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Previous recommendations by West Nyack staff member and Fiction Reader's Advisor, Vicki. If you wish to place a hold on any of these items, just have your library card handy, visit the Horizon Information Portal and follow the prompts.
Table of Contents
January 2006
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THE BAD MOTHER'S
HANDBOOK by Kate Long is a charming and funny first novel. The
narrative alternates between the voices of three generations of the
same family: bright 17-year-old Charlotte, whose pregnancy threatens
her plan to go to university; her bitter mother, Karen, whose
pregnancy at 16 ensured that her own dreams would never be realized;
and Karen's sweet mother, Nan, who is starting to show signs of
dementia. Karen is consumed with frustration at the thought that her
family seems doomed to replay the same dismal themes of abandonment
and restricted opportunities. This story has substance and enduring
characters. |
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In the novel IT'S ALL
RIGHT NOW by Charles Chadwick, Tom Ripple observes the course of his
life throughout a thirty-year period that is marked by complicated
relationships with family members, neighbors, girlfriends,
colleagues and friends. As his thought and emotions deepen, he
wrestles with the isolation of the human condition. Remarkably, he
ends up as a person who feels too much and sees things too clearly.
He is every ready with a quip and a kind word. |
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ORDINARY HEROES by
Scott Turow tells that story of Stewart Dubinsky and how he plunges
into the mystery of his family's secret history when he discovers
his deceased father's wartime letters to his former fiance. He
uncovers some startling information: that his father was engaged to
another woman before his mother, and that he was court-martialed
during the Battle of the Bulge. Dubinsky decides to write a family
history and uncovers a manuscript his father wrote about his war
experiences that is alternately moving and horrifying. An
extraordinary and unforgettable novel. |
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I CAPTURE THE CASTLE
by Didie Smith tells the story of 17-year-old Cassandra and her
family who live in not-so-genteel poverty in a ramshackle old
English castle. Here she strives, over six turbulent months, to hone
her writing skills. She fills three notebooks with sharply funny yet
poignant entries. Her journals candidly chronicle the great changes
that take place within the castle walls, and her own first descent
into love. This has been labeled as one of the century's most
beloved novels. |
February 2006
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THE ENGLISH TEACHER by
Lily King delicately delves into the fragile bonds holding families
together, even when logic favors their dissolution. Vida Avery has
been teaching English at a private New England academy for 16 years;
her son, Peter, 15, is an introspective and non-athletic member of
the "outs." Vida, a single mother, has sheltered her son for many
years at the private school, but she is beginning to unravel as
secrets from her past catch up with her. A good story that weaves
together diverse themes. |
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TRANCE by Christopher Sorrentino follows a mismatched gang of middle-class militants,
including a newspaper heiress kidnapped by the gang who chooses to
remain with them on an underground tour of America following the
deaths of the other members of the SLA in a violent confrontation
with police in Los Angeles. Yes, this story is based on newspaper
heiress Patty Hearst's kidnapping and indoctrination by the SLA. The
story is filled with the contradictory messages of heart and mind,
the divide between thought and action and the shock of unintended
consequences. |
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MISSING MAN by Joyce
Carole Oates takes the reader back to upstate New York to read about
a family of privilege and its decay. Everything changes in an
instant when Nicole's mother, Gwen, dies in a violent assault. After
the ensuing investigations and memorials, her family is surprised
when Nicole steps into her mother's shoes and gradually begins to
adopt aspects of Gwen's personality. Joyce Carol Oates gives us one
of her intimate portraits into family relationships that will not
disappoint her fans. This story makes for a profoundly involving and
haunting explication of grief, followed by a renewed embrace of
life. |
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THE TENDER BAR: A
MEMOIR by J.R. Moehringer is the auther's own memoir. It takes it
from a Long Island childhood to life as a budding journalist at the
New York Times. Torn between the feminine comfort of his mother and
the camaraderie he finds in a series of bars and taverns, Moehringer
details his difficult but loving upbringing with colorful
characters. This is the story of a man from a riotously
dysfunctional family, that at times all readers can relate to. It
has unusual themes and declares a real love of barroom life without
romanticizing it too much. |
March 2006
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THA HA-HA by Dave King
is a compelling and passionate debut revolving around Howie, who
suffered a head injury in Vietnam thirty years earlier and now can
neither speak nor write. He feels trapped by his disability until
his high school sweetheart, recently forced into rehab, asks him to
care for her nine-year-old son. Howie is initially overwhelmed by
his new responsibilities but gradually falls into the role of
father. The reader is drawn into Howie's world and roots for him
with every step he takes. The novel explores familial bonds arising
from people with no blood ties. |
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THE INSIDE RING by
Michael Lawson follows an assassination attempt that wounds the
president and kills the president's closest friend. General Andy
Banks, the Secretary of Homeland Security, who warned the Secret
Service about the attack, initiates an investigation. Joe DeMarco, a
lawyer, and a troubleshooter for a congressman is asked to help.
Thus begins a series of compelling incidents, enlivened by just the
right touch of menace and mystery. This is a thriller that is witty
and a lightening quick read. |
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MIDNIGHT AT THE DRAGON
CAFE by Judy Fong Bates tells the story of six-year-old Su-Jen Chou
who meets her elderly father for the first time when she and her
beautiful mother leave China to join him in a small Ontario town in
the 1950s. They settle in an uneasy and distant relationship. Her
half-brother and his mail order bride soon join them. The mounting
suspense of family secrets makes this first novel a breathless read
with beautiful words that make you want to stop and read the
sentences over and over again. |
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ONE SUNDAY MORNING by
Amy Ephron is about four women attending a bridge party in
Jazz Age New York, who find their lives forever changed by gossip,
indiscretion, secrets and betrayal after they witness a beautiful
mutual acquaintance leaving a nearby hotel with a man who is not her
husband. The author casts a subtle drama arising from this conflict
between old behavior and new as scandal threatens to ruin the
reputations of one of the women. Amy Ephron navigates the social
contradictions even while Prohibition and the strictest social
conventions were in force. |
April 2006
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Linda Fairstein, with
her novel DEATH DANCE returns with her eighth thriller featuring New
York City sex crimes prosecutor Alexander Cooper, and it is
terrific. The story follows Alex behind the scenes of the Manhattan
theater world to investigate the mysterious case of a world-famous
dancer who disappeared during a performance at Lincoln Center's
Metropolitan Opera house. As the story is loosely based on an actual
crime, this book is full of authentic detail of the New York arts
and theater community. A satisfying climax as the curtain drops. |
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In A WORLD TO COME by Dara Horn, thirty-year-old quiz show writer Ben Ziskind and his twin
sister steal a million-dollar Marc Chagall masterpiece, endeavor to
avoid the police and evaluate the eighty-year-old link between their
family and this famous painting. With surety and accomplishment,
Horn explores the Ziskind family history through an investigation of
Chagall's life. Along the way, readers are offered glimpses of the
possibilities of life's beginning and end. This is intelligent and
compelling fiction. |
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LOVE WALKED IN by
Marisa de los Santos tells the story of thirty-one-year Philadelphia
cafe manager Cornelia Brown who harbors romantic notions about
golden-age Hollywood film stars. Her ideal man is Cary Grant and
just when she thinks he'll never show up, he does, in the form of
Martin Grace, who is cool, charming and debonair. This is a first
novel with some wonderful and heartbreaking moments scattered
throughout. It is a sweet story about knowing what you love and why. |
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In DINNER WITH ANNA
KARENINA by Gloria Goldreich, six women discover their lives
enriched and transformed by their passion for books in this
delightful tribute to friendship. The informal Manhattan book club
exposes "their dreams, their deepest fears, and their brightest
hopes" while they discuss great literature and enjoy wonderful
meals. The group's tranquility is shattered by an event that happens
to one of their friends. Their emotional support iof each other
grows as they learn to understand and forgive each other's
weaknesses. A good, heartfelt read. |
May 2006
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The
novel FAMILY DAUGHTER by Maile Meloy is about a family from the
Santerre clan who travel to Argentina where their lives become
entwined with an uninhibited rich girl, an aging French playboy, a
young Eastern European prostitute and an orphaned child. Meloy
creates the voices of this American family and the various people
who orbit around them. The story line is both riveting and
engrossing. A family's struggle with guilt and forgiveness spans
decades and crosses continents. If you enjoy this book, read Meloy's
first fiction LIARS AND SAINTS. |
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In THE
DOCTOR'S DAUGHTER by Hilma Wolitzer, Alice Brill struggles to come
to terms with the hidden truths of her life - her unrealized
aspirations as a writer, her lackadaisical marriage, her troubled
younger son, and her father, who is slipping into senility in a
nursing home. This is a smart interesting look at the components of
the midlife crisis of an accomplished woman. Wolitzer reveals her
characters' humanity as they alternately flirt with and shun the
very truth they seek about themselves, until escalating
complications force them to choose to grow or be left behind. |
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LOVE
AND OTHER IMPOSSIBLE PURSUITS by Ayelet Waldman. Harvard Law
graduate Emilia Greenleaf's perfect life with her beloved husband
Jack is turned upside down by her new preschool-age stepson,
William, a situation that is further complicated when she loses her
own newborn daughter. The beauty of Waldman's writing is her ability
to get to the heart of Emilia's complicated and often conflicting
feelings, making Emilia a sympathetic and likeable character even at
her most frustrating. |
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In
LINCOLN LAWYER by Michael Connelly, Mickey Haller, who represents
some unsavory characters in his work as a defense lawyer, takes on
his first high-paying and possible innocent client in years, but
finds the case complicated by events that suggest a particularly
evil perpetrator. As the trial progresses, Mickey ponders the words
of his late lawyer father, who know that the most frightening client
of all was an innocent man. Connelly offers intrigue and bracing
twists in his first legal thriller. |
June 2006
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WONDER
SPOT by Melissa Bank tells the story of Sophie Applebaum who
struggles with ambivalent feelings toward the passions and
identities that are important to other members of her Jewish
Pennsylvania family. She continues to make these observations over
the next twenty years. Sophie is an acute observer but often finds
herself, by choice or by accident, in the background. Bank resists
the urge to over-romanticize modern-day relationships, recognizing
the ordinary, mundane side of life and love. Very appealing. |
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In the
AMBLER WARNING by Robert Ludlum, former Consular Operations agent
Hal Ambler, imprisoned and drugged in a restricted island
psychiatric facility for government employees, manages a daring
escape and sets out to discover why he was placed there. Even though
Ludlum is dead, this is his 26th book, with the help of a ghost
writer, a remarkable feat! While there is no trace of Hal in any of
the data banks he hacks into, somebody knows who he is. This is a
Ludlum book so stick around to the end. You will not be
disappointed. |
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COLOR
OF LAW by Mark Giminez tells the story of a lawyer Scott Fenney who
is not thrilled when he is appointed to defend Shawanda Jones, a
prostitute accused of killing the son of a Texas senator and
presidential candidate, Mack McCall. A big part of this thriller's
appeal is its moral backbone. The hero is a former college-football
legend and current corporate lawyer. This is a well-calibrated
contemporary morality play, set in get-rich-quick Dallas, with tours
of country clubs and gated communities. Giminez also gives us a
hateful character who becomes more sympathetic the more he fails.
Fast-paced and thought provoking fare. |
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IN HER
SHOES by Jennifer Weiner tells that story of twenty-eight-year old
Maggie Feller who goes from job to job on the fringes of show
business, and her older sister Rose, a lawyer, who have had not
contact with their grandmother Ella, since their mother's death
years ago. But, all three need to find each other to reach
happiness. Weiner blends humor and heartbreak to create an
irresistible novel. Funny and sharp. |
July 2006
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The
novel THE DIVIDE by Nicholas Evans tells the story of a murder
suspect's body that is found frozen in the ice of a remote mountain
creek. The subsequent investigation poses unsettling questions about
how a promising young woman, Abbie Cooper, from a loving family,
could engage in acts of killing and ecoterrorism. How she came to be
there and her descent from "golden child" of a privileged New York
family to one of the FBI's most wanted is a mystery that isn't
solved until the very last pages. An engaging story! |
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In
DIGGING TO AMERICA by Anne Tyler, a chance airport encounter between
two families, the Donaldsons, and the Iranian-born Yasdans - as both
couples await the arrival of an adopted daughter from Korea, prompts
an examination of what it means to be an American. Tyler creates two
very different households that serve as microcosms for twenty-first
century American society. Hoping that the families can stay in
touch, a yearly date is set up for the families to meet. A touching,
well-crafted tale of friendship and families. |
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THE
LAST OF HER KIND by Sigrid Nunez chronicles the lives of two women
who meet as freshman in 1968 at Columbia University - Georgette
George and her idealistic roommate Ann Drayton - from their first
encounter, through the fight that ends their friendship, to Ann's
arrest for murder in 1976 and Georgette's search for answers to the
riddle of Ann's life. Rich in historical detail, this novel zeroes
in on what it means to renounce class privilege and sacrifice
oneself in the service of human betterment. |
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PROMISE ME is one of Harlan Coben's best! A promise made on a whim
comes back to haunt sports agent Myron Bolitar. Worrying about two
neighborhood girls riding with drunk drives, Myron vows to help them
anytime and anywhere as long as they can call. Keeping his word a
few nights later, he drops off one of the young girls in a suburban
neighborhood, and she promptly vanishes. This is a compelling drama
that examines the power of honesty and determination to do the right
thing. |
August 2006
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In the
novel, TURNING ANGEL by Greg Iles, the body of Kate Townsend turns
up near the Mississippi River, and attorney Penn Cage tangles with
the dark side of his hometown of Natchez to investigate the secret
world of a nearby elite high school. Penn's close friend, Dr. Drew
Elliot, confesses that he was about to leave his wife and run off
with the victim. But Cage also knows that if the police bring
charges against Drew, he will have a hard time getting him off. The
story is filled with thrills and plot twists that will keep you
totally involved. |
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THE
MADONNAS OF LENINGRAD by Debra Dean moves back and forth between the
Soviet Union during World War II and modern-day America. Marina, an
elderly Russian woman, recalls vivid images of her youth during the
height of the siege of Leningrad. As a young woman, Marina was a
guide at the Hermitage Museum. Through the 900-day siege of
Leningrad beginning in 1941, her knack for describing in great
detail the images of the works of famous painters helped her survive
when thousands of others died. Later, she and her husband fled
westward and settled in the United States. Dignity and survival are
the strong themes running through this debut novel. |
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THE
FAITHFUL SPY written by Alex Berenson tells the story of John Wells.
He is a CIA special operations agent who was the first Westerner to
graduate from the al Qaeda camps near Kandahar. After years spent
fighting undercover, he has been sent home to undertake an unknown
mission. The payoff is tremendous, and there are standout episodes
that hint that the fundamentalists know how to work American
decadence. A good and fast read! |
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EVERYMAN by Philip Roth is the story of a successful commercial
artist with three different ex-wives, a daughter who adores him, and
two sons who despise him. Harry Angstrom, the protagonist of Roth's
novel, confronts the loneliness of growing old, despair over the
loss of his sexual vitality and anguish over how he has shattered
the lives of those who love him. This brilliant tale plays on the
ways that our bodies dictate the paths our lives take. |
September 2006
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Novelist Andrea Lee's sensuously unsentimental LOST HEARTS IN ITALY
explores the past of Miranda Ward, an American transplant to Italy
who once cheated on her golden-boy husband with Zenin, an aging
Italian billionaire with the inner warmth of a reptile. Lee's Rome
is a city filled with gorgeous ruins, and she's not just talking
about architecture. |
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There's a startling revelation - the kind that turns an extended
family upside down - in Eliza Minot's THE BRAMBLES. But read this
novel of three adult siblings and their terminally ill father for
its deep discoveries: how family members muddle through loneliness,
miscommunication, and loss, and how a harried mother of three young
children keeps from going off the deep end. |
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Aurelie Sheehan's subtle and moving HISTORY LESSON FOR GIRLS looks
back on a year in the lives of two 13-year-olds in a posh
Connecticut town: self-conscious Alison and the popular and nervy
Kate. They bond over horses and failures of their oddball parents.
Survival is the thread that runs through the story. |
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Hats
off to a title that titillates before you crack the covers.
Elizabeth Buchan's WIVES BEHAVING BADLY smartly lives up to its
name. As Nathan squirms, Minty, his current wife, and Rose, his ex,
who used to be Minty's boss and confidant, raise their eyebrows and
launch a politely lethal war of the wives. Buchan understands the
frustration of motherhood, friendship and marriage. |
October 2006
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In HOW
TO COPE WITH SUBURBAN STRESS by David Galef, the reader is welcomed
to the affluent suburb of Fairchester where Michael Eisler has
compiled a list of reasons to leave his family. He feels as if he is
treated as a failure. But he resolves to change into a sensitive and
strong man to win over his family, especially his wife. This is a
dark comic portrait of sexuality in the suburbs. |
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Alice
McDermott's masterful new novel AFTER THIS is a vivid portrayal of
an American family caught in the crossroads of the middle decades of
the twentieth century. As parents, John and Mary Keane struggle to
uphold the framework of their family and the struggles their four
children will experience as life unfolds in the 1960s. The story is
alive with passions and tragedies of an era while also showing the
meaning of family. |
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The
novel BREAKABLE YOU by Brian Morton is rich in old-fashioned story
telling. His characters are so real they feel like intimates, and
their stories resonate long after the last page is turned. Adam
Weller is a middle-aged novelist, past his prime, but still squiring
around a much younger woman and still longing for greater fame and
glory. His former wife is unhappily playing the role of the
discarded woman. Morton succeeds in tracing the border between honor
and violation. |
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In THE
LINCOLN LAWYER, Michael Connelly writes about Mickey Haller who
represents some unsavory characters in his work as a defense lawyer.
He takes on his first high paying and possible innocent client in
years but finds the case complicated by events that suggest a
particularly evil perpetrator. It has all the right stuff: a sinuous
plot, crisp dialogue an a roster of reprehensible characters. |
November 2006
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In The Other Side of the
Bridge, Mary Lawson writes a story of sibling rivalry and misguided
intentions. Two brothers are the sons of a local farmer in the
mid-1930s when life is tough and World War II is looming. Arthur is
reticent, solid, dutiful and is set to inherit the farm and his
father's character; Jake is younger, attractive and the family
misfit. Flash forward twenty years. It is now the 1950s and Ian, a
naive young man, accepts a job on the farm. Long obsessed with
Arthur's wife, Ian is like a fuse waiting to ignite the powder keg
of emotions around him. What happens when this group comes to the
breaking point? |
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Running with Scissors by
Augusten Burroughs is a story of shocking discovery and unlikely
survival. This is the true story of a boy whose mother gave him away
to be raised by her unorthodox psychiatrist. At the age of twelve,
Burroughs found himself amidst Victorian squalor living with the
doctor's bizarre family. This is a funny and also harrowing best
selling account of an ordinary boy's survival under the most
extraordinary circumstances. |
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The Road by Cormac McCarthy is
the profoundly moving story of a journey. It boldy imagines a future
in which no hope remains but in which the father and his son, "each
the other's entire world," are sustained by love. Awesome in the
totality of its vision, it is an unflinching meditation on the worst
and best we are capable of: ultimate destructiveness, desperate
tenacity, and the tenderness that keeps two people alive in the face
of total devastation. |
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John Kelly in Without Remorse by Tom Clancy, befriends a young woman with a checkered past. When her past reaches out to her in a horrifying way, Kelly vows revenge. But the Pentagon also has plans for John Kelly. He gets involved in a secret operation to rescue 20 merican pilots from a North Vietnamese prison camp. Betrayed by someone in Washington, the mission ends in apparent failure. Clancy balances the military movements with a dark narrative of Kelly's tragic personal life. |
December 2006
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Michael Connelly's new thriller, Echo Park, takes place in 1993. Marie Gesto disappeared after walking out of a super marker in Hollywood. LAPD detective Harry Bosch caught the case. The young woman never turned up dead or alive, and it was an investigation the detective could not close. Now Bosch works in the Open Unsolved Unit, when he gets a call from the DA. A man accused of two killings has confessed to other murders. Could he be the killer? What kind of deal will he want from Bosch? Read this suspenseful story to find out. |
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In the story One Good
Turn by Kate Atkinson, crowds lining up outside a theater witnessed
a sudden act of extreme road rage: a tap on a fender triggers a
nearly homicidal attack. Jackson Brodie, ex-cop, ex-private
detective is among the bystanders. The event pushes Jackson into the
orbit of the wife of an unscrupulous real estate tycoon, a washed-up
comedian, a successful crime novelist, a mysterious Russian woman,
and a female police detective. Atkinson has written a novel that
delights and surprises from the first page to the last. |
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In the Hard Way by Lee Child, ex-military cop Jake Reacher sees more than most people would in a lifetime...and because of that, he is thrust into an explosive situation that is about to blow up in his face. For the only way to find the truth - and save two innocent lives - is to do it the way Reacher does it best: the hard way...kidnapping, ransom, police and plenty of action and suspense makes this story a terrific read. |
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