Review: The Wanderers

The Wanderers by Meg Howrey
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I read about this book on the "Don't Mind the Mess" blog, which is often a good source of recommendations. This one, not so much. While I thought the premise was great - famous astronauts were spending 18 months in a simulation of a journey to Mars in preparation for an actual mission - and the characters appropriately complex and compelling, the book just didn't come together for me. I enjoyed reading about each character's back story, and I also liked reading about the "mission," training, and challenges. But I didn't really "get" the ending, or appreciate the book once I was done with it.

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Review: The Mothers

The Mothers by Brit Bennett
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Bennett's book kept my attention for sure. This was about a young woman in Southern California, who is part of a religious Christian community. When she gets pregnant from the pastor's son, he and she, and several other characters in the book, make decisions about her pregnancy that have far-reaching impacts over decades. I thought the writing was really good, and I also appreciated the character development. There was a "Greek Chorus" who told of the background, not dissimilar from the writing in Fates and Furies, which I thought was a nice touch.

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Review: Another Brooklyn

Another Brooklyn by Jacqueline Woodson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was a quick read - very well written, somewhat poetic even, but short. It was about a set of girlfriends coming of age in Brooklyn in the 1970's. As many young friendships ultimately fall apart, these do, which you learn early, as the current day is interspersed with memories of the past. There are first best friends, feelings of belonging, and betrayals. A beautiful portrayal of both childhood and growing out of it, this book captures that nearly perfectly. Brooklyn as a place also becomes a character as their neighborhood changes with their growth towards independence.

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Review: Unorthodox: The Scandalous Rejection of My Hasidic Roots

Unorthodox: The Scandalous Rejection of My Hasidic Roots by Deborah Feldman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book was an eye-opener. Feldman grew up as a member of the Satmar sect of Hassidic Judaism, which could hardly be called even a branch of the same religion I practice as a modern Reconstructionist Jew. The Satmars live a very insular life, with no outside influences (like secular books or music), and strict gender roles that are governed by male (of course) rabbis. She decides to leave the sect, and her husband, but the majority of the book is about her life in the sect before she leaves, and how she makes the decision to do so.

I thought I knew a lot about Judaism, but the traditions, rules, and customs in this sect blew me away. The example that most sticks with me is that Feldman recounts the rule that when a woman is menstruating she is considered "unclean" and can't touch her husband - even casually, like in the process of passing him a plate at dinner. In fact, she can't pass him a plate at dinner. She must put the plate down, then he picks it up. When her period is over, if she has discharge, her husband brings a pair of underwear to the rabbi, who determines if the discharge stains indicate it is indeed actually over. Really.

There has been some criticism of her depiction of the community, but even if a fraction of what she writes is true, and I believe it to be much more than that, she is a brave and unusual soul indeed.


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Review: Happy All the Time

Happy All the Time by Laurie Colwin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I read this book exclusively because Anne Lamott told me to, and I try to do the things she tells me (and everyone) to do.

It was sweet - it reminded me of some of Betty Smith's lesser-known books (like Joy in the Morning, perhaps) in its simplicity and directness. It was published in 1978 and is more straightforward and direct than many novels written today.

It is about two couples who are friends, and is simply the story of each of their lives leading up to and including their finding each other, falling in love, and getting married. None of the four of them is perfect, but none is tragically flawed either, so this becomes, at its core, a love story. Where more modern fiction sees neuroses and flaws as downfalls, this book lets the characters embrace those things - and thus each other.

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Review: Every Kind of Wanting

Every Kind of Wanting by Gina Frangello
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A new friend Liz recommended this to me, and I was pleasantly surprised by it. The premise seemed unnecessarily complicated and "Portlandia"-ish: when a gay couple decide to have a baby, they use an egg from one of their sisters, and then a gestational carrier who is an old friend of the other's from high school. The book jacket described this as the raising of a "community baby," but I found it to be much much more.

What I liked most about this book was the characters. There are four incredibly well-developed characters, each with backstories and motives. Then there are at least five other characters with their own histories and stories. This mastery of character development probably most reminded me of This is Where I Leave You.

I did enjoy the story as well, but this was one of those book that was more about the journey than the destination.

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