Home

by Marilynne Robinson
New York : Farrar, Straus and Giroux, c2008.

Jack Boughton is coming home. He's always been the odd one out in a large family, yet his father, Reverend Boughton, and the rest of the family couldn't help but love him and worry about him. Now, after twenty years' absence, he returns to Gilead and his father and his youngest sister, Glory, who has also returned home and is now caring for their aging father.

Many of the events of this story are also told in the companion book, Gilead, which I read earlier this year and loved. Either book can be read first. Home is primarily from Glory's perspective, which makes the portrait of Jack different if no less poignant than Reverend Ames' musings in Gilead. Your heart breaks for the boy - and man - who feels that he is past all redemption, who expects that behind every loving word is a rebuke. The brother-sister dynamics between Jack and Glory as they dance around and try not to insult each other is spot on. I couldn't help but compare and contrast this story with the parable of the prodigal son, though exactly who is the prodigal in Home could keep a conversation going for a long time.

Hallucinations

by Oliver Sacks
New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 2012.

In his newest book Oliver Sacks, a practicing physician known for such books as The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and Musicophilia, turns his attention to hallucinations. While in popular culture we tend to think of hallucinations as being psychoses and in the realm of insanity, he focuses primarily on the sort of neurological disorders that sane people have. In fact, hallucinations may not be as odd as we think - haven't we all felt like there was someone behind us, or heard our name even when no one was around?

Primarily organized around types of hallucinations - visual, aural, parkinsonian, phantom limbs, etc. - the book is a fascinating blend of history and case study. Perhaps I was most fascinated to discover the types of hallucinations that I've had, mostly as a child, when I was in that state between sleep and wakefulness and "saw" someone by my bed or in my room. There are other, less common, hallucinations explored, too, and I really enjoyed when he brought up the results of fMRI scans done during hallucinations. The connections between what one experiences and what goes on the brain intrigues me, and I'll definitely be looking to read some of Sacks' earlier works.

The Sparrow

by Mary Doria Russell
New York : Ballantine Books, 2004 (originally published 1996).

On Earth in 2060, Father Emilio Sandoz has returned from a failed mission a broken man; no one knows exactly what went wrong when he and a small group of friends went into space to make contact with aliens. The narrative goes back and forth in flashbacks to the past and the narrative present, as Emilio's Jesuit superiors try to get the full story.

Nothing is simple about this tale. It's about first contact, yes, but it's also about humanity and family and what happens to faith when we're absolutely broken. Even the secondary characters are fully rounded, complex human beings, and I was absolutely drawn in to their stories. This is a stunning, heartbreaking, beautiful book that I can't recommend highly enough.

Travels with Charley

by John Steinbeck
New York, N.Y., U.S.A. : Penguin Books, 1997 (originally published 1962).

Right from the beginning, Steinbeck admits to always having a bit of wanderlust and a desire to travel. This particular trip is brought on by his realization that, for all his writing about America, he hadn't actually been outside his small corner of it for some time. So, he buys a truck specially made for his trip, equipped with everything he will need (ie., booze), takes his trusty poodle Charley, and hightails it out of New York on a cross-country trip.

This is a short book that contains much to think about. You might think that reading about a trip taken over fifty years ago would have little to say about our country and Americans today, but you would miss a lot if you focused on that aspect alone. Steinbeck recounts specifics of his journey and conversations with individuals, yes, but this is also a rumination on the human spirit - particularly the American spirit. The book has many passages that are even more relevant today than they were then (his thoughts on change, the growth of cities, and regional speech differences come immediately to mind). Steinbeck's journey is as much a quest and a window into his own internal world as it is a discovery of his country. His observations are witty, often humorous, and always thought-provoking. I found myself lingering over a sentence or paragraph here and there, wanting to draw out my reading experience instead of just finishing the book quickly and ticking it off. Whether you enjoy travel narratives, a book group choice, or just plain good, descriptive writing, I highly recommend this book.

Days of Blood & Starlight

by Laini Taylor
New York : Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2012.

*** Second in series warning - possible spoilers for Daughter of Smoke & Bone***

The battle between seraphs and chimaeras continues, the war taking on new heights as each side escalates the violence, drawing further and further away from Akiva and Karou's dream of peace. Indeed, now that Karou's memories are intact, even peace between the former lovers appears impossible. Can any hope be found in the midst of desperate war?

Laini Taylor crafts a fine story. I can only figure out some of her plot twists, and Akiva and Karou's struggles to deal with betrayal and do the right thing are compelling. Nearly every chapter left me hanging, needing to turn pages instead of put the book down. An entertaining read that will leave fantasy fans impatient for the next book.

Under the Never Sky

by Veronica Rossi
New York : HarperCollins, 2012.

Aria lives in the Pods, where the "real" is gray and everyone's hooked up to Smarteyes that allow them to visit the Realms, a sort of immersive Second Life. Peregrine is an Outsider, one of those whom Aria's people believe to be savage and wild, living in a world that they cannot survive in. When Aria loses contact with her mother, she ventures outside the Pods with friends and finds out that everything she knows about the Outside is wrong.

Shifting back and forth between Aria's and Perry's points of view, the reader gets to see each character's preconceptions change as they travel together and learn about each other. Because most of the action takes place on the Outside, we don't really see much of Aria's world except through her memories and the quick glimpses of technology for the portions that take place in the Pods. If you've read a lot of young adult dystopias, you may not find the plot directions all that surprising, but this is a fast-paced story with two characters I couldn't help but root for. I would hand it to teens who are impatient for the next book in the Divergent series.

Gilead

by Marilynne Robinson
New York : Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2004.

Reverend John Ames nears the end of his life in Gilead, Iowa in 1956, and begins writing reflections for his young son to read after he dies. He touches on family, faith, and much more, meandering as old people will from one subject to the other. Throughout, we see a lovely picture of a man who is the son and grandson of preachers, lived through two world wars, and yet loves this messed up world.

I'm not sure I can adequately describe the sheer pleasure of reading this book. It's more of a character study than a plot-heavy book. The writing is poetic, lyrical, and thought-provoking whether one happens to share John Ames' faith or not. The narrative flow from subject to subject felt completely natural to an old man thinking of one thing after another, with the start and stop of many days of sitting down to write as long as he could manage each day, yet it was perfectly crafted, not one word wasted. I was sorry to leave Gilead behind.