social commentary

The brilliant “Short Circuit” by Wolf Haas will get inside your head as if all your electrical brain waves have been severely damaged

/ Pamela Kramer

Regarding author Wolf Haas’s novel, “Short Circuit”: It’s genre-less. It boasts much suspense, but suspense is by no means its major element. It’s certainly not a murder mystery though there are a couple of murders that play a fairly important role in the plot. It definitely is not a comedy even though I smiled and laughed all the way through it. It would be selling the novel short and missing the whole point if we were to label it a character study even though its two protagonists are wonderful characters. Can we label it anything, then? Yes. It’s a puzzle. And “puzzle” is not a genre. But reading the entire novel will, I suspect, leave you puzzled; and that puzzlement, I am quite sure, was the author’s intent.

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‘Enormous Wings’ by Laurie Frankel is a book about growing old and the choices we face

/ Pamela Kramer

“Enormous Wings,” the new novel by Laurie Frankel, should come with a warning: This book will make you angry on behalf of women who are treated as second class citizens and denied their rights. But in addition to feeling anger, the story of Pepper Mills, a septuagenarian who has recently moved to Vista View Retirement Community in Austin, Texas, will have you smiling as you admire her spunk and her wry sense of humor, and, of course, the incredibly ridiculous situation in which she finds herself enmeshed.

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“The Right to Remain”; James Gripando’s 20th Jack Swyteck Novel

/ Pamela Kramer

“The Right to Remain” is author James Grippando”s twentieth Jack Swyteck novel and my first experience with the author and his protagonist, criminal defense attorney Jack Swyteck. And the very good news is that Grippando makes the reader so aware of all of the characters’ strengths, flaws, beliefs, and concerns that we get to know them well during the course of the novel and don’t for a moment miss the backgrounds provided in the first nineteen. As a stand-alone legal/suspense piece of work, it’s a riveting page-turner from beginning to end.

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Murder and Mindfulness: An Inseparable Pair? Highly recommended: ‘Murder Mindfully’ by Karsten Dusse

/ Pamela Kramer

Author Karsten Dusse is well-known in Germany as a lawyer, TV star, and very funny man. “Murder Mindfully” is his first novel, and it’s a doozy, This magnificently conceived novel amply demonstrates all his talents and does so in a stunning fashion that will leave many readers, including this one, with huge smiles and awe that such a humorous piece jumps off the pages of a pretty darn gory murder novel.

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‘How Simi Got Her Groom Back’ by Sonali Dev is a delightful story of love and family…and finding justice

/ Pamela Kramer

In “How Simi Got Her Groom Back,” author Sonali Dev uses a cute and clever title to draw us in and make this novel appear to be a delicious romcom. And it is a romcom, but like many wonderfully written novels in that genre, it’s so much more than “just” a romantic comedy. While we read about Simi and her sister Rupi, we are reading about their really tragic childhood, their sisterly bond, human trafficking, the difficulties of immigration, the perils of life in India, and the wonders of a loving family.

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‘The Astral Library’ by Kate Quinn is stunning and book lovers will adore it

/ Pamela Kramer

Before you even open the cover of “The Astral Library,” you know immediately that this novel is something special. At least in the first edition of this book, the edges of the pages are stenciled in blue with a dragon-scale pattern and the endpapers are gorgeously illustrated in blues and gold. But the physical appearance of this masterpiece by Kate Quinn is no greater than the story itself, which is a true love story.

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‘Keeper of Lost Children’ by Sadeqa Johnson is emotionally and historically riveting

/ Pamela Kramer

I’m a huge fan of Sadeqa Johnson, and this new novel is as emotionally riveting and filled with fascinating — and often horrifying — historical details, as her novel “Yellow Wife.” The three main characters are all very different individuals: Ethel is a married Black woman living in post-war Germany in 1950 with her husband who is in the military. Ozzie is a Black teenager, only 19, when he volunteers in the Army. He is heading to Germany in 1950, and he’s optimistically hoping to be able to use his intellect in Army Intelligence. And then there’s Sophia, who is 16. She finds out that she was selected to receive a scholarship to integrate a posh private high school, but she’s worried her parents won’t let her go because they need her help on the farm. Her story begins in 1965.

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‘Missing Sam’ by Thrity Umrigar is a powerful novel about love and our differences

/ Pamela Kramer

All married couples have arguments. But what happens when shortly after that spat, your spouse disappears? That’s the beginning of acclaimed author Thrity Umrigar’s newest novel, “Missing Sam.” Aliya and Sam (short for Samantha) have been married for years and live a comfortable life in their Cleveland suburb. But after a party brings past irritations to the surface, they argue. And the next morning, Sam goes for a run and doesn’t come back.

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‘The Naysayers’ by Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke is about listening (or not) to that little voice in your head

/ Pamela Kramer

You know that little voice in your head that sometimes feeds your insecurity? The voice that whispers maybe you aren’t good enough? In “The Naysayers,” authors Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke explore that concept by creating an alternate world in which people are paid to literally whisper negative thoughts into the heads of those who reside in the “Real World” and are in “danger” of being too happy and secure in their lives.

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‘Falling Apart and Other Gifts from the Universe’ by Catherine Ryan Hyde is about mistakes, forgiveness, and family

/ Pamela Kramer

Catherine Ryan Hyde’s novels deal with the human condition; our complex natures, our frailties, the mistakes we make, as well as our ability to forgive, to learn, to change, and to show compassion to others. All of her novels feature, to some extent, unlikely people who forge families. In “Falling Apart and Other Gifts from the Universe,” we meet Addie Finch, a tough security guard who hides her emotions behind the brittle walls she has erected around herself.

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