Other Favorites

There are several books I've wanted to cover for awhile now and just haven't gotten to it so I thought I'd do a long post and get them all out there. These are all books that I've really enjoyed reading and are always at the top of my list when I am asked to give recommendations.

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
At the beginning of this book, we meet Jacob Jankowski, a ninety-something man who lives in a nursing home and hates it. But Jacob has a story - when he was a young man, he literally ran away and joined the circus. Not Ringling Brothers, which was the standard in circuses in depression-era America, but the Benzini Brothers, a poor imitation. The book follows Jacob's life in the Circus, from the brutal to the amazing to the mundane. The animals are abused and underfed and Jacob suddenly finds himself the manager of this menagerie when it is discovered that he has some Veterinary skills. Along with Jacob, we meet some very interesting characters in the Circus from Uncle Al, who bullies people because he can, to August, the paranoid schizophrenic animal trainer, to Marlena, August's wife, whom Jacob falls in love with. It is 0bvious from the onset that Gruen has carefully researched this book; the circus language and lore is all correct and really brings the story to life. The only complaint I have with this book is the end - I felt it was a bit too contrived, although it did fit in with the rest of the story.


The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
This story is told by the two main characters, Henry De Tamble, and his wife Clare, in alternating narratives. Henry is a librarian with "Chrono Displacement" disorder: with no advance warning, he randomly disappears and reappears in either the past or the present, usually to a point in time that is of some importance in his life. When he first meets his wife Clare, she claims she has known him all her life; he, on the other hand, has never seen her before. But then in his 40's, he travels to the past and meets a 6 year old Clare. The author does a great job of describing Clare's feelings of always being the one left behind, as well as Henry's confusion around where and when he'll appear next. It's an unusual premise and while we follow Henry on his jumps through time, we still get a chance to know each of the characters and see how their
relationships develop.

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
"My name was Salmon, like the fish; first name, Susie. I was fourteen when I was murdered on December 6, 1973." This is how we first come to meet Susie, the narrator of this novel, while she is adjusting to a life in Heaven, where she can have anything she wants except the only thing she wants - to be alive and back with her loved ones. Throughout the next few years, Susie objectively watches while her friends and family come to terms with her death. She is even able to see her murder-rapist and while she wants him caught, she is also fascinated by him. She
watches Ray, the first and only boy to kiss her, be initially blamed for her murder while still coping with losing his first love. While the first chapter is quite graphic, the rest of the novel is really a story of observation and despite it's rather morbid start, will speak to you in many ways. It's not a story about murder, it's a story about love and forgiveness and living life, even when you don't think you can anymore.

The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards
The pivotal moment in this novel happens at the very beginning, when Dr. David Henry is forced to deliver his twins in the midst of a snowstorm in Lexington, KY. When the doctor sees that his daughter was born with Down Syndrome, he asks the nurse, Caroline Gill to take her away. When his wife, Norah, awakens, he tells her that the other twin died during childbirth. Instead of sending Phoebe, the child, to an institution, Caroline moves to Pittsburgh and raises her as her own. David's deception is the driving force behind this novel and propels the story through the next 25 years; David is eaten away by guilt and Norah cannot stop mourning the child she never knew. While the story can get a bit preachy, the overall tone is one of compassion and acceptance and will be one you will definitely enjoy.