The Dragon Reborn by Robert Jordan

This is the third book in the Wheel Of Time series.  As it begins, the group of individuals have split on different missions.  Rand has gone off by himself, not sure if he is really the Dragon but if so, he wants to protect those around him if he should go mad.  The three Aes Sedai in training, Egwene, Nynaeve and Elayne, have returned to their training and punishment for leaving.  Mat is recovering from the near death he encountered by holding onto the knife of evil.  Perrin and Lolial are with Moiraine and Lan along with Min. 

As the action picks up, Rand decides he must know once and for all if he is truly the Dragon.  Lore tells him that only the true Dragon will be able to grasp and use the Sword of Callandor, secured in the Heart Of Stone tower in Tear.  He decides he must go there and find out his fate.  The three young Aes Sedai are given a mission by the head of the group.  Thirteen Aes Sedai have gone over to the Dark Lord and as the Black Ajah, are working for his good and Rand's destruction.  As they realise that these Black Ajah have gone to Tear, they understand that they must follow them there to defeat them.  Moraine has her own reasons for heading to Tear as she needs to do what she can to safeguard Rand.  Mat heads there when after learning that the man courting Elayne's Queen mother is planning to assassinate Elayne. 

All head for Tear where they will unite as Rand makes his climatic stand that will set his path going forward.  A new character, Faile, joins the group as she tries to find the Horn, unaware that it has already been found.  Faile will become the love interest of Perrin although it is unclear what part she will play in the story going forward.  All in all, this novel has lots of additional world building and ends with a battle between good and evil that will set the rest of the books in motion.  This book is recommended for fantasy readers.

Booksie's Shelves, October 28, 2019

It's getting late in October and I have a real treat coming this evening.  I was lucky enough to get a ticket to go hear Ann Patchett speak.  I love this author and have read most if not all of her books so I'm really looking forward to this.  You can read my review of her latest, The Dutch House, if you scroll down.  I'm moving along on my promise to my son.  His favorite series is the Wheel Of Time series by Robert Jordan.  I started it years ago but got sidetracked and I promised him this would be the year.  Since each novel in the series is 600 pages or more, it's a big time commitment but it's going well this time.  I just finished the third book yesterday and I'm off to the library for book four in a bit.  I've read some great books lately such as Lincoln In The Bardo and Kate Atkinson's Big Sky and I'm in the midst of other great ones such as Paul Auster's 4 3 2 1.  Here's what's come through the door lately:

1.  If You Tell, Gregg Olsen, true crime, sent by publisher
2.  The God Game, Danny Tobey, thriller, sent by publisher
3.  The Nanny, Gilly Macmillan, psychological suspense, sent by publisher
4.  The Cask Of Cranglimmering, Dawn Vogel, fantasy, sent by publisher
5.  Golden In Death, J. D. Robb, mystery, won in contest
6.  Body Leaping Backward, Maureen Stanton, memoir, sent for blog tour
7.  Elevator Pitch, Linwood Barclay, thriller, sent by publisher
8.  Unforsaken, John Swaine McKenna, western, sent by publisher
9.  Wolf Season, Helen Benedict, literary fiction, purchased
10.  Scatter, Adapt, And Remember, Annalee Newitz, nonfiction, purchased
11.  A Bond Undone, Jin Yong, sci fi/fantasy, won in contest
12.  The Middle Sister, Jesse Miles, mystery, sent by publisher
13.  The Forgetting Flower, Karen Hugg, mystery, sent by publisher

Here's what I'm reading:

1. 4 3 2 1, Paul Auster, paperback
2.  The Gods Of Guilt, Michael Connelly, audio
3.  The Shadow Rises, Robert Jordan, paperback
4.  Out Stealing Horses, Per Petterson, hardback
5.  Fates And Furies, Lauren Groff, paperback
6.  Girl, Jacked, Christopher Grayson, Kindle Fire
7.  Storm Prey, John Sandford, hardback

Happy Reading!

The Big Picture by Douglas Kennedy

Most men would be glad to have Ben Bradford's life.  He has a wife and two little boys.  He has a great job as an estate lawyer, one that allows the family to live in an upscale Connecticut suburb from which Ben rides the train every day into Manhattan. 

But this wasn't the life he had envisioned and under the surface it wasn't nearly as bright as it appeared to others.  His great job was tedious and it surely wasn't the one of being a photojournalist that he had expected to have.  He periodically catches glimpses of his college girlfriend on television as she managed to get her dream job and is now a foreign correspondent on television.  He makes a lot of money but they spend it all on various things that don't bring satisfaction for long.  His marriage has gone cold after the birth of his second son and he comes to realize that his wife, Beth, has found her own release in the form of a torrid affair with a local guy who pretends he is on the verge of a discovery as a photographer. 

Ben is thrown for a loop by his discovery of the affair and it makes him reexamine his entire life.  What does it add up to?  When a tragedy happens that could send him to prison it becomes easy for him to set up the appearance of his death and flee his life to try to start again.  He ends up in Montana and there he finds the success he never expected to find.  Can his new life really be the one he was meant to live?

Douglas Kennedy has written a story of adult disappointments and how our lives seldom turn out to be what we had fantasized they would be.  It showcases how difficult it is to make love last and how living for someone else can only ever bring heartbreak.  Whether or not we have the strength to grab our lives and make them fit what we wanted is the main question we all face.  This book is recommended for readers of literary fiction.

Lincoln In The Bardo by George Saunders

The time is 1862.  The United States is one year into the massive Civil War that tears its fabric apart, pitting families against each other and bringing death and destruction to so many.  The President is Abraham Lincoln and he questions whether what he has started was the right step and where his decisions will lead the nation.  In the midst of this, his beloved son Willie, sickens and dies.

Lincoln In The Bardo is George Saunder's imaginative retelling of the time right after Willie's death, when Abraham Lincoln is caught up in grief that will not let him surrender his son to the inevitable separation that death brings.  The Bardo is the limbo between death and the final destination of the soul, whether hell or heaven.  Lincoln visits his son's body at the cemetery where he has been taken and wonders how he will ever manage to let his son go.  The inhabitants of the cemetery, souls who have not yet left the Earth for their final trip, are caught up in the grief of the parent and the task of convincing him of the inevitability of death and the necessity of acknowledging it and moving beyond to acceptance.

There is a large cast of characters with all the souls waiting there.  Three men stand out as the main ones, a man whose inability to reconcile himself to the life that being gay would entail, a man who was not able to make his marriage work and a reverend who fears that he will never make it to heaven despite leading what he thought was a moral life.  There are many others who flit in and out of the story, a set of African-American souls who are working off the lifelong sorrows of slavery, those who spent their lives in poverty and acrimony, those who were snatched from life before they really lived it as they expected.  All are disappointed at their deaths and all must reconcile their earthly longings before they can move one.  In the meantime, Saunders also gives a feel for what the historical context of this moment in our nation's history was like.

Lincoln In The Bardo comes highly recommended.  It won the Booker Prize in 2017 and the Audie Award in 2018.  It is a highly imaginative and creative effort that stands out as a new form of literature.  It is also very divisive.  I read this with my book club and people either loved it or hated it.  I was on the side that loved it as it caught the reader up and transported one to a place where every decision is a weighty one that has decisive consequences.  I was shocked at the historical snippets that showed the vituperation that Lincoln underwent in the press and historical writings of the time.  We revere him as one of our greatest individuals but he was not loved in his own time; rather he was hated and mocked and his every decision questioned.  It gives a new way to process the divisive times of political turmoil our country is in at the present.  This book is recommended for readers of literary fiction.

Big Sky by Kate Atkinson

In this fifth Jackson Brodie novel, Jackson has moved up north and lives in a small fishing village.  His days as a policeman are over and he makes his living as a private detective these days, finding proof of cheating spouses his mainstay.  He isn't quite alone as his teenage son lives with him part-time as does the dog that comes with him.  Jackson didn't know about Nathan for several years as his partner, Julia, decided she wanted to keep him to herself for his baby years and its a challenge to raise someone of the new generation whose desires and expectations are so different from when Jackson was a boy.  Still, he loves Nathan and since he's on the outs with his daughter, it's his only chance at fatherhood.

As Jackson goes through his days, he encounters a new woman.  Crystal is drop dead gorgeous and has used her looks and intelligence to claw her way up from a horrid childhood full of abuse.  She's married to Tommy, whose first wife died in an accident.  Crystal has an adored little girl and a stepson, Harry, who she can't help but love.  Tommy is another matter.  He seems to have lots of secret business calls and trips and she isn't really sure what he does.  Tommy is part of a group of men who have solidified their friendship by going into business.  Steve is the boss, a lawyer who knows everyone and what is legal and what's not.   Andy is a charming man who can make anyone feel comfortable.  Vince is the odd man out; an ex-soldier with IT skills but going through a divorce in which he will lose everything.  Then Vince's soon to be ex wife is found murdered and things start to come apart.

It seems that there is a human trafficking circle in the area and all the men except Vince are involved.  In fact, that's the source of the money that keeps their willingly blind wives in luxury.  Jackson brushes up against the edges of the group as he goes about his investigations and soon becomes an ally of Crystal's. 

Kate Atkinson has created an endearing character in Jackson.  He has a clear moral compass, although it might not keep him on the legal side of the ledger at times.  He is determined to protect those around him but they often see him as failing at this job.  Yet Brodie manages to come through time after time, handing out justice and help evenhandedly.  This book is recommended for readers of  mysteries.

The Unconsoled by Kazuo Ishiguro

Ryder is a famous concert pianist.  He has come to an unnamed Eastern European city to give a concert.  It's unclear why he has come and he travels so much that he rarely even knows where he is or what his schedule is on any given day.  He checks into a hotel and everyone there is excited to see him and it's clear there is an enormous amount of hope being put into this concert.  As the days before his performance go by, Ryder finds he is caught up in other people's dramas to the detriment of his own work.  But they all seem to have a claim on him.

There is the famous conductor who has been mired in alcoholism for years but seems to have managed to dry out for this performance which he hopes will reestablish his career.  There is the woman who has waited years for him and is not sure if she should continue to hope that there can be a life for them.  There is the beginning concert pianist who isn't sure if his talent is really big enough to take him out of his hometown.  His parents are simultaneously his biggest fans and critics and their marriage which is disintegrating plays a part in how they perceive him.

As Ryder visits and explores he starts to realize that he has been here before and in fact, might even have lived here.  The main porter at the hotel may be his father in law, and he may still have a wife and son here who wonder why he has been gone so long.  Old friends want slices of his time to talk over old times and grievances and several factions in the city think that only Ryder can solve their problems.  Adding another level, his parents are to come to the performance and he hasn't seen them for many years.  As the performance approaches, Ryder gets further and further behind in his professional obligations as the personal ones he has ignored for so long push to the fore.

Kazuo Ishiguro has written a sly commentary on success and on the need for connection.  The writing is nonsensical at times and the reader can feel lost in all the dramas Ryder encounters.  But through everything, it is clear that only connection to others can save us and make our lives worth living.  This book is recommended for readers of literary fiction.

Blackfish City by Sam J. Miller

When the cities disappeared, those people who managed to survive all had to migrate to continue to exist.  They fled the destruction, the violence that decimated tribes and families.  Eventually, they ended up in the enclaves and cities that still existed; cities like Qaanaaq, an arctic city built around an oil rig.  Everyone lives in one of the eight arms; the arms vary in their space and amenities.  As is the case worldwide those with money inhabit the nicest arm and those with less are pushed further and further down the scale into arms ridden with crime and disease.

But something is happening.  The shareholders who rule the city due to their wealth and possession of the controlling software that runs the city are more and more remote from the rest of the people and know little of their lives and problems.  A new disease has arisen.  The breaks, as it is called, is sexually transmitted and those infected are swarmed with the memories and thoughts of those they contracted it from and those who that person got it from, a chain of memories and thoughts that eventually drive the victims mad.  The breaks is no respecter of place or money; it destroys everyone it contacts indiscriminately.

Then something even more unexpected happens.  A woman appears in the Northern Sea, riding an orca and accompanied by a polar bear.  Who is she?  Why has she come?  What will she do?  She is violent and is determined to meet her goals although those are not immediately clear.  She inserts herself into the emerging chaos of the battle between the shareholders and the criminal overloads and gathers a family around her.  Who will emerge victorious?

This novel was nominated as a Nebula Best Novel in 2018.  It is an original, highly entertaining and thought-provoking novel, one that the reader will remember long after the last page is turned.  The world building is superb, with a cold, uncaring world that seems likely after a worldwide destruction yet the people who survive still search for meaning and connection.  The last ten percent of the novel are as stunning a resolution as I can remember reading.  This book is recommended for science fiction readers.

Knife by Jo Nesbo

Things are not going well for Harry Hole.  He's back drinking again.  Rakel, the love of his life, has kicked him out and without her and Oleg, their son, there's just not much he cares about, least of all taking care of himself.  He's working on cold cases for the police department as the only thing Harry is good at is detective work.  A serial rapist and maybe murderer who Harry put away is back on the streets after being released and Harry is sure that this man cannot change his ways.  He wants to find the man and convict him of new crimes so that he cannot hurt more women.

But bad can go to worse and that's often the case for Harry.  He wakes up from a drunken stupor to a nightmare he could never ever imagine.  Someone he loves has been taken from him and he knows that the last thing he will ever do is find the culprit who committed the crime.  After he does, he doesn't care what happens to him if he ever did. 

This is the twelfth Harry Hole mystery.  Fans will rush to pick up this newest story in Harry's career but be careful.  If you love Harry, this novel will rip out your heart.  There are few detective series that I believe have to be read in order, but this is one.  This latest installment in Harry's life is one that no one would expect and it can be hard reading.  But it is satisfying and after lots of twists and turns, the answers will be comforting.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.

Blood Work by Michael Connelly

Terry McCaleb knows he's a lucky man.  A former FBI agent, he had to give up that work when his heart developed issues.  He waited two years for a transplant and it was iffy whether one would come in time as he had a rare blood type that made a match almost impossible.  But with weeks to go, Terry got his new heart and now he must make a new life post transplant. 

Terry is restoring the boat left to him by his father, transferring the painstaking detail work of restoration for the detailed investigation and analysis his job required as he tracked down the worst of the worst, the serial killers.  His health regimen takes an enormous part of his day, taking meds, tracking his temperature, going on doctor follow up visits.  It's a different life but Terry is thankful for it.

Then Graciella Rivers appears one day.  She tells Terry about her sister, Gloria, and the murder that took her life.  It's a murder that hasn't been solved and a murder that is tied forever to Terry.  Gloria was the person whose heart was transplanted into Terry.  Without her death, Terry would not be living.  When Graciella asks him to look into Gloria's murder, there is an obligation he feels that won't let him put her off.

As Terry starts to look into things, he immediately encounters resistance form the Los Angles police who regard him as nothing more than another civilian.  He does have some contacts, such as Jay, a female officer whose career was jumpstarted by an investigation Terry helped her with when he was FBI.  She, at least, is willing to listen to him.  As the days go by, Terry and Jay are able to tie Gloria's murder to at least two others and they realize that another serial killer is on the loose.  Can Terry find a way to uncover this killer?

This is the first book featuring Terry McCaleb and Connelly has created an interesting character as always.  Terry is torn in many directions, his former skills making his ability to turn his back on the case impossible but his health demanding all his attention.  The killer is shadowy and the book focuses much more on the investigation and the emotions of those touched by murder.  This book won several awards such as the McCavity Award for Best Mystery and the Anthony Award for Best Novel.  It is recommended for mystery readers.

The Chain by Adrian McKinty

Rachel O'Neill thought she had already had her ration of bad luck.  She had just gone through cancer treatment and her immature husband who she had put through school had divorced her.  That thought was before the call.

Rachel gets a call telling her that she is now part of The Chain.  Her daughter, Kylie, has been kidnapped and will be killed unless Rachel completes her tasks.  First she must pay ransom.  That's the easy part.  Than she must kidnap another family's child and only when that child is successfully in the chain will her daughter be released. 

How can she do this?  She is broke so how will she get the money?  Of course, she is told not to call the police or anyone else because Kylie will also be killed if Rachel breaks the confidentiality of the Chain.  Even if she gets the money, can she really bring herself to kidnap another child?  Threaten that child's parents that she will kill the child if instructions are not followed?  Be convincing?  How can she?  How can she not?

Adrian McKinty has written an original thriller that every parent can just imagine happening to them.  Although the ending has an impossibility that took away from the book, the premise and the execution of the plot is first rate.  McKinty has made his name writing detective series and this novel breaks from that and puts the spotlight on the victim instead.  This book is recommended for mystery/thriller readers.

Tangerine by Christine Mangan

They are the best of friends, Alice Morgan and Lucy Shipley.  They are close as only two roommates in college can get, both strangers but finding friendship and a feeling of family with each other.  Alice comes from money but is a fragile child whose parents died in an accident and who has been raised by a brusque aunt who never wanted children.  Lucy has fought hard to escape her childhood poverty and make a better life for herself than any of her relatives had.  Soon they are inseparable and make plans to build lives together after college and to never be apart.

But those are childish plans.  When Alice meets a man who woos her, she is torn away and starts to build a life on her own.  Lucy can't believe it and is furious.  She starts to treat Alice horribly, making her doubt her memories and attempting to make her feel guilty enough that she will leave the man and come back to her solitary friendship with Lucy.  She isn't making much headway with Alice until the accident that changes Alice's life again.

Now Alice is making yet another life.  She has hastily met and married a man who has taken her away to Tangier.  He is in his element there, scheming and partying with the other expatriates but Alice is lost and lonely.  But she isn't lonely enough that she is anything but shocked when she opens her door and finds Lucy on the doorstep.  How did she track Alice down?  What does she want?  What will she do to get her way?

Mangan has written a study on feminine friendships and the ways that jealousy and single mindedness can wreck a relationship.  Many readers will remember a time when they were involved in the same kind of close knit relationship.  But for most of us, that time is early adolescence and the friendship either matures and grows or is discarded along the way.  Mangan explores what happens when one party will do anything to keep the other in a strangling hold through emotional blackmail.  The atmosphere is one of the book's strengths and this debut novel makes Mangan an author to be watched.  This book is recommended for readers of literary fiction and mysteries.

Booksie's Shelves, October 1, 2019

It's October although apparently this year North Carolina didn't get the message about cooler fall temperatures.  It's supposed to be a hot, muggy 95 or 96 the rest of the week.  Fleeing the hot temperatures, DH and I went north a few weeks ago and visited northern New York.  Neither of us had seen Niagara Falls and it was just an awesome sight, so much better than I had expected.  I've been visiting the library quite a bit this past month and then I found the prior year lists of the Women's National Book Association and I've been on a bit of a buying spree.  Here's what's come through the door lately:

1.  Big Lies In A Small Town, Diane Chamberlain, literary fiction, won in contest
2.  The Hearts Of Men, Nickolas Butler, literary fiction, purchased
3.  Cost, Roxana Robinson, literary fiction, purchased
4.  Appassionata, Eva Hoffman, literary fiction, purchased
5.  While I'm Falling, Laura Moriarty, literary fiction, purchased
6.  The Secret Diaries Of Charlotte Bronte, Syrie James, literary fiction, purchased
7.  The Giver Of Star, Jojo Moyes, literary fiction, sent by publisher
8.  The House On Fortune Street, Margot Livesey, literary fiction, purchased
9.  Savage Appetites, Rachel Monroe, true crime, sent by publisher
10.  What You See, Hank Phillippi Ryan, mystery, won in contest
11.  At Death's Door, Sherrilyn Kenyon, fantasy, sent by publisher
12.  Kill Zone, Kevin Anderson/Doug Beason, thriller, sent by publisher
13.  The Last Book Party, Karen Dukess, literary fiction, sent by publisher
14.  Mink River, Brian Doyle, literary fiction, purchased
15.  Just Watch Me, Jeff Lindsay, mystery, won in contest
16.  The Secret Guests, Benjamin Black, literary fiction, sent by publisher

Here's what I'm reading:

1.  The Unconsoled, Kazuo Ishiguro, hardback
2.  The Chain, Adrian McKinty, hardback
3.  Blood Work, Michael Connelley, audio
4.  Tangerine, Christine Mangan, Kindle Fire
5.  Blackfish City, Sam Miller, Kindle Fire
6.  Quichotte, Salman Rushdie, Kindle Fire

Happy Reading!

Long Black Veil by Jennifer Finney Boylan

A group of college kids visit the ruins of an old prison for fun one day.  There is Tripper, the everything guy who had it all; looks, money and charm.  Quentin was a dreamer and all the girls loved him, especially Rachel.  Maisie was a former girlfriend of Tripper's and had brought along her young brother.  Casey and Wailer had just gotten married the night before; Casey an overweight man with an enormous heart and Wailer was exotic with her foreign background.  Their old classics teacher was accompanying them as well.  The day ended in tragedy with Wailer missing and the police suspecting that she was killed but no body was ever found.

It's thirty years later and the book picks the group's stories back up.  During a renovation, Wailer's body is finally found and the police are determined to get answers.  None of the group is where they thought they'd end up.  Trapper is a lawyer with a child off to college and a failing marriage.  Casey is wealthy and has a chain of restaurants specializing in comfort food.  Maisie has spent her life taking care of her brother, Ben, who never recovered from the trauma of that day.  Rachel is a teacher and bored.  And Quentin is the biggest surprise of all.  The group thinks he is dead and he is, in a way.  After that day, he finally found the courage to fake his death and run away to transform as Judith.  Judith has a husband and family she's never told about her past and has much to lose if the truth comes out.  Who killed Wailer?

Boylan has written an intriguing mystery that has interesting characters.  The only flaw is that the book seems to be mostly a vehicle for discussing the transgender experience as that is also the author's experience.  This may be intrusive for some readers who are looking just for a mystery.  For most though, the novel will stand as an interesting read with characters who are relatable.  This book is recommended for readers of literary fiction.

The Great Hunt by Robert Jordan

This is the second novel in the Wheel Of Time series.  In this one, Rand and his friends, Mat and Perrin are off to find The Great Horn of Valere.  They had turned it over so that it could be sent off and secured but it is stolen but a Darkfriend.  The Horn can call back the great dead warriors from the past so it is a legend and a very valuable item that should never be in the possession of those on the Dark Side.  Along with the Horn is the dagger that is needed to save Mat's life.

Egwene and Nynaeve are in Tar Valon where they are starting their training to be full fledged Aes Sedai.  The queen's daughter, Elayne, and Min, who can read an individual's future are there also.  When Egwene and Nynaeve are told that Rand and the others are in terrible danger and that only they can save them, they immediately break their training and set off.  It is nothing but a horrible trick, however, and they end up in the land of the Seanchan, where Aes Sedai are captured and leashed, forced to do only what their masters command. 

Rand is still fighting the fact that he can channel and he desperately tries to find a way to hold off this power and the title of the Dragon Reborn that Moraine has revealed to him.  Can he find a way to protect all of his friends and fight for the good without accessing this power that may kill him?

Fans of the series will find that this one moves more quickly than the first which had to be concerned with world building.  Rand and the others are coming more into their true natures as their trip moves them to accept what part they must play in the world for it to survive.  This book is recommended for fantasy readers.

The Whore's Child by Richard Russo

When I think of Richard Russo, I think of upper New York and towns that are struggling after the factories have shut down.  He writes about everyday folks, folks who just go out and work to put food on the table and who are happy to have the occasional treat.  After reading this anthology, I need to rethink Russo and acknowledge his deft way of drawing a character with no words wasted.  This volume has seven stories and each is a gem.

In my favorite story, The Mysteries Of Linwood Hart, a nine year old boy deals with his father moving out.  He tries to understand what broke up the marriage, why his father doesn't get along with his own family and why his mother is determined to change him.  Linwood is playing baseball for the first year and his coach also seems to be auditioning for the job of stepfather. 

The title story is about a former nun who is in a creative writing class.  Her first sentences in her stories are killer openings and the class soon realizes they don't know her or the inner workings of the faith that she has served at all.  In another story, a man visits the artist who his wife had a long term affair with after her death.  In Joy Ride, another child goes with his mother on an extended road trip when she apparently decides that her life as a wife and mother just isn't working out.

Each story is a gem that explores the inner life of ordinary people and helps the reader acknowledge the special qualities that each of us has.  Russo is at times laugh out loud funny and sometimes poignant or even outright sad.  But at the end of each story, the reader will be wiser about human nature.  This book is recommended for readers of literary fiction.

Autonomous by Annalee Newitz

Jack is in trouble.  A pirate of drugs, she uses her background and education to reverse engineer popular drugs and make them available for much cheaper to the population who can't afford them.  But this latest reverse engineer has gone deadly.  She reversed a popular productivity drug and now users are becoming addicted, unable to leave their work for anything else, not food not home not rest.  Scores are being hospitalized and some are dying.  Jack needs to fix this fast.  She takes her pirate spaceship down and revisits the labs she started in where she can get help.  She takes along Threezed, a slave she ended up with when she killed his master for trying to steal her ship.

Paladin is a semi-autonomous robot.  She works with Eliasz, a human intelligence agent who seems to have a past that won't let him live in the present and a fondness for Paladin that seems to cross the barriers between human and machine.  Their assignment is to find Jack and stop her by whatever means necessary. 

Annalee Newitz has created an interesting exploration of what it means to be human and outlines some of the new dilemmas we will face as artificial intelligence becomes viable.  Her world is set in 2144, not an impossible leap of the imagination. Jack is a sympathetic character as she tries to liberate drugs that can improve lives but Paladin is also sympathetic as she explores what it means to be human and to maybe one day have free will to do what she chooses.  Newitz writes extensively both fiction and nonfiction about the intersection that is outlined in this book and has a background that includes an MIT science journalism fellowship, a career as a policy analyst at the Electronic Frontier Foundation and a PhD from Berkeley.  This book is recommended for science fiction readers.

The Dutch House by Ann Patchett

Danny Conroy knows well who the most important person in his life is.  It's his older sister, Maeve.  His father, Cyril, is a self-made man, someone who moved up from the poverty he was raised in to remake himself as a wealthy man dealing in real estate.  His first big deal once he struck it rich was to buy Dutch House, a fabulous house in the Philadelphia suburbs, built by a magnate and on the market with everything inside, clothes, furniture, kitchen settings, photographs, etc.  He buys this house and then surprises his wife with it.

She is definitely surprised.  She had planned to become a nun until Cyril talked her out of it halfway through her novice time.  She is appalled by the showy house and cannot get used to it.  She only wants to help others and slowly she moves away from the family, going back to the convent and staying for longer and longer periods of time, working with the poor.  Finally, when Maeve is a preteen and Danny around four, she leaves forever, running off to India.  At that point, Maeve becomes even more of a mother figure for Danny and his life revolves around her.

Cyril decides to remarry.  Andrea is younger than Cyril by several decades and she comes with two little girls.  The war between her, Maeve and the household staff is immediate and unrelenting.  Andrea is determined to remake everything in the house and their lives to suit herself and they all feel that they were doing just fine without her and her ideas.  When Cyril dies unexpectedly, Andrea has her chance.  She kicks out Danny who is fifteen at the time.  He moves into Maeve's apartment and they soon realize that Andrea gets everything and that they have gone from wealth to poverty except for an educational trust that will pay for Danny's college.

Over the years, Danny and Maeve's lives seem stuck in the rut of this injustice.  Although Danny marries and has children, Maeve seems stuck in the same place, same little house, same little job.  They are the most important person to each other no matter what else happens.  Marriages, children, jobs, careers, nothing outweighs the tie between the two and the horrible thing that happened to them.

Ann Patchett is an automatic read for me.  She seems interested these days in family relationships as this book and her last, Commonwealth, explore the various ways that families exist and what they mean to the members inside them.  Danny and Maeve are interesting characters and it is hard to see them stuck in the injustice that was done to them when they were just starting out.  This book is recommended for literary fiction readers.

There There by Tommy Orange

The reader is introduced to a group of individuals whose lives paint the current Native American experience.  There are Jacqui Red Feather and Opal Viola Victoria Bear Shield, who are sisters, born to the same mother but with different fathers.  They are taken by their mother to the Native American takeover of Alcatraz in the 70's, where they live for a while with others.  While there, Jacqui is raped and is pregnant with a daughter she gives up for adoption.  This is Blue.  Tony is the victim of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and bears the mark of it on his features for the world to see.  Orvil and Lony and Loother are Jacqui's grandsons, being raised by Opal and whom she never sees.  Harvey is the emcee of various powwows, and now one is coming to Oakland where most of the characters live.

As the powwow gets closer, the characters interact in various ways.  Orvil is not sure what it means to be Native American but he wants to know and is there to dance.  He has learned the dances from YouTube, not from an older man or tribe.  Jacqui comes with Harvey who is also expecting to meet his son Edwin who has found him online.  A different group has decided that this would be the perfect venue to rob and has printed out plastic guns and comes prepared to do whatever it takes to get the money they are sure is there.

All these characters collide at the powwow in a mixture of discovery and tragedy.  As some discover family ties, others act out their rage and sense of hopelessness.  All along we see the effect of poverty, drug and alcohol addiction, lack of opportunity and education.  This is a debut novel by an author who is himself an enrolled member of both the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes.  It is recommended by those who wish to learn about the Native American modern experience and readers of literary fiction.

Three Graves Full by Jamie Mason

Imagine that you kind of accidentally killed a man in your living room.  You know it's not really your fault, but then again, would the police see it that way?  So you bury it in the back yard and try to regain the life you had before.  That's Jason Getty's situation.  He came to town after his wife died and left him some money.  He didn't really know anyone and he's a shy man who is easily swayed or even bullied by others.  When a charming sociopath takes a favor Jason did for him to establish a relationship where he came and took from Jason all the time, Jason doesn't know what to do and it ended in death.

Now imagine this.  When you bought your house, no one told you that a scandal had occurred there.  The wife of the family had just up and left one day, leaving behind her husband.  Except she didn't leave.  It turns out that she and the man she was having an affair with were surprised one day and now are on either side of the house, guarding it in death.

When the police learn about the deaths from the brother of the man who was married to the woman, they come to the house and quickly locate the graves of the two.  Jason, of course, never knew he was living between two bodies and now there's the added complication that he'll need to move the body he planted in the backyard before the police find that one as well.  But things never go smoothly for Jason.  Before the night is over, he is caught up in a live and death struggle along with the fiance of the buried man, the brother who killed them both and a police detective that has gotten suspicious.  How it will all turn out is anyone's guess.

Jamie Mason has written an engaging mystery with believable characters caught up in unimaginable circumstances.  This is Mason's debut novel and it was well received and reviewed.  On a personal note, I met Mrs. Mason at an author's lunch and was thrilled to hear about her process and her take on the book.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.

A Mercy by Toni Morrison

It is the 1680's in the United States.  A farmer/trader has carved out a smallholding for himself, after starting in poverty.  He advertises for a wife and is pleasantly surprised with the young, beautiful woman who arrives.  As he is on the road so much, he needs servants to help her run his farm while he is gone.  He doesn't like having male servants, so he has three female ones.

Lina is the oldest, a woman who came to him after being misused in her prior life.  She has no desire for marriage or a man and is devoted to her mistress and Sir as he is known.  The mistress starts off very remote to Lina but as they are left on their own so much and as Lina helps her through her pregnancies and births, and as she grieves with the mistress over the deaths of all her children, they become close.

Sorrow is someone no one knows much about.  She is a white woman who grew up on her father's boat and after he died, was cast ashore with no idea how to survive.  She ended up at Sir's estate after the sons of her rescuers were taking too much interest in her.  Most consider Sorrow to be mentally challenged but she sees the world around her through a different filter than others do. 

Florens is the newest member, a slave girl who Sir accepted as partial payment of a loan rashly given to a plantation owner.  She is only six when she arrives; her mother having pushed her forward when Sir looked over the possible individuals the plantation owner was willing to give up.  Florens is attached to Lina, who sees Florens as the child she'll never have.  The mistress accepts her but also resents having this living child while her own have all died. 

A crisis occurs when smallpox attacks the farm.  Sir is in the process of having a big stately house built.  The pox spreads quickly through the farm's occupants, and it is decided that only the blacksmith who came to build the gates has a chance of healing everyone.  Florens is dispatched on her own to find him and bring him back, even though Lina distrusts him as she suspects that Florens has become infatuated with him.

Morrison has written a haunting tale that not only describes daily life in the time period with owners, indentured servants, slaves and children taken in after death removes their parents.  Slavery is shown for its cruelty and for the sacrifice that slave women often took; pushing their children forward to be taken out of cruel situations when they believe another situation might be better.  Of course the children see it only as rejection and many spend their lives trying to replace that motherly love and the sense of trust that is snatched away.  This book is recommended for readers of literary fiction.