Fiction

The Hopefuls by Jennifer Close. "White House staffers and young politicos in Washington.  Social climbing, troubled marriages, fake-ass behavior …. we’ve all been through it, so why not read fiction about it?  I was expecting to roll my eyes at this, but I actually really liked it.  She’s a talented young writer".

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet: A Novel by Jamie Ford.  “This book is a bit of a sleeper -- it takes a while to grab ahold of your imagination and draw you in, but then it does and the characters become very vivid and well-known.  It's a WWII story set in contemporary Seattle that bounces back in time to when Japanese were interned in camps during the war.  It's a love story, at its base, but also one of family bonds, expectations and how humans relate to each other.  It's compelling.”

The House at Riverton by Kate Morton “A filmmaker explores a dramatic murder at a vast English estate which took place 70 years ago. What new details will emerge? Who was sleeping with whom? Why did the family fall apart shortly after the murder? Who's the starlet and what's her story? [guilty pleasure book]” … “The House at Riverton and The Forbidden Garden both by Kate Morton (an Australian author) are turn of the century sagas, drama, romance, mystery, that kind of thing. It was a pleasant change after going through the 3 Stieg Larsson novels!”

The House of Mirth (and other titles) by Edith Wharton. One of our contributors recommended this old favorite about New York at the turn of the century.  Not terribly mirthful.

Housekeeping: A Novel by Marilyn Robinson. “One of my favorites.”

How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents, by Julia Alvarez. From Amazon: "The Garcías —Dr. Carlos (Papi), his wife Laura (Mami), and their four daughters, Carla, Sandra, Yolanda, and Sofía—belong to the uppermost echelon of Spanish Caribbean society, descended from the conquistadores. Their family compound adjoins the palacio of the dictator’s daughter. So when Dr. García’s part in a coup attempt is discovered, the family must flee. They arrive in New York City in 1960 to a life far removed from their existence in the Dominican Republic. Papi has to find new patients in the Bronx. Mami, far from the compound and the family retainers, must find herself. Meanwhile, the girls try to lose themselves—by forgetting their Spanish, by straightening their hair and wearing fringed bell bottoms. For them, it is at once liberating and excruciating being caught between the old world and the new, trying to live up to their father’s version of honor while accommodating the expectations of their American boyfriends. Acclaimed writer Julia Alvarez’s brilliant and buoyant first novel sets the García girls free to tell their most intimate stories about how they came to be at home—and not at home—in America."

How to Be Good by Nicholas Hornsby.  From Amazon: "Katie Carr is a good person. She recycles. She's against racism. She's a good doctor, a good mom, a good wife...well, maybe not that last one, considering she's having an affair and has just requested a divorce via cell phone. But who could blame her? For years her husband's been selfish, sarcastic, and underemployed. But now David's changed. He's become a good person, too—really good. He's found a spiritual leader. He has become kind, soft-spoken, and earnest. He's even got a homeless kid set up in the spare room. Katie isn't sure if this is a deeply-felt conversion, a brain tumor—or David's most brilliantly vicious manipulation yet. Because she's finding it more and more difficult to live with David - and with herself."

How to Talk to a Widower by Jonathan Tropper. [Ed: Tropper’s This Is Where I Leave You was a top pick last year, and Everything Changes is reviewed above]. "One reviewer on Goodreads referred to Tropper’s genre as ‘lad lit.’ Probably apt – he writes about male characters in dramatic situations with a little romance thrown in. Tropper is vulgar and hilarious, and his books (as near as I can tell from actually reading two of them and reading about a few others) tend to climax in these completely absurd scenes – kind of like Pat Conroy (escaped tiger anyone?) but funny, not Gothic. This one is about a young widower who suffers (and becomes insufferable) in the period after his wife’s death. And, vintage Tropper, his family is an absolute parade of neuroses.”

The Hundred-Foot Journey by Richard Morais. From Amazon: “Grandson of an entrepreneurial lunchbox deliveryman, Chef Hassan Haji tells of his rise to culinary success in Paris via Bombay, London, and a small town in the French Alps. With a fond, over-the-shoulder regard, he presents the lively family members, friends, and former foes who shaped him as a young chef, leading him to face his destiny and realize that cooking is not only in his heritage but also in his blood and bones. The novel floats along a bounty of vivid food imagery, a twisty-turny river of dishes Indian, French, and everything in between. … Bound to please anyone who has ever been happily coaxed to eat beyond the point of fullness, overwhelmed by the magnetism of just one more bite.”

Hunting and Gatheringby Anna Gavalda. "Such a totally happy, deeply satisfying read if one wants to believe the world is ultimately a good place. Characters are very real, and for all their strangeness they are very compelling and you root hard for them through the last line."