Little Bee

It would be easy for this novel about the deep consequences of a chance meeting between a Nigerian teenage girl, armed and dangerous oil goons, and a couple of vacationing British journalists to devolve into preachiness. Each character tries to escape the horror of that day (Sarah and Andrew mostly by pretending it never happened, Little Bee by smuggling herself out of the country to Britain), but the chances of Sarah and Andrew ignoring Little Bee and everything she represents drop to nil when she shows up in their neat suburban garden with nowhere else to go.
This is a story about being a refugee, about the first-world and third-world colliding, about guilt and the possibility of redemption. Chris pulls off some sort of literary voodoo by speaking first in the voice of a female teenage Nigerian, then in the voice of an (also female) British journalist, and making both voices not only absolutely believable, but impossible to stop reading. Little Bee is no pitiable two-dimensional stock orphan/refugee charity case. She's smart, clear-eyed, at times terrified, but very brave, a survivor who decides the best way to make it is to learn to speak English like the queen herself, and Sarah ends up needing her compassion and honesty as much as she needs Sarah. This book is full of fearless writing that stares down the evil all around and the sneakier evil lurking in our hearts and says that we don't have to be defined by our wounds or failures. It's an unbelievably truthful, heartfelt story.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

I understand why this book has become such a nerd cult classic. There's a lot going on in the expertly woven multi-strand plot, from murder-mystery to thriller, to family epic, but if there is a universal stream to the many plot-lines it is the uncovering of the darkness lurking beneath respectable facades in finance, in families, in social services, and in the human heart. Heroes in this story are the people who, sometimes at great personal cost, expose and fight (as best as they can) lurking corruption and evil. Mikael Blomkvist, the idealistic reporter and Lisbeth Salander, the fierce, eccentric, brilliant and damaged hacker, make an unlikely underdog team. Blomkvist has recently retreated from a fight with a corrupt corporation he was investigating which has so manipulated the flow of information and the legal justice system as to successfully sue him for libel. Facing jail time and with his magazine on the brink of collapse, he has little choice but to take the strange job of investigating a 40 year old crime. The disappearance of Harriet Vanger, the favorite niece of the head of an old family firm, the Vanger group, has baffled police for decades, and Blomkvist himself believes he's on a fool's errand. But when he begins to turn up overlooked clues, the plot thickens, gets incredibly dark, and Salander and Blomkvist turn up far more than they expected or bargained for.
But it's complex, fascinating, misunderstood Lisbeth Salander who really gives the novel its soul. Her past is mysterious, but it's clear she's been underestimated by nearly everyone around her. In her mid-twenties she is a tattooed, pierced ward of the state, under guardianship. However, she also works for a security firm as a freelance investigator, and her reports on individuals and companies are known for being brilliant and almost impossibly detailed. She also has a reputation for being thorny and difficult, almost impossible to work with or befriend. Her hermit habits make her an easy target for abuse. But people who get in her way soon regret it, and it becomes clear that she has an unwavering sense of justice as well as a clear-eyed view of humanity.
The plot takes awhile to get going (think Tom Clancy-esque long wind-up) but once all the dominoes are in place and begin to fall, it is explosive. Larsson managed to create a serious novel about big ideas that also happens to be a bad-ass read, and I heartily approve. He's very concerned with issues of social justice, particularly in regards to women and sexual violence, and what a way to get that message out. As explicit as it gets, he's really trying, like his protagonists, to shine some light on a complicated and dark social problem. Larsson's characters are very real, believable creations with their own baggage and flaws who are nevertheless trying their best to survive, out the truth, find love, and in Salander's case, dispense justice.

Angel Time

Anne Rice is one interesting lady. I read her probably-best-known book, Interview with the Vampire when I was in college and was drawn in by the dark intensity of it. But I don't think I understood how spiritual even that particular classic vampire tale was until I read some of the books she wrote after her conversion to Christianity in 2002 and did a double-take on how much her vampire stories are about the struggle against damnation and despair. She's writing with the same passionate intensity, and the same willingness to gaze into the darkness, but there's an unapologetic theme of hope and redemption in her stories now.
Angel Time features Toby the lute-playing hit man with a deeply buried heart, accosted by the angel Malchiah who wants to give him a chance at redemption and send him into the world to use his unique gifts on the side of the angels. His first assignment happens to be in 13th century England, using every diplomatic sleight-of-hand and subterfuge he can muster to save innocent local Jews from becoming victims of ignorant superstition and violence. I loved how detailed Rice's characterization of Toby is- this is a thriller but it is also a psychological and spiritual study of a human heart- what happens to twist it, how no-one is beyond redemption, and really cool speculation on what goes on in the spiritual realm underneath everyday circumstances. Also, I dig the musical references. A hit man who is a musical genius on the lute? Really that's all you need to know about the strange, thought-provoking, fascinating genre-smooshing blend that is this book.

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.