In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex, by Nathaniel Philbrick

This is the story of the real life inspiration for “Moby Dick,” the sinking in 1820 of the “Essex” due to being rammed by an enormous sperm whale. Philbrick fills the reader in on the 19th century whaling industry, the economy on Nantucket and the lives of the individual Essex crew members. After the sinking the sailors faced a horrific journey of 4,500 miles in three tiny boats which over the next three months, not all of them survivied. I enjoyed the local history angle and learning more about whaling.

Winner of the National Book Award in 2000.

RATING: * * * * Very, very good
Reviewed by: kh

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You can also read reviews here of two of Nathaniel Philbrick’s other books:
Sea of Glory: America’s Voyage of Discovery: The U.S. Exploring Expedition, 1838-1842
Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community, and War

Let the Great World Spin, by Colum McCann

The characters in McCann’s National Book Award winning novel are brought together by an actual event, Philippe Petit’s illegal 1974 high wire walk between the World Trade Center twin towers. The plot twists around and doubles back on itself to form a web of relationships among people from the top and bottom of New York City society. Echoes of today’s problems are found a generation ago–wars, the justice system, the beginning of the computer age and how we can have hope to create a better society.

RATING: * * * * Very, very good
Reviewed by: kh

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The Good Earth, by Pearl S. Buck

Did you read this in high school? Try it again, this novel is worthy of its designation as a Pulitzer Prize winning modern classic. Buck paints a realistic picture of life and society in early 20th century rural China. As the story begins Wang Lung, a poor farmer, is about to marry O-Lan, a slave from the wealthy family in his village. The author lived over half her life in China. I listened to the book on CD and the narrator was excellent.

RATING:  **** Very, very good
Reviewed by: kh

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Tinkers, by Paul Harding

Phenomenally popular sleeper, whose popularity has spread by word of mouth. A father-son story, lyrical and tender.

Winner of the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.

RATING:  **** Very, very good
Reviewed by: shgr

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When You Reach Me, by Rebecca Stead

Twelve year old Miranda lives in 1970′s Manhattan, with typical concerns about friends, boys, school–and helping her mom win the game show The $20,000 Pyramid. Then she starts receiving mysterious unsigned notes that give her instructions, appear to predict the future, and contain vague mentions of danger.   What do they mean?  Miranda’s favorite book is Madeleine L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time, and fans of that book (or the Time Traveler’s Wife) will enjoy this one, too.

Rating:  **** Very, very good
Reviewed by:  stc

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Update, January 2010:  When You Reach Me was awarded the 2010 Newbery Medal.

The Great Man: A Novel, by Kate Christensen

The “great man” of the title is fictional painter Oscar Feldman, who painted only female nudes and overshadowed the important women in his life.  After his death, however (which occurs several years before the novel begins), these women who loved him–his wife, long-time mistress, twin daughters, and sister–take center stage, telling their stories (and secrets) to two admiring biographers, and coming into their own as they do so.  An entertaining, quick read, with a lot of interesting things to say about art, love, and how we are never ultimately in charge of our own biography.  Winner of the 2008 Pen/Faulkner Award for Fiction.

RATING: * * * A good read
Reviewed by: stc

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The Secret River, by Kate Grenville

Like many American readers, I’m more familiar with the history of colonization in North America, so I found this historical novel of Australian settlement–inspired by author Kate Grenville’s own ancestry–fascinating.

In 1806 London, William Thornhill, a bargeman on the Thames, is powerless and desperate enough that he has to steal to survive. Jailed and then deported to the New South Wales colony with his family, he strives to make the new land his own, and find a place for himself as a trader on the Hawkesbury River. How he achieves the power to do so, in a land of Aboriginal settlers and exiled convicts, is a story both violent and heartbreaking. Winner of the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize and shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize in 2006.

Rating:  * * * * Very, very good
Reviewed by:  stc

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My Favorite Book: The Future of American Politics, by Samuel Lubell

I don’t recall whether it was a college professor or a friend who recommended the Lubell book to me in the early 1960′s. I didn’t know that it had won the distinguished Woodrow Wilson Foundation Award for the best book on government and democracy in 1952.

However, after nearly 50 years, I still recall the insight that the thin book gave to me as I later read book, newspaper, and magazine articles on politics and current events. Lubell had been surprised by the unexpected Harry Truman re-election win in 1948. His path-finding book recounts his investigation to learn how Truman won and, just as importantly, why Thomas Dewey (the overwhelming favorite of the professionals) had lost the election.

Many generations of news analysts, pollsters, political professionals, college students, and the general public who have an interest in politics are indebted to Samuel Lubell for his insightful work, which influences writers and readers to this day. The 1952 volume is not dated and still can be read for its great analysis of what happened in a monumantal, never-to-be-forgotten Presidential race.

Reviewed by: Ernest J. Webby, Jr., Reference Librarian (PT), Newton Free Library

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The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11, by Lawrence Wright

While many of the events leading up to the September 11th attacks are familiar from the 9/11 Commission Report and other accounts, in this book Lawrence Wright, a staff writer for the New Yorker, focuses on the history of Al-Qaeda.  Through an impressive number of interviews and sources, he outlines the philosophical, religious, and political roots of al Qaeda and the relationship between Osama bin Laden and his deputy, Ayman al Zawahiri.  On the other side are their pursuers in the CIA and FBI–most notably John O’Neill (who died in the twin towers)–who sensed what could be coming but did not stop it in time.  As a whole, Wright’s book reads so much like a thriller, I found myself forgetting at times that none of it is fiction and like everybody else, I already knew the ending.  And then it gave me nightmares.  So it’s not light beach reading, but I do recommend it, because like it or not, this is the world we live in, we need to understand it, and this book tells the story well.  It comes with extensive notes, bibliography, list of interviews, and a “principal characters” section to help you out.

UPDATE, 4/16/07:  The Looming Tower was awarded the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction.

Rating:  **** Very, very good
Reviewed by stc

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The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation; Volume I, The Pox Party, by M. T. Anderson

This Young Adult award winner deserves a wider audience. Octavian, a slave raised and educated  at the College of Lucidity in Boston, is an experiment to determine the inequality of the races. Set at the beginning of the Revolutionary War, the author raises profound questions about learning and moral behavior. Certainly, the dark side of the enlightenment.

RATING: * * * A good read
Reviewed by: alan a

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