A Watershed Year

by Susan Schoenberger

An interesting story of academia and adoption was ruined for me by the inclusion of emails sent posthumously by a beloved friend of the heroine. Email from the dead made me queasy. It seemed as it the dead guy was reaching out in a way that would keep his friend from moving on. However several members of my book club liked it. I told them not to email me after they were dead. Otherwise, the book tells a pretty good story.

Complications by Atul Gawande

Gawande writes in the first person about his experience as a surgeon. In doing so he tells lots of tales demonstrating the complexities and limitations of the practice of medicine. Good book.

Mortality by Christopher Hitchens

Having spent a lifetime as a literate and literary atheist, Christopher Hitchens died of esophageal cancer on December 15, 2011. In Mortality he reflects on his life and his journey from the diagnosis in 2010 to death. His writing over the course of these eighteen months maintains the amusing and intelligent outlook on life that had brought him great success as a writer. An Afterward by his wife remembers his charisma as a public speaker, friend, and family man. The tiny bit of tension in Mortality comes from the question of will this atheist recant on his deathbed. You will have to read the book to find out, and if you do, you will love being in the mind of a wonderful human being.

Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake by Anna Quindlen

A memoir told in the form of essays, Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake, is beautifully written and full of gratitude for lessons learned in a relatively quiet life. At first glance I thought the author arrogant with an attitude of "I'm here to tell you what life is all about," but that seemed to wear off as I read further and became more engaged. When we discussed it in book club, the consensus was that it was beautifully written but superficial. Evidently the author has had a life untouched by pain and sorrow. Pulitzer Prize winner Anna Quindlen is an excellent writer, but in this memoir she has left out life's blood and guts.

Chasing China; A Daughter's Quest for Truth by Kay Bratt

A Chinese-American college student travels to China in search of her birth parents. Lots of adventures are had and everything turns out all right in the end. Truly a terrible book; must have been written for sixth graders. Don't read.

A Book Forged in Hell by Steven Nadler

Reading Nadler is much easier than reading Spinoza so if you want to learn about Spinoza's infamous Tractatus Theologico-Politicus this is a good place to start. Spinoza shocked the clergy and others of the seventeenth century by stating his views that 1) there is no such thing as miracles, 2) the Bible is simply a work of literature, 3) God is Nature, and 4) organized religion is harmful and unnecessary. But his work is also given credit for promoting democracy and insisting on intellectual freedom. And beneath the disdain for organized religion there is a belief in a personal and individualistic spirituality each person would develop for him/her self. I love Spinoza's  thought and would recommend this book to anyone who doesn't mind reading philosophy. For me it was a little hard.

Caleb's Crossing by Geraldine Brooks

Caleb is the anglo name given to a Wampanoag Indian who lived on Martha's Vineyard during the 17th century. He is befriended by an adolescent English girl who teaches him to read. Eventually, his education is taken over by her minister father and he winds up at Harvard College. Torn between two cultures, Caleb suffers nearly unbearable indignities, and the reader mourns his fate and the ignorance of those who bring it about. Caleb's Crossing is a good read and is based on a true story.