Normal People by Sally Rooney

Calling this book Normal People is like calling Picasso's Guernica a painting about people not getting along. Sally Rooney follows the relationship between Connell and Marianne, two young people living in Ireland who are attracted to each other but can't seem to commit. There are issues, Connell's mother is single and makes her living cleaning homes, one of which is Marianne's and Connell's mother is a kind and loving parent while Marianne's parents are not. But the main issue is their lack of ability to communicate. They are both constantly hiding their feelings and misinterpreting what the other says.

Although their relationship is too extreme for what I would call normal, I loved Rooney's writing and the depth of the character study. This is a book worth reading.

Horse by Geraldine Brooks

Geraldine Brooks' novel, Horse, is an amazing work. I felt the emotions of all the characters in both the 19th century and modern sections. The topics the novel covers include art, horse racing, Osteology (the scientific study of bones), and racism in both antebellum America and current times.

In her afterward, Brooks mentions how she started to write the book about Lexington, the greatest stud horse in American history, but soon found she could not ignore the racism in the horse breeding and racing industries before emancipation. Many of the greatest horse trainers of the time were enslaved people. I knew indoor slaves were treated better than those in the fields but I had never thought of the treatment of slaves who had skills in high demand. Those people were respected at the tracks and sometimes put in positions of authority at the breeding farms but they were still owned and still had to navigate in a world where they were considered little more than livestock.

Although, I did find some of the interpretations of modern-day racism as seen through the eyes of Jess, one of the main characters, seemed simplistic, overall, Horse is a great read!

Let Me Die by Virginia Babcock

The best Sci-Fi novels are based on fascinating ideas. Let Me Die certainly fits that criteria. The novel's “what if” question is: What if a scientist figured out how to digitize a person's entire being, not only his memories but also his emotions and his capacity to create new emotions? Virginia Babcock's book has been compared to Mary Shelley's Frankenstein but this novel is more about relationships than the creation of a monster, especially the role of sex in relationships.

Nicoleta, the story's main character, experiences a relationship where sex is impossible, then moves on to other relationships where sex is tied to everything from love to sacrifice to rape. I could envision this book opening the door to some important questions in a book club. There are, however, some fairly graphic scenes. The book-club members should be aware of that before taking it on.

The title doesn't seem to fit the way the book plays out. It's as if the author chose a working title then, as novels often do, the story took off in an unexpected direction. However that happened, I'm glad it did. Let Me Die is better for its unexpected turns.