Mudbound by Hillary Jordan

Henry wanted to call his new Mississippi farm "Fair Fields," but his wife said "Mudbound is more like it." Their three young daughters made sure it was the "Mudbound" name that stuck. This is the story of how a respectable 30-ish young woman married an engineer with a secret yearning to farm and wound up living in primitive conditions as a farmwife. Because it takes place in the 1940's in the South, there is much reference to the bias against Negroes. In fact, the struggle of the blacks moves into the forefront and the author vividly paints the social attitudes and situations that make life difficult for them. This novel is a real page turner and I loved reading it.

The Finkler Question by Howard Jacobson

Finkler is a Jewish character in this novel, but his name is used also to stand for Jews in general; so you can read the title as "The Jewish Question." The story takes place in London and centers around Julian Treslove who is NOT Jewish but who would like to be and starts to live as if he were. As a twice divorced middle aged man, Julian spends his leisure time hanging around with his college friend Sam Finkler and their former professor Libor Sevcik and listens as they debate Zionism. The Finkler Question won the 2010 Man Booker prize; it is highly nuanced about the nature of Jewishness and also amuses with low key, tongue-in-cheek humor. It is an excellent piece of literature, but I found it a little slow going because there is really not much of a plot.

Girl in a Blue Dress by Gaynor Arnold

Inspired by the story of Charles Dickens' life, this novel describes a charismatic but difficult man who abandoned his wife and kept her from their eight children. It is told from the wife's point of view and the reader becomes engaged in figuring out the nature of the husband's character as described through the love-smogged view of his wife's eyes. It is a brilliant character story told in sensitive and lucid terms and makes you want to read a standard biography of Dickens.

The More Than Complete Action Philosophers by Fred Van Lente and Ryan Dunlavey

Comic books are now called "graphic novels," but this one is not a novel; it is a survey of philosophy that takes the reader lightly through the major Western philosophers from the pre-Socratics to the present. The presentation and illustrations are amusing, but you can still get lost in the technicalities of philosophic thought. I have a particularly hard time with Kant and Wittgenstein, but for reviewing many other philosophers this book is excellent.

Lessons in Truth by H. Emilie Cady

Our metaphysics class found plenty to talk about in this Unity classic written in 1894-5. Cady's theology is very much the same as that of Unity churches today, starting with God as one with all creation. Her language, however, is dated, particularly in using "Father" as reference to the divine. Sometimes she tosses in "Father/Mother," but either way she seems to be talking about God as a separate entity; and this gave me stong urges to edit what is really a well written book. I doubt I would have read this book had I not had a group with which to discuss it. The discussion draws out the aspects that can change your thinking and living.

Somebody Else's Daughter by Elizabeth Brundage

Set in a private school in the Berkshires, Somebody Else's Daughter is a fun read for those of us familiar with Western Massachusetts. The story turns around a father who had given his daughter up for adoption as an infant when her mother was dying; the adopted girl has reached the age of seventeen by the time her biological father moves to her town and becomes her teacher. Lots of teenage problems and some sleazy adults churn up events in the story, reminding me a little of a soap opera. I had a little trouble keeping track of the characters, but otherwise enjoyed this light novel.

The Sea by John Banville

An elderly widower returns to the seaside place where his family had vacationed for years. He tells the story of his relationship to a wealthy family who also vacationed in the area when he was a boy, reliving the past while trying to make sense of life without his wife. It is hard to sympathize with the narrator because at times he comes across as a nasty old man. Even though The Sea won England's prestigious Man Booker prize, I am not very impressed with it. The writing (described on the back cover as "elegiac") was a little too artsy for me and the story a little too meandering.