'Bodily Harm' by Margaret Atwood

Bodily Harm, Margaret Atwood (3.0)

Unfortunately this is one of my least favorite Margaret Atwood books, but that still puts it above many other authors. This book was published in 1981, so it’s one of her earlier novels. It follows a young Canadian woman journalist to a Caribbean island. She is recovering from breast cancer surgery and is trying to find herself. In doing so, she innocently wanders into a sleepy island’s political revolution. The narrative swings back and forth between her time on the island and her remembrances of her sickness, operation and post op feelings with a focus on the relationships in her life. As the story progresses, the mystery of who the people are and what is really happening on the island take over. I found the plot different and interesting and the characters thoughtful, though not as thought provoking as most of Ms. Atwood’s books are for me.

'Written on the Body' by Jeanette Winterson

Written on the Body, Jeanette Winterson (3.0)

This is basically a story of love and loss between a couple from the eyes of one of the participants. It’s uniqueness is that the narrator is unnamed and of neutral gender. Throughout the story, the reader is unclear if the protagonist is a man or a woman. I found this interesting and would have liked the book more had I been convinced it could have been either, but the language and feelings portrayed reminded me of a Jane Austen heroine pining away for her lover. Most women don’t feel/think this way and, though I don’t know for sure, I’m under the impression men do not think or feel/think this was at all. While written in 1994, this book felt more like an overwrought woman wrote it in the 1800’s. As the protagonist makes decisions that affect the couple, I appreciated the consequences and reactions portrayed, but I found the first half of the book difficult to get through with its dramatic emotions.

'Big Little Lies' by Liane Moriarty

Big Little Lies, Liane Moriarty (3.5)

Definitely a summer book in it’s pace – though not a light-hearted romp. The plot has multiple serious subjects, starting with a murder, domestic abuse, rape and even some human trafficking thrown into the mix. Ms. Moriarty keeps it moving with fast action, humor and mystery. We don’t even know who was murdered till the very end. The action is all around a group of kindergarten parents on the coast of Australia near Sydney. The parents fit various stereotypes; though show depth as we meet them more fully. Oddly, much of the characterizations and humor reminded me of Julia Louis Dreyfus’ show: ‘The New Adventures of Old Christine’, as one of the main characters in the book finds her ex-husband and new-age wife with their new child also going to the same kindergarten. As in the TV show, the protagonists are always battling the uber-moms from the school who decide who is popular, fashionable and a good parent. I liked that parts of the book were surprising and the format drove one to the end quickly.

'The Nix' by Nathan Hill

The Nix, Nathan Hill (4.0)

I am hoping that this is not based on the author’s experiences, though the parallels are unnerving. Samuel, the main character, has led a sad, relatively unfulfilled life. The book begins with a remembering of how his mother abandoned he and his father when he was 11. We then jump to real time, where a 60-something woman attacks a politician, throwing rocks during a campaign stop. Quickly we come to realize this is, in fact, Sam’s estranged mother. Her lawyer reaches out to Sam in order to help her with her pending criminal case. While not inspired to come to her defense, he realizes the opportunity to write her story can benefit them both. The rest is a back and forth between the current events and Sam’s process of discovering his mother’s colorful past. The plot is very compelling with some interesting characters (though I could have done without the cheating college student – luckily none of my students are so horrible!). My only complaint is that I found the ‘bad’ things of his mother’s past and other characters did not feel nearly so bad. Maybe I’ve watched too many movies or times have changed considerably, but the damage done to the family based on the events seemed avoidable to me

'Modern Romance' by Aziz Ansari

Modern Romance, Aziz Ansari (3.5)

This is a really fun book. Not surprising as Mr. Ansari is a very funny stand-up comic, but I was surprised at how heartfelt and warmly written it turned out to be. He and Eric Klinenberg, a professor of sociology, embark on a study of dating in today’s world, with particular attention to the effects of technology compared to past generations. I did find it odd when he (at age 34) looks at the dating schemes of the ‘younger generation’ much as we (early 50’s) look at his cohort. While he stuck to heterosexual dating, he did look at international trends. In one of my favorite chapters, he travels to Japan expecting to find multitudes of young, technically obsessed Japanese dating via social media, only to end up finding 1/3 of Japanese under 30 have never dated! With their birthrate at an abysmal 222^nd out of 224 countries, the government is sponsoring ‘meet-ups’ in order to jump start the dating process. Luckily, while their dating may be in a crisis, Japan still holds the record for some of the quirkiest fads, such as the Robot Restaurant – where bikini-clad dancers ride in on huge women-shaped robots! The best parts of the book tend to be where he points out the obvious – reading a series of texts from a gent to a lady that starts with ‘sup’, Aziz is flabbergasted by the lack of creativity and energy put forth by the man. While not fine literature, the book has good insight into what works, what is hard and what definitely doesn’t work in today’s dating world with lots of laughs along the way.