Half-Life, Shelley Jackson – I’m not entirely sure what I thought of this book. A book about a Siamese twin (nuclear fallout, naturally) who wants to murder her twin, whom she hates. I enjoyed the beginning, was puzzled in the middle and was thoroughly confused/disturbed by the solution. This is a book about identity and it has a well-crafted unreliable narrator, unfortunately, the whole narration is fragmented and crazy. I found it hard to follow, and while I understand that was a part of the construction of the character, I didn’t enjoy it as much as I might have if I had been able to follow the story better.

Through The Heart, Kate Morgenroth – This woman has a talented eye for a story. She writes a strong mystery, with good clues while still being hard to predict. I find them to be little chick-litty, and not always in a good way. I found it hard to root for the main love connection, when it was so obvious that one of them was a sweetheart and the other was a jerk. I also felt that Morgenroth seems to believe that every relationship involves cheating. Either she’s had some BAD relationships, or she really just hates monogamy. A quick, enjoyable read, but not one I’ll reread.

Little Bee, Chris Cleave- Well written, has a little shock value, but not always a female voice that strikes true. I was a little miffed with the whole secrecy ploy in the blurb on the back of the book – it’s not that startling of a plot line.  This book is about women supporting women, across generations, across cultures and against expectation. I do think that it plays a little too heavily (in the case of Sarah) on a woman’s dependence, mostly emotional, on men. Feeling betrayed by men, feeling not fulfilled by men, these are the themes that run Sarah’s existence. Little Bee, on the other hand, her theme plays more on the actual physical brutality, cruelty of men. Men are the source of all that is evil in Little Bee’s existence. It is not insignificant that Sarah and Little Bee become each other’s saviours in the course of the tale. I felt that this book, written by a man, was more angry feminist than some of Atwood’s novels. I enjoyed it and it’s well written, but I’m not sure I identify with the themes.

Far North, Marcel Theroux – I’ll admit, I was surprised in the third chapter when I realized that the first person voice I had started to get the swing of was not what I thought. I thought this book was excellently written. It was compelling. Living in Siberia, the protagonist lives a lonely existence which is turned upside-down by one chance accident and following act of kindness.  A brutal world, an empty landscape, and yet the hope of human connection, of companionable love. In a way, this book was a nice counterpoint to Little Bee, about the strong love and friendship between women redeeming the unredeemable.

Ender’s Game and Ender’s Shadow, by Orson Scott Card- These were a comfort reread. These books make me think of my brother, they remind me of the human face of war.  They are well-written, compelling, and unlike Card’s later books in both series, are not too preachy.

Sarah’s Key, Tatiana de Rosnay -  This book was a split for me. The story of Sarah and her brother was heart-wrenching and really touching.  I loved learning the history of the French round up of Jews, since the majority of my understanding of WWII is focused on the Netherlands (and Britain, I guess.) Julia’s more modern day story – the cheating French husband who doesn’t want a long sought pregnancy, not so much. I thought that if I had cared more about Julia, about her story, this book would have been one of my favorites for the year.

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