Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout

Thirteen short stories make up this novel about the people of a small town in Maine. The first story is about Olive's husband Henry and the last is about Olive herself. In between are stories entirely unrelated to the Kitteridges, but in which they might be mentioned as they are all living in a small town. So you pick up some clues as to what Olive is like before you see her with all her flaws in the last story. Overall the book gives you a sense of how isolated we are from knowledge of our neighbors' struggles, but also how connected we are. Paradox. Excellent fiction.

Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay

Sarah is a ten year old child who gets swept up in 1942 when the Paris police (at the behest of the Nazis) round up thousands of French Jews and send them off to Auschwitz. Sarah's story is interwoven with that of a forty-five year old American woman living in Paris in 2002. Julia is a journalist assigned to write up the story of that roundup of Jews. She stumbles across the start of Sarah's story and refuses to rest until she has chased down what happened to Sarah and her family. Excellent novel for anyone who enjoys family stories mixed with real history.

The Hour I First Believed by Wally Lamb

At 793 pages of small print, this novel should have been edited down by at least 200 pages, and Lamb was repetitive enough that the story wouldn't have been harmed. It is told in the first person by a teacher whose wife witnesses the Columbine killings. Her breakdown and legal troubles provide the main action while the husband quietly struggles with his own issues. He uses liquor to ameliorate the pain of a troubled marriage and career and financial problems. In spite of its length The Hour I First Believed is a good read.