The Burgess Boys by Elizabeth Strout

Strout is a great writer and an interesting storyteller. I loved Olive Kitteridge for its slow accumulation of details that ultimately made for an touching, intimate portrait of the title character. But there's something missing in The Burgess Boys. A great novel, even just a very good novel, is somehow more than the sum of its parts. This isn't one of those books.
It follows the Burgess siblings (two boys and a girl, so, why, Book Club, why, is it called The Burgess Boys?) as they work through a scandal involving the sister's son, a pig's head, and the Somali community in the tiny Maine town where the Burgess' grew up. The brothers are New York lawyers, one a bumbler and the other a star. That almost sounds like a comedy, but it's not.
This would make a great book club selection both because it's full of issues (I almost wrote "issues") and because it somehow fails. I won't reveal too much here, but one of the characters has a very, very unrealistic ending to his/her story. Of course, that's the kind of statement that's perfect for book club.

p.s. This books comes out in the end of March.

Top Ten Reads of 2012

I may not have read as many books this year as I have in the past (something slowed me down a bit  starting in early August), but I still couldn't resist making a top ten list. I wish I could link these titles to my new bookstore-home, but I don't have one yet. For now I'll direct you to indiebound and they'll help you find the indie bookstore nearest you.

1 The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey - I was utterly enchanted by this story of an older couple homesteading in Alaska and finding joy raising a mysterious young girl. It's beautiful and touching and I loved it.

2 The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker - Normally I do not  read coming of age stories, but this one intrigued me enough that I made an exception. It sounds like serious sci-fi, but it's actually a very simple story about growing up when the world is changing.

3 The Dog Stars by Peter Heller - This book was described to me as Cormac McCarthy's The Road crossed with A River Runs Through It and that's actually a good description. It is a beautiful ode to fishing and hiking and living an outdoor sort of life and it's also a post-apocalyptic survival story. I highly recommend it.

4 Trapeze by Simon Mawer - Sometimes I think I've read enough mysteries set in World War II to last my lifetime, but then I read another great one. It's a spy story and a young woman's story and war story and it's great. It's also just beautifully written which elevates it to a higher level.

5 Pavel & I by Dan Vyleta - Not just another World War II mystery. Oh no, this one is set just after WWII in Berlin so it's different. The atmosphere is fantastic. I did not have this story all figured out before the end (I'm not sure I have it all figured out now!). 

6 Railsea by China Miéville - I think I'm a bigger fan of China Miéville than I even realize. This is a a strange, strange story about a world where there are no oceans anymore and instead there are train tracks criss-crossing the earth and giant moles are hunted just like the white whale in Moby Dick. I loved it both despite of its weirdness and because of its weirdness.

7 History of a Pleasure Seeker by Richard Mason - I quickly summed this book up calling it Downton Abbey with tons of sex (and that's not faint praise from me). I think that gives a decent idea of the feel of it, but there's so much more here. Also, good sex in a book is very hard to find.

8 Gods and Warriors by Michelle Paver - This is a book for roughly 9 to 12 year-olds and I don't normally put those on my top ten (even when they're good they aren't good enough to be top ten), but this one really charmed me. It's well written and interesting and different and just very good.

9 Greyhound of a Girl by Roddy Doyle - I always have a hard time recommending a book that is sad. I'm not usually looking for sad when I pick up a book. But this is a book that, while it's about grief and loss and a young girl dealing with those things, it's also charming and well-written and touching. It's for roughly 10 years-old and up and if you're in the mood you won't be disappointed.

10 Kingdom of Strangers by Zoe Ferraris - The tenth spot on my list is actually a three-way tie between Kingdom of Strangers, Istanbul Passage, and Anatomy of Murder, but I chose Kingdom of Strangers because it's the most unique. It's the third in a series about a forensic investigator in Saudi Arabia. The mystery is good, the characters are great, and I very much recommend getting hooked on these books

P.S. I wrote this blog post using the voice to text feature on my new phone while holding a baby. Wow, it took a lot of editing to clean it up enough to post and I'm sure I missed things. If there's a serious typo, email me.