jenn suggests
The Singer's Gun, by Emily St. John Mandel
Emily St. John Mandel has a way with characters — after reading one of her books, they are so real that you’d swear you saw them on the street the other day, or passed them in line at the coffee shop. The Singer’s Gun has great pacing and a shocker of a plot, but it’s the engaging, conflicted, sweat-blood-and-tears cast that steal the show.
This book has been described by some as a thriller, and that’s definitely one way to look at it. But as suspenseful as the storyline is, what kept me turning pages was the humanity at the heart of the intrigue. Who are we? What does it take to become who we want to be? And what happens when who we want to be and who we were are polar opposites? Mandel tackles all of these questions, and while there are no answers, there is much food for thought.
This quote from Library Journal sums it up well: “In this intricate novel, her second after Last Night in Montreal, Mandel underscores the notion that everything in life comes with a price tag, and sometimes that cost is remarkably high.”
P.S. I read (and loved!) Last Night in Montreal as well! Feel free to ask me about it (and then good luck getting me to shut up).
The Girl with Glass Feet, by Ali Shaw
As someone who never grew out of fairytales, books like Shaw's debut novel are a true pleasure. Meet Midas Crook, photographer and recluse extraordinaire, and Ida Maclaird, who is slowly but surely turning into glass. In the remote landscape of St. Hauda's Land -- a place so realistically portrayed you'll forget it doesn't exist in real life -- stranger things can (and do) happen.
I knew from the beginning that I would love the story, but I had no idea how much I'd come to love the characters. It's an ensemble cast beautifully rendered, each with surprising dimensions and hidden quirks. I hate to use the much-repeated "I laughed, I cried," but I really did (ok, I didn't ACTUALLY cry, but I almost did, and I absolutely laughed out loud). Midas's young and spunky friend Denver and the pompous and blustering Carl Maulsen, whose strange relationship with both Ida and Midas drives the story in new directions, are two of the stand-out minor characters that still bump around in my head.
I was caught by the simplicity of Shaw's style, as well. The novel is descriptive, full of small details and gorgeous panoramas, but his prose never becomes flowery or ornate.
For anyone who loves to meet new characters, is open to the stranger and more delicate sides of life, or just loves a good yarn. Let me know what you think!
Her Fearful Symmetry, by Audrey Niffenegger
A ghost story for the modern age, Niffenegger's newest (Time Traveler's Wife was her first, and best-selling, novel) lives up to the hype and goes beyond. Twenty-year-old twins Julia and Valentina are the heart of the story, pulled by family secrets from an aimless existence with their parents in Chicago to their mysterious, recently deceased aunt's flat in London, but by no means do they outshine their supporting cast. This is an ensemble piece with some of the most fully realized characters I've ever been introduced to, including Highgate Cemetery, which comes to eery, brilliant life.
Niffenegger also offers a fascinating new interpretation of the traditional haunting. What and who we are alive, dead, and in-between, all wind around each other in an intriguing vision that alternates between frightening and hopeful.
You'll race to the startling finish, and then want to go back and read it all over again -- a must-read from a dazzling author.
The Lacuna, by Barbara Kingsolver
The Lacuna, by Barbara Kingsolver, is my top pick for the month of November. Reminiscent of her fantastic previous novel, The Poisonwood Bible, Lacuna is a dense and beautiful novel revolving around the artistic and political scene in Mexico that encompassed Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo, and Lev Trotsky. A gripping, absorbing read, highly recommended!
page last updated on: May 6, 2010, 6:18PM
