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The Boys in the Boat - Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin
Olympics by Daniel James Brown - First of all it's a great story - but
has anyone noticed that many of the latest non-fiction books include lengthy add-on phrases as part of their titles which explain what the book is about? I'm not sure I appreciate the explanation.
Is the title as strong if it has to be supported by more words on the
cover? Just asking. Now back to the book, which is really good,
slightly overwritten, but complete. It's a study of the sport of rowing, and the tale of a group of incredible competitors from the "greatest generation". It's a little bit magical, and would be more so if you could read it without knowing the outcome. It's a good old fashioned Epic Quest, much different than the Epic Quests of modern day video games, because this Epic Quest was undertaken in real life by young underdogs whose only weapons and powers were their strong bodies, their intelligent minds, their resilient boat and their long oars. 
The Casual Vacancy by J. K. Rowling - In the parlance of quaint (or maybe not so quaint) British towns, a Casual Vacancy is when certain conditions occur resulting in an empty seat on the local government council. I was 150 pages into this story and still had no idea why I was reading it when I decided to a) read the book jacket summary, and b) just read a chapter or two every 50 pages until I'd finished. It worked and I liked the book a bit better for having done so. It's the laborious story of the people in a small town, their motivations and actions, and their interactions. Read it the regular way and you might be as bored as I was (unless you enjoy chatty long novels), read it the way I did, and it might be OK. Or skip it, and read the one J.K. wrote under a pseudonym, which is supposed to be better. And which I will duly read next week.
It was old home week for books - I re-read The Red Tent, and now just finished The Color of Water for the second time. I was going to leave both books on the shelf at the condo in Puerto Vallarta, but my mother in law had cleaned off the shelves and really purged, and these books are so good that I didn't want them to ever be purged! Even though I'm not going to keep them, either. I have a few shelves of books and that's it. These are candidates to make the cut, though. Now what'll I do?
The Color of Water by James McBride - Just as good as the first time, this is the story of how a white Jewish woman married a black man in 1940 and started having children. Although she raised them with devotion and love, and she didn't really lie to them, she was secretive about her past, and this book is the result of one son's determination to find out exactly who his mother was, and by extension, who he himself is. It's a journey of love and of a strong woman who, despite her upbringing, followed her heart in all things. If you've never read it, now's the time. Of all the books about race and culture that the students have read in the Wilmette Public Schools and at New Trier, this is the best written, and by far my favorite. It is truly a beautiful story.
The Red Tent by Anita Diamant - One of the very best books I have ever read. It's narrated by Dinah, daughter of Jacob and Leah, granddaughter of Isaac and Rebecca, great granddaughter of Abraham and Sara. Dinah is mentioned in passing in the bible, but as Anita Diamant tells it, her story is rich and engrossing. I'm not sure I've ever met anyone who wasn't moved by this incredible history. Anita Diamant has a way with words, and she weaves a tale that brings her characters to life in ancient and strange times. It's magical. Anything I say about The Red Tent pales in comparison to actually reading it.
The Silent Wife by A.S.A. Harrison - Wait. What? Why is this book so highly acclaimed and recommended? It's a decent story, but maybe not worthy of quite so high praise. It's about a modern day woman, a psychologist, who is quite satisfied with the vanilla life she leads as the knowing partner of a known philanderer. Said philanderer is a real sleezebag. The writing style is impersonal and strangely objective considering the story. I kept trying to figure out whether the author was a woman or a man, and just discovered the answer with an internet search that also might explain the acclaim. You'll probably read the book because everyone does, so I'll leave you to the speculation, and apologize for the spoiler alerting.
