My first read by Chamberlain, and it won't be my last. Chamberlain always has a wide cast of characters, and sometimes the best part of her books is figuring out who has ulterior motives. Great characters, great story, great ending.
Riley MacPherson's father died and she returns to New Bern, NC, to settle the estate. Her brother is there but he is suffering from PTSD and an injury from Iraq. He wants nothing to do with the estate and harbors deep resentment towards their dead sister, Lisa. He feels she destroyed the family. But Riley is discovering secrets regarding her sister. Did Lisa really commit suicide or was she murdered or did she fake her death?
The book follows Riley's search for the truth, interspersed with her sister, Lisa's, story. The story culminates in their collision and reunion, after some pretty major turns in the road.
Recommended by Monica Shine
Click here to view in the catalog.
This is one of the best books I've read in the past year. A beautifully written tiny story of two people falling in love and building a relationship in a world torn apart by war and the constant migration of people fleeing (or joining) wars.
The use of magical realism--"Doors" appear throughout the world that when you step through them, you are transported to another place far far away--is fantastic. As Hamid said in an interview--if the conventional way of fleeing war was included, the book would have been mostly about that. It is such a cumbersome and time consuming thing that it would dominate. He didn't want that--instead, the dominant line of the story is the relationship between Nadia and Saeed--two young adults who meet and fall in love in a city (unnamed) on the brink of civil war.
The war, and the devastation of their city and lives, causes their relationship to become intense and all consuming incredibly fast. Are their feelings real or just the intense outcome of the war? When they decide to leave together through one of the doors, the relationship changes. As they continue to migrate--first to Greece, than England, and ultimately Marin California, they inevitably change, as does their relationship.
Hamid's writing is sharp, evocative, and beautiful. This book is fantastic--it has stuck with me and made me think. I hope to read more by this wonderful writer.
Recommended by Cynthia Lambert
Click here to view in the catalog
Morgan is the story of what happens when man tries to create artificial life. It grapples with issues of whether Morgan is a person, or a thing and should man do this. A strong cast, which includes Kate Mara, Rose Leslie (of Game of Thrones fame), Michelle Yeoh and Paul Giamatti makes Morgan a taut Science Fiction thriller.
Lee Weathers a corporate risk management officer, a troubleshooter, and she's sent to a top secret location to investigate and evaluate a recent accident, where Morgan (an child created by synthetic DNA) has stabbed one of the company's scientists in the eye in a seemingly unprovoked attack. Weathers is supposed to be there to find out what went wrong and judge Morgan in terms psychological stability and of the overall profit to the company.
Lee immediately senses that Morgan might be too dangerous and unpredictable to keep going with. Despite the pleas of other scientists that see Morgan as a daughter, Lee only sees her as an inferior company product that needs to be stopped. Things reach a breaking point when a psychologist (played by Paul Giamatti) pushes her feelings enough to murder him and to try and make an escape. It becomes a cat and mouse chase when Lee follows Morgan into the woods to eliminate her.
This movie was directed by Lee Scott, the son of acclaimed Ridley Scott, and you can certianly feel the father's influence in this movie. Very much like the Science Fiction/Horror of Alien, this movie will keep you guessing until the very end.
Recommended by Monica Shine
Click here to view in the catalog.
This is a heartbreaking and honest book about the difficulty of being an adult, the difficulty of staying in the town you were raised in, the difficulty in leaving, and the painful ache of trying to return home if you did manage to leave. Sylvia--her kids, her husband, her sister, her kids friend, her son-in-law, her town--are older than they want to be and not at the places they had hoped to go. Everyone struggles with their burdens. Some of them understand that--everyone has burdens--others think they are the only ones suffering. Just like the burdens, both are true because no matter how much everyone has burdens, yours are your own (and often your own fault) and that isolation makes your suffering very lonely.
The writing is lovely--sharp, detailed, atmospheric, and sad. These people have worked hard, yet here they are, the same place they were. There are universal observations, sly commentary on the economics of small town life, and observant and wise descriptions of the pain we cause ourselves and others, even if we don't mean to hurt anyone. Sylvia is not a character I can say I understood or recognized, but she is incredible and will stay with me a long, long, long time. This is Sylvia's book, but all of the characters are fully formed and feel very real. That characters that are not central to the story, still are carefully crafted, believable, and necessary. It all adds up to a fantastic, heartbreaking, and wonderful story of a family.
Recommended by Cynthia Lambert
Click here to view in the catalog.
