Recently Read

The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards is hands down, one of the most beautifully written novels I have read this year...maybe ever. It begins in 1964 when Dr. David Henry delivers his own twins. His son comes out perfectly healthy, but his daughter has down syndrome. Thinking he's doing the right thing, he asks his nurse, Caroline, to take the girl away to an institution and tells his wife that the baby was a still-born. But instead, Caroline takes the girl to another city and raises her as her own. The parallel structure is beautifully crafted and each sentence is like a line of poetry. A definite must-read.

Forests of the Night by David Stuart Davies reminded me much if Sherlock Holmes, except with a little more blood and guts. I won't go into too much detail since the review will be appearing in Crimespree, but Davies had me hooked by page one. Private eye Johnny Hawke is a great protagonist and I look forward to reading the next in the series.

Magical Thinking by Augusten Burroughs is laugh out loud, can't put it down funny. After reading about murder and mayhem, it's nice sometimes to just sit down and laugh with a book. Magical Thinking is a collection of short stories, less linear than his other works but gripping just the same. I believe that anyone dating a writer should read this and see that their significant other isn't actually that neurotic.

I'm currently in the middle of Funny Boy by Shyam Selvadurai but so far, I'm really enjoying it. It tells the story of Arjie who is considered "funny" because of his desire to dress up in women's clothing and his disdain for playing sports. A beautifully written coming of age story of a boy growing up gay in Columbo, Sri Lanka.

Check out the next issue of Crimespree for reviews of Don't Be Afraid and Tranquility Denied.