Dear Great Book Guru, We have a three day weekend coming up with the children off from school. First, we will attend the Veterans’ Memorial Service at Clifton Park on Friday at 11am and then it’s off to the city. With train time and a weekend without chores, I would love to read a good novel- something thought-provoking and literary.  

Reader of Novels in November

Dear Reader of Novels… Jon McGregor’s latest book RESERVOIR 13 has been nominated for the prestigious Man Booker award and would be a good choice for your upcoming weekend.  Rebecca Shaw disappears while on vacation with her parents in a small village in England’s Lake district- a place  they have visited many times before.  The novel is divided into thirteen chapters each covering a year following her disappearance. We meet the villagers as they live their lives – marrying, being born, separating, starting businesses, graduating from school- all impacted but  not consumed by the girl’s plight. Reminiscent of Thornton Wilder’s “Our Town” or James Joyce’s “The Dubliners,” the novel is an homage to the  magnificence of our petty concerns- those wondrous  distractions that move  our lives from day to day.   In the end, we know little about the fate of Rebecca but we have learned much about ourselves.  A beautifully written book and highly recommended!