The Dogs of Babel by Carolyn Parkhurst

This is a novel of a man whose wife dies suddenly. Their dog is the only witness. After his wife is gone, he notices certain "incongruities" that make him question the circumstances of her death. He realizes that the dog knows the answers to his questions, and sets out to teach her to communicate. Conveniently, the man is a linguistics professor, and takes a sabbatical from teaching to work on the "project".

The tone of the novel is dark. It is the journey of a man, faced with a sudden loss which was absolutely unforseen, through his grief toward healing. A few twisty elements, and a little suspense towards the end, we see the main character work step-by-step through his monumental loss in a believable way. The reader wants him to teach the dog to talk so that they can find out what really happened. I felt for him and found myself as desperately hopeful as he was. He lives the stages of loss in a way to which, unfortunately, most of us can relate, and Parkhurst crafts that experience into a unique and engaging story.

This is the debut novel by this author. The writing in this novel is exemplary. The characters develop well and the plot progresses in a way that is believable but not entirely predictable. Not exactly uplifting, but well-crafted with high quality writing. I enjoyed it from start to finish, but it was definitely not a light, mindless girly-novel. This was dark, full of angst and grief, loss and despair. I was satisfied at the end, though, and that seems to be the major measure of likability for me these days. I liked how it wrapped up, how the loose ends tied in a way that was not entirely predictable, but worked well nonetheless.

Recommended for anyone wanting something with a little more depth than run-of-the-mill chick-lit, but not so literary as to be obscure. Worth reading.

The Red Hat Club by Haywood Smith

This is another novel I picked up from a bargain bin (are you seeing a trend here?). It is the story of five middle-aged former debutantes. They have a life-long friendship and lunch monthly, wearing purple outfits and red hats. The story, set in the Deep South, is told in the first person by one of the debutantes and flashes back and forth between present day marital woes and The Good Old Days, when teenaged girls Went Steady and aspired to marry rich men from the right side of the tracks.

On the face of things, the book describes the five friends and their quest to help one of their own prove her husband is cheating on her, in a way that sticks it to him, and guarantees she will be able to continue in the lifestyle to which she had become accustomed. It is chick-lit at its finest - the reader roots for the girls from start to finish.

Character development is predictable but thorough in this one. Smith tells the story of each woman from the perspective of the narrator, but in a way that contributes nicely to the overall story. Current circumstances and past history are intertwined well in each character and everything wraps up well. Elements of teenaged passion, lost love, marriage of convenience, infidelity and revenge all come together in a satisfying ending that left me wishing for a sequel. A few little twists at the end take this book beyond the typical pulp bestseller, although the writing style itself sometimes left something to be desired (occasionally, the language choices of the narrator seemed a bit inauthentic). Not exactly literary, but for marginally vacuous, light reading, I definitely recommend this one.

Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo

This is a kids' novel about a lonely little girl, 10 I think, living in Florida with her father, The Preacher. She finds a dog in the Winn-Dixie grocery store, and convinces her father to let her keep him. Winn-Dixie, as she named the dog, wins friends and influences people by smiling at them. Opal and the Preacher have recently moved to town and she has yet to make any friends. She also struggles with the feelings of abandonment resulting from growing up motherless. Over the course of the summer, Opal makes new friends, because of Winn Dixie.

This is charmingly written from the girl's point of view, with a perspective which is consistent with an old-beyond-her years ten-year-old's take on the world. Although the slightest bit predictable, this book is no less satisfying in the end for it. It was a fast read (I finished it in two short sittings) and I am lobbying hard to get my 7-year-old to read it with me. I highly recommend it as a heartwarming tale of innocence, tolerance, loss and family. A wonderful book.

Child Star by Matt Thorne

This was a remainder I picked up at Chapters. It was a first-person novel about a man, Gerald, who, as a thirteen-year-old, had acted in a short-lived British tv soap opera. It alternated between his current life, as recently-single twenty-something in a dead-end job, and the detailed account of the audition, rehearsals, filming and televising of the soap.

While it kept me reading to the end, I found myself irritated by the narrator's excessive insight into his deepest psyche in each of the two settings (child and adult). Although he was recounting the story of his acting triumph and the spinoff effect it had on the rest of his life (truly, a Formative event), the child Gerald understood way too much about his family, his actions, his motivations, to be really believable. Even the adult Gerald had an unlikely amount of understanding about life, love, and the pursuit of happiness to make him a realistic character.

It did tie up nicely in the end, with a satisfying conclusion, but overall, if, as the critic quoted on the front cover it is "... Matt Thorne's best book yet...", I'm not sure I will be in a hurry to read another one.

Cause Celeb by Helen Fielding

This was an enjoyable read by the author of Bridget Jones's Diary, which was also enjoyable. I found it in a remainder bin somewhere. The main character is heartbroken, as usual, and goes to Africa to work in a refugee camp in order to heal. There are crises and a number of suspenseful passages during which the heroine proves herself. It's a look at the culture of the rich and famous, the world of NGOs and relief organizations, and a rather good peek into the mind of a very young woman in love with a truly hateful man. Well written, good character development. A good satisfying ending, too. I stayed up too late this weekend to finish it. I would definitely recommend it.