"The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry" by Gabrielle Zevin. ****

》Audiobook
》US author
》Originally published in 2014
》Review:   Are what we read?  Too corny?  It was worth a shot.  This is plain and simple, a lovely story about lovely people who love books.  Chuckles, some heartache, some love stories, some intense drama.....all of these and more themes are present in this story of a widowed bookseller whose life is basically saved by love...love of a child, love of a woman, and love of books!  The characters are memorable and charming.  Just read it!

"To Have and Have Not" by Ernest Hemingway. ****

》Audiobook
》US author
》Originally published in 1937
》Review:  How far would you go to support your loved ones? This is a tale of one man's downfall while he tries to do just that.  It is a dark tale.  It is also a cautionary tale of the dark side of wealth and what it can take to accumulate it.  Hemingway is a master storyteller, but I doubt you need me to tell you that!

"Hot Six" by Janet Evanovich. ***

》Audio book
》US author
》6th in Stephanie Plum series
》Originally published in 2001
》Review:  Just plain fun!

"Arzee The Dwarf" by Chandrahas Choudhury. ****

• Summer Sub Club with Beth
• East Indian author
• Debut novel, Short list for Commonwealth First Novel award
• Originally published in 2009
• Vocabulary:
• Setting:  Bombay
• Characters:
•        Arzee (29 year old dwarf, projectionist at the Noor movie theater, loves Monique)
•       Deepak (gangster enforcer who befriends Arzee
•       Phiroz (older projectionist)
•       Dashrath (taxi driver/philosopher)
•       Rajneesh Sharma (reclusive owner of the Noor)

• Quotes:
•      p.1..."Each day in the world was a battle against the might and will of myriad forces,  so then why shouldn't he change track and direction as it suited him?  A man couldn't just be as he was,  as he felt he should be--this world wasn't a place for feelings! "
•      p.39...."I'll receive only with one hand and keep the other just for giving. "
•      p.52...."They said that one day the sun would blow itself out,  and all life on earth would end instantly.  The day the great beam was blown out,  he knew,  would be sucha world ending day."  (When the Noor cclosed)
•      p.54...."When trouble came calling,  he knew from experience,  it was never the pistol-shot, the hot instant,  of disaster itself that menaced a man's self-possession,  but the way the mind went the same thing over and over again,  crackling,  smoldering,  like a body on a pyre till it collapsed into ashes."
•      p.55....."It's a miserable, nasty,  cruel world!   It respects your position:  if you've got a square foot to stand on,  it won't come rushing in.  But lose your position,  and you lose yourself. !"
•      p.56...."What was on her mind one moment was on her tongue the next. "......sounds like me
•      p.58....."Never pass a friend by on the street without a word, for there may come a day when he too shall do the same. "....Dashrath
•      p.61..."All these months I wasn't really living in the present.   I was already living in the days to come.   I wasn't the me that I was!  I was gradually becoming the me that I thought I was going to be. "..........Arzee to Dashrath
•      p.61...."What I'm thinking is,  do we live the life that's given to us,  or,......do we really live a kind of dream life?   We are to be found in the present,  yes--walking,  sleeping,  working.   But  all the while,  aren't we really living in the past and the future?"
•      p.64....."A light mist, like that seen when sugar is poured into jars. ?..."........interesting metaphor
•      p.95....."If you open your heart to a person who is different from you,  you grow bigger, not smaller. "......Arzee's father
•      p.97......"The rose of peace can never bloom in the soil of unrest. ".....Arzee tells Dashrath to make peace with his parents
•      p.168...."He was two beings within one,  two names, three religions,  four parents--he was a piece of patchwork made with the craziest needle! ......news of adoption
•     p.172...."He saw that his life was to be a journey,  and that there was no home for him anywhere except in the hut of his own crooked self. "
• Notes:
•      p.42.....wonderful description of the mood after Arzee's boss says he has something to tell him....
•      Dashrath had seven children,  all born in January......because he only went home once a year for three weeks......LOL
•      P.113....the freedom of being behind a mask....being a bottle
• Review:  What a wonderful novel! Welcome to a world full of characters worthy of Dickens, a story which has the reader gasping, cringing, and laughing out loud, and a whole lot to think about regarding the role of imagination in the choices we make and the dreams we allow ourselves to chase.  Set in Mumbai,  where life can deal one difficult reality after another, we meet Arzee the dwarf, whose disappointments,  dreams, and adventures will keep the reader glued to the tale to the end.

"The Buried Candelabrum" by Stefan Zweig ****

》 Summer book with Beth
》  Austrian author
》  Originally published in 1936
》  Jewish tale of pogrom,  menorah stolen, young Jewish chosen to be guardian of the story and the the people's history

>>Review:  It's interesting.  I have read many of Zweig's novels and short stories and rank him as one of my favorite authors.  They were primarily written during and/or after WWII, right up until his suicide.  This novel was published in 1936.  It is the religious tale of Jews being mistreated in 1300s Rome, and certainly seemed significantly different in style than anything else I have read.  The primary theme is the cultural imperative that the significant events, beliefs, and artifacts of the Jewish faith be carried forward in time.  It is a moving tale about a people who are perpetually bewildered at the hatred they evoke in other cultures.  Well written, yet has to be set apart as a cultural fable, rather than an intellectually stimulating piece of literary fiction.

"The Garden of Evening Mists" by Tan Twan Eng. *****

》  Audiobook
》  Malaysian author
》  Originally published in 2011
》  Review:  Stunningly lovely!  Set in Malaysia, this is a tale of pain and suffering  and healing and love and relationship and trust.  It is a tale of the horror of what human beings can do to one another juxtaposed with the  compassion which human beings are capable of.  All these themes are remembered and re-experienced by the protagonist as she faces the onset of dementia.  Lovely prose, memorable characters,  and an amazing plot make this a 5 star read!

"Good Lord Bird" by James McBride. ****

》  Audiobook, narrated by Samuel L. Jackson
》  US author
》  Originally published in 2013
》  Setting: Kansas, pre-civil war
》  Premise:  Discovery of journal in an old church recalls an interview of aman who tells of his interaction with John Brown
》  Review:    I listened to the audio edition of this novel and the marvelous narration by Samuel L. Jackson enhanced the experience significantly.  The author's choice  to create a character and set him at the center of John Brown's quest to free the slaves was a perfect way to bring the entire plotting of the raid on Harper's Ferry to life.  "Onion", the protagonist and narrator, is a young boy masquerading as a girl.  He is a memorable character whose antics bring a touch of humor to a very serious story.  Just as Onion's understanding of the abolitionist movement matures during his time with John Brown, so does the reader gain insight into the complicated dynamics at play at this period just prior to the Civil War.