The Story of Edgar Sawtelle

The Story of Edgar Sawtelle is so good, but I almost hesitate to put this book up here because the looming tragedy of the story is palpable from page one. But it's so beautifully put together with prose like Robert Frost's poetry- woodsy, direct, honest and dark around the edges- that I felt compelled.
Part John Steinbeck-esque American family epic, part coming-of-age tale, part ghost story, The Story of Edgar Sawtelle follows the tumultuous events of the title character's young adulthood. His father and mother make a living breeding and training their extraordinarily intelligent dogs, and Edgar can't imagine any other life. Cracks appear in their tight-knit family when Edgar's troubled, enigmatic uncle Claude reappears after a years-long absence and reinserts himself into the life of the family and kennel. When Edgar's father dies unexpectedly, Edgar is the only one who suspects that something is not quite right about his death. I really can't say much more without spoilers, but it really is a beautiful, haunted book with some very believable, unique characters and real things to say about families, growing up, trusting your instincts, and the deep friendships that are possible between humans and dogs. But don't read the ending alone in the dark at midnight like I did. Bad idea.

The Beekeeper's Apprentice

Sherlock Holmes has retired to the country to work on his magnum opus of detection and keep bees. But as he is following bees through the hills one day, he runs across the brilliant, damaged, somewhat prickly Mary Russell. When she deduces what he is doing, and shocks him by solving his current bee tracking mystery for him, a complicated and intellectually stimulating relationship is born. Mary becomes Holmes' apprentice and friend, and of course Scotland Yard eventually calls Holmes out of retirement on a desperately important case.
The only thing better than finding this book was discovering that it's a whole series. Laurie R. King weaves smart mysteries that are worthy successors to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's classics. I think the character of Holmes is pitch perfect- that King does a convincing job of peeking in on Holmes the man without revealing too much, distorting his character, or dissolving into sappiness. Of course, giving Holmes a female apprentice lends the series a distinctly feminist flavor in the sense that King quite clearly believes that women can be just as observant, intelligent, and scholarly as men, but I never felt like Mary Russell as a character stomps Holmes or men in general. I couldn't put it down, especially once the plot thickens and Russell and Holmes set off solving mysteries together.

Good Omens

This book was a product of a lot of excited shouting over the telephone (at least to hear Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman tell it.) I mean, they should know since they wrote the thing. Young authors having a blast throwing ideas back and forth is a seriously cool way for a cult classic to be born. It's a lot of absurd, highly irreverent, strangely thought-provoking fun.
To summarize the plot would be foolhardy, but it involves a book of prophecies done by a witch by the name of Agnes Nutter, all of which actually come true, an unlikely comradeship/partnership between the somewhat fussy angel Aziraphale and the slick, cynical, modern demon Crowley to prevent the End of Days (scheduled for next Saturday), a misplaced budding Antichrist gradually becoming aware of his awesome powers, unguided by either angels or demons, and the assertion that any tapes left in a car for too long inexplicably turn into "The Best of Queen". Well, it's true.

Bitter is the New Black

Jen Lancaster, I have nothing in common with you. But you're pretty hilarious. In a twisted, oh how I hated girls like you in high school kind of a way. The book is subtitled "Or why you should never carry a Prada bag to the unemployment office". Sage advice, ladies.
This unlikely book grew out of a blog done by an unemployed ex-V.P. of marketing and sales who is (well, was), by her own admission, and complete egomaniacal, selfish bitch. She sails through her charmed life, maxing out credit cards and squishing all the little people on her way to the top (she is very VERY good at what she does). Her tales of manipulation, humiliation (of other people, of course) and extravagant shopping change (slowly but inevitably) when she loses her job in a corporate merger. Apparently, she has made an enemy or two over the years, because it's much more difficult to find a job than she could have ever expected. As she gradually loses everything (except her pets and her long-suffering boyfriend) she begins to re-evaluate her life and priorities.
Jen Lancaster really does have a gift for telling horrible terrible life stories in a way that is uproarious. If you have a Y chromosome, you will probably hate this book. But if you're female and enjoy laughing until you pee yourself at snarky, witty stories, read it.

The Dark Tower series

So I'm a big nerd. Sci fi and fantasy books, when done well, are my absolute favorite. So after my third fellow fantasy-loving book geek told me I needed to read Stephen King's epic fantasy series, I caved. I expected the literary version of a horror movie (lots of special effects and bad dialogue). I'd never read anything by him, but I mean, it's Stephen King, master of creepiness.
This series is not for the faint of heart. Seven volumes. 10,000 pages. While not a story that exists simply to creep, it is pretty grim. Legal fine-print out of the way...
This is actually really good. King's dealing with very big ideas. Our hero is on a quest across great expanses of space and time to climb the Dark Tower, source of all power in all universes, and challenge whoever he might find at the top. He wants to know why the world is winding down and falling apart, and stop it if he can. Roland of Gilead, the last Gunslinger (a kind of a cross between a knight of the round table and a Clint Eastwood cowboy hero) is haunted by tragedy. His quest for the Dark Tower has demanded everything of him, and has caused the death of nearly everyone he has ever loved. He draws three adventurers to him from out of our world into Mid-World, where he is, to join him in his quest. Their quest ranges across space and time, with many adventures, rescues, close calls with dark villans, monsters, demons, and a talking dog along the way.
It's intense, compelling, fascinating, had me in tears more than once. At the end of volume 4, I threw the book across the room, it was that upsetting. The ending of the series (at least for the supporting characters) was beautiful.
On the downside, sometimes it rambles. Some volumes fit together neatly, in others King has to do some deus ex machina mumbo jumbo because he's painted himself into a corner. He writes himself into the story in volume 6, which I think was pretentious, but I'm sure I'm not the first one to accuse him of that for that particular trick.
It's the master-work of a pretty good writer haunted by great ideas, and if you like fantasy and don't mind the dark, it's well worth it.

Trouble

"If you build your house far away from trouble, then trouble will never find you" is the mantra of Henry's upper-class father and current custodian of the rock steady, 300-year-old family house by the New England sea. But everything changes for the comfortable, tidy, rooted Smiths when their oldest son Franklin is struck and gravely injured by a car. The fact that the car was driven by a teenage Cambodian refugee (who, by the way, had been bullied by Franklin and his friends) adds a few more layers to the Trouble. Racial tensions in the town ignite, and when Franklin succumbs to his injuries, Henry decides he needs to hitch-hike to and climb Mount Katahdin as he was planning to do with his brother. Only, the only driver who will pick him (and his friend, and his dog that he rescued from the sea) up is Chay, the guy whose truck hit Franklin.
Man this book is good. It's written for young adults, but completely transcendent of its genre and reading level. The plot twists around in beautiful and unexpected ways- layers on layers, and everything interconnects. Gary Schmidt tackles real issues here- death, racism, the moral ambiguity of lying to protect the person you love, the impossibility of dodging grief in life, the tragedies that happen when you try. I mean with all those issues, the book should feel like dragging your feet through wet concrete. And at times it's pretty emotionally hefty, but there is also a lot of Grace (first bounding into the story in the form of Black Dog, the bedraggled, irrepressibly friendly animal Henry saves from the sea. There are light-hearted moments all through. There's some real friendship recognized and created.
I love what Gary Schmidt finally pulls out of all this: forgiveness is freeing. Grace is the way to live well with Trouble, because you sure can't hide from it.