Bookreporter.com Bets On...

The Shortest Way Home by Juliette Fay

November 2012

I have been a longtime fan of Juliette Fay’s. Her previous books --- SHELTER ME and DEEP DOWN TRUE --- were both Bets On selections, thus when THE SHORTEST WAY HOME came across my desk, I was excited to read it. Here, Sean Doran has spent 20 years overseas in the third world helping others. Tired of his work and in need of a break, he comes home to Belham, Massachusetts, where he sees that life for his elderly aunt, his sister and his nephew is in need of some of his attention. He assesses what is going on with the same methodical techniques he learned overseas, only to come to see that he too is in need of attention. He sees that he has been avoiding a lot of things in his own life, including dealing with the loss of his mom from Huntington’s Disease and his dad, who left his three young children with the aunt and went away. An old crush crosses paths with him, as well as a young woman who was a wallflower in high school who walks back into his life, and suddenly feelings of attachment start to creep up when he least expected them.

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Some Girls, Some Hats and Hitler: A True Love Story by Trudi Kanter

October 2012

A version of SOME GIRLS, SOME HATS AND HITLER by Trudi Kanter had been self-published in 1984 and was re-discovered by a British editor in 2011. This will be the first time it is available to a wide audience. It’s a memoir of Trudi’s life growing up as a fashionable hat designer in Vienna. She falls for a man named Walter Ehrlich, who sweeps her off her feet. Life is lovely until Hitler rolls into Austria, and this Jewish couple is desperate to leave the country any way they can. They learn of visas being given to those who want to leave, but time is running out quickly as the tanks march into town.

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The End of Your Life Book Club by Will Schwalbe

October 2012

In 2007, Mary Anne Schwalbe was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, which already had metastasized to her liver by the time her diagnosis was made. As she began to undergo chemotherapy treatment, her son Will, then a New York publishing executive, joined her for her sessions. They discussed what they were reading to pass the time. Both avid readers, they decided to form a book club of two, sharing books while the medication dripped. They both fell in love with some books, while others were not shared joys.

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Love Anthony by Lisa Genova

September 2012

Readers may recall that I selected both STILL ALICE and LEFT NEGLECTED by Lisa Genova as Bookreporter.com Bets On selections in previous years. I am very pleased to share that Lisa will be the first author to grab a slot with a third Bets On selection with her latest novel, LOVE ANTHONY. Lisa is a brainy author --- literally. She has a Ph.D. in Neuroscience from Harvard University and infuses her novels with stories of how the brain works. Along the way, she creates some very vivid and memorable writing while making the reader “smarter” --- so much that you are surprised about what you have learned.

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The Devoted: A Love Story by Jonathan Hull

September 2012

Nine years is a long time to wait for a book from a favorite author. And that’s just what happened to me with Jonathan Hull. After loving LOSING JULIA (2000) and THE DISTANCE FROM NORMANDY (2003), there was no new book from Jonathan Hull until a few weeks ago. When THE DEVOTED crossed my desk, I made a quick visit to his website and saw a note that he has been suffering from the long-term effects of a bout with Lyme disease, which has affected his writing stamina. But ah, THE DEVOTED is a treat worth waiting for as Jonathan proves that the story writing chops he had with his prior work is still in evidence.

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Those We Love Most by Lee Woodruff

September 2012

If I could describe THOSE WE LOVE MOST by Lee Woodruff in one phrase, it’s about the seasons of marriage. Anyone married a while knows that feelings ebb and flow over time. This happens in long relationships as well as shorter ones. Here, a family is brought together when a crisis hits that has them circling the wagons and grieving together before they spiral back into the larger world with a new view of their lives. Two of these couples will re-examine their marriages in light of what has happened --- and how they have changed.

The multi-layered story unfolds with pitch precision --- one small act of distraction will be the catalyst for all that comes later. It’s a book that would be perfect for book club discussions; there are so many ways that this discussion could go!

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Trust Your Eyes by Linwood Barclay

September 2012

Typically, Bookreporter.com Bets On selections are based on books that I love, but in the case of TRUST YOUR EYES, a thriller by Linwood Barclay, my husband and son, Greg, are voting with me. I have been a huge fan of Linwood’s for years, but the depth of his talent is shown in a whole new way in this book. There were so many aha moments, twists, turns and surprises that even a quarter of the way through I was thinking this is sooooo cleverly done. The plot revolves around two brothers. One is a schizophrenic and rarely leaves the house. Instead he explores the world through a website called Whirl360 (very similar to the Street View on Google Maps). As he “wanders” down a street in New York City "visits," he sees what appears to be a murder. He convinces his brother to investigate it further, and from there the action gets really wild. NONE of us could put this book down once we started it.

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In the Shadow of the Banyan by Vaddey Ratner

August 2012

Two copies of IN THE SHADOW OF THE BANYAN by Vaddey Ratner arrived in the office a few months ago. My son, Greg, grabbed one and read 100 pages on his train ride home and emailed me from the train to say, “This is an incredible book.” By the next day, he had finished it and was hounding me to read it so we could talk about it. When I got a few pages in, I saw why and knew that the voice of seven-year-old Raami was not going to be one I forget anytime soon. The book is set in 1975 after the Cambodian Civil War as Cambodia is overtaken by the Khmer Rouge. Raami and her family, who have a prosperous life, are ousted from their home and held in the clutches of the Khmer Rouge, who move them from camp to camp, where survival under primitive and abusive conditions become the world of her childhood. The genocide during this time kills more than two million people.

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City of Women by David R. Gillham

August 2012

CITY OF WOMEN, a debut novel from David R. Gillham, is set in Berlin during World War II at a time when the city has become a city of women as the men are off fighting on various fronts. Picturing wartime Berlin, we typically think of the Nazis with swastikas and artillery moving through the streets, or the faces of Jewish families being ushered from their homes. But what of those left behind? Who were they, and what were their stories?

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The Light Between Oceans by M. L. Stedman

August 2012

My older son, Greg, loves lighthouses and has visited more than 300 of them. It all started when he was nine, and we were in Georgia at the St. Simon’s Lighthouse. His most recent “light trip” was to Cape Lookout National Park in North Carolina, where he camped on the beach in April. As a result, we have spent a lot of time with him climbing --- and looking at --- lighthouses.

Thus, THE LIGHT BETWEEN OCEANS by M. L. Stedman drew me in with its cover as it brought back some nice memories. But as I started reading, my own thoughts faded into the background as I was plunged right into the story from the six-page prologue. The moral issue that will be at the heart of the book is there from the start as we meet Tom and Isabel, a young couple manning a remote lighthouse off the coast of Australia on Janus Rock, which is situated on the Indian Ocean. A boat washes up on shore with a crying baby and dead man, and from there, decisions are made that set up entirely what comes next.

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