|
|
The Odyssey Bookshop Monday - Friday, 10:00 - 8:00 |
|
Order Books Here! |
|
|
The Odyssey Bookshop Monday - Friday, 10:00 - 8:00 |
|
Order Books Here! |
|
Home
Pictures of recent events
The Odyssey Bookshop is one of five independent
bookstores participating in WAMC's Roundtable on Tuesday mornings,
just after the 10:00 news. People from the Odyssey will be on about once a
month, talking about our favorite books. The Odyssey Bookshop 413-534-7307 email odysseybks@aol.com
|
Book Club Home Page | Register | Recommendations | Links Book Group
Recommendations These
books (now in paperback, or soon to be) are our recommendations for your
book group reading and discussion pleasure.
Enjoy, Elli Meeropol,
book group coordinator KARMA AND OTHER STORIES by Rishi Reddi. I’m fascinated by stories of immigrant communities – the richness of language and culture; the complicated generational conflicts; the mix of grudging admiration and intense suffocation young people often feel for the “old” ways; and the delicate balance between appreciating traditions and inventing yourself from scratch. All these themes appear in Reddi’s stories, in smooth and unerring prose that reveals character and conflict seamlessly. Reminiscent of Kiran Desai and Jhumpa Lahiri, but different and wonderful. LOST & FOUND by Jacqueline Sheehan. When her young husband dies suddenly, Rocky’s professional knowledge is of no help. She leaves her home, her counseling practice, and moves to a secluded Maine island and reinvents herself. Healing comes in strange ways, and Rocky’s comes via a wounded black Lab she names Lloyd, a mystery, a friend who sees sounds as vivid colors, and an anorexic neighbor. Even as a lukewarm "dog person," I was captivated by Lloyd and by this book LIKE TREES, WALKING by Ravi Howard. In 1981, Roy Deacon is a high school senior in Alabama, working in the family mortuary business, when his older brother discovers his buddy’s body hanging from a tree. People don’t get lynched in 1981. Do they? This is a page-turner of a first novel, with agile prose and a powerful story. THE
LAST TOWN ON EARTH by Thomas Mullen. The small lumbar town of
Commonwealth, Washington, built on utopian socialist philosophy, tries
to isolate itself from the larger community in hopes of avoiding the
devastation of the Spanish flu epidemic of 1918. But, of course, it
can’t. The response of the frightened townsfolk to a “spy” at
their borders makes for a very compelling story, and a thought-provoking
allegory about our world today. THE LAW OF DREAMS by Peter Behrens. I’m not quite sure why this epic tale – of famine, loss, and deprivation – kept me so hopeful, that things would get better on the next page. Partly, it was because Peter Behrens convinced me that the historical background – young Fergus survives the great Irish potato famine of 1847 and escapes to Canada – was both accurate and utterly personal. Partly, it was because Fergus was so hopeful, even as he learned that hope was probably foolish. And partly, it was because the language in this debut novel just sings. CORONADO:
STORIES by Dennis Lehane. Nobody creates characters like Lehane—edgy
and sharp, dark and surprising. These stories push at the common
expectations of short fiction, and draw the reader into unsettling
everyday worlds on the boundaries of business as usual. Brilliant
writing and powerful stuff. HALF OF A YELLOW SUN by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Adichie successfully balances the political turmoil of 1960’s Nigeria with three compelling point-of-view characters: a middle class Igbo woman, a young village houseboy, and a white British citizen in love with an African woman. After living with these characters through the military coup, the battle for Biafran independence, and the devastating violence and starvation that followed, I didn’t want to let them go at the end of the story. Lushly written and emotionally haunting, this book contributes new faces to our understanding of the human costs of race, class, and ethnic struggles in our world. MONIQUE
AND THE MANGO RAINS by Kris Holloway. When Kris Holloway joined the
Peace Corps and was sent to a small village in Mali, West Africa, to
work with midwife Monique Dembele, she expected poverty and a desperate
public situation, especially for women and children. She found that, of
course, but she also found a life-changing friendship that crossed
cultural barriers in amazing ways. This book is educational, it’s
funny, and it will break your heart SPECIMEN
DAYS, by Michael Cunningham. In THE HOURS, Cunningham paid homage to
Virginia Woolf; in SPECIMEN DAYS, he celebrates Walt Whitman, in three
connected narratives set in New York City during three different
centuries. The stories are linked by the three characters, by the
poet’s work, and by a painted porcelain bowl. In all three narratives
we see Cunningham’s dedication to exploring how people seek to connect
with each other across the barriers of death, race, even their species. BIRDS
IN FALL by Brad Kessler. An airplane falls into the sea near Nova
Scotia. At a nearby inn, families from around the world gather and wait
for news. Their stories are interwoven with images of bird migration,
classical music and myth. This is simply the richest and most literarily
satisfying novel I’ve read in a long time. THE
WHOLE WORLD OVER by Julia Glass. When Greenie Duquette, Greenwich
Village baker and mom, is introduced to the visiting governor of New
Mexico by her gay restaurateur friend Walter, her life’s path is
seriously derailed. The governor woos her away from New York, her
beloved business, her depressed psychiatrist husband, and for what?
Greenie doesn’t really know. As with Three Junes, her National
Book Award-winning novel, Julia Glass weaves and balances
multiple narrators – each a wonderfully complex and quirky character
– and several story lines, with great skill and subtlety. When 9/11
occurs, each of these characters must face their own deceptions and
choices. I loved this book. BLUE WATER by A. Manette Ansay. Very
few contemporary writers could tell this story with such grace and
clarity. To move from tragedy and rage to self-awareness and forgiveness
takes surefooted and unsentimental prose and characters so authentic,
flawed and yearning, that the reader wants to know them better. Long
after finishing, I continue to think about Meg and Rex and their lives.
Manette is a stunning writer, and I loved this book.
The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai. Orphaned teenager Sai lives
in the northeastern Himalayas with her bitter Judge grandfather and his
cook. While political insurgency erupts around them, Sai falls in love
with her Nepali tutor. He struggles with his mixed responses to the
political upheaval threatening their rural lives. Across the world, the
cook’s son Biju tries to survive as an illegal immigrant in New York
city. The conflicts are classic and profound – tradition versus
change, personal versus political – and Desai’s language is fresh
and strong. BROOKLAND
by Emily Barton. In late
18th century Brooklyn, Prue’s earliest childhood memories are of
looking across the river towards Manhattan and imagining a bridge. As
she grows up, she is determined to learn the gin distilling business
from her father and take over its management. She succeeds at that goal,
but never forgets the bridge. As an adult, she teaches herself the
science needed to design a bridge and the politics to make it happen.
The bridge and Prue's family become intertwined in unpredictable and powerful
ways. It's a gorgeous story, about a woman who wants more than society
wants to give. LIGHTHOUSEKEEPING,
by Jeannette Winterson. A girl named Silver is orphaned in Scotland;
she is taken in by a blind old man and nurtured on his storytelling
until she learns to tell her own. In her spare but lyrical prose,
Winterson writes a fable about the power of telling stories and of love.
This is a book to read and reread. A great book group discussion – we
disagreed about so many things! Family Diamond by Edward Schwartzchild. Linked by
the author’s generous attention to his characters and by the mixture
of generations and cultures that enrich them, these nine stories sparkle
with humor, insight, and heart. MARCH by Geraldine Brooks. As a girl, I loved LITTLE WOMEN, even the goody-goody parts. Now Geraldine Brooks imagines the adult lives behind Alcott’s classic, and gives us an inside look at another era’s racism and war. This book is brilliant, poignant, and thought-provoking. And, all the time I was reading it, I held those four little women in my mind as well.
|
