Book choices for June 1st

June? We are talking about JUNE?!! Absolute madness.
Here are your choices for a breezy summer read, courtesy of yours truly!

Since we didn't get to talk about the choices at book group, I've added the 'reasons Martha wants to read it' if you are interested.

Special Topics in Calamity Physics
A novel by Marisha Pessl
Martha says:
Coming of age, mystery, witty dialogue, teen angst, social commentary, and a crazy, crazy family. What more could you want in a book? I was introduced to this novel after attempting to describe my own relationship with my insane/genius/mysterious father to a friend. The writing style is incredibly clever and fun to read, and it's a really quirky take on a mystery. If this book could talk, it would say to you "CHOOSE ME!"

And now the real synopsis, just click the picture. (here is the quirky website too)


The Wild Things
by Dave Eggers

Martha says:
I didn't even know about this until it was introduced a few book clubs ago. It was such a popular choice, I had to revive it. The reviews are amazing, and I like any work of literature that attempts to take an honest look at childhood...(Because naturally I blame any and all of my own eccentricities on mine)

The synopsis:
The Wild Things — based very loosely on the storybook by Maurice Sendak and the screenplay cowritten with Spike Jonze — is about the confusions of a boy, Max, making his way in a world he can’t control. His father is gone, his mother is spending time with a younger boyfriend, his sister is becoming a teenager and no longer has interest in him. At the same time, Max finds himself capable of startling acts of wildness: he wears a wolf suit, bites his mom, and can’t always control his outbursts. During a fight at home, Max flees and runs away into the woods. He finds a boat there, jumps in, and ends up on the open sea, destination unknown. He lands on the island of the Wild Things, and soon he becomes their king. But things get complicated when Max realizes that the Wild Things want as much from him as he wants from them. Funny, dark, and alive, The Wild Things is a timeless and time-tested tale for all ages.


I am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced
by Nujood Ali with Delphine Minoui

Martha says:
Well if this title doesn't capture your interest, I'm not sure what will. I haven't read this yet, but it is a recommendation from a highly reputable, bookish friend.My only fear is that it will make me very upset.

Amazon synopsis:
Chosen by Glamour magazine as a Woman of the Year in 2008, Nujood of Yemen has become an international hero for her astonishingly brave resistance to child marriage. Sold off by her impoverished family at the age of 10, continually raped by her husband before she even reached puberty, Nujood found the courage to run away, and with the help of an activist lawyer, sympathetic judges, and the international press, she divorced her husband and returned home. Her clear, first-person narrative, translated from the French and written with Minoui, is spellbinding: the horror of her parents’ betrayal and her mother-in-law’s connivance, the “grown-ups” who send the child from classroom and toys to nightmare abuse. She never denies the poverty that drives her parents and oppresses her brothers, even as she reveals their cruelty. Unlike her passive mother, she is an activist, thrilled to return to school, determined to save others, including her little sister. True to the child’s viewpoint, the “grown-up” cruelty is devastating. Readers will find it incredible that such unbelievable abuse and such courageous resistance are happening now. --Hazel Rochman