* Lurking by Joanne McNeill

Lurking: How a Person Became a User recounts the story of the internet, from the slow and musically challenged dial-in days to today, including much of her personal experience. I thought too much time was wasted lamenting the old days when the “internet” meant a small group of cool users overcoming technical challenges to get together in a necessarily safe because small place. Facebook may be evil (per the author) but surely she does not have to have an account on it?

** The Cubans by Anthony DePalma

The Cubans: Ordinary Lives in Extraordinary Times  tells the stories of several Cuban families and, through them, the story of Cuba since the revolution. Some of the people featured in the book studied in the (then) USSR while others dreamed of escaping to the United States, and a few did while others perished in the process.  My favorite part of the book was the story of a Black woman who, after managing large state businesses, started her own textile business and has to scrounge for materials as basic as fabric and thread. It made me appreciate how incomparably easy it is to start successful businesses in a country where electricity is available throughout the day, garbage is picked up regularly, and business licenses are available for a small fee.

Processed Cheese by Steven Wright

No, I did not forget the star rating for Processed Cheese: I felt it deserved no stars at all. Why? Well, its hero finds a bag of money and then proceeds to spend it with abandon, together with his wife–and their newfound wealth doesn’t make them any happier, following a predictable narrative. For us, the reader, conspicuous consumption also turns out to be extremely boring, and the author insists on using made-up names and brands for everything, and everyone, which makes everything confusing on top of boring. The heroes also indulge in lots of sex, which is described in detail and ends up being just as tedious as the purchasing of stuff.

Meanwhile, the owner of the cash, who is, also predictably, a depraved capitalist, wants it back. It’s not clear why, since he owns such a fortune he does not need it, and his actions and misdeeds are also described in great detail, along with inane dialog. Not fun, no interesting observations, not a twisted ending. Avoid absolutely.

 

*** Pizza Girl by Jean Kyoung Frazier

Pizza Girl is 18, pregnant, and in love with a mother who orders usual pizzas for her son. She needs to figure things out, and it will take her a while. Fortunately her boyfriend and her mother seem to be ready to wait things out. Her running commentary always rings true.

* The Guest Book by Sarah Blake

I was puzzled by how The Guest Book managed to garner many awards. It’s the story of a rich New York family, which seems to navigate exclusively within a very small circle of equally wealthy families, and summers on their very own island in Maine. That would be boring enough. But, while they live a terribly cloistered life, they think of themselves as open-minded and welcoming–while visibly appalled that (Harvard-educated!) African-Americans or Jews may want to befriend or marry their children. Earnest debate ensues. I found it pretty revolting.

*** Around the World in 80 Trees by Jonathan Drori

Around the World in 80 Trees features remarkable trees from all continents, chosen from their contributions to food (the Holm Oak, whose acorns feed the pigs that end up as Jason iberico) , medicine (the neem tree of India), suburban architecture (the Leylad Cypress), cable insulation (the Gutta-Percha from Borneo) or simply for their beauty (the Coastal Redwood of California). Each book gets two pages, with no complex terminology.

Beautifully illustrated with watercolors, I found it to be a delight both as a nature lover and a gardener.

** Fiebre Tropical by Juliana Delgado Lopera

Fiebre Tropical tells the story of a queer Columbian teenager, recently transplanted to Miami, who falls in love with the daughter of her mother’s evangelical pastor, prompting her to become active in the church. It’s a strange world of baptizing dead children and over-the-top religious fervor, and the back story of the family back in Bogota is also intriguing. The most striking feature of the novel, however, is that it’s told with frequent and lengthy Spanish inserts, which I found both interesting and pretty strenuous to read.

** The Aunt Who Wouldn’t Die by Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay

The Aunt Who Wouldn’t Die lives in an upstairs apartment of the family compound, has been widowed most of her life, and owns a formidable amount of jewelry. She wants revenge on the family she married into and gives it to a new bride, who will redeem the waning fortunes of the family and emancipate herself in the process. It’s inspiring and an unusual story, but it seems to end rather abruptly.

** Notes From A Young Black Chef by Kwame Onwuachi

 

Kwame Onwuachi came to being a chef at a fine restaurant from an unusual route that included a stint in Nigeria with his grandfather to calm him down as a preteen (it did not work too well), running a flourishing drug business at his university (he got kicked out), and finding seed money for a catering company by selling candy bars on the subway (it turns out that there there are turf wars for selling candy).  Notes from a Young Black Chef tells all, or at least all of the above, with brio. The story of how the restaurant came to fail is sad, but told in a belligerent mode as if his “partners” (he was their employee, in fact) simply failed to follow up on their unlimited funding promises. Surely that is not a promise that’s likely to become reality, right?

** The Aunt that Wouldn’t Die by Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay

It’s ghost week! The Aunt Who Wouldn’t Die features the ghost of an elderly aunt, who spent most of her life in the unhappy position of a widow that’s just tolerated by her family. But she owns vast amount of gold, which she manages to pass on to her niece, secretly, before her death. Said niece starts a successful business to save the family fortune, and the story ends with her daughter who…  doesn’t do much, and the book ends! It feels a little abrupt, but the story is charming in its own way.