The Deeper the Water the Uglier the Fish

Domestic. Many novels that present dysfunctional family life offer insight into the complexity of our human condition. In her debut novel titled, The Deeper the Water the Uglier the Fish, Katya Apekina elegantly presents us with a tragic family saga. Mother Marianne goes to a psychiatric hospital following a suicide attempt. Teenage daughters Edie and Mae leave life with their mother in Louisiana and end up in New York with their father, Dennis, a novelist. Through different narrators, we see tragic lives in different ways. As in many families, different children describe their shared experience in radically different ways, as if they were raised in different places. Greek myths come alive for modern readers on these pages, whether recognized or not. Rating: Four-star (I like it) Click here to purchase The Deeper the Water from amazon.com.

The Titanic Secret

Mining. The eleventh installment in the Isaac Bell adventure series by Clive Cussler is a novel titled, The Titanic Secret. Cussler pulls protagonist Dirk Pitt from a different series to start this novel a century after the time when the main action in the novel takes place. Detective Isaac Bell investigates a Colorado mine disaster in 1911 and before long goes on a global adventure to track down the mining of a rare earth element named byzanium. As always, Bell is a terrific investigator who gets into life threatening scrapes with bad guys. Fans of formulaic character-driven fiction are those readers most likely to enjoy this novel and this series. Rating: Three-star (It’s ok) Click here to purchase The Titanic Secret from amazon.com.

In My Mind's Eye

Endearing. Jan Morris calls her book titled, In My Mind’s Eye, “a thought diary.” Wherever those thoughts come from, they are finely written, endearing and certainly eclectic. Some of the daily diary entries are short, and others are finely developed essays. Most are quips that will cause readers to smile and become charmed by this talented author who still amazes in her nineties. Could there be something magical in the water in Wales? Rating: Four-star (I like it) Click here to purchase In My Mind’s Eye from amazon.com.

The Cost of Living

Brisk. The short book by Deborah Levy titled, The Cost of Living, allows readers to sample her fine prose while eavesdropping on a few selected episodes from her life. Levy calls this “a working autobiography,” and it is a glimpse into the writer’s observations about living in our world with interesting other people. All of a writer’s life can become source material, and in this book, Levy takes us behind the curtain to spend time with her memories and observations. I finished the book wanting to meet her mother and I smiled when I finally reached the phrase that became the title of this book. Fans of literary prose are those most likely to enjoy this book. Rating: Four-star (I like it) Click here to purchase The Cost of Living from amazon.com.

Severance

Routine. I enjoyed the deep insight into contemporary life on the pages of Ling Ma’s debut novel titled, Severance. Protagonist Candace Chen came to the United States from China as a little girl. Most of the action in this humorous and satiric novel takes place while Candace is working in New York as a young adult following the death of both parents. Her routine is constant: work for a Manhattan publisher monitoring the production of specialty books in China, followed by watching movies in a basement apartment in Brooklyn. A global disease called Shen Fever is killing people everywhere, but Candace seems immune and continues her routine. Readers will recognize Candace as a representative of her age cohort and as the child of immigrants who wanted the best for her. We root for her as she does what’s necessary to survive the Shen Fever. Rating: Four-star (I like it) Click here to purchase Severance from amazon.com.

The Water Cure

Protection. Sophie Mackintosh’s debut novel is titled, The Water Cure. Some undescribed catastrophe hit the mainland, so parents named King and Mother have taken their daughters, Grace, Lia and Sky, to an island for protection. The daughters are subjected to a variety of therapies to keep them pure, including keeping their hands in frozen water and sweating in a sauna until unconscious. Taught to fear strangers, especially men, the daughters live in isolation with ways of living to which they have become accustomed. This situation can’t endure, so after King disappears, and strangers arrive on the island, the therapies for protection fall aside and unmet needs are confronted. Readers are left to ponder big questions from this novel about gender, cults, and the stories we can be led to believe and the ways we can live when prompted that this is the way things are. Rating: Three-star (It’s ok) Click here to purchase The Water Cure from amazon.com.

The Fork, the Witch, and the Worm: Tales from Alagaësia

Return. Fans of Christopher Paolini’s Inheritance Cycle and the Eragon stories are those readers most likely to enjoy the return to Alagaësia with the three stories collected in a book titled, The Fork, the Witch, and the Worm. I especially enjoyed the excerpt from the memoir of Angela the herbalist. For readers who thought Paolini could only write massively long books, here’s an example of the author’s ability to tell great stories efficiently. Rating: Four-star (I like it) Click here to purchase The Fork The Witch and the Worm from amazon.com.