A Summery Summary or What I Read in the Summer of 2013

I have been extremely neglectful of my Book Blog.  It's not like anyone cares but me, but that's just it.  I'm keeping the blog for me and I've let me down. So: this is my effort at summarizing the books I have read over the past three months. Why am I bothering? For the same reason I started the darn blog in the first place: to help me keep track of the many wonderful reading experiences I have enjoyed.  I'll admit it: I read my own blog from months past and it gives me a warm, fuzzy feeling; a nice stroll down memory lane.
The good news is that I will have to keep my impressions of each book brief.  I hope in perusing the list, you find something that piques your interest and pulls you into a pleasurable experience!

Lay of the Land by Richard Ford:
This is the third, and final, novel in the "Bascombe Trilogy".  The first installment was The Sportswriter, which I wrote about in my January post and the second in the series was Independence Day, which I reacted to in my April post, if you are interested in more info on those two selections. In Lay of the Land, we find our protagonist, Frank Bascombe, entering the period of life he has identified as the "Permanent Period".  Frank is perhaps over-optimistically thinking that the most challenging years of his life are behind him and he is looking forward to a more tranquil time of life.  But he finds it is not to be.  Life will continue, as it does for all of us, to hand him surprises both welcome and unwelcome. Ford's novel is filled with acutely described wry observations on life as we know it.  Nothing particularly shocking fills the pages; there's no murder, no graphic sex, not much of anything out of the ordinary.  Ford's brilliance and wit in describing one man's attempt at just living a decent life is definitely a worthwhile endeavor.  Very Wallace Stegner Angle of Repose. If it makes the reader reflect, just a little, on his or her own life and the lessons it offers, well, that's a terrific bonus, isn't it?

Hologram for the King by Dave Eggers
I am a Dave Eggers fan and am always a little apprehensive when starting a new Eggers book.  But as in the past, I was not disappointed.  Hologram for the King was a National Book Award Finalist in 2012 and it is indeed finely written.  It is also dark, funny, sad, hugely ironic, and rings very, very true. Alan Clay is an American salesman working desperately hard to close an IT deal in Saudi Arabia; his entire well-being hinges on it. He's broke, and broken. As day after day passes while Alan and his team of young IT specialists wait in the desert to present a holographic demonstration to the Saudi king, Alan faces many of his demons and seldom comes out the victor.  I felt sad for Alan, who seemed very real to me.  I admire Dave Eggers for his unflinching take on American life and our floundering economy, dysfunctional families, values, way of life. If you haven't read any Eggers, please do. Start with What is the What; you will remember it forever.

Half-Blood Blues by Esi Edugyan
What a great change of pace this novel was for me! Moving between Berlin, 1939 and Berlin, 1992, Edugyan beautifully tells the story of black jazz musicians in pre-World War II Germany. The story focuses on a popular German-American jazz band, the Hot Time Swingers: they have been forbidden to perform their "degenerate" music by the Nazi government.  The band is increasingly harassed until eventually it splits up and several members disappear. Fifty-odd years later, an American documentary is being produced about the Hot Time Swingers and the true story of what happened to the members of the band is finally told.  A great and unusual story!

The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith (J.K. Rowling)
So much has been written about this latest novel by the prolific Rowling, under the pseudonym Galbraith, I won't say much except yes, Rowling does it again.  And so soon after The Casual Vacancy! When does woman sleep? I really liked the hero, Cormoran Strike, and look forward to future installments. Rowling is amazing!

The Panopticon by Jenni Fagan
This debut novel centers on Anais Hendricks, a tough, disenfranchised, street smart fifteen year-old girl who has been bounced around the British foster system her entire life.  Anais questions EVERYTHING in the most antagonistic way possible and has at this point in her life alienated herself completely from those in "the system" who are, at least theoretically, there to help her.  She has been let down so many times she no longer has the least hope she will live to find happiness, and it seems very possible she is correct. Anais has been remanded to the Panopticon, a somewhat sinister juvenile delinquent residence occupied by other "end of the road" juveniles, sad cases every one.  She's hard to like and impossible to love; she's high most of the time, and acting out in the most rebellious manner possible.  But as the reader comes to terms with the life Anais has been dealt, the cruelties and complete lack of love, we can't help but begin to hope that at some point, for some reason, some one is going to start caring about her (beside the reader).  Heart-wrenching, really.

The Tenth of December by George Saunders and What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank by Nathan Englander
Not usually a short-story fan, but I did enjoy the majority of the stories in both these collections. In the Saunders collection, I especially enjoyed Victory Lap and Tenth of December, the first and last stories in the collection.  They were very strong, engaging stories and I wondered if they were chosen for the first  and last for just that reason.  Saunders is especially adept in his portrayal of kids; he has a portal into their heads that lets the reader in and completely captures the heart. I loved the kids in the two stories I mentioned.  They are heroic.
In Englander's collection, What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank, the first story, which shares the book's title, was just riveting.  It centers on a discussion two Jewish-Gentile couples engage in centering on the parlor game "The Anne Frank Game" aka the "Righteous Gentile Game" aka the "Who Will Hide Me Game".  The game centers on the premise: in the case of an American Holocaust, which Christian friend would hide us?  The ensuing discussion about Jews and Gentiles is profound, funny, engaging and insightful.  The same can be said for the majority of the other stories.  They are Jewish-centric in their perspective, and they are wise and moving in almost every regard.

Help for the Haunted by John Searles
I'm a bit of a scaredy-cat, ok, a big scaredy-cat (I have to admit it so friends  I have spent considerable time with in campgrounds and assorted hotels don't call me out on it) so I generally stay away from horror stories  or stories involving the supernatural.  But my daughter, who has also been known to freak out when something gets a little too scary, wanted to read this and wanted me to read it, too, so we could compare notes.  Sigh. The things we do for love. The story revolves around two sisters who have been orphaned and are living on their own.  The older sister, Rose, has been declared the guardian of Sylvie, her 13 year old sister.  What happened to their parents, you ask? Their parents, who are demonologists? The parents who have stocked the basement of the house the GIRLS STILL LIVE IN with "souvenirs" of the hauntings and exorcisms they have been involved in? Those parents? Oh, they were mysteriously killed...in a church.  Scared yet? And have I mentioned Penny, the Raggedy Ann doll that MUST NOT be let out of the cage in the basement? Now I know you're scared, just like I was.
Here's the really funny part: at about this point in the book, my daughter says she's going to stop reading it, it's just too scary.  And although I was tempted, I was a little further ahead in the story and was beginning to get a glimmer that the occurences haunting the girls, especially Sylvie, were not perhaps the work of the supernatural.  I don't want to spoil the story so I will stop there.  Suffice to say: even though I could only read it in the daytime, and even though I still got scared every time I read a chapter, I DID finish it and I'm glad I did; my daughter did, too.  Good SCARY story.