Back from ten days in Costa Rica, I’ve got a lot of books to tell everyone about. Everything we read was good, some stood out of course, but we were lucky with choices. I’ll try and post on them all as the week progresses.

Jacob’s Folly by Rebecca Miller: Taking Kakfa’s bug love to heart, Miller’s main character 18th century Jew Jacob Cerf wakes up to find himself a fly in 20th century America. Suspend your disbelief for a moment and imagine the fly also has the ability to commune with humans and influence behaviors. He sees into the hearts of Leslie Senzatamore, a harried husband, father, and caretaker of many, and Masha, a daughter with great acting abilities in a Hasidic like community. Both Leslie and Masha struggle with the strains of familial obligations versus the longing for a different life. Meanwhile, Jacob reminiscences on his past and what brought him to insect-hood. It’s a sensuous book, with an albeit odd, but interesting narrator.