Sally
No modern writer better describes the larger than life but everyday characters of the deep
I couldn’t put down this Booker Prize winner from Atwood – a little different from some of her other novels. It’s a mystery within a mystery about the death of a sister and the liaison of two lovers, one an author, set against the back-drop of World War II. Just great story-telling.
I cried and laughed out loud reading Noah’s remarkable memoir. Set against the backdrop of Apartheid, late-night TV star Noah, who was raised in South Africa, details his youth in a wonderful and moving homage to his mom.
A middle-aged female concierge befriends an awkward young girl who lives in her apartment complex in Paris. Both hide their smarts from the world around them, but their shared loved of reading, art, and the power of learning provide a personal connection that is both heartbreaking and life-affirming.
A debut novel, this book stayed with me long after I first read it. A young teenage girl loses her uncle, and closest friend, to a strange illness, about which her mother will not speak. That illness, AIDS, leads to a discovery about her family and the importance of empathy and friendship that shapes her world view. Named a top ten book of 2012 by the Wall Street Journal and on multiple best book lists for that year.