"Gilead" by Marilynne Robinson

I read Gilead as part of this year's reading challenge that included reading a Pulitzer Prize winning novel. I knew absolutely nothing about the book or the author and was pleasantly surprised on both accounts. Set in rural Iowa, Gilead is a letter of an old country preacher to his young son. Reverend Ames feels the approach of death and decides to write a letter to his seven-year old son in an attempt to record instruction, words of wisdom and family lore which he won't be around to share with him as the boy grows older.

Robinson did a wonderful job impersonating an old country preacher. The book is filled with wisdom and historical details about Kansas and Iowa in the late 19th- early 20th century. Biblical quotes and theological issues are also raised and discussed throughout the book. Reverend Ames does not pretend to know all there is about God and religion. He humbly admits his flaws and mistakes. The love he feels for his wife and son and the sorrow about leaving them are palpable and deeply moving. The narrative itself is slow and on the surface not much is going on in the sleepy little town where it is set. But then Reverend's long estranged godson and namesake comes back to town, which seems to threaten the peace of the Ames' household and brings back the memories of long-forgotten past.

Needless to say, I very much enjoyed this short novel. It is a real gem and deserves all the praise and awards it has received. I also discovered that Robinson has written two more companion novels: one focusing on the Reverend's wife and the other on his best friend Boughton. I might check those out from the library.

"Faithful" by Alice Hoffman

During her senior year in high school, Shelby and her best friend Helene get into a car accident. Helene ends up in a coma and Shelby goes through a period of complete emotional breakdown. She is ridden with survivor's guilt and self-loathing. She turns to drugs for escape and is generally set on a path of self-destruction. However, the book overall has a very hopeful message. No matter how bad things are for Shelby, the universe continues to send to her messages of love. Shelby does not recognize them immediately. The only thing she does hold on to are one-liners she receives on anonymous postcards. Only those messages (Say something, Remember something, Want something, etc) give her hope. But as she heals emotionally, she starts recognizing the love that surrounds her: the all-consuming love her mother feels for her, the tender and unrequited love of her boyfriend Ben, the unconditional devotion and adoration of her dogs, the warm regard of her friend Maravelle and her three children. Shelby slowly opens up and starts loving herself and begins to feel warmth toward others. This book made me cry, terrified me, and made me re-think how I view various relationships in my life. Do I show love to those who matter to me the most, or am I so wrapped up in routine, non-essential things, that I forget to say "I love you"?

This book truly surprised me. I enjoyed every second of it and I highly recommend it. 5 out of 5 stars.

"The Other Einstein" by Marie Benedict

I received an advance copy of this book from Netgalley and was immediately intrigued by the description. This book is historical fiction focused on Mileva Maric - Albert Einstein's first wife. Mileva was very well educated. In fact, she and Albert met in Zurich where both of them were studying physics at the Polytechnic. Mileva dreamed of dedicating her life to science and her contribution to Einstein's theory of relativity is still debated. Was she simply a sounding board for his brilliant ideas, or did she in fact author some of them?

Whatever the case may be, she was his supporter, his helpmeet, she gave birth to his children and took care of the housework. On the other hand, it is unquestionable that her relationship with Albert derailed her own scientific aspirations. She became pregnant out of wedlock during the last year of her studies; and even though she had been a promising student, she failed her final exams and never finished her dissertation. She had to flee in shame to her parents' house in her native Serbia, while Albert desperately tried to secure a job which would allow them to marry.

Her marriage to Albert was an unhappy one. Their first daughter died of scarlet fever, and according to the book, Albert never saw her. Mileva and Albert had two more children, on of whom later succumbed to a mental illness. The marriage that started as a love story and a scientific partnership of two brilliant minds, degenerated into a union where two people bitterly resented and barely tolerated each other. Mileva was also deeply disappointed to be shut out of Albert's later scientific work.

As Marie Benedict aptly noted, Mileva's story is not unlike that of many brilliant women who forego their own professional aspirations and end up living in the shadow of their husbands. I also could not help but wonder, would we know the name of Marie Curie if her husband had not been such an adamant supporter of her work but claimed all of their shared ideas to himself? I highly recommend this book. It does show Albert in less than favorable light, but the story itself feels very real and I could truly relate to Mileva's sad story. 5 out of 5 stars.

"The Last Star" by Rick Yancey

The Last Star is the conclusion of Rick Yancey's The 5th Wave trilogy. As I wrote in my reviews of the first two books, I have really been enjoying following the story, and the first two books were excellent. When I started reading the third book, I quickly realized that I needed to go back and reread the first two. Some details and secondary characters were fuzzy for me and I felt like I was not getting all the references. So I reread the first two books (still excellent, no complaints there), and finally dove into the third one. I read it in three days and must say that Yancey wrote a very satisfying and realistic conclusion to the trilogy. I cannot recommend it enough. I know the first book was really popular and then lots of readers were disappointed in the second one. Personally, I liked all three. Having just read all of them back to back, I must say that the story flows flawlessly from book to book. There is outstanding character development, and as I already said, a very satisfying conclusion. So if you like end-of-the-world, alien invasion type stories, you should give this trilogy a go. I also think the first book might give an erroneous impression that it is a YA romance story. It is not. There is very little romance especially in books 2 and 3. Five out of five stars.

"My Brilliant Friend" by Elena Ferrante

Ferrante's Neapolitan Quartet is very popular and I was curious to check it out. I decided to at least read book 1 and see how it goes. All I knew about the book going in was that it was about friendship between two girls. The book is written from the point of view of one of the girls - Elena. She and her friend Lila are growing up in post-war Italy and live in a poor neighborhood of Naples. Elena's father is a porter and Lila's is a shoemaker. In elementary school, it becomes obvious that Lila is far better at reading, math and other subjects than the rest of the students. While Elena has to work hard just to stay second best, learning comes easily to Lila and she seems to make no effort at all. Unfortunately, Lila's parents forbid her to continue studying after she graduates from elementary school. Elena continues on to middle school and high school.

The girls' friendship is complicated and at times painful. Elena constantly feels inferior first in intelligence and later in looks and love life. She truly feels Lila is the smarter and more beautiful of the two of them. However, this competition with her best friend is what pushes her to study harder, to always aim higher and to continue dreaming of a better life. We never get to glimpse what goes on in Lila's head, but at one point in the book, she turns to Elena and calls her "my brilliant friend" - the words Elena would just as readily apply to Lila. Ultimately, both girls do everything they can in their own, albeit different, ways to escape poverty and the confines of the neighborhood plagued by violence, jealousy and settling of scores. The book ends with Lila's wedding. At 16, she marries the neighborhood grocer - a seemingly successful match that will take her out of poverty. However, Elena realizes that getting out of their circumstances is not that easy. She also feels more acutely than ever before that she does not belong in the neighborhood. She has no one to talk to about the things she learned at school, and even Lila is no longer interested in intellectual pursuits.

I must say it took me longer than I thought it would to get through the book. It is a slow read, and some sections in the middle of the book felt too drawn out. However, the narrative picked up and got more interesting towards the end, and I am curious about the rest of Elena's and Lila's story. 4 out of 5 stars. Definitely worth reading.

"My Beloved World" by Sonia Sotomayor

I found Sonia Sotomayor’s book very inspiring for several reasons. Sonia came from a very difficult environment, growing up with an alcoholic father and a mother who was so focused on providing for her family that she did not have a lot of time to dedicate to her children. Sonia also has struggled with incurable disease from early childhood. However, poverty, illness, and family problems did not deter her from pursuing her life’s dream of becoming a judge. I was also struck by her humility and sincerity. She talks about difficult and very personal subjects in a very unassuming and approachable manner. I felt like I could really relate to some of the circumstances of her life. She also tackles and provides her take on such topics as affirmative action, bi-lingual education and status of Puerto Rico. Her book helped me better understand issues surrounding these topics and see the situation through her eyes. I also appreciated the way she described the role her extended family played in her life: particularly her grandmother, as well as aunts and cousins. I do believe Sonia’s story could be a great inspiration for girls everywhere, especially those who come from diverse backgrounds, difficult family and economic situations, as well as those who struggle with a chronic ailment. I read this book for a book club we have at work. I think this book is great for discussions on a whole range of topics. I highly recommend it. 5 out of 5 stars.

"Station Eleven" by Emily St. John Mandel

"Station Eleven" is a sci-fi novel written from the point of view of several different characters whose lives become intertwined as the human race faces a pandemic unlike any other. The Georgia Flu in effect wipes out 99% of population in a matter of weeks. Humanity is reduced to scattered settlements that are forced to regress to primitive life of hunters-gatherers and subsistence farmers. The novel jumps around in time - going back 30 years before the pandemic, recounting days and hours right before the disease strikes North America and days and weeks following the disaster, and then jumping 15 and 20 years into the future.

Right before the Georgia Flu overtakes Toronto and the rest of North America, a famous actor dies of a heart attack while performing King Lear on stage. A man from the audience who is training to become a paramedic unsuccessfully tries to bring him back to life. An eight-year-old child actress witnesses the death on stage. The novel then retraces the history of these three and follows the two surviving characters as humanity fails to stop the advance of the Georgia Flu.

The apocalypse aspects of the book are very realistic. I couldn't help but admire the author's well-thought out scenarios described in the book. I also really enjoyed the unexpected connections among various characters in the novel, and the way art influences, shapes or destroys them. All the main characters are extremely well fleshed out and easy to relate to. The book is both atmospheric and realistic. I was fully immersed in the world and could not put the book down. Definitely one of the best books I read in 2016. 5 out of 5 stars.