Look Who's Back by Timur Vermes

World War II has been over for 70 years. Adolf Hitler has been dead for 70 years. Vermes' Look Who's Back imagines what the world would be like if Hitler didn't die in 1945 like previously thought. The book starts with Hitler waking up in Berlin in 2011, and Hitler himself if shocked to see that Germany looks nothing like it did when he last saw it in 1945. There's no Ava Braun, no Nazi Party, and no World War II. Completely confused Hitler roams about Berlin until he stumbles across a newsstand, whose owner mistakes the real Adolf Hitler for a Hitler impersonator. The real Hitler takes offense that nobody takes him seriously as the Führer of Germany. Put to work as a "Hitler impersonator" (who refuses to break character) for a local TV station, this suddenly makes Hitler a sensation once again. Now it's his job to once again put Germany back on track and convince the world that he's the real Adolf Hitler.

Look Who's Back is an entertaining satire, imaging what life would be like if Hitler were alive today. With a focus on how technology has changed the face of politics, it's interesting to imagine what a modern world with Hitler would be like. This book is sure to provide a few laughs and question modern politics.

The Coincidence of Coconut Cake by Amy E. Reichert

Elizabeth "Lou" Johnson has worked tirelessly to open her quaint French restaurant, Louella's, in downtown Milwaukee. Her restaurant, named with her grandmother in mind, is a work of love for Lou. It's the place where she feels most at home, especially now that she's engaged to a narcissistic guy who always discounts Lou's opinions, ideas, and dreams. On the morning of her fiance Devlin's birthday, Lou sets out to surprise him by making her grandma's delicious coconut cake. When she gets to his apartment and catches him scantily clad with his assistant, life takes a negative turn for Lou.

Al Waters is a British transplant to Milwaukee. With a passion for food, Al (who uses the pen name A.W. Wodyski) has taken a job as an often despised food critic for a local paper. Realizing that Milwaukee is just a small stepping stone to advance his career, Al realizes he won't be here long and has nothing to lose with his harsh criticism of local restaurants. Just when he thinks he's about had enough of Milwaukee, he meets a woman who smells like vanilla and just so happens to be carrying a coconut cake.

Lou and Al's worlds collide on the night that Lou found her fiance with his assistant. Without Lou knowing A.W. Wodyski has come to review her restaurant, and suffice it to say the critic catches Lou on a day where even the easiest dish would be off kilter. Fate continues to throw Al and Lou together, and without knowing much about one another, sparks fly between them.

With a definite rom-com, You've Got Mail feel, The Coincidence of Coconut Cake is sure not to disappoint if you need a light fluffy read. Reichert, a lifelong Wisconsin resident, definitely knows her way around Milwaukee as she writes about Al and Lou's adventures to find the best food this city.

Visitation by Jennie Erpenbeck

Visitation, in telling the history of a small parcel of land near Berlin, also tells the history of twentieth century Germany. When a wealthy farmer realizes none of his four daughters will provide him with an heir, he divides part of his land, Klara's Wood, into three plots and sells them to prosperous city dwellers--a tea and coffee importer, an architect and a cloth manufacturer who happens to be Jewish. The three weekend neighbors build on and improve their properties while spending summers and weekends in the country with friends and family. Then, events beyond their control interrupt this idyllic life. Hitler comes to power. The cloth manufacturer flees the country with his wife and children but cannot persuade his relatives to follow. War rages. The Jewish relatives are deported. The Russian Army invades and occupies the summer homes. Later, Klara's Wood becomes part of East Germany and the land becomes the possession of the government. Some people escape to the West, some are captured in the attempt and some simply remain and adjust. New people rent and sublease the homes. The Berlin Wall falls and Germany is reunited. Former landowners reclaim their property, uprooting the current tenants. The twenty-first century begins.

With spare but evocative language, Jenny Erpenbeck relates civilian life in twentieth century Germany, focusing on both its congenial and menacing aspects, using small, personal events.

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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."

Saint Mazie by Jami Attenberg

In the first half of the twentieth century, homeless men were called bums and a movie patron bought a ticket from a woman who sat in a booth outside the theater. These two facts are the building blocks for Jami Attenberg’s Saint Mazie, a book based on a real person, Mazie Phillips Gordon.  

Mazie was an ordinary New Yorker but she was also a ticket seller with a heart of gold. She sold tickets from the booth in her brother-in-law’s movie theater in The Bowery, home to many poor and disadvantaged people. As part of her job, she sold movie tickets to bums who wanted to get out of the cold, rain, heat and other unpleasant aspects of a New York slum. To some, she sold ten cent tickets; others would be given a bar of soap from her supply in her booth and a ticket on the promise that each would wash his face. She would also give dimes and quarters to her needy customers. Mazie was non-judgmental. She freely gave small change to these men, unconcerned that they would spend the coins on drink. After work, in the wee hours of the morning, she would walk the streets of The Bowery, calling ambulances for men in distress and again passing out small change. Although Jewish, she teamed up with the Catholic nuns who served the poor in the area, united by compassion and empathy.

Jamie Attenberg was inspired to write this book by an old New Yorker article by Joseph Mitchell. Mazie is included in his collection Up in the Old Hotel, and this short essay is also well worth reading.

Awful Ends: The British Museum Book Of Epitaphs by David M. Wilson

This is a unique book, an anthology of tombstone inscriptions. There are a few from literature but most from actual tombstones and cemetery dedications in England and the United States. These epitaphs provide an interesting and often amusing picture of life and attitude toward death from past centuries. Some of the sentiments expressed in these epitaphs are:

Trust in the afterlife--
"He raised with love that fragile flower
To Wake in bliss on high."

Admiration of Virtue--
"...A virtuous and amiable man..."

Expressions of Grief--
"My heart is like cabbage,
A cabbage cut in two..."

But more interesting are the epitaphs that express anger at death or honest appraisals of the dearly departed:

Weakness of the deceased--

"Here lies Peg, that drunken sot

Who dearly loved her jug and pot."

Financial condition--

"Here I like at the Chancel door

Here lie I because I'm poor."

Cause of death--

"His death...which was caused by stupidity of Laurence Tulloch who sold him nitre instead 

of Epsom salts."

Evil deeds--

"...and yet betrayed God's Holy Church for Mammon."

Awful Ends: The British Museum Book of Epitaphs by David M. Wilson is an unusual book of prose and poetry, approval and aspersion, praise and criticism. It must be read to be enjoyed. These few examples are the mere tip of the iceberg.