'The Great Believers' by Rebecca Makkai

'The Great Believers', Rebecca Makkai (4.0)

I found this book to be very poignant, though the author carefully interspersed an interesting art story and future family drama with the heartbreaking story of a group of young men in the 80’s dying of HIV/Aids. All AIDs stories are sad, but the juxtaposition of these young men finding their tribe (many recently ‘out’ and able to enjoy the company of others) while realizing a dangerous disease was in their midst was doubly tragic. The characters were so believable and carefully drawn one mourned each death as if it were someone you had met.

'The Black Tulip' by Alexandre Dumas

The Black Tulip, Alexandre Dumas (4.0)

For those put off by the thickness of Dumas’s other books, this is a good starter. The book is set in the Netherlands during tulipmania in the mid 1600’s, when religion, country and tulip flowers were equally revered. The protagonist, Cornelius von Baerle, is a gentleman who has dedicated himself to developing the treasured black tulip variety. Unwittingly he becomes involved with the politics of his godfather and is thrown in jail (a location used often by Dumas) where the jailer’s daughter may be able to help him. This story has love, intrigue, politics, and a hated rival – all the elements needed for a good read!

'When the Heavens Went on Sale', Ashlee Vance

When the Heavens Went on Sale, Ashlee Vance (4.0)

Though Elon Musk and SpaceX were discussed, I was happy that the book did not focus on them, but rather on the far more interesting small players who have worked out of the twitter-sphere to develop a shocking network of low cost satellites that are quite accessible to most people. As someone who follows technology and business, I was surprised how much had been done that I was not aware of. The transition of space travel from governments to commercial enterprises has happened in a somewhat ‘wild west’ fashion. I liked the writing style and found the book quite interesting. My main complaint was the level of minutiae spent on one of the companies. The author had unlimited access and wrote about every little step. That section dragged for me. 

'The Talented Miss Farwell' by Emily Gray Tedrowe

The Talented Miss Farwell, Emily Gray Tedrowe (3.0)

Ms Tedrowe explains that the main character, Becky Farwell, was developed when she heard a news story of a woman in a small town who had embezzled $50M from the town over 20 years working her way up through the towns finance department. I can see how this would bring up many interesting questions for a writer: how did she keep it secret for so long? Why did she do it? What type of person was she? Tedrowe gives her intelligence and an art collecting passion. How she keeps it secret is a bit more of a stretch. Some of the details of bank accounts and art collection got a bit boring. I also felt it was odd that she had so little remorse for what she was doing to the town and her closest friend – particularly as she was not written as having an antisocial personality disorder