A single book can profoundly affect our emotions and how we view the world around us. The Dream Hotel by Laila Lalami is such a book. Sara's fateful situation and the contrast between absurdity and reality held me captive from the first page to the last. And what a satisfying ending!

This well-written story can be considered an allegory of the future. To ensure freedom, we must all work together to overcome corruption, greed, immorality, and bad behavior. To quote Laila on page 321, "Freedom isn't a blank slate. Freedom is teeming and complicated and, yes, risky, and it can only be written in the company of others."

If you are a book club member, as I am, I highly recommend this extraordinary book. I am looking forward to the great discussion that will undoubtedly occur!

House of Stone by Novuyo Rosa Tshuma is a remarkable debut accomplishment. The premise of the novel revolves around Bukhosi, the teenage son of Abednego and Agnes Mlambo who is missing and the turbulent times of Zimbabwe under the leadership of Robert Mugabe.

Ms. Tshuma’s writing is stunning, the characters are fully developed and the storyline is compelling. She tells the story through the eyes of the main character Zamani’s personal narrative & that of his landlords, Abednego and Mama Agnes.
She demonstrates her skillful ability as a writer to bring balance between what she calls the “hi-story” of her characters with the long & troubled history of her country. Parts of the story are heartbreaking and shocking at times and hard to read but overall it is clever, astute, cunning, and witty.

The book is well written and not only will you learn about the history of Zimbabwe but you will also get a picture of what the people of this nation had to endure & continue to endure to obtain and ensure peace and economical security.

This is the first Lauren Grodstein book I have read & I have mixed feelings about it.
The premise of the book had potential. Single Mom, dying of cancer, who decides to write a memoir of her life for her now 6 year old son to read when he turns 18 & she is gone.

It was the way the author included the memoir that I had trouble with because I couldn't understand why she thought her son would care about most of it. For instance, why would he need to know every detail about her political meetings (her candidate's extramarital affairs!) or her medical treatments ("the nurse came in a little while ago to take my blood pressure. It's a little high, she said. You feeling okay?). I also could not understand why she felt the need to include the constant profanity & the asides, "Jake, you don't have to read this or you can skip over this part if it makes you uncomfortable."

I know her protagonist is in a nightmarish position experiencing complex feelings but her memoir to her son is superfluous. It was a missed opportunity to edit out all of that detail & give him insight into her philosophy, her beliefs, her morals, her priorities, & yes, her feelings about him, her diagnosis, her regrets, her dreams for him, in a more mature & less self-serving manner.

I think this book would work better as a story about a single Mom dying of cancer dealing with the emotions of her end of life days, her career, & her 6 year old son, period. The inclusion of the memoir was a good idea but for me, its execution was unsuccessful.

Her writing style, informal & casual as though she was talking to her sister or a good friend, appealed to me. I felt her characters were well developed & believable (even if you didn't like them). Although, I think this book is contrived & predictable, I also feel the moral ambiguities would lend itself to a very lively & interesting book club discussion.