The Double Bind by Chris Bohjalian

This is my favorite of Chris Bohjalian's books.  He typically writes about touchy subjects; things that make you question (and possibly reconsider) what you really believe when it comes to certain controversial topics.  That's one of the things I love about his writing.

In The Double Bind, he writes a modern-day story about Laurel, a college student who's attacked while riding her bike in New England, then becomes active as a volunteer for a homeless shelter to help her heal. 

Laurel bonds with Bobbie Crocker, an elderly man who lives at the shelter and talks cryptically about his boxes of photographs, saying they contain pictures of Hollywood legends.  He tells Laurel stories of his childhood as the son of Daisy Buchanan and Jay Gatsby, two unfaithful lovers from F. Scott Fitzgerald's Great Gatsby. 

In the beginning, Laurel believes like everyone else that Bobbie is a delusional homeless man, but when he dies suddenly, she becomes obsessed with him and begins to piece together evidence from his mysterious boxes of photos that lead her to believe that he was telling the truth.  The story moves back and forth from the 20's to today, weaving in Laurel's own story from her childhood to the day of her attack, and Bohjalian waits to tie it all together with a big, delicious bow till the very last page. 

If you like psychological twists and turns, you will love this book!  You can really sink your teeth into it and if you're like me, you'll be left with an eery feeling of, "oh my gosh, NO WAY."  My plan is to go back and re-read it, now that I know the full story so that I can see if I'm able to pick up on little hints along the way. 

You MUST read this book!

John Grisham Recommends Michael Harvey

Barnes and Noble posted a few weeks ago that John Grisham highly recommends author Michael Harvey, saying, he's a must-read.  Since John Grisham is The Man, I took him for his word and bought a special two-book bundle for my nook. 

In the first of the two books, The Chicago Way, private investigator Michael Kelly narrates the murder mystery in a voice that sounds very old-school Chicago.  You can envision him sitting in a darkened office with cigarette smoke circling up from an ash tray, with slow, cheesey saxaphone music in the background.  I really almost couldn't stick with it much past the first 5 or 10 pages. 

I'm glad I stuck with it, though, because around page 10, BAM!  I was sucked in big-time.  It was one of those things where I was just reading along and then I was like, "Wait - what?  Did I read that right?"  Then I had to re-read that last paragragh to make sure I had it right.  I LOVE when books make me do that!

Michael Kelly is a lippy former-cop who backs down to noone and has an especially hard time backing down from the ladies.  Kelly has a tough outer shell from a childhood spent under the steel toe of his daddy's boots, but is a handsome softy that makes for a very sexy combination. 

I'm now almost finished with the second book in the bundle, The Fifth Floor.  Almost as good as the first, just a little more of a political spin.  All in all, these are good, old fashioned murder mysteries that I'd give probably 3.5 stars out of five.  Not fantastic, but not bad at all. 

Thank you, John Grisham, for the introduction.  Michael Harvey is an author I'd recommend, too!

Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother

This, Amy Chua's latest book, is her memoir as a parent to her two daughters, both now teenagers.  A Chinese woman raised in a very traditional home and married to a Jewish American, one can only imagine the family-planning discussions that went down in that house before Baby Number One came.  You know, the discussions about what church to attend, public school or private school, whether to spank or not. 

If these were the only things you and your spouse had to work out, you had it easy compared to Chua.  She brings new meaning to "helicopter mom," forcing her kids to practice their musical instrument of choice for hours upon hours, and never allowing her girls even to have sleepovers with friends. 

Although many readers find the book offensive in the way Chua raised her daughters, finding her treatment of them cruel at times, and although she was more of a disciplinarian that I could ever find it in my soul to be, I loved it.  I found myself agreeing with her at times when she spoke of how lenient and permissive American parents can be. 

Chua's writing is smart and funny, and I felt her self-depracation was warm and endearing.  I'm just glad she's not MY mom! 

To buy this book, click here.