Editor’s note: The opinions of the smart, well-read women in my Denver book club mean a lot, and often determine what the rest of us choose to pile onto our bedside tables. Sure, you could read advertising blurbs on Amazon, but wouldn’t you be more likely to believe a neighbor with no skin in the game over a corporation being fed words by publishers? So in this series, we are sharing these mini-reviews with you. Have any to offer? Email bellis@denverpost.com.
“Time Shelter,” by Georgi Gospodinov, translated by Angela Rodel (Liveright, 2023)
Winner of the 2023 International Booker Prize. The protagonist Gaustine creates a “clinic for the past” for Alzheimer’s patients, with different parts of the facility replicating different decades exactly, down to the smallest detail. The theory: Patients will find peace and calm in some time period of their past. Surprisingly, healthy individuals start to seek out their own peace and calm in these memorials to decades past. It’s a tongue-in-cheek commentary on both the sliding scale of mental health and the attractiveness of finding escape from the pressures of today’s society. — 3 1/2 stars (out of 4); Kathleen Lance, Denver
“The Hero of this Book,” by Elizabeth McCracken (Ecco, 2022)
“We’re not our souls, we’re not our bodies; we’re the shimmering border between.” Elizabeth McCracken traces the shimmering border between memoir and fiction in “The Hero of this Book.” Although she states the narrator is a fictional character, it is not possible for me to see the narrator as anyone other than a slightly pared-down version of herself (sans husband and children). The narrator’s voice is authentic, yet sometimes inconsistent. When does narrator morph into writer? The Hero is the narrator/author’s mother, who died about four years before the action of the book. I related to the mother, Natalie, very much. In some passages, she could have been my own, dearly missed mother; in others, she could be me. “The Hero of this Book” made a strong impression on me, with accomplished writing and deep sensitivity. I recommend it highly. — 3 stars (out of 4); Neva Gronert, Parker
“The Golem and the Jinni, by Helen Wecker (Harper, 2013)
Jewish and Arabic cultures blend in Wecker’s metaphorical autobiography. How can a fantasy hold so many of life’s truths? Find out as the tales and characters of this enchanting story discover what truly makes a human (even though the male nor the female is human) and give hints about what humanity might achieve, if only we develop our talents and awareness. Chava, the golem, meets Ahmad, a being of fire. Both
battle bonds not of their making to win their future. Rooted in folk tales from two different cultures — Yiddish and Syrian — the story also incorporates turn-of-the-century New York immigrants’ lives in a fascinating hybrid of three cultures. — 4 stars (out of 4); Bonnie McCune (bonniemccune.com)
“I Am Homeless If This Is Not My Home,” by Lorrie Moore (Knopf, 2023)
This novel is difficult to characterize. It is one part end-of-life brother bonding, one part unrequited love story, one part road trip, one part historical mystery (revealed by a stolen diary), one part not-quite-dead (or is he hallucinating?) zombie. You can’t make this up, unless you are author Lorrie Moore, whose light touch and joking dialogue somehow mostly pull this mélange together. — 2 stars (out of 4); Kathleen Lance, Denver
