RiverRead Books

In this parenting memoir, tigress mother Amy Chua documents her daughters' upbringing at the intersection of East and West. Chua, a Yale law professor and daughter of Chinese emigres, wholly credits her strict, uncompromising parents with her life's success. When her daughters are born, she and her husband Jed (“a white boy,” Chua's parents lamented) make a decision to raise Sophia and Lulu under the restrictions of Chinese parenting. The girls were not only expected to get top grades, they are pressured to achieve musically under the hawk-eyed surveillance.

Although readers of American parentage may bawk at Chua's “tough love” tactics, the author repeatedly assures readers that her tactics are the norm in China. Though at times she borders on mass generalizations on East versus West, e.g. “American parents place too much emphasis on creativity and self-esteem,” and “Chinese kids end up respecting their parents far more than Westerners do.” Chua's daughters may corroborate her theories. At 13, Sophia performed at Carnegie Hall, and Lulu auditioned for Julliard's pre-college program. These accomplishments, however, do not come without cost. Told in a candid and clear voice, Battle Hymn is strongest when it concedes to self-reflection. Chua is brave for inviting the reader along on her blistering recollection of parenthood from hope and expectation to love and acceptance.

I couldn't tear myself away from this book about a group of richly rendered characters, once loosely connected through the Punk Rock industry told in chapters that could stand alone, but are subtly linked. The "Goon Squad " is time itself, and several of the characters acute awareness of it. In the most satisfying of the stories, time's passage often brings second chances and redemption. A Visit From the Goon Squad is about the past, but it is also about the future and our shared quest for connection and authenticity.

I really enjoyed this memoir and it's look at Chinese vs. Western parenting styles . On the surface, the author may come across as callous, overdriven and indifferent to her kids’ true interests. Overall there is plenty of food for thought here, concerning assumptions we make about our children and what they are capable of. This book would make a great book club selection.

One Day Two young people, Em and Dex, have a one night stand on their last day of college in 1989. This book follows them through the next couple of decades looking in on their lives on the same day each year. Growing up proves challenging and mistakes are made. Much like real life, they each do despicable things, have successes and, inevitably, failures. We follow along waiting to see if they ever simultaneously realize that they love one another. This novel is gritty and realistic. It is also very dryly funny and anyone who came of age in the late '80s will find it well-observed and sometimes cringe-worthily accurate. Pat

A thoughtful meditation on becoming a parent for the first time, during the age of terror. The author was present as some of the victims of Abu Garib were interviewed about their detention, and reveals some of his own tumultuous past. There is much to admire about his journey of self discovery. I should mention the author is also an award winning poet and the writing is beautiful. I loved this book.

This is a book that unapologetically holds a mirror up to where this country’s political direction of the last twenty or so years has taken us. A great read, important, but heartbreaking. Pat

The Long Song tells the story of a Jamaican slave rebellion on a sugar plantation through the memiors of a spirited ex-slave named July. The story is coaxed out of her by her son who she is reunited with after a lifetime of separation. It's a great read.

Super funny yet heartfelt social satire about a plausible American end game. I loved this book.

A graphic and vibrant novel about a bootlegging family, with Sherwood Anderson (author of Winesburg Ohio) as a character in the book, in the role of an investigative journalist. Not for the faint of heart, but a great story, none -the -less. (Disregard the image, this is now in paperback.)

Due out in July, this highly original novel tells the life story of it's young protagonist through the elegies of 5 people who's lives have shaped the person she becomes. A deep, dark and beautiful story from a writer with immense talent. Pat

Combining human realism with a visually rich imagined northern island landscape, The Girl With the Glass Feet is a fable based novel about a girl who's body is literally turning to glass. She falls in love with one of the islands inhabitants, who's own heart is hardened by past events. Beautiful and dreamlike prose move us through the main characters' alternate transformations.

Lark and Termite is an intricate family saga involving a West Virginia family and a soldier involved in the No Gun Ri massacre during the Korean War. Highly original, with deeply affecting characters, I rooted for 17 year old Lark and her severely handicapped half brother Termite all the way through to a very satisfying ending. Pat “With her striking mixture of hallucinatory poetry and gritty realism, Phillips is trying to articulate the transcendence of love, the sort of unity among deeply devoted people that reverberates beneath the rational world.” Ron Charles WaPo Book World

An eloquent memior recounting Michael Greenberg's adolescent daughter's bipolar break. Pat

Fans of Junot Diaz's Drown will love this upcoming collection of short stories centered in a latino community in LA. I loved the strong female voices of the characters in these stories as they confront violence, racism, labor and class issues.

I really think this book is Tracy Chevalier’s best book yet. It is a novel but is based largely on the lives of two women who were fossil hunters in Lyme Regis, England, in the early 19th century. Though I think the title is meant to refer to the fossils they found, these two women were remarkable creatures themselves. Their lives coincided with the early days of modern geologic studies, and their work greatly contributed to its foundations. However, because they were living in the era before women were accorded any status, they had to struggle for recognition of their accomplishments. I have all been hooked by this book -- read the first paragraph or two and see if you can put it down! Connie

First world meets the third world in this startling novel about a couple from England and a chance meeting of a girl on a beach in Nigeria. I loved the sardonic but strangely hopeful voice of the character, Little Bee. The book mainly served to highlight the ignorance of most people about what goes on in the world, and the corrosive persistance of banality and concerns about superficial things. Fans of the Kite Runner will find this book very worthwhile

When Joel Litvinoff, famed radical, controversial civil rights lawyer is suddenly stricken in the courtroom, ending up in a coma, the lives and leftist beliefs his wife and 4 adult children are thrown into a maelstrom. The sharp dialog and ripped from the headlines feel of this cerebral, contemporary family drama make this book hard to put down. If your husband has ever confessed to fantasies of being in a hot tub with Kristina Vanden Huevel, this book is for you.

Tassie Keltjin is a naive Midwestern farm girl entering her freshman year in a hip University town possibly modeled after Madison, Wisconsin. She becomes a nanny for Sarah and Edward, an over the top yuppie couple adopting a biracial child, and enters into her first love affair, with a mysterious student who improbably claims he is Brazilian. Meanwhile, at home, her directionless younger brother is deciding whether to enlist in the Army, following the 9/11 attacks. I haven't read Lorrie Moore before, and I was struck by her mixture of very different tones throughout the novel, an interesting mix of snark and lyricism. At times, there are funny, biting passages. There are also beautifully lyrical passages evoking the natural world and a more than a fair amount of heartbreak. This is a book that reminds you how hard growing up can be. I was rooting for Tassie all the way. Pat

I loved the depth and breadth of this novel. Twin boys, born in Ethiopia, to parents working in a missionary hospital. Their father, a talented surgeon but flawed individual abandons them at birth and we watch then grow up with surrogate parents in this fascinating country - ultimately becoming surgeons themselves. It is about mentoring, family, homeland, sacrifice, vocation: in particular , what it means to be a physician. The prose is beautiful yet engaging. There is just enough mystery to offset the gravitas making it an effortless read.