There's a Word for That

Inheritance. After I finished reading Sloane Tanen’s novel titled, There’s a Word for That, I thought of something a psychiatrist said after pointing toward his copy of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders: “we’re all in there somewhere.” Tanen uses the members of multiple generations of the Kessler family to describe aspects of inheritance and help readers laugh at our lifelong foibles. Protagonist Marty Kessler is a 75-year-old movie producer heading to rehab because he’s hooked on opioids. A fellow resident at the rehab in Malibu is Bunny Small, a 70-year-old writer to whom Marty had been married briefly decades earlier. Tanen defines some German words at the beginning of chapters to support the meaning of the book’s title. I felt mildly entertained and found Tanen’s prose enjoyable both in dialogue and exposition. Maybe all the dysfunction in the relationships was just tiring. Rating: Three-star (It’s ok) Click here to purchase There’s a Word for That from amazon.com.

Oliver Wendell Holmes: A Life in War, Law, and Ideas

Zeal. I love reading a book that closes a gap in my learning that I didn’t know was there. Stephen Budiansky’s biography titled, Oliver Wendell Holmes: A Life in War, Law, and Ideas, taught me loads of things I never knew about the renowned jurist. Before reading this book, I knew about some of Holmes’ Supreme Court opinions. Now, I know about his full life: his zeal for living, how formative his Civil War service was, his many engaging relationships, his lively conversational style and his hunger for knowledge. I feel a bond with Holmes the fellow reader, and when I read about him enjoying P.G. Wodehouse, I felt like I made a new friend. Budiansky writes for general readers in a style that will keep all readers interested throughout this finely written biography. Rating: Five-star (I love it) Click here to purchase Oliver Wendell Holmes from amazon.com.

Lady in the Lake

Reporter. The location for Laura Lippman’s latest standalone novel titled, Lady in the Lake, is Baltimore, as usual, and the time period is mostly the 1960s. Protagonist Maddie Schwartz has just left a twenty year marriage and frees herself to do something meaningful with her life. She wheedles her way into a job at a Baltimore newspaper, and proves her worth as an investigative reporter helping solve a mystery. The novel is packed with a cast of fascinating characters, and the great story that Lippman writes even includes a surprise twist. Rating: Four-star (I like it) Click here to purchase Lady in the Lake from amazon.com.

Henry, Himself

Seasons. We spend most of our time in the ordinary routines of life. In his novel titled, Henry, Himself, Stewart O’Nan reprises characters from earlier novels. We get to observe the everyday life of protagonist Henry Maxwell and his wife, Emily, as they go through the change of seasons and do what most of us do: fall into our typical patterns, and stumble into new people, places and things that tend to surprise us and shake us out of our routine. O’Nan offers readers a portrait of a guy in Pittsburgh who could be any one of us. Readers looking for lots of action and drama won’t fine it here. What patient readers will find is a good man living a good life and well-written prose. Rating: Four-star (I like it) Click here to purchase Henry Himself from amazon.com.

A Wonderful Stroke of Luck

Unpredictable. At the core of Ann Beattie’s novel titled, A Wonderful Stroke of Luck, there is this reality about life: it’s unpredictable. Protagonist Ben was a star at his private school, but has drifted since, not quite living up to his perceived potential. That potential was influenced by a manipulative teacher, Pierre LaVerdere. I know I had teachers like LaVerdere. In college, we called one professor “Flies,” because where there’s shit, there’s flies. It is difficult in youth to discern truth. Lots of characters come and go, each one revealing inner thoughts while being walloped by reality. The nature of life is that things never turn out the way we expect, and Beattie delivers that truth with keen insight in this novel. The title comes from the epigraph and when you read it, you might be quite surprised. It was a great note on which to begin this novel. The reversals in the lives of characters are so frequent that many readers will feel as out of control as Ben himself. And as to LaVerdere, he turns out to be more despicable than I imagined, and when he reenters Ben’s life years after their teacher-student relationship ended, he attempts to reprise his manipulation. Beattie reveals the lies we tell each other and writes with great precision about life as it is: messy, unpredictable and often deceitful. If after the first reading of this novel, you are frustrated or confused, read it again, and its likely you’ll see the skill with which Beattie writes this novel. Rating: Five-star (I love it) Click here to purchase A Wonderful Stroke of Luck from amazon.com.

The Ditch

Marriages. All is not well in the life of the mayor of Amsterdam as presented in the novel by Herman Koch titled, The Ditch. While the mayor gives us his name as Robert Walter, that is not his name, nor is his wife named Silvia. Koch explores the interactions of couples in marriage and exposes the consequences of what is not expressed with clarity. Robert has suspicions. Sylvia has been and will always be a foreigner. Robert’s own parents are another study in being both together and apart. A formative experience of Robert’s is revealed late in the novel, as well as the meaning of the title of the novel. Koch riffs on trust and distrust in many aspects and patient readers are rewarded by the end of the novel with insights about what has been going on in this entertaining novel. Rating: Four-star (I like it) Click here to purchase The Ditch from amazon.com.

Conviction

Podcast. I share an interest in podcasts with Anna McDonald, the protagonist of Denise Mina’s novel titled, Conviction. After hearing a podcast episode about a true crime, Anna and the plot take off. It turns out that Anna was very familiar with the crime described on the podcast. For almost four hundred pages, Mina writes with clever wit and readers learn about a secret from Anna’s past and the efforts she takes to come to terms with solving a mystery and finding out the truth about something that changed her life. Rating: Four-star (I like it) Click here to purchase Conviction from amazon.com.