Emily St. John Mandel's newest book, Exit Party, is a work of speculative fiction. The novel presents two versions of the United States. One that has Balkanized into small warring states and another that has become a surveillance state- think 1984 and Animal Farm. A few characters slip into the alternate universe and have to adjust to their new reality. In both universes, the main character is Ari/Ibari. In one, she's a criminal; in the other, she's part of the surveillance apparatus. A painting connects these two dystopian scenarios. Mandel's writing, characters, and plot feel soaked in appropriate sadness: characters aren't braver, smarter, or cleverer than others, but the reader gets to see their thoughts and understand their motivations. Her people feel real, and their choices make sense.
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I love Richard Osman books. He writes the Thursday Murder Club series and has started a new series, We Solve Murders. We Chase Shadows is the second in the series. I like how the characters and the situations they find themselves in are absurdly silly, like a bodyguard who doesn't shoot guns or a publicist who doesn't know how to promote a book. Osman gets us inside the characters' heads, and the reader knows their silly fears and goofy insecurities. It's endearing.
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I slowly read Dr. Henry Cloud's Necessary Endings: The Employees, Business, and Relationships That All of Us Have to Give Up In Order to Move Forward. A friend who went through a devastating divorce found the book helpful and recommended it to me. I'm not getting divorced, but I do struggle with endings. How do you do them? If to do them? Why do them? Cloud is also the author of Boundaries, and he brings that same thoughtful, step-by-step analysis to considering endings. There will always be endings in life. It is good to have the wisdom to navigate them. This book is aimed mostly at business decisions, but it also includes solid relationship advice.
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This will shock you, but I really love all things bookish. Lately, I've been finding books about books, libraries, bookstores, and book clubs populating my reading life. Busubody Book Club by Freya Sampson was delightful. It is a mystery set in England. Nova Davies works at a struggling community center and is newly in charge of the book club. The book club has five wildly different members: an elderly single woman devoted to Agatha Christie's Miss Marple, an elderly farmer who joined because his blind wife loves books and he loves her, a shy teen boy, a mysterious middle-aged man no one knows, and Nova. They all have worries and a past that slowly unfold through the book. There is missing money, false accusations, murder, romance, a dog, and a wedding. It was a twisty plot with eccentric characters. Good stuff!
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