Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine for Gail Honeyman

This book could be about Eleanor Oliphant, a socially awkward creature of habit. She has a set schedule and very rarely deviates from it until one day she meets Raymond, the slovenly IT worker at her office. When they happen upon an elderly man in medical distress, they are thrown together as they get him to the hospital, see to the groceries that he dropped at the scene, and check in on his progress.  Raymond, in his patient and mellow way, eventually breaks down some of Eleanor’s ruts and helps her become a more socially confident person.

Or, this book could be about Eleanor Oliphant who has a survived a tragic past and is suppressing painful memories.  She calls her toxic monster mother weekly - taking her verbal vitriol and always coming back for more.

Or, this book could be about a one-sided crush, the adoration of a celebrity and the eternal internal hope that of course [insert famous person here] would love me if only he knew me. A little stalkering never hurt anyone, right?

Or the book could have all this and more. You’ll have to read it to see. 

Check out Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine @ the library!

The Knitting Circle by Ann Hood

Mary has the perfect life. She has a loving husband, a sweet little girl, and a career as a reviewer for the local paper. When Stella, Mary's daughter, suddenly dies, Mary's life comes screeching to a halt. Mary is thrown into the depths of depression--she doesn't want to get out of bed, she doesn't answer the door for her friends, and her marriage begins to suffer. When Mary's somewhat estranged mother suggests she take a knitting class, Mary scoffs at the idea.

With little to lose, Mary reluctantly joins a knitting circle at Big Alice's knitting shop. Big Alice, who teaches Mary to knit tells her that to "knit is to save your life." Trying desperately to cope with her loss, Mary begins knitting, and in doing so, begins to connect with the fellow members of the knitting group. After hearing other stories of loss, Mary begins to come to terms with her own grief and finally feels comfortable sharing Stella's story. In the process, Mary makes new friends, rekindles her relationship with her husband, and begins to feel like herself again.

Written by Anne Hood, who knows the pain that Mary felt all too well, The Knitting Circle will make you laugh and cry. For anyone who is an avid knitter, this book is a wonderful read. It almost makes you want to pick up knitting needles and yarn and "knit to save your life."

Everybody Rise by Stephanie Clifford

It is spring in 2006.  Evelyn Beegan is 26 and is treading the same waters that most recent college grads have to brave: the first real job.  Evelyn is the newly minted director of membership for People Like Us, a new social networking site.  Think Facebook for the society set complete with invite-only membership.  As a teen, Evelyn attended Sheffield Academy- an exclusive eastern boarding school.  Now, we find our main character returned to her alma mater for the annual Sheffield-Enfield lacrosse match in order to do a little networking.  The book begins with Evelyn’s obsession to sign up all of the “right” people for the website but before we know it, she is desperately attempting to sprint to the top of New York City’s social hierarchy. 

Several reviews have likened Clifford’s Everybody Rise to an Edith Wharton novel set in the 21^st century.  This is an apt description, but Evelyn’s evolution throughout the book seems a much more positive one than any of Wharton’s female characters.  Evelyn must learn how to be a self-sufficient adult in a world outside that which her parents have always wanted her to find.  And more than that, to find a purpose in life.

Everybody Rise is available August 18^th.  Check out a copy now.

Shotgun Lovesongs by Nickolas Butler

In Butler’s debut novel, we find the tale of a small town called Little Wing in rural Wisconsin.  The story is told by a group of life-long friends and alternates between five points of view: Hank (the nice guy who stayed to take over the family farm), Lee (the now ridiculously successful rock star who always comes back to Wisconsin to recharge), Kip (the friend who never really felt at home in Little Wing who has now moved back from Chicago in an attempt to resurrect a decrepit local business), Ronny (a former professional rodeo who is now a bit slower than normal after an unfortunate alcohol induced accident) and Beth (Hank’s wife and friend to Lee, Kip and Ronny).  As the book unfolds, we find that Lee has returned home early from an international tour in order to sing at Kip’s wedding.  But old habits die hard and soon the group of friends is wondering why they were ever close to begin with. 

Shotgun Lovesongs is as much a love song in honor of Wisconsin as it is a tale of friends who struggle to stay close years after they go their separate ways in life.  Descriptions of the land and seasons connect all of the stories in a way that almost makes the thread appear stronger than the fabric it is sewn onto.  Butler’s love for Wisconsin is clearly channeled through that of Lee’s character; his prose lush and inviting.  A longtime fan of Kent Haruf’s depictions of small town life in the Colorado plains, this book invoked for me a similar heartfelt ode to Wisconsin in its treatment of people and place.  Those looking for a book about life in a small Midwestern town or even a story about life-long friends will find plenty to enjoy in Wisconsin novelist Nickolas Butler’s Shotgun Lovesongs.

The Other Typist by Suzanne Rindell

Rose Baker is a young woman in the typing pool of the New York City Police Department during Prohibition. She is plain, quiet and prudish about life.  However, she is also lonely. So when Odalie, a glamorous flapper with bobbed hair and expensive clothes and jewelry, joins the clerical staff and reaches out to Rose for friendship, Rose is intrigued. Like a moth to a flame, Rose is drawn into Odalie’s dangerous life, becoming her roommate, sharing her clothing and jewelry, accompanying her to speakeasies and parties and running spurious errands on her behalf.  Odalie is mysterious, with more than one version of where she and her wealth came from: perhaps prostitution, bootlegging or a family inheritance.  Whatever the source, she lives well and is generous in sharing her comfortable life with Rose. But she also exacts payment for her generosity, expecting Rose to blindly do her bidding. And Rose, having been drawn in by Odalie and unable to return to her old life, cannot deny her.  How much will Odalie ask of Rose? How far will Rose be willing to go on Odalie’s behalf? Tension builds throughout the entire book and these questions are not answered until the last page. 

Check out The Other Typist @ the Library!

Songs of Willow Frost by Jamie Ford

Jamie Ford, author of Hotel On the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, returns to his Seattle roots in his second novel Songs of Willow Frost.  First we meet William Eng, a lovable Chinese American orphan who lives at the Sacred Heart Orphanage.  All of the boy orphans are given the same birthday when they arrive at Sacred Heart- September 28^th: coronation date of the honorable Pope Leo XII.  On this day, all of the boys are shepherded downtown to see a motion picture as a special birthday treat.  This year (1934) the boys are taken to a showing of Cimarron.  William hunkers down in his seat to share his popcorn and Orange Crush with his best friend when something unthinkable happens.  During the Follies reel, the audience meets a new actress with a sweet, sad voice: Willow Frost.  William is stunned.  Though he can’t explain how, he knows that the woman on the screen is in fact his mother whom he hasn’t seen in five years.  Shaken, William tries to ply information out of the sisters at Sacred Heart but to no avail.  He know his Ah-ma wouldn’t have abandoned him and believes that if he can just get out of the orphanage long enough to see her in person at an upcoming show, she’d take him home again.

Life in the orphanage is not easy.  But William knows that he has it a lot better than many orphans- some roam the streets begging, others are sent off to labor farms or to work in factories.  And while he feels the strong pull to run away from the orphanage in order to find his mother, he knows that if he is caught, he probably won’t be sent anywhere as nice as Sacred Heart.  Bolstered by his best friend, the adorable but blind Charlotte, the two hatch a plan to escape from the orphanage and trek to the 5^th Avenue Theatre to see Willow. 

Charlotte and William manage to sneak out of Sacred Heart and even see Willow’s show.  Afterwards, they wait with a line of other admirers outside the Stage Door.  William gets Willows autograph and calls her Ah-ma and when the actress begins to cry William knows that he’s finally found his mother.  But she is whisked off in a taxi and William is left sitting in the alley for hours.  One of the performers takes pity on William and Charlotte and gives them backstage tickets for the next performance.  There, William gets a chance to speak with Willow before her next performance.  Unfortunately, Sister Briganti arrives to take the two orphans back to Sacred Heart before William can get all of the answers about his past.

Will William find Willow again?  Will he ever find out how he wound up at Sacred Heart?  But most importantly, does Willow still want her little boy?  Songs of Willow Frost is an interesting tale about the bond of parent and child, duty to society and the history of early motion pictures.  While it does not combine the number of issues as did Ford’s first novel Hotel On the Corner of Bitter and Sweet,  Songs of Willow Frost is not a Sophomore Slump of a book.  Ford brings new life to a new era in Seattle and the reader is more than happy to go along for the ride.

Check out Songs of Willow Frost @ the library!

Love Anthony by Lisa Genova

Olivia’s son Anthony is diagnosed with autism at age three. He doesn't talk and has not progressed beyond loving Barney.  The relationship between Olivia and her husband, David is disintegrating and she is having a rough time accepting that Anthony will never be “normal”.  Just when she starts acknowledging that Anthony can be happy despite his diagnosis he suffers a seizure and dies.   Olivia and David separate and Olivia moves to Nantucket away from relatives feeling sorry for her and memories of Anthony.  Searching for a reason for Anthony’s short life she finds solace in the words of a fellow island resident.  Lisa Genova has once again created a touching novel.  Checkout Love Anthony  at the library!

Attachments by Rainbow Rowell

Beth and Jennifer are best friends, and they both work for The Courier - Beth writing movie reviews, Jennifer writing headlines for the Omaha paper.  They tell each other everything - usually via office email.  Beth is completely freaked out about being in her little sister's wedding (maid of honor, ugh), and is pretty sure her musician boyfriend Chris is never going to ask her to marry him.  Jennifer is worried about her maternal instincts - mostly, that she doesn't have them - and what to do about the fact that her high school marching band teacher husband really, really wants a baby.

Lincoln is the new IT guy, hired to work second shift mostly so he can monitor (read: spy for a suspicious administration sure that giving Internet access to employees basically means giving them free license to mess around on the clock) the interoffice email of his co-workers, who he really doesn't know, since he always works nights.  He doesn't really like reading other people's email for a living - but if he stays long enough, he can probably move out of his mom's house (who does, admittedly, make him some really excellent to go dinners).  He's also working on the Millennium upgrade, just in case the world ends in 2000.  Beth and Jennifer's emails to each other end up in his inbox as red-flagged all the time, but Lincoln can't bring himself to warn them to stop - and he also can't seem to stop reading them.  They're just so fun and nice and he loves how they really seem to care about each other - especially Beth.

This quirky romantic comedy is for devout fans of the movie Office Space, readers who swooned over author Rainbow Rowell's new, critically acclaimed novel, Eleanor & Park, or for everyone who loved the bizarre (but fabulous!) oddity of the characters in Matthew Quick's The Silver Linings Playbook.  For anyone who's ever stayed in a job just a little too long hoping to catch just one more smile from their crush while waiting for the elevator, Attachments is definitely one you should be reading on your lunch break - after all, maybe she'll ask you what you're reading!

Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier

Mary Anning is a poor, working class woman living in Lyme Regis, England, a beach community. Elizabeth Philpot is a spinster with a passion for fish fossils.  Together they hunt fossils along the beach and find many varieties that were previously undiscovered.   Their friendship is tested by a fossil collector from London and questions raised about the authenticity of Mary Anning’s finds.   The novel begins in 1804, a time when women were not allowed out alone and their contributions to science were attributed to men.  Both of these women did live in Lyme Regis in the early nineteenth century and made valuable contributions to the study of fossils, though they were unacknowledged at the time.  Tracy Chevalier succeeds in making fossils fascinating with a novel that makes the beaches of England come to life.  From the author of Girl with a Pearl Earring, Remarkable Creatures is a richly drawn historical tale that brings little known people from famous moments in history vividly alive.

The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick

Pat has goals.  To work on being a kinder person, to get fit and stay buff, to read the great American classic works of literature that he didn't get around to when he was supposed to be reading them in high school, to keep his anger under control, and to get Nikki back.  Actually, all of his goals are really about getting Nikki back and ending apart time.

When Pat's mother comes and gets him from the neural health facility in Baltimore where he's been for... well, he doesn't actually know how long, but awhile, he knows the end of apart time has to be close.  He's out of the bad place and living at home in Philadelphia, where his mom has bought him pretty much a complete gym-in-a-basement, complete with the Stomach Master 6000.  He's got a new therapist, Dr. Patel, and even though his dad's not talking to him (unless it's specifically related to Eagles football), he's building a relationship with his brother and (who got him his old seat back at the Eagles home games) and hanging out with his best bud Ronnie again, even if Ronnie's wife Veronica is not exactly his favorite person.  Sure, his mom claims that all his and Nikki's wedding photos were stolen by a burgler (they were in very expensive frames), and all signs point to him having been in the bad place way longer than a couple of months, but he's pulling it together for Nikki.

So when Veronica's sister Tiffany is invited to dinner one night, Pat is confused.  Tiffany is angry, volatile, uncomfortably direct, swears like a sailor and is more than a little odd.  She's also in therapy, because her husband died a few years ago, and she's also living at home, because she got fired from her job.  Pat is a married man, so even though everyone seems to be encouraging him to cheat on Nikki with Tiffany, which is confusing, he knows he can't date her.  But he does decide to be her friend - after all, it's the kind thing to do.

This is the story of how friendship, love, raisin bran, a deep hatred of Kenny G., modern dance and serious Eagles football fandom all come together to heal two people who need each other.  Quirky, fun, heartbreaking and hilarious, Matthew Quick's first novel is fabulous.  Whether you saw the movie and loved it, want to read the book before you see the movie, or (like me!) are a huge fan of author Matthew Quick (check out our reviews of Sorta Like a Rock Star and this year's Milwaukee County Teen Book Award nominee Boy21!), you've got to add The Silver Linings Playbook to your reading list!  It's the perfect way to kick-start your weekend and ignore the fact that it's snowing... again.

Here I Go Again by Jen Lancaster

Lissy Ryder is that girl: the one in high school who was head cheerleader, homecoming queen and the one who tore you to shreds just for being different. Now things are a bit different. Sure at one time she was married to her high school sweetheart with a great job doing PR in Chicago, but now he wants a divorce and her liberal use of work time has caused her to be downsized. Living in her parents home deep in credit card debt, Lissy doesn't have much to look forward to- except her 20 year high school reunion.

Expecting her classmates to accept simple apologies, Lissy goes ready to start her own PR firm to represent their now successful lives. It's too bad for Lissy that none of them want to forgive her. After having a bit too much box wine to drink, she ends up in the care of classmate Debbie, now Deva. Deva gives Lissy a remedy that will help her find inner peace, which really takes Lissy back. Back 1991 and her 17 year old self.

With a second chance to right all her wrongs, will the new Lissy Ryder make all the right choices, and will those choices be worth it in the end? Jen Lancaster does it again with a hysterical look at second chances and how one little change to the past can create an entirely different future. Make sure you have a huge chunk of time to read, because once you start Here I Go Again, you won't want to put it down!

Me Before You by Jojo Moyes

Handsome, wealthy, and extremely athletic, Will Traynor had it all - a promising career, gorgeous girlfriends, and all the time in the world to pursue his love of international travel and thrill-seeking adventures.  Until the motorbike accident that left him a C5-6 quadriplegic.   Now requiring 24-hour care, the once-powerful Will lives in his parents' home in a small tourist village in England and has only limited use of one of  his hands.  Bitter, acerbic and deeply depressed, with no hope of recovery, Will is quite certain he cannot live this confined life instead of his old, larger-than-life one.

Louisa Clark has no idea what she wants to do with her life.  At age 26, her boss has just told her he's closing the cafe she's been working in for six years.  She lives at home with her parents, her grandfather, and older sister Katrina and small nephew Thomas, and her long-term boyfriend, Patrick, is so obsessed with marathons and triathlons his idea of a date is Louisa watching him run.  After a horrifying stint at the Job Center, the best of which was a shift at the chicken factory, Louisa is so desperate she takes a job as caregiver to a wealthy quadriplegic, although she has no background or knowledge of how to care for a man confined to a wheelchair.  When she is offered the job, and reassured by Will's mother that her role is only that of a companion and guardian, Louisa has no idea what is in store for her.

Although she initially dreads the long, mind-numbingly boring days spent with a man who she is quite sure hates her, Louisa soon finds that there is more to Will than his prickly exterior.  In fact, the more time she spends with Will, the more she begins to uncover a deep well of fearlessness inside herself - and the possibility for more happiness than she ever thought possible.  An unconventional love story, Me Before You will have you reading, laughing, crying, and holding your breath late into the night.

Girls in White Dresses by Jennifer Close

Isabella isn't sure what she wants to do with her post college life, so she ends up moving to New York to live with her friend Mary who is in law school. As their friends start to get married, settle into full time jobs and have kids the two of them battle with their own ideals and face unsure futures that once seemed crystal clear.

Girls in White Dresses is more like a collection of short stories involving the same characters, than a traditional novel. Readers who have been in more than one wedding in a summer, or who have been asked "when are you going to settle down" will enjoy the lives of these girls as they transition from college life to adulthood.