Where'd You Go, Bernadette

Semple, Maria. Where'd You Go, Bernadette. 2012. (Fiction Sempl.M)

Written mostly in an epistolary form, with emails and letters from characters as central as Bernadette and as peripheral as a neighbor's gardener, Where'd You Go, Bernadette is a hilarious and touching satire about affluence, family, and unrealized potential. Bernadette's neuroses and frustration have driven her to hire a virtual personal assistant to minimize her human interaction, but she still manages to antagonize the local "helicopter moms," including her neighbor and her Microsoft executive husband's assistant. Narration by Bernadette's resourceful teenage daughter, Bee, ties the novel together, and it's Bee's request for a family trip to Antarctica that pushes Bernadette too far. The humor takes a nosedive about two-thirds of the way through, but author Maria Semple pulls out of it for a good (if slightly contrived) ending. (Genevieve, Ref.)

White Dog Fell From the Sky

Morse, Eleanor. White Dog Fell from the Sky. 2013. (Fiction Morse.E)

I don't know how the author made me care so quickly about Isaac, one of the main characters but within two pages, I hoped mightily that he would survive whatever awful event was bound to befall him. Isaac is a black South African medical student forced to flee from the apartheid government and smuggled into Botswana. He feels responsible for the family left behind and finds a job as a gardener for Alice, a white American working in Botswana, unsure of where she belongs and what to do with her life. The descriptions of birds, animals, landscape, the San people, are magical but do not soften this tale of man's infinite capacity for cruelty towards his fellow man. What does soothe the pain of the story are the moments of compassion and forgiveness arising from good people. There is hope.

(Nancy E., North Branch)

Arcadia

Stoppard, Tom.  Arcadia.  1993.  (Play File Arcadia)

Stoppard's wit and craftsmanship infuse every line.  This is an absorbing exploration of the differences between the Romantic and Classical temperaments--between feeling and thought--as well as an investigation into the connections between science and literature, all shaken and linked by the unifying disruption of sex.  It's a tour-de-force that requires your share of creative work, but also makes you laugh out loud.  (Jeff B., Reader's Services)

The Next Best Thing

Weiner, Jennifer. The Next Best Thing. 2012. (Fiction Weine .J). 

Ruth Saunders dream was to create a show based on her life with her grandmother. The Next Best Thing illustrates the dramatic and moving story of Ruth’s Hollywood vision. In this engaging depiction of a previous television show assistant and writer getting her own chance to design her own show, she has to deal with the pressure of both the television executives and the actors. How will the process of producing her own television show change Ruth’s life? The Next Best Thing is a heartwarming and romantic tale.

(Samantha B., Adult Services)