Chrysalis: Maria Sibylla Merian and the Secrets of by Kim Todd

A book about Maria Sibylla Merian, a woman who was early in the field of insect and plant study and painting, with a unique emphasis on metamorphasis. The book starts off by disclosing that there is very little known about her except for a few archival materials, and her illustrations. But Kim Todd, the author, combines her story wonderfully and informatively with the history of the times (mostly late 1600s, early 1700s).

Todd was clearly enchanted by her subject and her illustrations, and makes it clear that for a woman to be doing this work at this time displayed a unique spirit and drive. The book flap says that Todd has a degree in "creative non-fiction," and that's exactly what this book does - creatively tell a true story. The book left me feeling smarter and optimistic about, well, life by tell the story with the emphasis on a woman overcoming large obstacles through her fascination with metamorphasis, and as Todd portrays it...transformation.

Thread of Grace by Mary Doria Russel

Gripping historical novel that chronicles the valiant underground effort by Italian citizens who saved 43,000 Jews during the last few years of WWII. The narrative is set along the Ligurian coastal area in northwest Italy and traces the lives of a host of fascinating characters—an Italian rabbi’s family, a charismatic Italian resistance leader, a priest, a drunken guilt-ridden German doctor,a Jewish family escaping France. The book is fast-paced with lots of escapes, ambushes, sabotages, disguises,and rescues as well as multi-layered with the characters displaying the
heights and depths of the human experience. Very compelling and moving story.

The Future of Love by Shirley Abbott

This novel follows the interconnected lives of eight New Yorkers just prior to and just after September 11th. The common thread to all eight characters is that they are all looking for love, but they don’t necessarily find it in the expected places. The story is centered around Antonia, a widow in her 70’s who is having an affair with a married man named Sam. Antonia’s daughter, Maggie, is married to Mark who is having an affair with their daughter’s preschool teacher. Sam has been in a loveless marriage to Edith for over forty years, yet he can’t even contemplate divorce because he would risk losing his beloved home. Sam and Edith have a granddaughter named Alison who is in a lesbian relationship with Candace and the couple wants to have a controversial commitment ceremony on Sam’s estate. Greg is Candace’s uncle and the downstairs neighbor to Antonia. He’s lived with his partner for forty-five years and is dying of lung cancer. After the World Trade Center bombings, all the characters begin to view their futures in new ways. The author pursues all these plots in a third person narrative and each chapter is devoted to one specific character. Abbott has an elegant writing style and she does a good job of tying up all the interrelationships in the story.

The Senator's Wife by Sue Miller

Sue Miller’s latest novel is the story of two strong women who become unlikely friends. One is newly married and just starting a journey with her husband and the other has been married for many years and has grown children. When thirty seven year old Meri and her professor husband, Nathan, move into a large townhouse, they are delighted to learn that their neighbor is the former Senator Thomas Naughton and his wife Delia. Delia and Meri quickly become friends and Meri even offers to watch the house while Delia is away. During one of her stints as a house sitter, Meri discovers a series of letters between Tom and Delia, detailing his philandering past. Meri learns many family secrets between Delia and Tom, but she can’t ask Delia about any of it because she would have to admit that she was snooping. Meri is profoundly embarrassed by her behavior, but she is driven to understand why Delia takes Tom back and continues to love him, despite his unfaithful ways. This is an engrossing novel of women, love, and marriage.

The Girl Who Stopped Swimming by Joshilyn Jackson

The discovery of her daughter’s best friend drowned in her backyard swimming pool shatters the tranquil life of the main character, Laurel, in this new novel. Part family drama and part mystery; this story slowly unravels to reveal several layers of subplots that add to the drama. Although the drowning is ruled accidental by the police, Laurel suspects her daughter knows more than she is telling. The story really grips the reader and each chapter leaves you wanting to know more.

Stealing Buddha's Dinner by Bich Minh Nguyen

Bich Minh Nguyen moves to the United States from Vietnam when she is eight months old. Her family eventually settles down in Grand Rapids, Michigan and she begins the process of becoming an American. Growing up in the 1980’s she is torn between her newly found American ways and the traditional Vietnamese ways of her grandmother. She falls in love with American junk food, television, and pop music while attempting to find her place in her dysfunctional family that includes a Mexican-American step-mother, a step-sister, and a new half-brother. This is a very interesting and funny coming-of-age tale.

Teahouse Fire by Ellis Avery

How does a nine year old French-American girl end up living as a servant in Kyoto, Japan in 1866? The answer is revealed in this complicated story that follows the life of Aurelia Bernard (who is renamed Urako by her Japanese family) for thirty years during which Japan undergoes tremendous social and political changes. At first no one knows that Urako is a foreigner. They think of her as an odd looking Japanese child who is somewhat slow because she can’t follow simple commands in Japanese. Eventually she is accepted by the family and the other servants until other foreigners begin pouring into Japan. The head of the Urako’s adopted family is a large, impressive old man referred to as "the Mountain" and he is a master of the tea ceremony. The complex tea ceremony is an integral part of the story and the author, who studied the tea ceremony for many years in Japan, goes into great detail when describing it to the reader. Readers who enjoy historical fiction will love this book