FictionThe Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood (Karen)Every once in a while I read this book. I really like the story because it is timeless and not dated. A group of older white men decide that there is a low white birth rate so they devise a plan. First they scale back on women’s rights, then they aren’t allowed to work, soon everything is in their husband’s name. The main character is married to a divorced man which is outlawed so she is forced into service as a concubine so older white men can continue to have children. Atwood really builds the drama and suspense as things get worse and worse. It raises interesting ideas about what is your responsibility in this society as a woman.

The Spymaster’s Lady by Joanna Bourne (Christy)This is a romance novel about a young girl who is nineteen during the Napoleonic Wars. She gets captured by a French spy master because she has secrets that spies are trying to kill her for. There is a lot of suspense and it is very fun. Even though it is quite steamy, this has a lot more frame than many other romance novels.

Caleb’s Crossing by Geraldine Brooks (Phyllis)I loved this book. It is set on Martha’s Vineyard in 1660. The basic story is about a young woman named Bethia. Her father is a missionary for Native Americans and is very conservative. Bethia meets a young Native American boy, Caleb, when his father starts teaching him. Caleb and Bethia’s brother go to the mainland to study theology but Bethia, although very smart, becomes an indentured servant because women cannot attend school. She does receive an education because the master of the house where she cooks and cleans sees that she is intelligent and gives her lessons. She ultimately gets a job at Harvard and gets to hear all the lessons and she meets her husband. What I really enjoyed was how extraordinarily well Brooks captures the women of this era.

The Divine Comedy by Dante (Barb)I am reading this book as part of a free course offered by Yale. Yale Open (http://oyc.yale.edu/) offers free classes. They take place in a virtual classroom and you can download the materials for free. You can register whenever, there is no grade because they are courses that have been recorded at an earlier date; this is why I like it. It is stress free and absolutely wonderful. It has been a wonderful way to read The Divine Comedy and really get a lot out of it. Just think of all those heads you see on the recording who paid lots of money and I get to sit there and take part for free!

Still Alice by Lisa Genova (Christina)It was a really great book, I loved it. What freaked me out is that Alzheimer’s runs in my family and watching Alice deteriorate was heartbreaking. The relationship between husband and wife and how they deal with it was maddening but also understandable. It was interesting to see her lose her working career and how that affected her. It made me question what I would do in that situation.

Dogside Story by Patricia Grace (Mary)When I travel I really want to know who that country’s big named writers are. I was traveling to New Zealand and discovered the writer Patricia Grace who is a contemporary Maori writer and was one of the first women Maori writers. This novel takes place in a contemporary Maori village with two sisters fighting over a canoe. When their father died he did not say who would get the canoe (a prized possession). The sisters end up destroying it. This creates a rift in the family and they separate and end up living on opposite sides of the town. I am glad I discovered this author.

Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver (Marilyn)This novel takes place in present day Appalachia and is about a young married mother trapped in her life. Her family lives with her in-laws who are sheep farmers and they must all help with the work. To escape the monotony, she makes a date with a telephone line man but when she is going to meet him she sees an amazing site – thousands of monarch butterflies making the mountain look like it is on fire. When scientists come to study the monarchs, she ends up getting a job with the scientists. I like the book for its humor and environmental themes. She also draws a sharp picture of what poverty is. And I loved that the main character was a feisty woman.

Me Before You by Jojo Moyes (Alena)I was looking for a book to knock my socks off, this one succeeded. A woman in England is living with four generations of her family. She loses her job and after trying multiple things, she ends up signing on to be a caretaker of a paraplegic and the story turns to how these two manage to get along. She finds out that he used to be an adventurer and now he is planning to commit suicide. He wants to go to Switzerland because it is legal there and he could have his family by his side. She is determined to convince him that his life is worth living. The way the author dealt with suicide and family is beautiful.

Graphic NovelBlankets by Craig Thompson (Peter)This is a coming-of-age story that takes place in Wisconsin and deals with the family dynamic. Much of the story is about the relationship with his girlfriend who really opens up whole new experiences for him. I read it a second time through and really concentrated on the pictures. I noticed some really neat things – like he treats people’s eyes differently. Some people, you never see their eyes. Several of the patterns from the quilt appear in other parts of the book – there is a lot going on just in the pictures and I really came to appreciate that. It is an amazing book.

Young Adult Feed by M.T. Anderson (Kathy)Feed was one of the first teen books I have read that the teen angst didn’t annoy me. When you are born The Feed is implanted into your brain giving you the ability to email, text, surf the web all within your head. Because of this language and writing skills have deteriorated. But the real reason for the Feed is consumerism. You are bombarded by ads – even School is trade-marked and run by a corporation. We follow narrator Titus as he does usual teenage things including falling in love with Violet an unusual girl who didn’t get her Feed until she was older and who actively fights against corporate takeover. I liked it because of how Anderson built the world without needing to explain every little thing or give easy answers. The realistic writing and dialogue really lent itself to the story.

Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell (Elizabeth)This is the story of first love between two high school misfits during 1986 in Nebraska. Eleanor is being bullied in high school because of her red hair and weight. Both are shy outcasts and they form a silent bond over graphic novels. He leaves her stacks of them on her bus seat. They quickly fall into sixteen-year-old love, feeling that they are star-crossed lovers. It is phenomenal. It works because it is very realistic – the dialogue is spot on. Rowell doesn’t make any false promises to her reader. It is heartbreaking and excellent.

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz (Jose)Fifteen-year-old Aristotle is angry and lonely. At the local swimming pool, he has a chance meeting with Dante, a know-it-all with a unique way of looking at the world. Through their friendship they will start to ask questions about life, friendship, family, and who they are as people, all while struggling with a love they don’t quite understand. It was great.