nomadreader

narrated by Robin Miles The backstory: An Untamed State is a 2015 finalist for the Dayton Literary Peace Prize and was on the 2014 First Novel Prize longlist. The basics:  "Mireille Duval Jameson is living a fairy tale. The strong-willed youngest daughter of one of Haiti’s richest sons, she has an adoring husband, a precocious infant son, by all appearances a perfect life. The fairy tale ends one day when Mireille is kidnapped in broad daylight by a gang of heavily armed men, in front of her father’s Port au Prince estate. Held captive by a man who calls himself The Commander, Mireille waits for her father to pay her ransom. As it becomes clear her father intends to resist the kidnappers, Mireille must endure the torments of a man who resents everything she represents." (publisher) My thoughts: I knew going into this novel that it was about a kidnapping, yet I did not expect the opening scene to be the kidnapping. The initial pace of this novel left me breathles...

The backstory: All the Light We Cannot See  won the 2015 Pulitzer Prize , was a finalist for the 2014 National Book Award , was named one of the top five books of 2014 by The New York Times , and won the 2015 Carnegie Medal . Update: It was also the 2015 runner-up for the Dayton Literary Peace Prize . The basics: Set during World War II, All the Light We Cannot See  tells the interwoven stories of Marie-Laure, a young Parisian girl going blind whose father works at the Museum of Natural History, and Werner, a young German teenager growing up in an orphanage, where he develops a fascination with radios. My thoughts: Over the years, I've grown weary of World War II tales. I find it a fascinating time in history, but I've read so many great novels about the time and so many good novels about the time that most new WWII novels have a hard time sticking out. Admittedly, if I read this one several years ago, I might have enjoyed it even more than I did. What makes All the ...

narrated by Yareli Arizmendi, Christine Avila, Jesse Corti, Gustavo Res, Ozzie Rodriguez and Gabriel Romero The backstory: The Book of Unknown Americans  was a 2014 New York Times Notable book . Update: it was also a finalist for the 2015 Dayton Literary Peace Prize . The basics: Centered on the stories of the Rivera family, who move from Mexico to Delaware at the beginning of this novel, and the Toro family, who emigrated from Panama many years ago, The Book of Unknown Americans  focuses on the budding romance between Maribel Rivera and Mayor Toro, while also providing a backdrop to show the varied Latin American immigrant tales in their Delaware neighborhood. My thoughts: I love the idea of this novel, and I was fascinated to hear about the large Latin American population in Delaware (and why it exists.) Henriquez grew up in Delaware, and her insight into the neighborhood was obvious. I appreciated the variety of viewpoints, but I soon found myself wishing for more e...

The backstory: The Care and Management of Lies  is Jacqueline Winspear's first historical novel not to feature Maisie Dobbs. I've read and enjoyed all of the Maisie Dobbs novels:  Maisie Dobbs ,  Birds of a Feather ,  Pardonable Lies ,  Messenger of Truth ,  An Incomplete Revenge ,   Among the Mad ,   The Mapping of Love and Death ,   A Lesson in Secrets ,   An Elegy for Eddie , and Leaving Everything Most Loved . Update: it was named a finalist for the 2015 Dayton Literary Peace Prize . The basics: The Care and Management of Lies  focuses on three characters: Kezia, Thea, and Tom. Tom and Thea are brother and sister. Kezia and Thea are lifelong best friends...until Kezia marries Tom. My thoughts: World War I and its lingering effects feature prominently in the Maisie Dobbs series, so I was curious to see how Winspear tackled the war itself. The story begins before the war, and thus the reader knows what's to come better than ...

The backstory: Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk , Ben Fountain's first novel, was a finalist for the 2012 National Book Award . It was also the 2013 runner-up for the Dayton Literary Peace Prize . The basics: Set on Thanksgiving Day 2004, Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk  takes place at the Dallas Cowboys annual Thanksgiving Day game. Billy Lynn, a nineteen-year-old member of Bravo Company, is our window into the bizarre festivities. Here, the young men of Bravo Company, famous for winning a filmed fight with insurgents, are on a "victory tour" before returning to Iraq. The Cowboys game, where they participate in the halftime festivities with Destiny's Child, is their final stop. My thoughts: The premise of Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk  is a fascinating one, and I admit I had rather high expectations going in, but at the end of the novel, I found myself saying, "that's it?" That isn't to say Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk  i...

The backstory: The Yellow Birds , the debut novel from Iraqi War veteran Kevin Powers, is a finalist for the 2012 National Book Award , shortlisted for the 2012 Flaherty-Dunnan Award , and a finalist for the 2013 Dayton Literary Peace Prize . The basics: Set in Iraq in 2004 and the months after, The Yellow Birds  tells the story of two soldiers, Private Bartle and Private Murphy, who meet at training camp. My thoughts: This novel's opening chapter is a visceral depiction of war. As I read it on the bus, I found myself crying and trying to breathe deeply to calm myself. I was grateful when the time shifted in the next chapter. Powers continues this powerful alternation between the war in Iraq and Bartle's attempts to deal with its aftermath. The reader learns early on that Murphy doesn't survive the war, yet the tension leading up to the how and why of his death is a literary marvel. I was eager to begin a chapter away from the war, but as the novel progressed a...

The backstory: The Grief of Others  is longlisted for the 2012 Orange Prize  and was a finalist for the 2012 Dayton Literary Peace Prize . The basics: Chronicling the lives of the Ryrie family, The Grief of Others  begins in the present with the death of its newest member, an infant who lived only a couple of days. Then John's daughter, Jessica, conceived in college, shows up pregnant and alone because her mother has kicked her out. The novel jumps back and forth a few times to depict the events and better understand the present and how they all got to this place. My thoughts: Leah Hager Cohen writes with guts, and she's a strong writer. It's impressive to have a baby die in the opening pages of a novel and it not seem utterly depressing: "He was a he, too, astonishingly—not that anyone expected him to be otherwise, but the notion of one so elemental, so small, carrying the complex mantle of gender seemed preposterous, the designation “male” the linguistic equiva...

The backstory: Jesmyn West's second novel  Salvage the Bones  is a finalist for the 2011 National Book Award  and a finalist for the 2012 Dayton Literary Peace Prize . The basics: Salvage the Bones  is the story of Esch, a pregnant fourteen-year-old girl in New Orleans in the days leading up to Hurricane Katrina. Since her mother died, Esch helps care for her alcoholic father and three brothers. Much of the action also focuses on China, the pet pit bull who gives birth as the novel opens. My thoughts: When the National Book Award finalists were first announced , I had heard the most about Salvage the Bones  (of the three I had not read.) Two bloggers whose opinions I trust, Audra at Unabridged Chick and Heather at Raging Bibliomania , liked it but found the subject matter quite difficult. As someone who lacks an affinity for dogs and is downright afraid of aggressive dogs, I was curious  how the focus on pit bull fighting would work for me. In short: I...

The backstory: The Soujourn, Andrew Krivak's debut novel, is a finalist for the 2011 National Book Award  and won the 2012 Dayton Literary Peace Prize . The basics: This novel opens in Pueblo, Colorado in June of 1899 when Jozef Vinich is an infant. The next section announces a location of Dardan, Pennsylvania in 1972, but the novel is really the story of Vinich's life, and in between his infanthood in Colorado and his time in Pennsylvania, he lives in his father's native Austria and fights in World War I. My thoughts: The opening chapter of The Sojourn  is among the most haunting I have read. It's beautifully written, undeniably tragic and a fascinating beginning to a life story. As the action shifts to Pennsylvania, I continued to be intrigued. How did Jozef's journey lead him here? Why 1972? The road is a winding one, and unfortunately it was often a boring one. It was unabashedly dark, and ultimately honest, about the horrors of war: "For the first ...

The backstory: After mixed reactions to April's pick, Olive Kitteridge   ( recap ), the 2009 Pulitzer Prize winner, we chose The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao  by Junot Diaz, which won the 2008 Pulitzer Prize. Our intention is not to read all of the Pulitzer winners, but we did make the choice the day the 2010 winners were announced. One of the members read Oscar Wao  years ago and enjoyed it. It also won the 2008 Dayton Literary Peace Prize . The basics: The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao  is essentially the story of Oscar Wao, a young, obese, comic book-loving nerd who is the son of Dominican immigrants. The book is divided into large sections, and if Oscar weren't the title character, I'm not sure I would call him the main character. The narrator is not a family member, but different sections tell the stories of Oscar's mother, his grandparents and his sister. The verdict: While I was reading it, I loved this book. Diaz's writing is fresh, young and...