of the right tree and ate it in just the right way, could we cure cancer someday? It doesn't seem possible; it is a novel after all. And yet it seems completely possible, because I am completely hopeful. Anyway, it all completely fascinated me, and I'll look forward to Patchett's next memorable novel, hopefully very soon.

Portrait of a Spy by Daniel Silva

What can I say about someone who has perfected the spy thriller? What can I say about the perfect spy character, Gabriel Allon? The one thing I can say is that Daniel Silva has done it again with a timely, scary, thought-provoking speed ride of a book in Portrait of a Spy.

I've been reading a lot in this genre lately, and while I've come across a lot of them that I like, there is something about Silva's Gabriel Allon that is so interesting I just don't get tired of him. Yes, this is a series of books with the same basic premise of CIA and MI5 and Israel's secret service all fighting against jihadist terrorists. Yes, they have the same basic set of characters. But for some reason, Allon stands out and keeps it all going. He is part spy, part husband, part art restorer, part linguist, part friend, and all hero.

In this book, Allon is retired until he and is wife are taking a leisurely stroll in Covent Garden in London, and Allon comes across a man who is, to his trained spy's eye, a terrorist bomb threat. The outcome of the incident puts in motion a scenario that can only be stopped by trained, seasoned professionals like Allon and his crew. So he is forced to come out of retirement and bring down the kingpin of a new terrorist cell, who is hidden in plain sight. He again employs the help of a civilian who has the right contacts, but this ploy always makes Gabriel very nervous. Can he pull it off once again and take down the cell without getting any innocents killed in the process? You'll have to read to find out, but it won't take you long, because once you start on this roller coaster, you won't  be able to stop.

Iron House by John Hart

Hart's novel The Last Child was one of my favorite reads of last year, so I couldn't wait to pick this one up, and I have to tell you, I literally could not put it down. I read this one in two days, which in the exta busy summer months just seems impossible to me, but it's true. The writing is so wonderfully rich and the story so exciting, that every chapter just kept me wanting to find out what would happen next.

Iron House is an orphange where the two brothers in the book, Julian and Michael, grew up after being abandoned and left for dead in a freezing river in wintertime. Julian is the weaker of the two and is constantly harrassed by older boys who are inexplicably cruel. Michael is his guardian until a terrible incident forces Michael to run away, just when a rich Senator's wife has come to adopt them. So Julian is given a life of privilege and Michael is forced into the world of organized crime by a boss who finds and "saves" him, training him to be an extremely skilled enforcer.

But eventually, Michael finds a woman who makes him see a future filled with love and family instead of guns and hatred, and he wants out. He is granted immunity by his adopted father, but when the crime boss dies, Michael is left to flee the others who are after the don's millions. The rest is an exciting game of cat and mouse with some disturbing family drama thrown in to make it more interesting. Hart's characters are wonderfully real and dynamic, and the action and drama are perfectly paced so that at every turn the reader is pulled deeper into the story. It is not a book for the squeamish, however, as many scenes are violent and at times, gruesome. But when it's a book about organized crime and childhood abuse, there can be no other realistic way to play it.

So if you like thrillers that make you turn page after page in the wee hours of the night, this is the one for you this summer. Give it a try and let me know if you love it as much as I did!

City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

I like to keep up on the YA scene as much as I can, and so I thought I'd try the first in this series that has been wildly popular at the library. Fans of Twilight gravitate toward these fantasy books and always give rave reviews, and now I know why.

Clary Fray is just a girl (or so she thinks) living with her mother in New York City, hanging with her best friend Simon and working her way through a normal teenage life including conflicts about boys and her mother. But a chance encounter with a demon and some beings called Shadlowhunters in a local club change her life forever. The fact that Clary can see these supernatural beings while others cannot, is the first clue that she is different, and her quest to learn about this new world and how she fits in becomes the stage for some exciting supernatural conflict.

There are many interesting facets of Clare's new world that I found fascinating and different from other fantasy novels. These aspects make the story realistic and fantastic all at once, and get me to lose myself in their world. For instance, Clary discovers from Jace and his family that Shadowhunters are the beings who keep the human world safe from demons of the underworld. Demons are supposed to remain "down below" per an agreement they have with the higher powers. In the middle world are creatures like vampires and werewolves, fairies and witches, who are allowed to live in the human world as long as they don't bother the humans too much (or in other words, kill them.)The story of City of Bones revolves around a former Shadowhunter turned bad named Valentine who threatens to mess up this tenuous balance between worlds. Clary and Jace fight their way through hordes of demons in order to find out the truth about their own powers and heritage, giving the reader lots to get lost in: love, friendship, physical battle, and struggles of family loyalty. A rich world to be sure.

So, if you're ready to get lost in a good story of good vs. evil, with cool, realistic yet fantastical characters for some exciting summer fun, then pick up this set of novels right away. Let me know what you think!

The Night Journal by Elizabeth Crook

I've been wanting the to read this book for a long time because it sounded like it would be right up my alley. It took me a while to get through, mostly because the summer is super busy for me, but I did get bogged down a little in the details. The story, however, is wonderful and well worth the read.

Meg Mabry is an unmarried, soon-to-be-middle aged engineer who also takes care of her aging grandmother, known as Bassie. Bassie is responsible for publishing some journals that her own mother wrote while living in the western frontier. There has always been an odd tension, love/hate bond between Meg and Bassie that makes their lives full of conflict, and this relationship is further strained by Bassie's insistence that they travel to New Mexico to exhume the bones of Bassie's mother's dogs. This seemingly crazy request leads them both on a journey of discovery about love, their heritage, and the ties that bind lives together for all of history.

Interspersed with segments that are supposed to be the real journals of Hannah Bass, the narrative is rich with detail. I enjoyed the history of the early west and learned something about the mixing of Mexican and Anglo cultures during that time. There is also a nice romance element to the book that is compelling and realistic, but somehow very depressing to me at the same time, and I was a bit disappointed in Meg at the end, but I'm not sure why. I found all the detail in the book enjoyable, yet some may find it slow-moving. It is a book that makes you think about history, life, and relationships, giving the reader much to think about even after the last page.

Minding Frankie by Maeve Binchy

I am a big fan of Maeve Binchy. Her storytelling and characters always make you feel like you are in the middle of an Irish neighborhood, stopping to call on a friend for a nice cup of tea. Minding Frankie had this same magic, and since it had been so long since I'd read one of Binchy's tales, it was like coming home.

The cast of characters here, like all of Binchy's novels, is really too large to name. But the story revolves around little Frankie, the new and unexpected daughter of Noel, a previously washed-up alcoholic with few prospects for a good life or love. But when Stella, Frankie's mother, knows she is dying and must find a father for the baby she is about to have, she thinks of Noel, and so it begins.

Frankie becomes the love of the neighborhood, and Noel's sobriety so that he can keep her becomes the neighborhood "cause." They band together to keep the baby watched, fed, loved, and keep Noel on the straight and narrow. But it is Emily, an American come to find her Irish roots, who keeps the whole of them in line, giving them new ideas and new hope for the future in a place she now belongs to as much as they do.  If someone needs a job, she finds one. If someone needs a babysitter, she is one. If someone needs cooking or gardening lessons, she is there at their home, showing them how easy it is.

Emily is, in fact, the kind of person that make most of us sick because she is quite perfect, rarely showing her impatience or disgust when people are lethargic or inept. But in her, the reader must also see someone who they really would like to strive to be: someone who is constantly giving to others, using talents they never knew they possessed, all to make others feel good about themselves or make a success of their lives. Although Emily made me a bit sick, yes, she was also good for me to read. We could all be a bit more like Emily. There was one thing that did keep bugging me about Binchy's writing of Emily, though. Emily was born and raised in America, not Ireland, and yet she spoke with the same colloquial expressions that all of the Irish characters used. She said many things that people in the US wouldn't even think of saying. Perhaps her Irish father spoke this way, and she picked it up? Or maybe it's like when someone from the Midwest moves to Texas and they come home with a drawl? It just seemed odd to me.

But that aside, Minding Frankie was a light, enjoyable story with a marvelous array of quirky characters that will warm your heart and make you take a look at your own life. Give it a try, and tell me what you think!

Fragile Beasts byTawni O'Dell

Family drama, teen angst, class struggle, love trianges, and a bit of history. There's a little something for everyone in O'Dell's newest novel, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Klint and Kyle lose their father in a tragic accident, and their mother and younger sister have not had any contact with them for years. Neither wants to move in with their irresponsible, money-grubbing mother, especially Klint who is the high school's star baseball player, a shoe-in for a big college scholarship. So, a mutual friend who happens to be a girl that Kyle is in love with, suggests they move in with her wealthy grandmother. Sounds odd, but that is what eventually happens, and it is Candace, the lonely widow of a Spanish bullfighter, who opens her life and her home to them and is able to teach them about love and loyalty.

O'Dell's characters are wonderful because they are so "real" and memorable. The angst and feelings that Kyle expresses are a sometimes beautiful, sometimes tragic, sometimes hilarious, look into the mind of a teenage boy who only wants his brother and a girl to love him. His search for something that he's good at, that makes him special, is a struggle that we all face in our lives at some point, and the help that Candace gives him is something we all wish for and strive to give as parents. Candace's personal journey with these young boys and her memories of her own true love and the land of bullfighting bring a wonderful mysterious aspect to the story, rich in detail and a bit of history, and not overly done.

If you need a good, involving summer read this year,  Fragile Beasts may be the ticket! Post your comments for me!

Twice a Spy by Keith Thomson

If you ever think that you're having a streak of bad luck, just pick up this sequel to Thomson's first novel Once a Spy, and you'll feel lucky.

Drummond Clark, the retired CIA agent, and Charlie, his once unsuspecting son and habitual gambler, are still on the run, trying to find a way to keep from getting killed by members of covert CIA and keep Drummond's Alzheimer's in check. They are helped by Charlie's new-found love, Alice, but Charlie must decide if she's a good guy or a bad guy. The father-son team must constantly be looking over their shoulders, constantly searching for the next escape route, constantly crashing out of the deadly situations that befall them.

Drummond's medication seems helpful, but it also may put him to sleep just when his ninja-like reflexes are called for. Charlie seems like a changed man, in love with a spy and his gambling habit in remission. Can they work together to make it out of their situation alive?

Twice a Spy is another fun, over-the-top, spy adventure that just seemed to flow from one ridulous, dangerous, exciting chapter to another. It's full of fun spy tech, great characters, and non-stop action. Pick it up for a fun read this summer!

Ape House by Sara Gruen

When I picked this book up, I had no idea what it really was about. I really didn't think it could be about apes; the possibility seemed kind of bizarre to me. But I enjoyed this book very much and learned a great deal about bonobos and about my own state of Iowa.

Gruen got the idea for this novel and did her research at the Great Ape Trust in DesMoines, a place I did not know existed. There she studied the bonobos, the breed of ape that is depicted in the book with such fascinating detail that I wish I could reach the high level of security clearance it takes to meet the apes myself.

The story involves the bombing of an language research center right after a struggling newspaper reporter visits it, impressing both the bonobos themselves and their human linguist. When news of the bombing reaches the reporter, he knows he must go back to track the story, despite personal problems and difficulties that arise with security and the ambiguous fate of the bonobos themselves when the linguist is wounded. The apes are somehow sold to an unscrupulous character who creates a reality show around them that not only abuses them physically but begins to hurt their intellects. The linguist must battle her own injuries from the bombing as well as fight to return the bonobos to a habitat that suits them so that they can go on teaching humans about their language capabilities.

Despite the very mixed reviews this book got, I totally enjoyed it and felt it had a lot to teach us. The signing and language displays of the apes were fascinating, and their compassion and flawless character judgement was something I had never really believed another species capable of. The bonobos' simple statements such as, "Bonzi love Bell. Kiss kiss," and "Visitor dirty bad, dirty bad visitor," can be taken as reminders that sometimes things are indeed black and white, no matter how we try to gloss them over. Some people are just "dirty bad" and some are "kiss kiss."  The story is an excellent example of how we underestimate people (and animals), and how far humans will go to exploit almost anything in this world, if, as bystanders and onlookers, we allow it.

The fact that this book follows Gruen's wildly popular Water for Elephants, to me, is the only reason it got poor reviews. I enjoyed Ape House every bit as much. So, don't judge an author only by the cover of her most famous book, people. Keep your mind open, and you might be saying, "Sara Gruen love, kiss, kiss," too.

Sing You Home by Jodi Picoult

Jodi Picoult has become a beloved author among book club enthusiasts everywhere because of her ability to tackle multiple issues and intertwine them in a way that lets readers get a look at them all in a seamless and seemingly real way. Some readers feel there is a definite formula to her writing, and this is true if you read them all, but I would guess that no one cares. Their honesty and genuine readability carries them further than the story and you'll think about them far longer than the time it takes to read them.  Sing You Home has been much awaited by Picoult lovers because of the issues it presents, and it was a powerful and affirming read for me.

In most of Picoult's books, the story is told from a varying point of view. The first in Sing You Home is Zoe, the 40-year-old childless, married woman who will go through anything, including mulitple invitro procedures, in order to get pregnant. Max, her husband, is definitely committed to having a child also, but towards the end of this journey, it is more about doing it for Zoe than anything else. When their last pregnancy try ends in devastating disappointment, Max has had enough - not just of trying to have a baby, but he's apparently had enough of Zoe and married life as well. He doesn't even really try to discuss it with Zoe and is angry that she wants to try for another baby. So, he instead leaves her to move in with his married, and also childless, brother.

Thus Zoe has been abandoned in her life and is seeking nothing except some kind of peace in order to go on. Then enters Vanessa Shaw, a work colleague who then becomes the life partner that Max never was. Vanessa has always acknowledged that she is gay and is hesitant to tell Zoe even when her attraction is hard to deny. When Zoe, too, falls for Vanessa, they begin a life together which includes marriage (although they must go to a neighboring state to do so.) They both wish they could have children when it dawns on them that Zoe still has three frozen embryos at the clinic that could be theirs if Max will sign them over.

Thus begins the moral fight and debate that is inevitable, complicated by the fact that Max starts to go to his brother's ultra conservative Christian church. Although he finds that faith helps him through the rough times in his life, including his alchoholism, he finds himself fighting the two parts of his soul: the part that is led by his brother and sister-in-law's beliefs in a God who would never condone homosexual relationships, and another part that truly wants what is best for Zoe. Part of him does realize that it's selfish for him to deny these children to Zoe, who he knows would be a great mother, when he himself does not wish for any children, but he still struggles with the church and the minister's condemnation of the gay "lifestyle."

Although you can tell which side of this hot civil rights issue Picoult is on in this book, I think she still portrays both sides with a fairly unprejudicial eye. The characters of the minister and Max's lawyer are extra confrontational for effect, but their zeal and maliciousness, I believe since having some personal experience with similar issues myself, is spot on.

This book is wonderful because no matter what side of the issues you lie on, no matter if you like the writing style or not, it will make you think. It will make you question. It will give you a tiny peek through the window at what others may be thinking and feeling and living. I love books like this one because it asks me to test my prejudices and my beliefs, and I know that the act of questioning can only make me a better and stronger person. I hope it will do the same for you.