fiction – Page 6 – Book of Jen

History Lesson for Girls – by Aurelie Sheehan

History Lesson for Girls is not a history book, despite the impression you might get when you first read the title. This is not a work of historical fiction either. Yet, history plays a big part in this book.

This is also not a book for little girls. Some more mature teens might be able to read it, despite all the drug references, but, for reasons I will explain later, I’m not sure they would relate to it very well. No, this is a book written for grown women, despite the main character describing her tumultuous year as a seventh grader.

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The Pinball Theory of Apocalypse – by Jonathan Selwood

The Pinball Theory of Apocalypse starts with the world is coming to an end. Isabel Raven’s father, a Cal Tech physicist, has conclusively proven precisely when the world will end.

An earthquake hits LA right in the first few pages of the book, followed by several more earthquakes. Roads are torn up, buildings are falling down, and some are sinking back into the tar that is underneath it all. Instead of doom and gloom, this book turns out to actually be a very fun read!

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The Last Summer (of You & Me) – by Ann Brashares

The Last Summer (of You & Me) is a beautiful, heartbreaking, story of two sisters, secrets, love, and death. Brashares is the author of the popular The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants teen series, and this is her first work geared for adults.

Most of the story takes place on Long Island’s Fire Island, where Riley and her sister Alice grew up. The beach, in all its different faces and moods, is described so well it is almost if you are sitting there yourself.

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To Kill a Mockingbird – by Harper Lee

To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, is a book that has been banned from schools and libraries. I think that is a fairly recent occurrence. I recall being assigned to read this book as part of my English class work when I was in high school. The concepts presented in this book are as relevant today as they were when it was originally published (in 1960).

Book Reviews, fiction 1

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

The Catcher in the Rye is one of the books that people are often forced to read when they are in a high school English class. This experience may, or may not, have colored people’s opinions of the book.

This is the type of book that has what I think of as an “expiration date”. Read this book when you are between the ages of 13 and 17 (and still a student living at home with parents) and you will find Holden Caufield to be interesting, funny, and possibly even a deep thinker.

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A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian – by Marina Lewycka

A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian has a rather confusing title. At first glance, you might think this book is some sort of agricultural textbook that you would need an English-Ukrainian dictionary to help you decipher.

At least, that’s what I thought. Instead, I was happy to find a book about a family (written in English) that was funny, and heartbreaking, and compelling.

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Abundance – by Sena Jeter Naslund

Sena Jeter Naslund has written a captivating novel of historical fiction about the life of Marie Antoinette. Anyone who is familiar with history will know the main events that occurred, and, of course, what happened to this Queen of France at the end of her life. Even knowing that, however, it is still well worth it to read through the 520-something pages of this book because it is so well written.

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Anonymous Lawyer – by Jeremy Blachman

The character named Anonymous Lawyer is really a lawyer. He is a law partner in some prestigious law firm, hoping and scheming to one day be promoted as Chairman. One day, with the help of Anonymous Niece, he decides to write a blog. Just for fun. He figures he will delete it when he loses interest, which he expects to happen soon.

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She’s Come Undone – by Wally Lamb

I think I was seduced by the artwork on the cover of this book. It shows a pale blue sky, with a few clouds, over a body of water that could be an ocean. In the center of the cover, on the horizon line, is a woman’s face surrounded by puffy, white clouds. It is very surreal. It made me wonder what was going on with the disembodied floating face, and what happens in the book.

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The Lovely Bones – by Alice Sebold

Susie Salmon (like the fish) is fourteen-years-old in 1973. She has “mousey brown hair,” a family she loves (including a great dog) and a junior high school that she goes to. She is also dead, and this story is Susie telling the reader about her life, her death, and what happened after that.