Go Set the Watchmen by Harper Lee
Synopsis: Harper Lee's kind of follow up to "To Kill a
Mockingbird" is a discussion on Civil Rights set in the 1950s Alabama.
Having not read "To Kill a Mockingbird," it's hard to say how
effectively it builds off the tropes and themes of that book. It's certainly a
book with a message, and one that is relevant to today's world where people
with opposing views struggle to communicate with each other in a meaningful and
effective way.
My thoughts: Perhaps the most controversial part of this
book is that it was released after Lee’s death by her publisher and lawyers
from a draft novel she wrote before “To Kill a Mockingbird,” that was rejected
by publishers at the time. Essentially, she rewrote this manuscript, and it
became “To Kill a Mockingbird.” From a writer’s standpoint, it’s an interesting
to think about how you might want unpublished manuscripts after your death. I
guess my advice is that if you’ve had success, and don’t something published
after your death, burn it.
The Worst Hard Time by Timothy Egan
Synopsis: This is a thorough recounting of the farming
practices that led to the Dust Bowl, the governmental policies that funded
these farming practices, the Great Depression that devastated the economic environment,
and the continuing ignorance of humans who fail to realize that their actions have
an impact on the world around them.
My thoughts: The Dust Bowl was always sort of one of those “terms”
you learned in school with little real context for what it was and why it
matters to people living fifty, sixty or a hundred years later. It’s a case
study in environmental impacts of human behavior. The book is tough to read
because of Egan’s research providing real-life accounts of how the dust
destroyed families and left animals to die with their lungs filled with dirt.
Wicked River by Jenny Milchman
Synopsis: Natalie and Doug escape civilization for their
honeymoon on a canoe trip in the six million acres of the Adirondack Forest. As
it turns out, Doug has an ulterior motive for the trip, and then the two
encounter a dangerous recluse.
My thoughts: This was a standard thriller with the expected
plot issues, including Natalie’s sudden ability to hike/run vast lengths of distance
near the conclusion of the book without really stopping or getting adequate
water. Still, it built suspense and had a satisfying payoff. It’s OK for books
to simply be entertaining.
Slade House by David Mitchell
Synopsis: This is the classic haunted house story, where a
pair of twins ensnare unsuspecting visitors with illusions to feast upon the
guest’s soul to maintain the twins’ youth. It even ends with a twist and a bit
of a cliffhanger.
My thoughts: This might be my favorite book that I read this
year. One, the story was easy to follow and well done. Second, it was told in
an interesting way through the point of view of the guests, with new clues
being provided with each subsequent guest.
I’ve also read by David Mitchell: Cloud Atlas
Us Against You by Fredrik Backman
Synopsis: There was such a foreboding tone to this that I
admit at times I didn't want to find out what happened to the town of Beartown
(a nondescript Scandinavian town built around a factory and its hockey club),
even though having grown up in a small town, I could guess the outcome.
My thoughts: Backman has a knack of tackling complex and
deep ideas and expressing them in simple, often heartbreaking sentences. This
book handles the "team sports" mentality of civilization and how
while this mentality can unite a community, it divides people just as much.
Here are a few quotes I really liked:
- “It's so easy to get people to hate one another. That's what makes love so impossible to understand. Hate is so simple that it always ought to win. It's an uneven fight.”
- “Death does that to us, it’s like a phone call, you always remember exactly what you should have said the moment you hang up. Now there’s just an answering machine full of memories at the other end, fragments of a voice that are getting weaker and weaker.”
- “He learns that people will always choose a simple lie over a complicated truth, because the lie has one unbeatable advantage: the truth always has to stick to what actually happened, whereas the lie just has to be easy to believe.”
- “The best friends of our childhoods are the loves of our lives, and they break our hearts in worse ways.”
I’ve also read by Fredrik Backman: Brit-Marie Was Here, My
Grandmother Asked Me To Tell You She’s Sorry, A Man Called Ove
