I feel I should apologize for the dearth of posts in the past month. I’ve been reading a ton, but when it comes to writing a short review, work gets in the way. Why not blog at night, you might ask? Well, I live on the third floor and it’s generally about 90 degrees in there at the moment. Spending a night with a hot laptop on my legs is not exactly refreshing. So what is a gal to do? Write a few short reviews in spare moments! Expect some reviews throughout the week.

The Panopticon by Jenni Fagan: Fagan’s debut, described as “fierce” by none other than Michiko Kakutani follows teenage Anais as she navigates the Scottish foster care system. Her biological mother gave birth to her in a psychiatric ward then disappeared. She moves from place to place until she finds a foster mother Teresa, a prostitute that she finds murdered one day, forcing her back into the system. Now she’s under suspicion of having assaulted a policewoman who is still in a coma. The system moves Anais into The Panopticon, a home for chronic offenders. She’s living amongst a motley crew of misfits. Anais possesses a punk spirit and a fuck-you attitude that I found oddly endearing. She’s wise enough to know that it’s not her fault but she has no control over her own destiny. Heartfelt and wonderful writing make this first novel a real treat.

I’m so glad that many authors have embraced the shared creativity of eating and writing. One of my favorite authors, Kate Christensen, has written a lovely memoir, Blue Plate Special, about the foods that are linked to her memories. The food doesn’t overwhelm the palate, it accompanies like a nice wine or piece of cheese.

As the eldest of four, born to a lawyer father and mother studying to be a pyschologist, Christensen grew up in the 60s and 70s. One of her earliest memories, described in the very first chapter, is of her father beating up her mother for innocently asking for help with the dishes. This incident forms much of the rest of her life. Bookish from a young age, she writes very openly about the hard times in her life. Food was her constant, there when needed to provide comfort and solace. Christensen has written a generous, open memoir, one that I hope will bring her writing the acclaim she deserves.

I’m about half way through Crucible of Gold by Naomi Novik, the seventh book in the Temeraire series, and wish I could be reading it right now instead of looking at inventory records. For those who don’t know what I’m talking about, imagine Master & Commander plus dragons. It’s a wonderful series, fun and smartly written. Supposedly Peter Jackson has bought the movie rights. Now that he’s dragging out the Hobbit films, he’ll never make these into movies!

Bookavore was absolutely correct when she said that Meg Wolitzer’s newest novel The Interestings was absorbing enough to eat an entire bag of chips while reading. While I didn’t consume chips, I found this book pretty hard to put down (I refuse to use the word unputdownable). The novel follows a group of friends who meet at an arts camp in 1974 throughout several decades. Wolitzer navigates the happenings in each era, Moonies, AIDS,etc., as well as each characters inner lives and relationships with one another.

The author has been a careful observer of human interactions for decades. I find her under appreciated as a novelist and hope this new book can get her past the glass ceiling that so many woman writers face.

I’ve been struggling to write this review for Chimamanda Ngozi’ Adichie’s newest novel Americanah for over a month now. It’s simply because I found it so stunning, I can’t adequately describe why. At its essence, it’s a story about belonging or not belonging. While her prior novel, Half of a Yellow Sun, was set only in Nigeria, this one includes America and England as well.

Ifemelu and Obinze fall in love as high school classmates in Lagos. It’s no teenage infatuation, but a relationship with lasting consequences. Ifemelu earns a scholarship in America, while Obinze works at getting a visa to join her. He’s denied entry to the US, but manages to illegally get to London. She finds herself unable to find steady work and descends into a deep depression as she succumbs to a desperate act for money. Later she finds work as a nanny to a sympathetic rich family, while writing a blog about being black in America. She incisively writes about racism and sexism, detailing the expensive and lengthy procedure of relaxing kinky African hair to conform to cultural standards.

After some failed relationships, Ifemelu returns to Nigeria, finding an equally bewildering society with a ballooning economy and a nouveau riche class. Here she and Obinze circle each other, the teenage love not at all having abated over the years.

While the love story is central to the novel, Adichie also deftly navigates the ideas of belonging and identity, in countries and in people. The stories of Ifemelu and Obinze are told so well, and Adichie’s overarching ideas never overtake the glorious writing. It’s her best book yet.

[Ed. note: The author will be appearing at Harvard Book Store on May 22nd at 7 pm. She’s such a pleasant author to meet, so if you live in the area, you should come.]

The cover of the ARC for Queen’s Gambit features a quote from The Bookseller which says, “What Hilary Mantel fans should read while waiting for the final part of her trilogy.” While Fremantle’s writing lacks Mantel’s language play and depth, they’re not terribly far off. She tells the story of Katherine Parr, otherwise known as Henry VIII’s sixth wife.

The book begins when Katherine’s elderly second husband dies in 1543. The point of view moves around between Katherine and various people around her, including her close friend Huicke, a doctor, and Dot, her maidservant. It spans her marriage to Henry, his death, and her eventual marriage to Thomas Seymour. The court intrigue, the king’s ego, and Katherine’s wits create a compelling story. Fremantle did much research for this book and even though we know the outcome, she builds enough suspense to keep you guessing. This is a strong, great read for a debut.

I loved Steve Amsterdam’s linked dystopian short story collect Things We Didn’t See Coming for it’s inventiveness. In his new book, What the Family Needed, Amsterdam tells the story of a family over 30 years again through linked short stories. As each family member faces a crisis, they discover that they’ve gained some sort of superhero power that helps them get through it. It sounds silly, but in Amsterdam’s hands, it appears natural, as part of the person’s inevitable growth. While every chapter is not as strong as others, I found myself moved by the family’s travails and quite engaging.

Dennis Lehane has his own imprint of novels now, and Ivy Pochoda’s Visitation Street is the first I’ve read. The introductory note on the ARC says that when he picked up the manuscript, he looked for a reason to reject it, and found a good book. I’m kind of embarrassed to just echo what he said, but he’s right.

As a gritty urban novel full of morally ambiguous characters, it’s a great fit for Lehane’s brand. But it’s also a great fit because it’s better than average.

The book itself: Two teenage girls sneak out one night in Red Hook. One is found alive the next morning by a Catholic-school music teacher. The other is missing. Nobody is entirely innocent. Nobody is entirely guilty.

Hipsters, hustlers, firefighters, longshoremen, shopkeepers, drunks, junkies… everyone in the neighborhood is doing somewhat less than their best, and everyone’s implicated in some moral or criminal failing. Some of those failings are tied to the poor missing girl. Some are not. Some are somewhere in the middle.

Visitation Street is a tender but unsparing portrait of contemporary Brooklyn and of a sort of universally flawed humanity that I think all its readers can relate to. It’s a perfect fit for Lehane’s new imprint, and I enjoyed the hell out of it.