Even as our economic system is crumbling around us and as Oregon sits high atop the list of states with the most number of foreclosures, I think it’s sometimes good to pause and remember how good life is in the U.S. as compared to true poverty-stricken and war-torn regions around the world.

In Umem Akpan’s “Say You’re One of Them“, readers travel to 5 locales in Africa (via 5 stories of varying length) and suffer the dread of the inevitable tragic endings of each story.  There’s the young boy who’s family lives in a shanty in Nairobi.  There’s a young brother and sister who are AIDS orphans living with their uncle who face a seeming upturn in their fortunes.  In another story, a young girl wonders why she can’t play with her friend anymore.  In the next, Jabril is a Muslim teen trying to blend into a crowd of Christians in a country divided by religious wars.  The final story is set in Rwanda amid ethnic violence that turns even husbands against wives.

Despite the grim subject matter, Akpan (a Jesuit priest with an American degree in Fine Arts) writes lyrically and vividly and brings local dialects to life.  He has written a beautiful and completely heartbreaking book that brings a different rough and terrifying kind of world closer to home.

Who doesn’t love a little revenge story about a woman done wrong by the man she loves?  In the tradition of “The First Wives Club” comes “This is How it Happened (Not a Love Story)“.  This book has it all… poisonings, hit men, public humiliation, a bubbly Tri-Delt and of course a happy ending for our beleaguered heroine.  Poor Maddy put all her eggs in one basket and started a new company with her live-in boyfriend.  You just know that won’t end up well!

It’s a fun, quick read, and oh-so-satisfying.  It’s perfect for the beach or other summertime locale.

A mystery about a murdered shepherd… as solved by his flock of sheep? The gimmick gets you to look into Three Bags Full by Leonie Swann, but the writing and the mystery keep you going. Swann’s sheep are all exceptional, and charming to no end, but they are still completely ovine. The flock’s investigative methods are a little unorthodox and their logical reasoning is based on their sheepy world view. Do they have what it takes to solve a mystery though?

The prose is as mesmerizing and as rich as poetry, despite having been translated from German. There are a few laugh-out loud moments, and some of pure melancholy.

Check out this book if you love mysteries but are tired of the genre’s usual conventions!

The Ruins  by Scott Smith

The Ruins is a psychological thriller.  It’s billed as a horror novel, but I don’t know that it was scary so much as harrowing, nerve-wracking and full of despair.  I find that horror novels are usually only scary until the mystery is revealed, but with The Ruins, that’s just when things start to get interesting.

In one of those “everything that can go wrong, will” situations a group of pampered 20-something American tourists in Cancún finds themselves traipsing out to some ruins in the Mayan jungle in search of another missing tourist from Germany.  It certainly doesn’t sound scary, but there’s a dangerous vine at the ruins that makes thier lives, oh let’s say… difficult.

 When things started going downhill for this group I peeked at the ending first so I could decide if I wanted to continue.  I did, and I wasn’t sorry.  The author has created a fascinating character study with the interplay of all the different personalities.  What would you do if faced with such a dire situation?

 - Jennifer

The Harrowing – Alexandra Sokoloff

It was a dark and stormy night. Five college students remain behind at their dorm over Thanksgiving break. When the power goes off, they light some candles and pull out an old ouija board… mayhem ensues. This is Sokoloff’s first novel, and a good one. It gave me scary dreams one night. I don’t know if anyone else feels this way, but I often think that scary stories lose some of their edge once the “big bad” is identified. Like it’s the not knowing that’s the scary part. This book is not an exception, but where the scary started to subside the thrill started ramping, so it was a great read from start to end. Highly recommended!

American Born Chinese – Gene Luen Yang

This is the first graphic novel ever to be nominated for an American Book Award… AND its author is one of my husband’s college friends. Despite my personal bias, you can believe me when I say it’s really good (see above American Book Award nom). It weaves together three stories, the first is a retelling of the old Monkey King legend, the second is of a young Chinese boy’s experience growing up in the Bay Area, and the third introduces the caricature Cousin Chin-Kee. Touching, funny and a darn good read.

Amy’s Answering Machine – Amy Borkowsky

I first heard about Amy’s mom several years ago on NPR and forgot about it until I saw this while browsing the catalog. Anyway, Amy’s mom is an overly concerned mom who leaves messages of all sorts on her machine. Much of the book is commentary by Amy about her mom’s messages, but actually the funniest parts are the mom’s own words…

“Amila, I’m having second thoughts about that little palm-size computer that you bought. You could swallow it and, God forbid, choke… I just read an article about a fellow who lost a tiny cell phone and when he dialed his own number to try and locate it, he heard a ringing sound coming from his dog…”

The book is short, just a quick read, but I wished there was just more of the mom.

Birth: The surprising history of how we are born – Tina Cassidy

All about births through history. How midwives got pushed out by obstetricians, why the Industrial Revolution made childbirth more dangerous and many, many interesting facts.

Vampire Loves – Joann Sfar

Graphic novel about Ferdinand the vampire and his unfortunate lack of a way with women. Completely original and sometimes quite odd, but a fun quick read.

Fame Junkies: the hidden truths behind America’s favorite addiction – Jake Halpern

I’ve got to stop reading these social science essays. Too often the description sounds intriguing but the books read like undergraduate term papers. This is one of them. So, incidentally, is The average American : the extraordinary search for the nation’s most ordinary citizen by Kevin O’Keefe. Fame Junkies is about people who long to be famous, near the famous or serving the famous. And why. It’s not as interesting as you might think.

Walking in circles before lying down – Merrill Markoe

Dawn’s life is out of control… Then her dog starts talking to her. The book’s highlights are Chuck’s bits of doggy wisdom, such as “There’s two kinds of peeing. There’s regular peeing, because you have to pee. And then there’s auxiliary competitive peeing. For acquiring an empire. I’m all about the real estate.” The story itself is a fun bit of beach-type reading (e.g. fluffy) about how Dawn gets herself out of her rut. Oh, and Scott Peterson (yes, that one) is a character.

You Can Get Arrested For That – Rich Smith

Brit Rich Smith stumbles upon a book of archaic American laws (such as “It’s illegal to fish in your pajamas in Chicago”) so he and a buddy take a road trip across the States in an attempt to break as many as possible. The premise turns out to be more fun than the actual law-breaking, though, and the authors spend more than a little time at various Hooters branches on their way. There’s some learning and some laughing, but are there any arrests…?

Cancer Vixen - Marisa Acocella Marchetto

A real life Carrie Bradshaw-type (she’s a freelance cartoonist for the New Yorker) puts her experience with breast cancer into graphic novel form. It’s surprisingly touching subject to go along with the perky, sometimes Looney-Tunesish illustrations. I especially love her drawings of her fiance, Silvano, and the story will really draw you in.

Mar 2, 3:35 AM

jen is now reading -

Virginity or Death! - Katha Pollitt

A collection of Pollitt’s articles from the Nation. She is uber-liberal (which is fine with me), and many of the articles make for very interesting reading. Some, however, are already dated, such as the article about how women in Afghanistan are better off now than under the Taliban regime… we now know that little there has changed. She is not afraid of controversy.

I don’t know how she does it - Allison Pearson

If I were English, this would be me to a tee (any SOO many other women). Balancing a full-time job with parenthood, trying to do all perfectly, and not quite succeeding. I haven’t finished it yet, but I’m hoping it ends with her managing to have it all, including sanity.

Look at my striped shirt! – The Phat Phree

Satirical look at all those people in everyday life who annoy you, such as the sad-sack high school teacher trying to be cool with the kids. This NOT PC, but it had my husband rolling on the floor laughing.

Mar 23, 2:52 AM