New Book from Audrey Niffenegger

I just read today that Audrey Niffenegger, author of The Time Traveler's Wife, is coming out with a new book in late September. It's called Her Fearful Symmetry. My birthday is late September, so maybe it will be her gift to me. Yippeee!

Water Witches

I picked up this book at my library because I had read Chris Bohjalian's novel Midwives and liked it quite a lot. (Reviewed earlier on this blog.) Water Witches does not keep the reader quite on the edge of her seat as Midwives but is its own story of family and community. The story is set in a small ski resort town in Vermont going through a drought. The main character, Scott Winston, works for a large ski resort. He is married to Laura, who is from a family of dowsers, or "water witches". Scott and Laura are somewhat at odds during their community's plight for water. Whether or not one believes dowsing is possible, this novel exposes the reader to an original idea and a warm community of characters.

The Kite Runner

I was very hesitant to read The Kite Runner because I saw it everywhere. I had this feeling that there must be more hype than substance. I don't remember what finally made me give in, but I'm so glad I did. It was beautiful--and harsh, and sad, and inspiring. The descriptions of Kabul, Afghanistan before the Soviet Union invasion make it sound like somewhere I would want to visit. The story is of two best friends who are from completely different backgrounds. One is the servant in the household of the other. If you happen to have not read this yet, do so! (And the movie's not too bad either.)

Intuition

I discovered this book through a review in the Oregonian--who knew! The setting is a cancer research laboratory called the Philpott Institute housed within Harvard University. The lab is full of wonderfully described characters whose true motives are revealed slowly as the plot thickens. The two directors of the Institute are opposites in many ways: Sandy Glass (Jewish man who changed his name so as not to be too ethnic) is a charismatic oncologist whose primary role is to fundraise, and Marion Mendelssohn, an intelligent scientist who demands much of herself and the post-docs in the lab. At the beginning of the book one post-doc, Cliff, begins to have some success with an experiment he'd been working for a couple of years. Most in the lab become excited, but one post-doc, a woman named Robin who had been in a relationship with Cliff, is suspicious. One of my favorites parts of the book is at the beginning. The author describes a secondary character, Jacob Mendelssohn, Marion's husband, who had been a child prodigy and was expected to win a nobel prize. The description of his rise to "genius fame" up until he's 17 and has a self-aware epiphany of his own is genius itself. I highly recommend this book, even if you don't have a working knowledge of scientific research (that would include me).

Vinegar Hill

Ellen Grier has just moved to a small town in Wisconsin with her family after her husband has become unemployed. With their two children they live with her in-laws, a cold and manipulative couple. The bulk of Vinegar Hill is spent making sure the reader knows just how uncomfortable the situation is and how miserable Ellen can be. What I kept asking myself was why I needed to immerse myself in this suffering. There is no great "ahhhh" moment at the end. This is a non-recommendation.

The Reader

I've owned this book for a couple years with really good intentions to get to it. When I saw the movie trailer I knew I needed to read it before seeing the film--always the best order of things. As the book opens with a sexual relationship beginning between 15 year old Michael and 36 year old Hannah I was, frankly, feeling disgusted. Not at the author, though. Although the story is told in the first person from Michael's point of view, one doesn't get the sense that the author or Michael is defending such a relationship as good or healthy. During the second and third sections of the book Michael deals with the personal consequences of this relationship, especially when he meets up with Hannah again. Set in post-World War II Germany I was very intrigued with the themes of responsibility, shame, and guilt that the author delves into. I highly recommend this book.

The Virgin Blue

Tracy Chevalier's first novel, the reader is introduced to two women in France, 400 years apart. Ella Turner, an American recently moved to a small French village, and Isabelle Tournier, a distant relative of Ella's who has a tumultuous life as a Huguenot. The novel flips back and forth between their stories and attempts some suspense, but doesn't do an especially good job of it. Although Ella is a sympathetic character at first, she becomes tedious and I began to become irritated with her. I had not read about France and Switzerland in this way before and found the true historical setting quite interesting. Unfortunately, the story is lacking.