The Story of Arthur Truluv
Elizabeth Berg

Berg calls this book, “delicate,” and it is. It’s the story of three lonely people: recently widowed Arthur; motherless Maddy, a high school student he meets in the cemetery while visiting his wife’s grave; and Lucille, a retired teacher who is Arthur’s neighbor. The three are slowly drawn together, and tentatively build a family which nurtures each of them. It’s a lovely, light read that can also cause the reader to think about the nature of the ties which bind us together. The story reminds me of two novels by Kent Haruf: Plainsong and Our Souls at Night.

The Late Bloomers’ Club
Louise Miller

Miller returns to the small town of Guthrie, also the setting of The City’s Baker’s Guide to Country Living, for another story which deftly mixes second chances, humor, food, and very appealing characters. There’s even a recipe for Burnt Sugar Cake with Maple Icing. It’s way too hard for me to try, but sounds delicious. When Nora, who runs the Miss Guthrie Diner, and her sister Kit, a footloose (and broke) aspiring filmmaker, learn about an unexpected inheritance, their lives are turned upside down. You’ll enjoy re-visiting Guthrie in this great summer read. As a bonus, some of the characters from The City Baker’s Guide to Country Living made cameo appearances.

On the Brink of Everything: Grace, Gravity & Getting Old
Parker Palmer

Parker Palmer has long been one of my heroes. Grounded in the Quaker tradition, he has lived a life of both action and reflection as a community organizer, teacher, author and speaker. In this, his latest book, he looks back on his life, and encourages the reader to look back as well. Palmer is nearly 80, but he’s not resting on his laurels! He continues to explore what he’s learned—and continues to learn—about himself and the world. The book contains a number of essays, as well as poems, and three downloadable songs written by Carrie Newcomer expressly for the book. Palmer shows great courage, as well as a terrific sense of humor. He writes openly about his struggles with depression. And, if you’ve ever wondered what fruitcake might have to do with cultivating a rich inner life, you’ll find a funny, funny story in this book which explores that connection. This book isn’t for everyone, but it is for those who continue to reflect on their lives as they age, and to celebrate the gifts of their longevity.

The Wait: Love, Fear, and Happiness on the Heart Transplant List
Jennifer Bonner and Susan Cushman

The Wait is a moving account of the year Jen Bonner spent waiting for a heart transplant. She was 22 that year but, despite her youth, heart problems were not new to her. Jen was born in 1966 at the University of Minnesota Hospital. If she had been born 10 years earlier, or in another geographical area, she most likely would have died within days of congenital heart problems. As it was, at that time the University of Minnesota was a leader in the developing field of open heart surgery. Although Jen was too small for such surgery, a palliative procedure was performed which allowed blood to reach her lungs. Doctors told Jennifer’s parents they were sure an artificial heart would be developed within ten years.

Jen’s dad, a doctoral candidate at the University of Minnesota, was offered a position on the faculty of Carleton College in Northfield, MN, a convenient hour from Jen’s doctors and hospital. The family moved to Northfield. Their life was filled with challenges, particularly after the birth of Tim, who had profound developmental abnormalities. And yet, both parents chose to focus on the joy in each day, and to nurture their children into the fullest lives possible. Concurrently, progress was being made in the areas of organ transplant surgery and related fields, allowing for optimism for Jen’s long-term health. At that time, author Susan Cushman was a student at Carleton, one of many who babysat for the Bonners and were frequently in their home.

After recovering from a difficult surgery in 1980, Jen entered high school and, at last, seemed to thrive. A few years later, she enrolled at Carleton College as an art major, lived in a dorm, had a boyfriend, and enthusiastically embraced college life.

Until mid-December 1987. Unusual fatigue caused Jen to return to her doctors, and she was placed on the heart transplant list, took time off from school, and returned to live in her parents’ home. She also continued to write in her diary, a daily practice she had begun at age 10.

I was a little nervous as I began the book, afraid that it would be as dark as the cover. But it was not! The book reflects a buoyant personality, an optimistic outlook on life, and a young woman who lived fully, despite her physical limitations. Cushman says, “Jen’s greatest gift was…knowledge and acceptance of who she was. She used that understanding to be happy within the constraints and disappointments life had handed her. Her habit of reflecting on the day led to a completely healthy psyche and a life filled with meaning, frail though her body was.” Cushman gives background information about Jen’s family and relevant medical information, making the latter understandable without the use of jargon. She has edited Jen’s diary during the year she waited for a transplant in a way which brings this remarkable young woman to life on the page.

This review was printed in the July 25 edition of the Park Rapids Enterprise.

Until Tomorrow, Mr. Marsworth
Sheila O'Connor

Eleven year old Reenie Kelly and her older brothers have just moved to live with their grandmother in the small Minnesota home town of their parents. Their mother has recently died of cancer and their father is working out of state to support the family. It is the summer of 1968 and Reenie is feeling out of place and friendless. Her main joy in life is her paper route. When one of her customers, Mr. Marsworth, will not come to the door to meet her, Reenie writes him a letter. To her surprise, he answers her letter and their friendship begins.

Through the correspondence between Reenie and Mr. Marsworth we learn that Reenie is desperate to keep her oldest brother out of the Viet Nam War. A major theme of the book is the strong convictions held by the townspeople concerning the Viet Nam War and those who served in the military versus those who were conscientious objectors. As the summer progresses, we learn why Mr. Marsworth can so easily relate to Reenie's plight and why he has become a recluse in their small town.

Until tomorrow, Mr. Marsworth was written with a middle-grade audience in mind but has something to offer to adults as well. As someone who was just a little bit older than Reenie in 1968, the story enhanced and in some ways clarified my understanding of the times. The letters between Reenie and Mr. Marsworth tell a story that is engaging and possibly instructive for readers young and old.

News of the World
Paulette Jiles

The story begins in the winter of 1870. Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd is a 71 year old widower who spends his days roaming the towns of northern Texas and bringing the people the news of the world.

Along the way he is offered a $50 gold piece to return ten-year-old Johanna Leonberger to her relatives near San Antonio. Four years earlier, Johanna had been kidnapped by a band of Kiowa raiders and her family had been viciously murdered. Johanna had been taken to be raised by the Kiowa as one of their own. Captain Kidd, thinking it the right thing to do, accepts the responsibility. The long journey is filled with difficulties.

The travellers face outlaws, warring tribes, and thieves, among others dangers. Differences in language and what is considered to be acceptable behavior create great challenges, causing the Captain to question his decision.

As time goes on, Captain Kidd and Johanna forge a friendship and understanding that helps them to survive and serves to make both of their lives better. News of the World is a work of fiction. However, at the end of the story the author provides additional information for those interested in the reality behind the story. Both Captain Kidd and Johanna have joined my list of much loved characters.

The Beyond Now Device
Mark Hollock

I had a chance to meet and discuss Sci-Fi with this author at Author Fest in June. Of course, my first question to him was, “What kind of Sci-Fi writer are you?” He seemed perplexed, so I explained I lump Science Fiction into space-ships (hardcore SF) or unicorns (fantasy.) He admitted to being neither. As we talked further, we agreed that there is a continuum of SF styles, which of course muddied the waters for me. He gave me a brief synopsis of his book about ’time travel’ and I came to the conclusion that he is probably “Soft SF.” Time travel is a common enough SF topic with ‘worm holes’ and ‘time stretching near a black hole.’ These topics are potentially possible, we just don’t see them now. Hollock’s time travel, albeit short hops, has a mechanism that appears unfeasible. However, the mechanism is not important in the book; how people deal with time travel is what’s important.

This takes me back to Star Trek the TV show. If you watched the original series or caught it in reruns you saw it as unfeasible (silicon-based beings and scattering your molecules to travel… ‘Beam me up Scotty’) but still entertaining as you put yourself in the place of the cast and tried to figure out how you were going to get out of this new fix they were in. And so I find this book interesting for two reasons. One is the Star Trek ‘concept’ just mentioned and the other is all the interesting questions that are brought up concerning time travel (is ‘Now’ a thin line between ‘Past’ and ‘Future’? or if I undo something in the Future will it affect the Past because everything in the past is the basis for the Future?). This makes for an interesting, thought—provoking read. Plus, if you’re not into Hard–core SF (a Dyson sphere is what?) you’ll find this a nice venture into SF.

A Sister in My House
Linda Olsson

Emma, Marla's youngest sister, is coming to visit Marla in Spain. Marla regrets the invitation and feels it's an intrusion on her solitary life. Emma arrives and Marla is forced to face their tumultuous family history over the six days they are together. I don't have a sister, so perhaps didn't relate as well as others might, but thought the book was well worth reading. The author also wrote Astrid and Veronika, which received great reviews and was popular with book clubs.

The Stars Are Fire
Anita Shreve

The story of Grace is based on the riveting true story of the largest forest fire in Maine's history. Grace is all alone with her two toddlers when the fire begins to burn the whole town. Her husband is away fighting the fire in another area. She digs holes in the wet sand by the ocean to save herself and the children. They survive, but soon she is faced with even bigger challenges as she begins to remake her life, believing her husband perished in the fire Every page had me wondering, “what's going to happen next?” We had fun with Anita Shreve at our library book club as everyone took a different title of hers to report on. The Stars Are Fire was one of the favorites, along with Stella Bain. We decided that Anita Shreve was a good author for great light summer reading. (editor’s note: Anita Shreve died last March.)

Tin Man
Sarah Winman

I just read the back of the book and all the words I was thinking of using in this review were there: exquisite, tenderness, heart-breaking, delicate. A man has been suffering: he lost his beloved wife and their joint best friend. It starts when Ellis and Michael are 12-year-old boys. Michael is both the best man and “maid” of honor, creating a magic stag and hen party and staying close for a while after the wedding. But then he moves to London from their small town and disappears. He comes back, but not all is well for long. Ellis’s journey back to living his life, like the book cover says, warms  your heart. (It’s also a very attractively designed little book.)

The Swerve: How the World Became Modern
Stephen Greenblatt

This is an astonishing book. I don’t read a lot of non-fiction but this Pulitzer Prize winner has given me a profoundly different understanding of the way our world came to be. 

In 300 BC the Greek Epicurus speculated remarkably accurately about the existence of atoms: how did he work that out? And he describes evolution remarkably well. Among his teachings is the Pleasure Principle: there is no afterlife, our souls dissolve with the atoms that make up our bodies, so we should seek pleasure now. This doesn’t mean being beastly, we need to seek happiness for everyone to get it ourselves.

Centuries later the Roman Lucretius wrote the beautiful poem On the Nature of the Universe that glorified atomism and the remarkable tenets associated with it. The poem challenged the pagan religion, so it was controversial from the first, and it was almost lost when Christianity swept Europe. But in 1417 Poggio, a book hunter, found a copy in a German monastery, had it copied, and let it escape to the world. Of course it was condemned and vilified: atomism was forbidden by the Inquisition. But once Gutenberg arrived it was impossible to destroy such an important book.

Greenblatt explains the work and its champions, and traces its path to Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson paraphrased the Pleasure Principle in asserting that we all have a right to “the pursuit of happiness.”

Dark Matter
Blake Crouch

A man has a lovely life. He adores his wife and son, and has a decent if unexciting job teaching physics in a small Chicago college. One night he leaves his home to have a drink with a friend who has had a more successful career. He walks home, picking up ice cream for his wife. But he’s kidnapped on the way home and thrown into a situation he cannot comprehend. 

This is the kind of sci-fi that I love, a good story that plays with some scientific principles. I am fascinated by books that explore the implications of time travel, but this premise is more possible, and I’ve never read a multiverse novel before. Is this the first that has been written?

And while I don’t really understand quantum mechanics and multiverses, they make a bit more sense after reading this.

One Thousand White Women
Jim Fergus

This book of historical fiction begins in September of 1874. At that time, a Cheyenne Indian chief asked then President Grant to make peace with the Native American tribe by giving them one thousand white women to help them learn the ways of the whites. This novel is set on the premise that the government granted that request. The author writes the story through the fictional journal entries of May Dodd. I enjoyed the novel and the changes the women go through in accepting the Native ways and how they come to enjoy their way of life. The novel is also a reminder of the many promises to Native Americans our government broke and the atrocities the Native Americans went through. The sequel to the book, The Vengeance of Mothers, will be released in paperback in September.

Berlin Noir
Philli Kerr

I’m not much of a reader of mysteries, so this collection of three tales of Private Detective Bernie Gunther’s investigations caught me off guard. The stories: "March Violets" (set in Berlin 1936), "The Pale Criminal" (also in Berlin 1938), and "A German Requiem" (mostly in Vienna 1947), are collected here in one volume, and unfold in curious, surprising, and unexpected ways, as Inspector Gunther, searches for truth, and a path toward justice, that makes sense, as it threads its way through the twists and turns of a social landscape that’s in rare fundamental flux.

China Dolls
Lisa See

This book tells the story of three women friends (Chinese and Japanese- American) and takes place mostly in San Francisco, from the late 1930’s through the late 1950’s. I lived in San Francisco, so many of the incidents and places have a very special meaning for me. Most interesting, though, is the glimpse into the life Asian Americans have lived here in the Continental U.S. Trust me, you’ll love this book!

The Moon and Sixpence
Somerset Maugham

This is kind of an odd book. It’s an account of the life of the painter Paul Gaugain, fictionalized under the name of Charles Strickland. Coming to painting late in life, he’s a difficult personality, completely dedicated and driven to paint. The story catches him at several periods in his life as a painter, and how he effects the people around him. I have to tell you I’ll never see any of his paintings the same way again.