The Given Day by Dennis Lehane

I associate Dennis Lehane with good thrillers, like Mystic River and Gone Baby Gone.  In this book, however, he takes a historical topic and turns it into a page-turning novel.

This book follows two men: Danny and Luther.  Danny is a white police office in Boston who father is the Chief of Police.  Seeking a detective badge, he agrees to go undercover to infiltrate several organizations accused of being anarchists.  However, he finds the labor union organized by the police in no way anti-government and begins to believe in what they are doing.  Meanwhile, Luther is a black man who falls in love with a woman and follows her to Ohio where she has family.  When he runs into some trouble down there, he ends up moving to Boston and working for Danny's family.
 
The book follows both of their lives and their decisions in Boston around 1917-1920, and gives a very colorful depiction of the city in those days.  The story's climax is during the multi-day Boston policeman's strike, which throws the city into chaos.  Intermixed throughout the entire book are short vignettes about Babe Ruth, during the height of his baseball fame. 

Lehane's great writing really kept my attention.  I was hoping for the characters to have things work out and I was interested in the politics in Boston.  The Ruth stories also helped describe the time and place outside of the two main characters.

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

I had noticed this book, the first in a series of seven, in Barnes and Noble a few months ago.  I go back and forth on historical fiction, so I wasn't sure if I'd like it.  Given its length (850 pages) I decided it'd be a good vacation read.

The story starts with Claire, a young combat nurse, in 1945 - right after the war.  She has just reunited with her husband and they are enjoying a holiday in Scotland.  One day, while sightseeing in the area, she stumbles into a mysterious formation and suddenly finds herself in 18th century Scotland.  Landing in the middle of a set of kingdoms that is at war, she is suspected of being a British spy.  The balance of the book follows Claire's story as she figures out how to survive there, and if there's a way to get back home. 

I loved this book and could not put it down.  I am so looking forward to reading the next several books in this series.  This was not a serious book, though.  It was a quick read and had less historical content than I expected, although I believe the extensive details about her surroundings were accurate.  I would also comment that the lascivious nature of some of the scenes made it perfect beach reading!

Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

When Greg heard I was headed to Barcelona, he heartily recommended this book.  Cindy had also recommended it a while back, but I skipped it because I had not enjoyed the other novel by Ruiz that I read earlier this year (The Angel's Game).  However, once I planned on traveling to Spain, I decided to give him another shot.

This book was much better.  It was about a young boy who works in his father's bookshop.  He comes into possession of a rare book (also called Shadow of the Wind) by a mysterious author, and the balance of the novel is his unraveling the story of this author.  Many people are anxious to get their hands on this book, and he runs into all sorts of characters, both savory and not.  The book spans many years, and during that time the boy grows up and as he is consumed by this author, he is also consumed by love for a particular woman.  Another present theme is the relationship he has with his father, which changes as he grows up. 

The book takes place in Barcelona - but not the one I visited.  The Barcelona in this book is dark and mysterious and Gothic.  I liked reading this and really enjoyed doing so while in Spain.  The story kept my attention and the main character was worth rooting for.