The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien

O'Brien has written extensively about his experiences in Vietnam. This book is classified as fiction although he plays with the reader as he points us toward truth as fiction and vice versa. It is war as ugly as one can imagine. It went a long way to reinforce my belief that it is impossible to return from a war unchanged even if you manage to return undamaged. Particularly moving was the section when he tries to escape to Canada to avoid the draft and then concludes he would be too embarrassed to run. As he says, "I was a coward. I went to the war."

The Crying Tree by Naseem Rakha

Winner of the 2010 Pacific Northwest Booksellers Award. In this, her first novel, Rakha explores the capacity to forgive. Irene Stanley's son is killed and the murderer sits on death row in the Oregon State Penitentiary for nineteen years. For many of those years Irene empties herself of all feeling except hate and anger as she waits for his execution. And then a letter causes her to question the waste of her life and the truth about the man who is finally scheduled to die. This book will play devil's advocate with your notion of capital punishment no matter where you stand on the issue.

The Good Thief by Hannah Tinti

This novel is so Dickensian that I was surprised at every New England reference. Ren, an orphan at St. Anthony's, is cloaked in mystery. His name is taken from initials embroidered in the shirt he was wearing when he was abandoned. And what happened to the hand that he was too young to remember loosing.? When he is twelve, he is adopted by Benjamin Nab who convinces the Monk's that Ren is his long lost brother. It becomes clear early on that Ren is to be a partner in a number of scams and thefts. Let the adventure begin. Grave robbing, cruel factory owners, complicated relationships all in a smelly, dark, crusty atmosphere that you would swear is 19th century London instead of 19th century New England. This is a novel told in the old fashion swash-buckling classic story telling tradition but I'm not sure how it will play as book group fare.

The History of Love by Nicole Krauss

This is the story of two Almas and a book within a book. In Poland,on the eve of WWII, Leo Gursky wrote a book to win the love of a girl named Alma. He lost the girl in a world spun out of control but created a book where love would live on. Years later, fourteen year old Alma Singer, named after a character in the book, believes finding the author might just bring joy back into the lives of her NYC family. Although decades apart, their stories weave in and out as friendships and loves are won and lost. Multiple voices tell the story but it is all about a book called The History of Love.

Broken For You by Stephanie Kallos

Margaret a wealthy widow, Wanda, young and broken hearted, and a host of other unrelated characters converge on Margaret's huge mansion in Seattle. Each one brings sad baggage and a secret. The healing begins when Margaret sends many of the thousands of valuable pieces of porcelain flying off the end of a balcony to crash on the grounds below. They are only a part of the mansion's riches and not the only thing broken. There are a few John Irving like characters, loves lost, promises broken and a great wrong that must be made right. It is a story of the universe taking care of itself in spite of our lack of faith and hope.

The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon

Like all of Chabon books, this one is written with a snicker and a sneer - as if he wants to both entertain us and mess with us. A murder is committed in the Jewish district of Sitka, Alaska and the life challenged but clever homicide detective Meyer Landsman is driven to solve the crime before the district is dissolved into the state of Alaska even though he has been told "hands off". There are chess moves, multiple versions of Jewish angst, FBI plots and a whole lot of sentences that end with a list of three in this mystery. Is it because Chabon was once taught that the "rule of three" makes for dramatic or effective writing? Or is it that he just has so much clever language in his head that he just can't make up his mind which sentence ending to choose? I didn't expect it to be as much of a mystery as it was and found the writing to be both intelligent and annoying. Those who liked Kavalier and Clay will probably like this one but probably not as much.

Sarah’s Key by Tatiana de Rosnay

When Julia Jarmond, an American journalist living in Paris, begins researching for an article on the Jewish families arrested in 1942 and held in the Vendrome in Paris awaiting transport to the camps, she has no idea how what she discovers will affect her life in 2002. When 10 year old Sarah locks her brother in a secret cupboard to keep him safe during the 1942 roundup, she has no idea where that secret will lead her or what horrors await her family. This is not a Holocaust story of the camps but it is both tragic and heroic as only a Holocaust story can be. It is also a reminder of the ripples that continuously emerge from history's biggest events.

The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell

The is a book group’s dream book. Discussions of the nature of God, the clash of cultures, the right to love, the effect of a butterfly wing on the weather a world away notion … it’s all there. Through a quirky series of events (or the hand of God?) Emilio Sandoz, a Jesuit priest, and a small band of highly trained friends set out to another galaxy in search of the alien culture that produced the exquisite music picked up by their intergalactic radios. They can only understand the culture they encounter through the filter of their own understanding of the way their world works. Sensitive to a fault, the simplest act has unimaginable consequences. The intertwining story style drove me crazy (one story begins in 2016 when they leave earth and the other in 2060 when Sandoz returns as the only survivor) but in this case it was worth it. I can’t wait for our book group discussion.