Category: Contemporary

Wandering Stars – Tommy Orange


This is a brilliant follow-up to Orange’s There There with some of the same characters. The first part of the book is historical, the legacies of the Sand Creek massacre of 1864 and the Carlisle Industrial School for Indians. Misguided attempts at assimilation by governments and adoptions are devoted to the eradication of Native history, culture and identity. The next section of the book entitled Aftermath is even better, detailing the brutal reality of contemporary life in Oakland for two grandmothers and their three grandsons. When is life more than surviving?

This book is both shattering and wondrous – highly recommended.

The Husbands – Holly Gramazio


Lauren returns to her London flat to discover her husband Michael but … she is not married! When Michael enters the attic, a different “husband” emerges. Amazingly, her attic is capable of creating an infinite supply of husbands so Lauren recycles them, looking for an ideal (or acceptable) married relationship. This is an original and totally entertaining book.

Before The Coffee Gets Cold – Toshikazu Kawaguchi


A small basement cafe in Tokyo offers time travel, to travel back in time subject to specific rules. For example, nothing that is done in the past can change the present, and the duration of the trip is brief, limited to as long as it takes for a cup of coffee to become cold. Given these profound constraints, what is fascinating is the motivation for time travel as explored in four scenarios. Thanks Amy, for this book.

Beautyland – Marie-Helene Bertino

Adina is an extra-terrestrial sent to earth to a single mother in Philadelphia; she is “born” in 1977, simultaneously with the launch of the Voyager-1 spacecraft. Her role is to observe and report on human behaviour, using a fax machine (!) to communicate with the extra-terrestrials. Her communications are both wistful and insightful, for someone in exile at home. Adina’s life is endlessly surprising – highly recommended, thanks Amy.

Red Queen – Juan Gomez-Jurado

A mystery-thriller set in Madrid features an odd investigative couple: a disgraced police detective and a brilliant female forensic analyst with an uncanny ability to reconstruct crimes. A secretive organization directs their investigation into a ritualistic murder and a kidnapping. This is a very entertaining story with many plot twists, and happily, this investigative team will return in a second book. Thanks Renee, for this recommendation.

The Future – Catherine Leroux

A superb depiction of an alternative dystopian story for Detroit, with urban decay and ecological disasters. In particular, feral children leave their homes to live wild in a park. Gloria arrives after the death of her daughter (an unsolved murder) to search for her two missing grand-daughters. What follows is a brilliant portrayal of family resilience. This book should be a powerful contender in the upcoming Canada Reads competition, championed by the brilliant Heather O’Neill.

Demon Copperhead – Barbara Kingsolver

This fascinating book is a retelling of the classic Dickens’ David Copperfield, transposed to contemporary times in rural Appalachia. Demon/Damon has a teenage single mother who subsequently dies. Thus, the story contains crushing poverty, mean-spirited foster care and an indifferent social services system. Most compelling, however, is the descent into addictions prompted by the (mis)use of oxycontin. The perils of Demon’s journey to maturity are profound, given his perception of his own invisibility. Highly recommended.

Birnam Wood – Eleanor Catton

Another great book by this author, set in New Zealand. The first one-third starts slowly as we meet the players. The middle third shows intricate maneuvering: self-mythologizing rebels in a horticultural collective, political and economic rants, jealousy and envy of a scheming super-rich American, debates over the ethics of wealth distribution. And the final third is a cracking adventure as plans go awry, to become an eco-thriller with an abrupt but fitting ending. Obviously the topic is very contemporary – highly recommended.

She also wrote The Luminaries as previously reviewed by David.

Cloud Cuckoo Land – Anthony Doerr

Simply put – this is a great book, highly imaginative with a clever storyline and beautiful writing. Imagine three timelines: the past (15th century Constantinople), present (a library in Idaho), and future (an interstellar spaceship). These three timelines are linked by an ancient Greek tale about Aethon by Diogenes. The result is a soaring story about children who find resilience. A final positive comment: this book reminded me of the best of David Mitchell (The Bone Clocks), which is high praise.