Run by Ann Patchett

Ann Patchett is one of those authors that, after reading Bel Canto, I wanted to make sure to watch for any new books by her. Run is her latest book. It is set in Boston in a stereotypical Irish family with a kind-hearted, yet domineering patriarch, Bernard Doyle. The typical Irish-American family breaks down when Bernard’s wife, Bernadette, can not have any more children after the birth of their first child, Sullivan. The family adopts two African-American brothers; Tip is 14 months old when he’s adopted 5 days after they bring home Teddy, a newborn. The heart of the book is set when Tip and Teddy are in college and facing decisions about what to do next. Unbeknownst to them, their birth mother, Tennessee, has always known who adopted her sons and has kept track of them, even attending the same political events that Bernard has dragged Tip and Teddy to over the years. One 24-hour period changes all of their relations forever.

The story is told in multiple third person points-of-view. Kenya, as the 11-year old daughter of Tennessee, has a significant voice. When Kenya unexpectedly ends up at the Doyle’s house she is amazed to be there for many reasons, some of which catch her by surprise. “She did not think of where she was or what had happened. She could do nothing but take in the light. It had never occurred to her before that all the places she had slept in her life had been dark, that her own apartment had never seen a minute of this kind of sun.” (pg 156) Telling the story from multiple points-of-view allows one to really understand what all the main characters are going through. It becomes clear that Sullivan has always felt outshone by the two adopted children. He was twelve when his family adopted Tip and Teddy and his mother died only fours years after that. “This business of coming back to take your little part in the play you would never again be the star of was simply more than anyone should have to bear.” (pg 255) The writing is very lyrical and slow-paced. It almost feels as though everything is happening underwater, giving it a very beautiful sheen, but it becomes clear that all cannot end well.

I think one neat thing about Ann Patchett’s writing is that her books are all so different, but contain the underlying theme of really examining the connections between people. Run does not have as unique a premise as Bel Canto, but it is still a good read. Other books I’d recommend by Ann Patchett include the novel The Patron Saint of Liars, and the memoir Truth and Beauty about her friendship with another author, Lucy Grealy. Lucy Grealy is the author of Autobiography of a Face, which is about her battles with cancer and endless surgeries. And really the main reason to read Truth and Beauty is to find out what happened to Lucy after her memoir ends.

For the pre-teen (and older) reader in your life

The Harry Potter series of books by J. K. Rowling are said to have influenced the current generation to read much more than otherwise. My generation had The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis and The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien. There is tremendous age gap between those last two, and only recently did I realize there are many well-written books that can entertain kids who are not quite ready for The Lord of the Rings or even the later, and darker, books in the Harry Potter series.

Tamora Pierce has written a number of books, most notably the Song of the Lioness, Protector of the Small, and the Immortals series. These are science fiction books set in a realm where otherworldly powers are common. The protagonists are generally strong, female characters. Also, each series usually has four books in it giving readers lots of engaging material. Another author who puts girls at the center of his books is Phillip Pullman, most known now for science fiction series His Dark Materials, which includes The Golden Compass. Less well known is his Sally Lockhart trilogy, set in Victorian England. Although, this series may not be for younger readers as it does include an opium addict.

Other adventuresome fantasy/science fiction series for kids include the Inheritance series by Christopher Paolini with book number 3 still on the way. Dragons play a major role in these books. Susan Cooper’s The Dark is Rising series is still timely even though it was published many years ago. These books are set in Wales, which adds an interesting dimension. The Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander are another good series if you missed them. These are for younger readers and often found in the children’s section of the library as opposed to the young adult section.

For a non-science fiction adventure series try The Tillerman Series by Cynthia Voigt. Four siblings try to stick together after their mother can not take care of them any longer.

My kids are just starting The Chronicles of Narnia. It is so fun to finally be reading literature with them that takes more than a single sitting to get through and has a complicated plot. I can’t wait to introduce them to the books mentioned here.

Death Without Company by Craig Johnson

This author was recently in Bend for The Nature of Words. His mystery series centers on Walt Longmire who is a sheriff in a small Wyoming town. Death Without Company is the second in this series. Lucian Connally, the former sheriff and a current resident of the Durant Home for Assisted Living, is convinced a fellow resident did not die a natural death. His convictions are complicated by his past relationship with the woman, Mari Baroja. The sheriff investigates Lucian’s allegations while also delving into the past.

A major strength of the book is that Johnson introduces an incredible number and variety of characters. The town doctor is not just the local doctor, but a survivor of a concentration camp. Here Sheriff Longmire describes his deputy, “I looked at my recently divorced deputy, a beautiful, intelligent woman with a body like Salome and a mouth like a saltwater crocodile.” (pg 151) Johnson makes it seem like each person in this fictional Wyoming town is interesting in a unique way. Mari Baroja and her family’s identification as Basque is mentioned; more information on that transplanted culture would add to the book.

The writing is enjoyable. Some of it is just quirky and gives you a sense of the main character. “I pulled my pocket watch out and consulted it as to lunchtime; we concurred that it was early but acceptable.” (pg 54) At other points there were phrases that I almost missed and then wondered what they really meant. For example, “I smiled as the feathers brushed the inside of my chest like they always do when I get irritated.” (pg 42)

The mystery from the past was almost too easy to figure out. The present day problems with increasing violence and danger keep one interested in the plot. There are some dream sequences that I felt did not really mesh with the rest of the book.. It helps with background to have read The Cold Dish first.

Free Food for Millionaires by Min Jin Lee

Check this book out at the library to read at least the first chapter. Min Jin Lee does an amazing job of capturing the family dynamics while introducing the four members of the Han family. This chapter is told from four points of view. Casey Han is the central character. She is living at home after recently graduating from Princeton. Her younger sister, Tina, is on break from MIT. It would appear to be every parent’s dream to have two such bright and successful daughters. Leah and Joseph, the parents, married, had Casey and Tina right away, and then immigrated to the United States. They manage a dry cleaning business. The author pulls the reader in and it becomes obvious that this family dinner is heading in a troublesome, but not unanticipated, direction. It is clear that each family member has a role to play and knows what is coming.

The story continues following Casey as she struggles with what to do in her life after college. Her conflicts with her boyfriends, her interactions with a businesswoman who has repeatedly helped her, her financial issues, and her continuing struggles with her family are the backdrop to her main struggle with choosing a career and getting along in the larger world. Here she reacts to a kindness from her boyfriend’s mother. “Casey swallowed, unable to speak. Her parents had never said anything like that in her entire life. Korean people like her mother and father didn’t talk about love, about feelings-at least this was how Casey and Tina had explained it to themselves for not getting these words they wanted to hear.” (pg 75) She spends a great deal of time thinking about her clothing. This is not something that I am into, but I could appreciate her view. “Through clothing, Casey was able to appear casual, urbane, poor, rich, bohemian, proletariat. Now and again, she wondered what it’d be like to never want to look like anything at all – instead, to come as you are.” (pg 219)

The story is told from multiple points of view. At times I wished the story would focus more on Casey rather than, for example, the thoughts of her mother’s choir instructor. It is a long story and does not keep the intenseness of the first chapter the whole way through. As I was nearing the end of the book, I started to wonder how everything was going to be wrapped up. I realized that like real life, the story of Casey Han, her friends and family, her co-workers and acquaintances, was not going to end neatly. And that was okay. It is a good read, especially if you are in the mood for a longer book.

The End of Mr. Y by Scarlett Thomas

The End of Mr. Y begins with a very vivid and accurate depiction of a poor graduate student. Ariel Manto is obsessed with many things, including theoretical physics and obscure writers. At a conference she meets a professor who shares her fixation on the author Lumas and decides to undertake graduate studies with him. At the start of this book Burlem, the professor, has been gone for months; he’s vanished. By a series of unexpected happenings, including a building collapsing into a tunnel, Ariel stumbles upon the last book by Lumas, which has the same title: The End of Mr. Y. The book is very rare with only one known copy. It is also rumored to be cursed.

Following the book’s instructions Ariel ventures into homeopathic remedies that lead her into the troposphere. The troposphere is Lumas’s term for the world of the mind. It is possible to move from mind to mind in this space. The book becomes a thriller with former agents from America trying to retrieve the book so they can make more of the remedy to enter the troposphere. The agents are after Ariel physically and in her mind. They employ KIDS to try and hurt her mind. She is saved by a mouse god named Apollo Smintheus. Ariel is helped in her endeavors to escape the agents by Adam, a former priest.

This book has some really great descriptive writing in it. The intertwining descriptions of quantum theory and religion are interesting to read, especially the multi verse versus the godverse theory. This is rare to find in a novel. I personally found the story much more interesting when it stayed in the physical world than in the troposphere. Ariel’s interactions with her lover, Patrick, are complex and seem to not correlate with the actions of an intelligent person. She keeps referring to what’s happening as only happening to her body so it doesn’t really matter. She would prefer to live a life in books, “Real life is physical. Give me books instead: Give me the invisibility of the contents of books, the thoughts, the ideas, the images. Let me become part of the book; I’d give anything for that.” (pg 117)

I’d highly recommend reading this book if you’re interested in science or religion or simply in how other people’s minds might work. As I mentioned earlier, I was not thrilled with the troposphere part of the book. I also was disturbed at the idea of the KIDS being autistic kids who were sent out to perform missions. However, the descriptions in some parts were intensely real with Ariel being able to feel the pain of the mind she was inhabiting. Here she is in her housemate’s mind, “I was facing the door; I’d placed myself there like a little welcome mat ( ) waiting for him to wipe his feet on me. So he sat there sipping his coffee, looking beyond me to the wall, covered in postcards from Paris, and I just watched people leave like bacteria looking for a new host to infect.” (pg 176)