Would you be comforted or frightened to learn that after leaving this life, the spirit of a loved one still exists and can still communicate with you? Believers in the religion of Spiritualism believe this is possible. Author Mira Ptacin explains some of the history of Spiritualism in the U.S., using the specifics of formerly glorious Camp Etna, Maine to provide context and explain their beliefs and how a number of mediums experience the world and hope to use their special abilities to help others. The many distinctions she draws are quite interesting and gave a good basic understanding of the variety of practices the members seek to develop in their effort to refine their special abilities.

Throughout most of the book I had the feeling that the author was hoping to make discoveries that would be of value to her personal journey - beyond just authoring a book. She seemed conflicted about what to believe and what to refuse; what to take heart from and what to scorn. Every time she made a catty little aside about someone's appearance, I was taken aback - not sure what those comments were supposed to add.

Near the end, she also describes her experiences while attending the annual Attean Family Powwow and describes similarities between gatherings of Spiritualists and First Nations People.

In years to come, it would be very interesting to hear the author discuss how her conclusions develop and change over the next few years as she becomes more comfortable with her experiences.

Claire Adam is a very gifted writer and I find it amazing that a story so powerful is her first novel. I was entranced with her writing from the very beginning of the book.

I learned a good bit about the life of everyday people in Trinidad and how precarious their lives can be. The word pictures drawn of each character are truly quite effective and draw you in to some and repel you from others. Even though the culture and lifestyle of the characters are quite different from my own, I was easily able to feel their strengths and weaknesses, their hopes, dreams and determination. Mrs. Adam grew up in Trinidad and relays quite beautifully the complexities, subtleties and heartache that can result from everyday life there.
I strongly recommend this moving story. I think it would be a wonderful selection for book clubs that enjoy meaty discussions.

I grew to like this book very much as I got further into the story. The actions and dedication of Denis' friends in response to his pain were quite touching and Denis' explanations of his feelings are truly powerful.I think anyone who has ever tried to understand mental illness will be very, very touched by this story.

Home Sweet Home captivated my interest and attention from the very beginning and I did not want to put it down until I had finished. This tale from the McCarthy era with wonderful, relatable characters has many echoes in our society today. If you are looking for a book to get lost in, you will love Home Sweet Home.

"I Am Livia" is one of the most enticing and satisfying first novels I've read. It kept me up most of the night and I postponed doing anything else this morning until I finished it. The author made it easy to appreciate the complexities facing the main characters; to identify with their struggles and motivations; and to appreciate when Livia and Tavius found their way forward together. I had little previous knowledge of the lives of these larger than life characters and appreciated the author's clear writing style that provided strong characterizations as well as a strong narrative. I'm planning to make this my next book club selection - it will definitely make for a lively discussion!

Arriving back home from a trip to Turkey this selection was waiting for me, quite a timely arrival. Having now completed Last Train to Istanbul, I am not surprised to learn that Ayse Kulin is "one of Turkey's best selling and most beloved authors". Via a most compelling cast of characters, I learned more about the incredible pressure Turkey was under from all sides to join WWII and how a few courageous Turkish diplomats used their influence and connections to save the lives of hundreds of innocent Jews. The author did an excellent job of getting us inside the head of male and female characters so we could understand the complexity of their situations and the often painful and dangerous decisions they needed to make. Given the treatment other minorities experienced across time in Turkey, I was glad to learn there actually were a group of compassionate, idealistic (in the best of ways) officials who had the courage to be humane.

I haven't lived in Charlotte since the late '70's but this book immediately took me back to those days and to many characters and character types I grew up with and knew only too well. The powerful archetype of Jerene willing reality to bend her way felt totally real, as did all of the imperfect mortals in orbit around her. Layers and layers and layers of things being other than they seem and oddballs at every turn - wow, I feel like I went home for a holiday! If you enjoy family sagas with strong central characters you'll enjoy this book very much.

The author writes about the battlefield realities of WWI with great power and poignancy. One is drawn into what could otherwise seem an overly bleak tale by the humanity, bravery and dedication of countless medical professionals and volunteers whose everyday heroism insists on our respectful attention. It is a whallopingly powerful story that is likely to become a screenplay and successful movie in no time.

I have not read other books by Keneally, and if the writing style is the same as this I would not. I found the lack of traditional punctuation uncomfortable and the overall style dense and yet somehow bloated at the same time. He seems to paint characters with greater clarity than he does their situation and surroundings. The characters were so interesting that I found much of the other description a distraction. Many times I put the book down because there was too much of a slog through descriptions when what I really wanted to know was what would next happen to his wonderful characters. Honestly, I think a good hundred pages could be removed without weakening the story. I'd also be curious to know if he was over deadline when he wrote the ending, which to me was another distraction from the respect I developed for many of the characters.

I'm writing this very shortly after hearing of President Obama's wonderful brain mapping initiative and I must admit, having read this book made me immediately wonder if/how mapping the brain could be co-opted for ill. I found this book to be a thought-provoking read on many levels with interesting characters you could care about, and villains well drawn enough to push the story forward at an exciting pace. I also found it interesting that the situation was viewed from such different perspectives. I enjoyed this more than enough to go investigate Jeffrey Small's previous book.

Contains potential plot spoilers

While Golden Boy had very gripping story elements, I did not find the dialogue or overall writing style particularly compelling. However, if the author's primary intent is to introduce the issues surrounding intersexusality, she did that well. There was far more character development for the Walker family than for Hunter and his family. To increase the believability, one needs a better understanding of Hunter's motivations and conflicts and there should be flashbacks to earlier interactions between Hunter and Max showing Max has previously accepted being dominated by Hunter – particularly since Max is the star athlete, not Hunter. Also, it seemed like there was no build up between the two of them that pointed to a Hunter that would take such severe advantage of Max. And how was it that hyper-vigilant Karen never noticed any characteristics in Hunter that were of concern? Are we to believe that she eliminated her critical thinking abilities because Hunter's Mother is one of her oldest friends? I didn't buy it. Perhaps the foreshortened sequence of events were for dramatic effect, but it feels rather that critical scenes were eliminated. There are very charged scenes between the two young men.

Anyone who was not overly distressed or offended by any of the scenes from The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo series should be okay with Golden Boy. All in all, I was glad to have had a chance to read the book and I'm sure it will lead me to doing additional research on the topic of intersexuality. If the author's sincere desire is for the reading public to have a more clear understanding of intersex issues, she should include a suggested reading list of articles and books that she feels accurately portray such individuals at the end of the book.