An Object of Beauty by Steve Martin

If you love art and art museums (as I do), you might really enjoy this book (as I did).  I liked both of Steve Martin's other novels; "The Pleasure of My Company"  and  "Shopgirl" (which was made into a movie starring the author and Claire Danes).  Whereas the other two books are set in California, "An Object of Beauty" plays out in the epicenter of the elite, volatile, and (often) bizarre art world of New York City.  The main character is Lacey Yeager, a beautiful young woman who will stop at nothing to make money.  She seems to care really only for herself and does many unscrupulous things in order to achieve more money, and more art.  Luckily, she has some redeeming qualities, such as a wicked sense of humor, and oh yes, she actually does love the art.  Her best friend is the narrator, Daniel, a young art journalist.  But the thread that runs faithfully through this entire very-entertaining novel is the constant reference to famous paintings, with little side trips to Russia and D.C., to broaden the landscape and bring in evermore art talk.  Even the conversation is saturated with art, such as the telling of the famous theft of 13 priceless works of art from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, as shown in the documentary film entitled "Stolen."  This book will make you want to go to (or go back to) the National Gallery, and the Frick, and MOMA.  It will send you running to your computer to google images of Warhol flower paintings, and Watson and the Shark by John Singleton Copley.  I wanted to know what happened in the end, and I hoped that Daniel would find love.  I remembered the days of my youth, when I was antiquing and would come across Maxwell Parish prints too expensive for my pocket.  I too have yearned to own great art, and so I identified with Lacey at least in this way, and that was enough.

My Hollywood by Mona Simpson

I checked out this book, thinking it would be a light chick-lit read for the holidays.  It ended up being a little more entertaining and poignant than I thought it would be.  I listened to the library audio version of this book and now I highly recommend it.  It's possibly not for most men, or those who only want to read seriously gritty stuff, but I think a lot of women of all ages would like this book, especially the audio version.  The voices you hear are Lola's lilting Filipino accent, and the slightly "dude" California drawl of the white couples.  Lola, an upstanding older Filipina, is the main voice, and she is the thread that connects all the other characters, including the couples who hire nannies to raise their children.  When you read this book, you step unmistakably into California, with its preoccupied blondes and it's ambitious young men who work behind the scenes of television shows.  Thankfully, we can somewhat identify with one of the white women, Claire, who still has some redeeming qualities, despite the almost complete absence of her driven husband.  The heart of this book though, lies in the way we get to see the world through the eyes of the immigrant nannies, especially Lola, who is a rock of stability for the children she cares for, and the few employers who are smart enough to see her true worth, in the end.  Even if you've read "The Nanny Diaries" or "The Help" you will find something a little different here, maybe a new way to understand part of the price paid by the immigrant nannies who raise many children in this country.  Also interesting is the separate society the nannies have, as they create a family together while far away from home.

The Confession by John Grisham

I think John Grisham is sort of the Jane Austen of the mystery and suspense genres, and I mean that in the best possible way, because I'm a Jane freak.  I don't think I've ever read a Grisham book that I haven't liked, but this one was really good.  A page turner, maybe even cant-put-downable.  There are some good little video links on this amazon.com page.  Back to Jane Austen; in her wonderful, timeless novels, everyone gets their due, good or bad.  Grisham is a bit more realistic than that, but that's ok, because it's a totally different genre.  Jane IS her own genre.  But what I always look forward to in a Grisham book, is this same, satisfying conclusion, where justice really does win for the most part.  I love seeing the good be validated, and I LOVE seeing the bad guys get their butts kicked.  The comeuppance, the justice in everyday life that we have all wanted ever since we were little kids.  So, the story is that there's a serial killer running around, a young woman disappears, and the wrong man has gone to prison.  And the police put him there, because, desperate for a conviction, they took the easy route and set up the wrong man, who is now the supreme victim in all this.  Enter various other characters, such as the missing girl's mother, who puts all her energy and life into this wrongful conviction.  A young Baptist pastor who inexplicably finds himself right smack in the middle of all this.  The small Texas town itself becomes a character, and it comes alive on the pages, right down to the high school football scene that is so famous in Texas.  The clock is ticking for the innocent man on death row, and the real killer is running around loose, free to kill again.  Just a good read, a nice break from all the heavy literature.  And I, for one, am getting this for my husband for a Christmas present!

Swimming by Nicola Keegan

I know this book has been around for a year or two, but I'm just now getting around to reading it.  I'm glad I did, because it took me to a new world, into the rarefied air of an Olympic gold medalist.  I like a book that takes me someplace new.  Here is a quote from Publisher's Weekly:



Keegan takes on death, religion, relationships and coming-of-age in her gorgeously stylized and irreverent debut about a rising Olympic swimming star. Not even a year after Philomena "Pip" Ash is born in 1960s Middle America, her parents put their rambunctious infant in a pool and watch the remarkable sight of a nine-month-old gliding through the water. With some help from Olympic Supercoach Ernest K. Mankovitz, Pip becomes a mercenary swimming machine who wins an unprecedented collection of gold medals in three Olympic games. Though Pip's connection with water is preternaturally intense, she can't relate to people, a dilemma heightened by early encounters with death and her innate awareness of loathsome pain and insecurities. After going through a premature career climax and the subsequent plummet, Pip is forced to deal with emotions she's spent her life ignoring; her sarcastic (and f-bomb laden) musings provide many amusing turns, while Keegan's linguistic playfulness moves the story at a fast clip, even if it sometimes muddles what's going on—particularly toward the end. This is worth reading for the prose alone.
 
Some of the language seemed a bit clipped and narcissistic at times, until the story moved along and I realized that Pip did try to do what she could.  She had issues of her own to deal with and after all, the young ARE narcissistic.  I imagine that is really the case with extreme athletes also, and compared to most, maybe Pip is just trying to do her best in life, as we all are.  Something different and entertaining, for me anyway.

Little Bee by Chris Cleave

There was a buzz around this book when it came out last winter, and now that I've listened to it, I can see why.  The audio voice of the main character "Little Bee" is absolutely haunting, and she narrates this tale of what powerful and distant greed does to the most innocent people.  On amazon.com it says the publisher didn't want to ruin the story by revealing too much of the plot.  What I can say is that reading this book is a chance to step into a completely foreign existence, to see our world from the outside in.   For me, it reinforced the fact that everything we do (such as filling our gas tanks) has consequences for someone, like a "butterfly effect" of our own free will and making.  In this book, you'll go to Nigeria, and England, and meet a little boy who thinks he's Batman.  You'll see the real price of oil, and greed, and dishonesty, and desperation.  But you'll also see the value of the human spirit when all else is stripped away and no immediately-discernable hope is left.  Just as how you get to know people in real life, the history of the characters becomes more and more clear as the book goes on.  And the characters are all transformed by the circumstances.  A bit unforgettable, this book, and a beautifully produced audio book too.  I listened to several author interviews, but this one from Better World Books podcast (also on itunes) is my favorite and has less spoilers.

Outcasts United by Warren St. John

I read this book because it was chosen for the One Maryland One Book program for 2010.  Outcasts United is supposedly being made into a movie, and I can see why; it's super heartwarming.  It's about a kids soccer team called "The Fugees" that is a lifeline to many refugee kids from other countries.  Fugees is simply short for "Refugees," and is not named after the formerly-popular hip hop group.  The town of Clarkston, Georgia has had a complex influx of refugees from many countries since the 1990's.  Here's a video link on Luma Mufleh, the Jordanian woman who took these kids in hand and got them a soccer program, just outside of Atlanta, Georgia.  This book came out of a popular series of articles in the NY Times, and so it's written in a journalism style--it's not the great American novel, but I didn't care.  I listened to the book and found it easy to follow, despite the fact that it often digresses to highlight the backstory of a particular child and their family.  All the children are from war-torn countries and situations, and many have endured great hardship.  The book starts out at the very beginning of this now-successful soccer program, and takes you through their early struggles, including just trying to get the right to play on a safe plot of unused grass built for games such as soccer.   Here's a link to the Fugees organization with a touching short video showing the beautiful faces of the boys on the team.  Here's another link to a couple of good youtube videos by the author.  I don't even know how to play soccer, and I still liked this book!

THE FUGITIVE WIFE by Peter C. Brown

This book is really an adventure.  Set in 1900, it moves back and forth between Minnesota farmland, and the gold rush at Nome, Alaska.  Claims are jumped, fortunes are made, and dreams are shattered, all against the wild backdrop of the eastern Alaskan shorelines.  I really feel this is a great read for both men and women.  The main character is Essie, a capable young farm woman who flees her abusive husband and runs about as far away as she can get.  But she ends up in a man's world; a place teeming with machinery and men of all stripes.  As all the newcomers establish a foothold in this landscape that is so foreign to them, Essie's story unfolds, as does that of her husband, Leonard, and her new love interest, Nate.  This is not as heavy and political as, say, The Poisonwood Bible, but is every bit as adventurous and well researched.  The author's grandfather was a gold prospector in Nome, Alaska, from 1900-1902.  The amount of detail in the times and places was woven seamlessly in, and just made everything even more colorful.  The link for the book is here and it's got some great photos and author comments.  Just a really entertaining read, and with some beautiful, cut-glass phrasing to boot.  Highly recommended.   p.s.  A complementary movie to watch would be "Sweet Land" an absolutely wonderful movie set in MN.