Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell

  It took me forever to read this book. Why? It is basically six stories in one book, with each chapter being set in a different time period, voice and location. Also, there's a whole new set of characters per chapter. And yet, this is a cohesive, albeit complex, book.

I loved how Mitchell wove together a cautionary tale about the future being based on our past(s) wherein we see it all from a sort of distanced, yet intimate viewpoint. (Like I said, complex.)

What is it about, you ask? Each chapter has it's own plot... making the whole book part mystery, part saga, part diary, part letters.








My rating:

The Diviners by Libba Bray

OK. So while the storm blew spitty snow and our electricity was out for 12 hours last night, I had to finish this book. By flashlight. It was that good.  I knew it would be. Libba Bray is a fabulous writer. After her book, Beauty Queens, I about had a heart attack from laughing. The Diviners took her knack for witty dialogue and wrapped it in a 1920's bow. Memphis, a numbers runner in Harlem, hides a dark secret. Evie, who aspires to a real flapper girl, can tell something about you if she touches something you own. Theta is running from a dark past.  Their lives converge in New York City. And something is coming. Something dark and old and sinister. 

Bad news: it's the start of a series, which means even after the 578-page first book it still leaves a whole lot of questions unanswered

Good news: it's the start of a series! You want more (NOW!)

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

The book flap to Gone Girl promised a psychological thrill ride and I certainly got one. Just when I thought I pretty much had it all figured out, another crazy thing would happen to send me wondering just what was really going on. Amy, perfect wife to handsome Nick, suddenly goes missing one morning and all the clues point at Nick.  Readers learn about Amy through her journal entries over the last seven years, beginning with how she met Nick and ending right before her disappearance. We follow Nick in real time as the investigation unfolds. While the police try to find answers, Nick and Amy's story slowly comes out in a series of shocking and disturbing events. If you want a book to keep you reading late into the night, choose Gone Girl.

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

I've seen The Prestige. I've seen The Illusionist. And I liked them both. So I figured, based on the book jacket - which seemed so very, very like those plot lines - I would like this book, too.

I was wrong about it being like those movies. And I should know better, right?  Morgenstern has crafted a unique book that is magical and haunting and suspenseful. I was intrigued from the beginning when Celia is just a little girl growing up under her circus father and she is able to do what most girls cannot. Thus begins her life duel with another magician, Marco. It is a love story like no other, set in a time and place where in order to be the greatest, you must kill the one you love.

The Book of Jonas by Stephen Dau

   

In The Book of Jonas, I enjoyed Stephen Dau's simply written tale. After a traumatic experience in his homeland forces him to flee to the mountains, Jonas suddenly finds himself in America - a boy with dark skin and an accent and a horrible secret. When the mother of American soldier who saved him starts asking questions he cannot answer, the truth of his past reaches out to grab him.

About halfway through this book I could not stop reading.  Like so many well-crafted novels, small hints at what really happened started popping up in Jonas' stories and memories. I wanted to know - I had to know! - what happened between the time Jonas arrived on the mountain wounded and barely alive, and when he woke up in a hospital and chose to go to America.

The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom by Christopher Healey

Why do the princesses always get the story named after them? Think about it....Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Rupunzel...there is no fairy tale called  'The Brave Prince Charming'. And why? Because every fairy tale hero is named Prince Charming. And the Princes Charming are quite upset about that, too.  The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom is their story.

I read this book aloud to my children (ages 9, 7, and 6) and they LOVED it. It gave me opportunity to do some really fun voices for each of the princesses  - Cinderella, Snow White, Rupunzel and Sleeping Beauty-  and Princes, respectively - Frederick, Duncan, Gustav and Liam -who all have very different personalities; . Each character has been delightfully given a backstory to the fairy tale we know and an evil witch who plans to overthrow all of the kingdoms...unless the Princes Charming can work together. Throw in a giant, some dwarves, a dragon and a host of other adventures and you've got a hilarious romp to Save Your Kingdom. 

Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese

 

My aunt Marcia recommended Cutting for Stone but it wasn't until my library book club decided on this title that I ended up reading it.  Why did I wait? I immediately told my husband he needed to read it. But he didn't right away either and then when he did he was as awash with awe as I was. This is a gorgeous picture of how our choices have lasting repercussions.

It is the story of twin Indian brothers, orphaned at birth, growing up in Ethiopia at a mission hospital. Surrounded by illness and the mystery of who their parents really were, the boys grow up learning the hard lessons of death, love and the bond between brothers.

Cutting for Stone gave voice to the things that shape us and how sometimes one small thing becomes the hinge upon which the rest of our lives turn. Two brothers. One love. A ripping apart. A cutting. This is a beautiful book.