From One Book Lover

Marriage is unknowable to anyone but the couple — and, in Fates and Furies , Lauren Groff illustrates that even they may not know the complete story. In her third novel, Groff created an interesting, complex view of a marriage between two very different people who appear deeply in love and totally committed to each other. The first half of the book, "Fates," captures the tale of Lancelot "Lotto" Sutterwhite, a walking contradiction who finds his calling in the theater. The second half of the tale, "Furies," is told from Mathilde's wifely perspective. The sections brilliantly capture the characters: "Fates" is careless, while "Furies" is tight and angry. (I picture Tilda Swindon as Mathilde; strange I don't have the same bead on Lotto's Hollywood counterpart.)  I like the retelling of tales, so to have the same life story told from two different perspectives is brilliant, and a very good demonstration about how lit...

Fiction Going south, we watched spring unroll like a proper novel: forsythia, dogwood, rose; bare trees, green lace, full shade. By the time we arrived in Georgia the complications were deep. When we drove back, we read from back to front. Maroon went wild, went scarlet, burned once more and then withdrew into pink, tentative, still in bud. I thought if only we could go on and meet again, shy as strangers.  by Lisel Mueller from Alive Together . © Louisiana State University Press , 1996.  Courtesy The Writer's Almanac Happy Spring! Celebrate by sharing a poem with me in honor of National Poetry Month, which is right around the corner. You could earn yourself a free book of poetry!

Erin Morgenstern creates magic in her debut novel, The Night Circus . My only regret with this book is that I didn't read it sooner. It was just, just... just. The circus arrives without warning. Les Cirque des Rêves follows no schedule. One day there's an open, empty field, and the next morning there appears circus tents surrounded by a black metal fence with a gate that states the circus opens after dark. It sits empty and still during daylight hours. But at night... acts and shows that seem other-worldly. The illusions are perfectly wrought, the animals exquisite. Each tent is more fantastic than the last. Each performer is more perfect than imagined. Then, one morning, the field is again empty. The tale of the circus is told through the relationship of two magicians — and the players who compete in the game. These friends (nemesis?) have carried on this competition for longer than either of them can remember. Each chooses a person who he thinks is worthy and capabl...

In the past year or so, there have been multiple reports of the coming Rapture, where God in Heaven will collect His righteous to his bosom, leaving behind the unworthy. For the True Believer, it is Gospel, literally: God will call home his chosen. How would our lives, our beliefs, change if the chosen are not who we expect? The prologue of Tom Perrotta's new novel, The Leftovers , sets up his story: one day, in the middle of October, millions of people disappear without a trace. Millions. Vanish instantly: one moment you're watching television on the couch with your wife, then in a blink of the eye it's just you. Your promiscuous sister, your cruel mother, the Hindu librarian — all gone. However, your minister is still here.  Ditto the Pope (and many other religious leaders of note). In short, many people who "deserve" to be gone are wandering around asking the same question: What the...? The Leftovers takes a secular look at the aftermath of this eve...

The Great War was a huge game-changer. Modern warfare changed the landscape, literally: many of the terms in our current lexicon are thanks to the war, which we have the great misfortune of knowing now was the "first" world war. It was unimaginable. The Innocents goes a long way into making modern readers understand the horrors of this particular war. Identical twins Iris and Dorthea had a difficult life. Their mother died at their birth, their father died during their childhood — so they were essentially "raised" by their (much) older brother in the opulent wealth of Eastern élite at the turn of the twentieth century. In his defense, he didn't really quite understand what it took to do that. Any mistakes were made out of ignorance, more so than intentional neglect. Despite their privilege and opportunity, the women came to life when taking action during adversity. First, it was the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire of 1911, which was considered one o...

So, what did you think of Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children ? What!? Have you read my review ?  And you still haven't started it? Well, you're a tough audience. Let's see if this won't get you to the bookstore: I know, I know: I don't play fair. But hey, all is fair in love and books. Anyway, if it gets that book in your hands, it's worth it. Let me know what you think when you're done with it.

I am all about character, and Jonathan Safran Foer 's novel, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close , is full of them Oskar is an exceptional young man. Possibly autistic (though never identified as such), he feels disconnected and is more than a little eccentric. He speaks French and carries a tambourine everywhere. He lives across the street from his grandmother, with whom he speaks via walkie-talkie and through notes on their respective windows.  He is somewhat bullied in school, but that doesn't seem to bother him much. He doesn't even bother marching: he is a different drum. He is bereft and untethered to the world since the death of his father, a jeweler by trade, who had an appointment at the Windows on the World on September 11, 2001. The world is a different place now, two years later, where subways and tall buildings are unsafe, where his father's last conversation with him is pregnant with hidden meanings — and life is a mystery he has to unravel by himsel...

Jasper Fforde could not disappoint any of his devoted readers, not even in the bleakest of circumstances. I wasn't in the mood for One of Our Thursdays is Missing , the latest installment of the Thursday Next series. That, of course, is when it's needed most — so I soldiered on. I am glad I did. As the novel opens, we find ourselves in Book World with Thursday. Well, it's Thursday, but the Written Thursday. Important distinction, and one that the Written Thursday never forgets. She's in charge of her series, keeping the characters ready for the next reader. Characters perform only when there's a reader; otherwise, they keep their own personal lives rather busy (and, in some cases, steeped in tawdry.)  The Written Pickwick is played by a very snooty Dodo and Thursday has an understudy who, rumor has it, enacted the "snooze" button once, in a panic. (If you read this book for only one reason, you must read it to learn about Book World's snooze...

In Raymond Khoury's world, everyone is stupid. I don't mean something simple, like forgetfulness or density, cultural difference or sexist cluelessness.  I mean fundamental stupidity, such as, "I am an FBI agent but I won't worry about those two suspicious-looking thugs that just walked into the museum behind the person I'm guarding." The only thing worse than the stupidity is the cleverness: people who can set up undetectable ruses using elaborate plans that either involve or hornswoggle high-ranking individuals. Remind me to be written by Khoury. The novelist continues his relationship with the FBI in The Devil's Elixir , starting with a visit to San Diego. Former federal worker Michelle has her quiet Saturday interrupted by a gaggle of assassins.  She jumps in the car and calls Sean Reilly, a man she hasn't spoken to in five years, a former associate from whom she has kept a secret.  Sean himself kept more than a few secrets himself from ...

The cover captured my attention. The title, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children , intrigued me. Above the title was girl in a dress reminiscent of the 1920s, wearing a tiara, possibly hovering above the dirt and stones under her feet.  Hovering? Pecuilar, indeed. On the back of the novel were more intriguing photos of children: painted like clowns, in a bunny suit, a girl with a reflection of two girls.  Ransom Riggs had some explaining to do. So, apparently, did Abe, Jacob’s grandfather. Jacob adored his grandfather and believed the stories behind the photos Abe showed him: a skinny boy lifting a boulder above his head, a girl holding a ball of fire, a suit of clothes standing upright without a child in it.  Abe told his grandson all about these children, who were in an orphanage with him when he was a child. Jacob believed him — until he grew old enough to wonder, and doubt. That all changed when Jacob received a panicked call from hi...

When I read a short description of Félix J. Palma 's The Map of Time , I thought it was right up my alley: time travel, H.G. Wells, Jack the Ripper and things going wrong.  Alrighty, then, where do I sign up? It was nothing like I expected — and it was utterly delicious. It begins with a young man who wishes to die because his love already is dead.  However, this man is given hope: time travel.  It is Victorian England, near the end of the 19th century, and technology is slowly becoming the new God in this Industrial Age.  In the shadow of the Crystal Palace, where technology showed the way to the future, one can guess how easily duped are the public who want to believe. But what happens if it's the truth after all? The novel manages to drop names and draw in the most unexpected characters, both actual and fictional.  The story jumps between love gone wrong to love gone wrong, to — well, it's not all "love gone wrong," but if Miracle Max will work to b...

There are some great authors scheduled for this year's Fall for the Book in Fairfax (and beyond). I have two words for you: Stephen King. Two more: Amy Tan. Actually, that's not even my immediate reading list. Every year, the festival has many great authors, and I have to pick and choose which events I can attend.  For this year's festival, I plan to attend the events featuring Abraham Verghese ( Cutting for Stone , the author's first novel) and Conor Grennan ( Little Princes , a memoir).  I already read Natasha Tretheway 's 2007 Pultizer Prize-winning poetry collection, Native Guard , multiple times, and it is in my library collection.  (If I don't excavate my copy this weekend, I shall be purchasing another copy for her to autograph at her reading next week.) Needless to say, I have read books by the "headliners." My first exposure to 2011's Fairfax Award-winner Amy Tan was The Joy Luck Club , which was touching yet sweepi...