Sarah's Picks

Who, having read Charlotte’s Web, Stuart Little, or Trumpet of the Swans, wouldn’t be curious about the man who wrote them? Michael Sims brings the somewhat shy and melancholy E. B. White to life.

It’s great fun to trace the roots of his books in the childhood trips with his family to a lake in backwoods Maine, or in the barn on his farm where he meets the first of several Charlottes. His deep love and knowledge of the world of animals, and the respect for children and writing that he brought to the careful crafting of all his books, are inspiring. Now that I’ve read this I’m ready to dive into those wonderful stories again.

What was life like for the young boy, half-Japanese and half-American, whisked off to America after his mother, Madame Butterfly, committed suicide?

On an Illinois farm in the early 1900’s Benji comes of age, yearning for the mother he still remembers and romanticizing the Japan he barely knew. Angela Davis-Gardner’s imagining of the characters lives is so pitch-perfect, with such a strong and sure voice, that her conclusions seem inescapable rather than imagined.  BUTTERFLY'S CHILD  is a beautiful sequel to the famous opera, with complex characters and strong roots penetrating two very different cultures.

 With a perfect phrase or bit of dialogue, Julia Glass makes you fall in love with each of her characters in Matlock, a small town Boston suburb. There’s cranky Percy Darling, 70 year old widower who prides himself on his bracing morning swims and bookish wit, his two polar-opposite daughters, and his favorite grandson, Robert. Robert is a pre-med student at Harvard who becomes involved with an environmentalist group. Suspense builds as the group’s actions become more extreme, while Percy explores the possibility of new love 30 years after his wife’s mysterious death. All this, plus lots of good natured send-ups of contemporary society, make for a very enjoyable page-turner.

A big, rich, funny and heartbreaking novel that will completely immerse you in its world. Set in 1985 , the story alternates between the community of Kalimpong, India, on the Nepalese border, and Manhattan, where the homesick son of a Kalimpong cook tries to find the American dream. Desai’s wit and wisdom make this an enchanting read.

Two tales  in one, both fascinating and well told. The first is the story of Henrietta Lacks and her family, from 1950’s Baltimore to the present day. The second is the story of Henrietta’s cells, cultured as she was dying of cancer in the black ward of Johns Hopkins Medical Center in 1951, destined to live long beyond Henrietta, and to contribute to some of the greatest medical advances of the last 60 years. Skloot does a wonderful job of combining the human, scientific, social and political stories into one narrative.

SERENA by Ron Rash follows the fortunes of lumber barons and the unfortunate people who work for them in the North Carolina highlands at the start of the Depression. The language of this novel is absolutely beautiful, reminiscent of COLD MOUNTAIN in the way Rash incorporates heirloom words to bring a bygone era to life. The lovely descriptions and vintage language heighten the sense of foreboding and evil that develops.

A gem of a book: wonderful, frightful, remarkable in its honesty. Greenberg chronicles the year his 15-year-old daughter suddenly begins having psychotic episodes. Like Joan Didion in A YEAR OF MAGICAL THINKING, the author has transformed a terrible year in the life of his family into a gift of wisdom and insight.

On the surface this novel may seem bleak. Well, ok, it really IS bleak, but in a refreshingly cold, cloudy, smoky, coffee-laden Icelandic sort of way that makes you feel really good about reading it in a warm southern climate. Originally published in 1946, it is also very funny and has amazing parallels to the current sub-prime mortgage fiasco and economic crisis (not so funny).