Feathered by Laura Kasischke (2008)

A teen novel about three girlfriends who travel to Mexico for spring break, and something awful happens to one of them. Beautifully descriptive of Cancun and at the same time, wonderfully eerie and spooky and tense in the events leading up to the drama. I actually had to put the book down at one point, I was so worried about these poor girls. And the author's description of the girls walk through a debauched spring break party at Club Med is more horrifying than almost anything else in the novel.  Chilling.

Fire and Rain by David Browne (2011)

Subtitled: The Beatles, Simon and Garfunkel, James Taylor, CSNY, and the Lost Story of 1970. Incredibly absorbing story of a really pivotal year in music. Alternating chapters explore the lives and works of each of these musicians during this time.  As the music industry is a small world, these stories are constantly intertwining.  Lots of fascinating behind-the-scenes stories with larger than life performers all kept in context with the times as Browne explores the social and political events of the time as well.  Terrific look at a fascinating time in music.

The Unit by Ninni Holmqvist (2006)

Searching for readalikes for Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro, I came across this Swedish novel set in a dystopia where single, childless men and women of a certain age (50 and 60) are sent to 'the unit', a compound where they are studied for scientific research and provide 'donations' for the public. Very interesting and compelling look at a society that values having children above all else.   A fascinating exploration of relationships, considering that the main character's primary romantic relationship in her adult life was with a married man.  Also, there's a beautiful thread about the main character's great love for her dog.  Very unusual, but very well done.

The Principles of Uncertainty by Maira Kalman (2007)

A lovely little sketchbook of a book by the artist Maira Kalman. Each page features a drawing or photograph and some small, quiet musing. Somewhat memoir, somewhat philosophy, but lovely and an excellent reminder to appreciate what is around us--whether it be a painting or a stranger's hat.  A few quotes:

"The opera was Eugene Onegin, by Tchaikovsky. From the story by Pushkin. The characters had so many troubles, don't ask."

I also liked this:

"This is a painting of a photo taken in London in 1940. It is a library that was bombed in the Blitz. And then the all-clear sounded. And people returned, hope undiminished. They returned, so elegant and purposeful to the books."

The Raising by Laura Kasischke (2011)

Compulsively readable novel about a boy returning to college after being involved in an accident that killed his girlfriend. But here's the weird thing: he keeps seeing glimmers of her around campus and his memory of the crash still hasn't returned.  Kasischke skillfully weaves together chapters from the present with chapters from the year leading up to the accident.  Eventually the threads meet in such a way that I may have actually gasped out loud.  Beautifully written, suspenseful, and unbelievably absorbing.  I liked this so much I sought out the rest of Kasischke's novels and read them all.  I love the moody, thoughtful, elegiac, but spooky tone of her novels.  See also Feathered and Boy Heaven, two YA novels by Kasischke.

Secondhand Spirits by Juliet Blackwell (2009)

Subtitled: A Witchcraft Mystery, this is a charming light mystery about a woman with some witchy powers who runs a vintage clothing store in San Francisco. I loved the mysterious back story of the main character (it's so refreshing when an author doesn't give you all the information right away). It also features handsome romantic interests, evocative San Francisco setting, and a really serious treatment of the seriousness of magic that you don't see in your usual paranormal novel. An unexpected treat.

Slightly Single by Wendy Markham (2002)

Each of the characters in this book is given one defining characteristic.  The heroine of this book, Tracey, is fat. That's it. No physical description other than that, no personality traits whatsoever—she's just fat. The rest of the characters in this book can also be summed up in one word. Unfortunately, for most of the characters, that word is based on their ethnicity or sexual orientation. Her best friend Raphael? Gay. Her coworker Latisha? Black. Her best friend Kate? Rich. Her boyfriend Will? Actor. Her new love interest Buckley? Nice. Her entire family? Upstate New York/Italian-Americans. 

Tracey Spadolini is one of the least likeable characters ever to grace the pages of chick lit. She's fat and unhappy and has a job she hates and has no interests other than brooding about the fact that her boyfriend is leaving her to act in summer stock for the summer. She has nothing good to say about anyone, nor should any of her friends or family expect her to be interested in their lives in any way, except as it pertains to Tracey herself. Not only is she incredibly annoyingly obsessed with her weight (Bridget Jones would tell her to get the hell over it), she's completely clueless about her failing relationship with her attractive actor boyfriend, she's horribly condescending to her entire family, and to top it all off, she's a big old bigot.  

And not only is Tracey a bigot (and not in one of those imperfect anti-heroine kind of ways), but the overall attitude towards gay people in this book is worrying. Tracey has a gay best friend named Raphael (whose defining personality characteristics include wearing tight cutoffs to brunch and having one night stands with sailors) and yet she constantly uses the term "faggy" (and this book was written in 2002!). Every single gay man she comes in contact with is "flamboyant and effeminate" (her words, not mine). Here's Tracey meeting one of Will's housemates at summer stock: "Oh, shut up, Will," says Theodore with such a flouncing flourish that I'm immediately aware that he isn't competing with Will for the fair Esme's attentions . . . as if his name, gold earring and Barbara Streisand concert T-shirt weren't evidence enough." And then he offers her a "limp-wristed handshake." Nice.

Then, when she meets a guy at Raphael's birthday party who seems "low-key and well—normal", she assumes that he's gay, even though he gives her no indication of such, for "would a straight, reasonably adorable guy be at a party like this? In New York? No way." What city, no—what century does this author live in where gay and straight people do not freely commingle? The weird thing is that both Tracey's boyfriend Will and her new love interest Buckley (!) seem way more gay than any of her stereotypical acquaintances. Will is a good-looking actor, who works out constantly, lives platonically with a gorgeous model or something and is dating schlumpy Tracey. Buckley, who uses casually uses words like "minx", "hottie", and "saucy" is prone to the following type of behavior: "He launches into a hilarious description of fellow beach-goers, doing accents and dialogue. He's got me laughing so hard, I'm straining my newly developing abs." When she responds with "I haven't laughed this hard since the first Austin Powers", you know Hepburn and Tracy better watch out.

And just when you think maybe this stereotypical characterization is limited to gay people, along come Tracey's coworkers, including Latisha, who has poor grammar, begins and ends every sentence with "girl" and "wags a finger at [Tracey] in her sassy, don't-give-me-any-crap way." Oh, and five seconds later Tracey remarks that "my troubles pale next to Latisha's. She's a single mother trying to raise an adolescent daughter in a rundown neighborhood where her teenaged sister was shot in a drug-related drive-by shooting a few years ago."   That's quite a lot on anyone's plate.

Long story short, this is a chick lit book with a headache-inducingly dreary (and underwritten) main character.  Not only that, but it shows a worrying tendency towards bigotry. Eek.  Not a fun read at all.

Gig: Americans Talk About Their Jobs by John Bowe, Marisa Bowe and Sabine Streeter (2000)

I unequivocally loved this book. It's a series of first-person essays based on interviews with Americans about their jobs. Fascinating look at people and their jobs, where sometimes the job itself is fascinating, sometimes the actual person is the fascinating part. The essays are beautifully done and imperceptibly edited--so conversational, just like you're sitting down with someone and they're telling you a really interesting story. LOVED. Provides amazing insight into people's everyday lives.  Some of my very favorites were the husband and wife truckers, the bus driver, the buffalo rancher, the barbecue cooks, and the prison guard.  So many gems of wisdom that can apply to a number of jobs--even a librarian:

 "I wish I had more good days than I do. Because the good days are very good. And it's a good job, overall it is. It's just kind of up and down sometimes, you know? So when you have a good day, you save those days. You hope to have more days like them than you do. My last good day was about two weeks ago. Nobody said anything. Everybody paid. I didn't get cussed at, nobody tried to pull a fast one over me. Everything went real smooth. No traffic, no accidents, no hazards, That was precious." (p. 187 - bus driver)

"If they get excited, they get in trouble. They'll run into a fence or break it down, so be patient. Slow. Keep your mouth shut. Best way to handle them is to put some duct tape over your mouth. If you get excited, they'll get lost or get away, you'll scare them. When you sort them, be quiet. Patient and slow." (p. 225 - buffalo rancher)

"Other than that, you basically just hang out. You don't really work, you just enforce rules and make sure they don't fight and aren't killing each other." (p.549 - prison guard)

High Season by Jon Loomis (2007)

Funny and suspenseful mystery novel starring Frank Coffin, a homicide detective from Baltimore who saw one too many crime scenes and fled for the beach town of Provincetown. However, a series of murders are livening up the town considerably, which is already lively due to its wild and varied gay population. The best elements of this novel are the vivid and unique setting of P-town, the affectionate portrayal of the gay community, and the well-drawn, often eccentric characters. Great female characters, including Frank's girlfriend, a yoga instructor who can take care of herself, as well as Frank's partner Lola. Also, there's a light, dry humor that runs through the entire book that is most enjoyable.  Here's a fascinating description of the "tall ships" in town:

"The straight cross-dressers were harder to figure out--the just plain transvestites everyone in town called tall ships. The tall ships tended to be large men who strode up and down Commercial Street in plus-sized tweed skirts, support hose, and pumpkin-colored lipstick; craggy-faced and lonely-looking men with dispirited wigs and five o'clock shadows poking through pancake makeup."

Later, Frank is showing the photo of the cross-dressing reverend who was found murdered: 

"Oh my God," the drag queen in the sequined dress said. "Look at that sad little outfit. It's just heartbreaking."

Good fun!

My Korean Deli by Ben Ryder Howe (2010)

Subtitled Risking it all for a Convenience Store.   This is a fascinating story about an editor at the Paris Review who buys a deli in Brooklyn with his wife for their Korean in-laws.   He spends his time between working to make the deli a success (and get along with his in-laws) and working in Manhattan at George Plimpton's townhouse for the Review.  Interesting inside story into how a deli is run, and all of the interactions with customers, vendors and the community.  Much struggle and some hilarity ensue.

I listened to this on audio, read by Bronson Pinchot.  Pinchot's reading is fabulously expressive, and he does a dead-on George Plimpton.   His narration made all of the characters so endearing and hilarious--even when I got a big impatient with Howe.  One of the best audiobooks I've ever listened to, ever.