The Motion of the Body Through Space

Vulnerability. Lionel Shriver skewers the cult of fitness in her novel titled, The Motion of the Body Through Space, while she places the topics of marriage and aging under her perceptive microscope. Sixty-year-old Serenata has exercised daily for decades and has been procrastinating scheduling knee surgery. Her husband, Remington, has led a sedentary life, but when he finds himself in early involuntary retirement, he decides to run a marathon. When a personal trainer spots hapless Remington, she sees a goldmine for her business. If she can get him to finish MettleMan, a hyper-triathlon, she’ll get all the clients she can handle. Shriver captures with precision and grace the vulnerabilities we face as we age, and the peaks and valleys in long term marital relationships. Readers who enjoy finely written prose, whether fitness buffs or couch potatoes, are those most likely to appreciate this novel. Rating: Five-star (I love it) Click here to purchase The Motion of the Body Through Space from amazon.com.

The Jerusalem Assassin

Tense. The third novel by Joel C. Rosenberg to feature former U.S. Secret Service agent Marcus Ryker is titled, The Jerusalem Assassin. Unknown terrorists are meeting with success in targeting key players, so when President Clarke announces a new Mideast peace plan and wants to go to Jerusalem, Ryker is engaged to try to keep the President and others safe. The tension remains taut throughout this thriller, and the terrorists are worthy adversaries, usually keeping a step ahead of Ryker and others. As always, a reader feels the plot comes straight from recent headlines, and Rosenberg situates the issues among different countries in the region with great skill. Now that my heart rate has come back down, I can say I was thoroughly entertained by this novel. Rating: Four-star (I like it) Click here to purchase The Jerusalem Assassin from amazon.com.

Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family

Schizophrenia. Readers won’t soon forget the Galvin family after completing Robert Kolker’s exposition in his book titled, Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family. Don and Mimi Galvin had twelve children starting in the mid-1940s and ending in the mid-1960s. Six of the children developed schizophrenia. Through extensive interviews with family members, scientists and others, Kolker offers life stories that describe situations that will make most readers uncomfortable. Once a reader opens the door to come inside, it will be hard to leave the Galvin family dynamics. While telling a personal story, Kolker also describes the development of science over the same time period and how the Galvin family influenced research and treatment for this disease. Rating: Five-star (I love it) Click here to purchase Hidden Valley Road from amazon.com.

Barn 8

Chickens. Things don’t always turn out the way we plan. In her novel titled, Barn 8, Deb Olin Unferth introduces readers to a group of activists who plan to rescue a million chickens from the barns on a factory farm. What could possibly go wrong? Unferth’s writing leads us to care about the cast of characters and to love the chickens, while allowing the madcap action to unfold. I like a funny story that has an important message and this book had me laughing and thinking. There’s really no limit to the things we’ll do for love. Fans of imaginative and well-written fiction are those readers most likely to enjoy this novel. Rating: Four-star (I like it) Click here to purchase Barn 8 from amazon.com.

Chosen Ones

Dark. Fans of thrilling and twisting stories are those readers most likely to enjoy Veronica Roth’s novel titled, Chosen Ones. Set in a slightly altered Chicago with a parallel darker Chicago attached, this imaginative novel keeps a fast-paced plot moving along while we get to enjoy the development of interesting and complex, nuanced characters. Protagonist Sloane heads toward a nemesis, the Dark One, and feels the heavy weight of responsibility to prevent chaos. Rating: Four-star (I like it) Click here to purchase Chosen Ones from amazon.com.

All Adults Here

Love. After spending time reading about three generations of the Strick family in Emma Straub’s novel titled, All Adults Here, most readers will feel an extra spark of love for our own parents, siblings, children and grandchildren. Most of us will be more thankful for our relations and their issues when compared to the cast of characters in this novel. Sixty-eight-year-old matriarch Astrid Strick leads the ensemble, and her teenage granddaughter, Cecilia, may be the most mature member of the family. Straub packs a host of contemporary issues into this family and the small town in which Astrid lives. I loved the sibling dynamics in the novel, and the insight that as parents we may do our best but know there are things we’ve done that require an apology to our children. Wisdom comes from not guessing what those things are, because they may not be the events or actions we recall. Rating: Four-star (I like it) Click here to purchase All Adults Here from amazon.com.

Until the End of Time: Mind, Matter, and Our Search for Meaning in an Evolving Universe

Thinking. Brian Greene challenges readers of his book titled, Until the End of Time: Mind, Matter, and Our Search for Meaning in an Evolving Universe, to think about thinking. He aims to provide clarity, and I now have more questions than when I started, which is perfect. As he explores a variety of theories and points us to the cosmos, he also directs us inward on a search for meaning. Greene distills lots of big notions on these pages, any one of which lead a reader into decades of further study. He has a way of making connections that will encourage readers to continue thinking after we finish reading this book. Rating: Four-star (I like it) Click here to purchase Until the End of Time from amazon.com.