A Person of Interest by Susan Choi

A Person of Interest opens as Dr. Lee’s office mate receives a package in the mail that contains a bomb that shatters his and Dr Lee’s office. Dr. Lee, a mathematician who immigrated from China, is a solitary man whose two wives have deserted him and whose daughter moved away and is rarely in touch. In [...]

The Book of Joe by Jonathan Tropper

In The Book of Joe the hero, Joe, comes back to his hometown after many years’ absence because his father is very ill. While he was away Joe published a heavily autobiographical novel in which he told all the dirty secrets of the town inhabitants, therefore his welcome is cold. The first part of the novel [...]

Tomato Girl by Jayne Pupek

Within the space of this novel the 11-year old narrator of Tomato Girl has to contend with a mentally-ill mother, an adulterous father, a dead chick, a resurrected chick (different chick), incest, a miscarriage (not hers but witnessed and assisted by her), epilepsy (again, not hers), and many more minor mishaps. That’s a little much for [...]

The Wettest County in the World by Matt Bondurant

Franklin County, VA gained its reputation as the wettest county in the US during and following Prohibition because of the almost incredible number of moonshiners it harbored. The Wettest County in the World is a novel based on the true story of the author’s family members as they set up stills, distribute their wares through complex, [...]

Nothing to be Frightened of by Julian Barnes

Julian Barnes is afraid of death. And aging. And he did not get along with his mother — at all. He has read an impressive array of philosophers and philosophers sans le savoir, and he is able to quote and cross-reference their thoughts effortlessly, or so it seems; I want to believe he had dozens of [...]

The Science of Fear by Daniel Gardner

Written by a Canadian journalist, The Science of Fear tells us that we are afraid of a lot of things that are not worth worrying about because they are extremely unlikely while we ignore fairly common dangers. So we worry about plane crashes but not car crashes; we worry about breast cancer but not diabetes; we worry [...]

Whatever Happened to Thrift by Ronald Wilcox

Whatever Happened to Thrift is a most timely book since it talks about the dismal savings rate of Americans, the problems this causes, and what could be done to reverse the trends. Some of the ideas seem fantastically difficult to implement (e.g. a consumption tax replacing the current income tax) but others seem almost too obvious, [...]

Split by Suzanne Finnamore

Publishing an intimate diary, or what passes as one, is tricky (see Accidentally, on Purpose.) Split proposes to do just that for a very painful divorce: the author’s husband came home one evening, paid her a compliment (nice), went upstairs to change as usual, then came down to announce he was leaving and got into [...]

Orange County by Gustavo Arellano

Orange Countyis a memoir of Gustavo Arellano’s upbringing mixed with a history of the much-maligned Orange County, which, as Arellano points out, is much more than either orange groves (which have been replaced by houses anyway) or right-wing republicans (who are now replaced by democrats.) Other books (see here or here) have not been successful at [...]

Heirloom by Tim Stark

Heirloom is the memoir of a somewhat accidental organic farmer who specializes in heirloom tomatoes. From an improbable beginning gardening on the roof of his New York appartment, the author transforms his life as a freelance writer into that of a farmer, making many mistakes along the way and learning to market as he farms: with [...]