Labor Day by Joyce Maynard

If you are in the mood for a love story along the lines of Bridges of Madison County then this is a good book for you.  The narrator of the story is a 13 year old boy who lives alone with his mother since the divorce of his parents.  Henry is a loving, self sacrificing boy who is more than forgiving of his mother's eccentricities.  They live far removed from everyone in their town; they rarely leave their house; they have long rambling talks over their TV dinners that are entirely too embarrassing as far as Henry is concerned.  From the beginning the reader knows something is terribly wrong with Henry's mother, Adele, but we only find bits a pieces of information along the way to help us understand her fear of anyone or anything outside of her house.  Henry and Adele's lives change completely though because of a chance encounter at the market.  Henry meets Frank while looking at the magazine racks and without really thinking, agrees to let Frank come home with him.  Frank, we learn early on, is an escaped convict thought to be dangerous and willing to harm anyone who gets in his way.  Thus begins the weekend that changes all their lives.  Maynard tells her story with a sense of mystery and a compassion that pulls you in even when you are questioning the plausibility of the plot line.  The characters are believable and so human that you feel you might know them.  Each character has such a strong need for love and understanding. In the end, love wins out which is the way we usually want our love stories to end. As Frank says, "when you follow the instincts of love---a person is likely to respond favorably.....(even) people so damaged by life in the world that there might seem no hope for them, only there may be.  It is a good reminder for all of us.  Love can conquer many things.

The Aviator's Wife by Melanie Benjamin

     What is a hero?  What characteristics do you see in your heroes?  Most would agree a hero is brave, confident, dependable and selfless.  For most Americans Charles Lindbergh would be considered high on the list of national heroes who embody these traits.  In the novel, The Aviator's Wife by Melanie Benjamin (a Ben Davis graduate) we found that Lindbergh was not all that he was thought to be.  This historical fiction novel painted a much different picture of this man than the golden boy, Lucky Lindy, we have read about in our history books.  Told through the voice of his wife, Anne Marrow Lindbergh, we saw that this famous man was indeed brave and determined and driven to claim his place in history as the greatest aviator of all time.  But we also learned he was demanding and controlling and detached from his family and his wife to a maddening degree. The book was a heart rending account of his wife Anne's search for identity and contentment in the face of Lindgergh's relentless need for a subservient "crew" that would forever be at his beck and call, following his orders without question.  In the end, Anne did find her voice and her own happiness. She was "Mom, wife and pilot."  She came to understand that a woman's life was always "changing and accomodating...to finally emerge victorious and strong."  This novel was fact based but the author did take liberties to reinforce the storyline.  Overall, the narrative was strong and led us to want to know more about these real people and as the author said, "to leave the read wanting more is the best thing historical fiction can do."

Up From the Blue by Susan Henderson

Up From the Blue is the story of a troubled woman, Tillie, who has completely cut herself off from her father and who has chosen to remain angry and alienated from him rather than accept his misguided attempts to protect her from the truth about her mother who was a desperately ill woman.   The framed tale of Tillie tells the story of a girl who grows up in a most dysfunctional family.  Tillie's father is a lifelong military man who is married to a bipolar, manic depressive woman.  Unfortunately, Tillie must forge a path toward adulthood with these two adults as her models.  Needless to say, she struggled.  Her childhood is related to us through flashbacks that are painful to uncover.  This poor little girl was never given the chance to understand what was happening to her mother because her father decided it would be better to keep everything a secret.  As a result, Tillie hated him. She never saw the part her mother played in the deception and cover up and consequently never held her mother accountable.  The reader sees that Tillie (as an adult) has problems of her own that she is ignoring.  We are left to wonder if she will continue to become more like her mother as she ages and has children of her own.  The book was well written and definitely opened itself for good discussion. It was not a book that was uplifting or encouraging but perhaps it is the type of book that we should read in order to open a discussion about forgiveness and acceptance.

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

Many of us grew up knowing the phrase "Love means never having to say you're sorry" from the book Love Story.  Most of us knew this was not true, but John Green's novel clarifies a major truth of life: we all will have to say we are sorry over and over again especially to those we love.  Green's poignant story of first love, The Fault in Our Stars,  beautifully explains what we all know to be true.  We all will experience pain and suffering in this world.  How we choose to deal with the trials of our lives is what is most important. Green's main characters, Augustus and Hazel Grace, are two teenagers who are dealing with the fact that cancer is a side effect of dying.  Both have lived through the treatment of their cancer, but because of their experience they know that life is not a given.  They know that people do not live forever and that young people do not have any special privilege that allows them to live long happy lives.  When we meet Hazel she has come to terms with the fact that she is dying and she has chosen to limit the damage her death will cause by removing herself from most people.  She describes herself as a grenade that will blow everyone apart when she dies and she just sees no point in spreading the damage to too many people.  Unlike Hazel, Augustus is determined to meet and enjoy as many people as possible in his life because he wants his life to mean something.  He wants to leave a mark on the universe.  And so through these wonderfully written characters this star crossed lovers' story reveals to us truths about life and death.  We celebrate the charming and clever Gus.  We applaud the brave and strong Hazel.  We cheer for their ability to see the gift that they have been given and we cry when we realize that "time is a slut that screws everybody" and that "there is no honor is dying of". In the end Gus got it right.  He knew he was lucky to have loved Hazel.  And she was right when she tells us she was so grateful for "their little infinity of love."  John Green's novel was written as a young adult book, but his voice touched all of us.  This is a two thumbs up book that we all recommend.

Master Butcher's Singing Club by Louise Erdrich

September 2013 -- Master Butcher's Singing Club by Louise Erdrich

This character driven novel was filled with really rich characters.  Unfortunately, we all felt that it took quite a while to get into the story because we had so many characters to meet and at the beginning they seemed to be so separate and distinct.  It was not immediately clear how their stories connected, but once the connections began the design of their lives became so intertwined we were amazed.  Erdrich's story was unique and deep.  Each character was likable and yet completely unlikable as the story progressed.  Eva was the only one we all felt was good throughout.  She loved her family and she protected them at all costs.  She reached out to Delphine when she saw her need for family and this connection proved to be the saving grace for all.  The themes of love's complications, of human nature's shortcomings and of even the best people's unfailing ability to betray and "butcher"  were played out in so many ways in the novel through WWI and WWII, through the story lines of a small North Dakota town, and even through the intimate lives of the men and women in the story.  Fidelis loved Eva and yet he was a butcher in the form or a sniper in the war.  Cyprian loved Delphine and yet he was gay and not able to give her the kind of love she craved.  Franz loved Clarisse and yet he was not able to see past her poor family when he deserted her when she needed him most.  Roy loved Step and a Half and yet he could not overcome his alcohol addiction or his small minded feelings of being slighted by others and his desire for revenge.  In the end  it was Step and a Half (who watched from the side lines) who really recognized the black heart of of humans that kept people from truly finding peace and happiness.   The ending really made this book worth reading.  It was a wonderful revelation of purpose by Erdrich.  It left us with a big "Wow!" at the end.

July, 2013 Me Before You by JoJo Moyes

Me Before You by JoJo Moyes is a love story.  Really?  I guess it was a love story that was onesided and selfish and painful and funny and gutwrenching and maddening and star crossed and... I could go on but overall I think we would say we had a difference of opinion on this one.  That being said, the book was wonderful; we all really loved it.  The problem was we could not agree on the outcome.  The main characters, Lou and Will, were wonderfully written, real life people who found each other in the most unusual of circumstances.  Lou was the eccentric, "loser" with no real ambition other than to live her life in the quiet town from which she came.  She was content to live with her parents, date/live with her boyfriend Patrick for another 7 years, and to work menial jobs for the rest of her life it seemed.  Her life changed because she took a job as a caregiver to Will, a quadriplegic who was once a dashing, high power wheeler-dealer.  These two people spent 6 months together and they both acknowledged they were the best 6 months of their lives.  But, and it is a big but, the love they found in each other was not enough for Will.  He just could not live in the shell that his body had become.  The prison that his useless body became was too painful and it blinded him and therefore he could not see any hope for his future.  Because he loved himself more than he could possibly love Lou he chose to quit on them.  The result of this decision was a point we could not come to concensus on.  Some of the group thought Will's choice was really for the good of Lou.  He showed her what living was; he gave her a way to live a much fuller life; he refused to saddle her with a broken man that she would always have to take care of and that she could possibly come to resent.  Others of us felt that his choice was all about Will.  He refused to see that their time together might have been the most important part of Lou's life.  He took her choice away by making his.  His selfish refusal to give them a chance was too heartbreaking.  Regardless of our conclusion, we all agreed this was a really thought provoking, wonderful story.  High marks for Me Before You.

June, 2013--Firefly Lane by Kristen Hannah

Once again Kristen Hannah has written a strong, character driven novel that really connected with us.  The two main characters, Kate and Tully, became best friends when they were in their pre-teens.  Each young girl needed a true friend and once they found each other on Firefly Lane, they remained BFFs for the next 30+ years.  Kate, the quiet and reserved one, was caught up in the force field of Tully and consequently became more than she ever dreamed she could be.  Tully, the beauty with brains, found love that she so desperately craved with Kate and her family.  We were not unanimous about our affections for the two women however.  Some thought Tully was too self centered and too controlling.  Her inability to stop  interfering into Kate's daughter's life was inexcusable.  Some thought Kate was too weak and too controlled by her unsubstantiated jealousy of Tully and Kate's husband to be seen as totally blameless in all situations with Tully.  In the end, the genuine love these two women had for each other was the glue that held the story together.  Regardless of our differences, we all were drawn into the lives of these characters in Hannah's story.  They became real to us and we were invested in the lives that were unveiled for us.  The Firefly Lane girls were true to life and they were women we really grew to care about.  I think we would all say we would be happy to have such a friend.