How to Read a Book

This book by Monica Wood is a heart-warming story of mistakes and recoveries and the enormous impact of kindness. Here is Booklist's summary and review: 

"Every Friday, for 2 hours, 12 incarcerated women gather to discuss books with Harriet, a retired English teacher whom they affectionately refer to as Bookie. Violet is one of these 12 women, a 22-year-old who is released after serving 2 years for a drunk-driving accident that left a kindergarten teacher dead. Feeling lost and adrift as she attempts to establish a life for herself in Portland, Violet decides to buy the book she never got to finish in the book club and runs into Harriet at the bookstore. Their chance encounter takes a somewhat dramatic turn when the store's handyman (and the husband of the woman who died in the car crash) sees them and seemingly lunges at Violet. But this initial interaction turns into something much more meaningful as an unlikely friendship forms among them. Told with compassion and empathy, Wood's... tender novel explores the ways people can surprise themselves and others. A deeply humane and touching novel; highly recommended..."

A more comprehensive summary of the story is here at SuperSummary. 

Publishers Weekly was less flattering as they called the book "simplistic" and "predictable"; whereas Kirkus gushes "A finely wrought story, beautifully told, with deeply memorable characters." I really liked the book but decide for yourself.   

Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead

Olga Tokarczuk, whose name was totally unfamiliar to me, has garnered some of the highest literary awards, including a Nobel Prize for literature and the Man Booker International Prize. I would recommend listening to the book or perhaps listening while following along in the text, as the Polish names stumped me in my efforts to imagine how they were pronounced. Her works have been translated into over 40 languages.

This summary is taken from the book jacket since I can't imagine doing any better. "In a remote Polish village, Janina devotes the dark winter days to studying astrology, translating the poetry of William Blake, and taking care of the summer homes of wealthy Warsaw residents. Her reputation as a crank and a recluse is amplified by her not-so-secret preference for the company of animals over humans. Then a neighbor, [nicknamed by Janina as] Big Foot, turns up dead. Soon other bodies are discovered, in increasingly strange circumstances. As suspicions mount, Janina inserts herself into the investigation, certain that she knows whodunit. If only anyone would pay her mind . . .A deeply satisfying thriller cum fairy tale, Drive Your Plow over the Bones of the Dead is a provocative exploration of the murky borderland between sanity and madness, justice and tradition, autonomy and fate. Whom do we deem sane? it asks. Who is worthy of a voice?"

Publishers Weekly was effusive in their praise, concluding their review by saying "Tokarczuk's novel succeeds as both a suspenseful murder mystery and a powerful and profound meditation on human existence and how a life fits into the world around it. Novels this thrilling don't come along very often."

Similarly, Booklist lauds the work. Protagonist Janina ( a name she hates) "mounts her own inquiries [but]As the seasons change, Janina finds herself summarily dismissed by authorities and locals alike, all the while maintaining her beliefs that the perpetrators may not be human at all as the action surges toward a gripping conclusion. Mythical and distinctive, Tokarczuk's translated novel erupts off the page, artfully telling a linear tale while also weaving in the metaphysical, multilayered nuances of Janina's life."

I offer these reviews first because I wasn't particularly taken by the book. I could certainly sympathize with some of Janina's views, and probably nobody died who didn't deserve it, but I didn't really like any of the characters nor was I particularly interested in who was doing the killing.  I was somewhat inclined to believe Janina's theories about the killer(s) because nobody else was a plausible suspect, but the ending did surprise me.  

West with Giraffes

This charming, if somewhat bittersweet story is a fictionalized account of true events that occurred in 1938--the Dust Bowl was driving destitute farmers west to California in droves and Hitler's power and aggression was on the rise in Europe. Woodrow Wilson Nickel, has watched the rest of his family die from dust pneumonia or suicide (in the case of his abusive father) so he makes his way to New York City to work for a distant cousin on the docks. When a hurricane hits, his cousin is killed and Woody is once again left to his own devices. When a freighter that somehow survived the hurricane comes limping into port, Woody is amazed to see that 2 of the crates on board carry giraffes who have suffered only one broken leg between them. He follows then to quarantine, observes the people around the giraffes--including a young woman photographer who claims to work for Life magazine, and eventually talks himself into the position of driver for the giraffes' cross country trip to the San Diego zoo. The appearance of the customized truck with the two giraffes--named by Woody as Boy and Girl--excites awe, greed and violence along the way. But more importantly, Woody learns about himself and the amazing connection to be had with these two animals. Based on true events, weaving real life characters in with the fictional ones--all of which is clarified in the Author's Notes. I thought the last part of the book blurb on the cover summed it up well: "Part adventure, part historical saga, and part coming-of-age love story, West with Giraffes explores what it means to be changed by the grace of animals, the kindness of strangers, the passing of time, and a story told before it's too late"