The Night We Became Strangers

 I enjoyed reading The Night We Became Strangers by Lorena Hughes in part because it is set in Quito, Ecuador which is a city I have been too. In this story a family radio station decides to put on a radio play much like War Of The Worlds that aired in the United States eleven years earlier. The people in Quito took it seriously. Panic spread throughout the city. Even though various sodas were advertised throughout the broadcast the idea that Martians had landed near Quito was real for many people. When it was over anger set in. People rioted at the radio station and set the building on fire leaving Valeria an orphan. Her uncle sends her to a boarding school outside of the city. When she graduates she tries to find out what happened that night. Her uncle is unwilling to talk about. Her former friend, Matias, and his mother also refuse to talk about it. Valeria does not give up though. This book had a surprise ending and a nice writing style.

 

 

Lake Effect

Lake Effect is a family novel written by Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney. The story starts out in Rochester, New York in 1977. Clara is in high school and starting to fall in love with the boy next door. All of her plans fail when her mother decides to leave her father and take off with the man next door. Twenty years later Clara still isn't over her anger and grief. Reputations were ruined but twenty years later none of that matters to anyone besides Clara. This is a story about mothers and daughters, love and grief. 

 

 

Last Night In Brooklyn

Xochitl Gonzalez is the author of Last Night In Brooklyn. This fiction story is about a young woman living in Brooklyn after college. The author describes her job in advertising, drinking at clubs, doing drugs, and DJ's spinning songs. The main character is Alicia. She is drawn into the world of fashion. She is also drawn into the world of a famous fashion designer who lives across the street. The designer's name is La Garza. La Garza throws fabulous parties. La Garza contacts Alicia once she figures out that Alicia's cousin is someone she used to know and who used to support her fashion. The story details Alicia's experiences in the year before Obama was first elected to be president.

 

   

Flammulated Owl

 Last night the Winona bird club had a lecture about flammulated owls. The lecturer is a professor at the U of W in LaCrosse. He spends his time here and in the valleys of northern Idaho. There are no flammulated owls in Minnesota. Occasionally one might get off track and be seen in the black hills of South Dakota but they are a western and southwestern raptor. They are easier to study because they tend to nest in colonies. In a mile long stretch a half mile wide there could be twenty nests if researchers put up nest boxes. They are called flammulated because there is a pattern on their wings that meets on the lower back that looks like flames. Years of research have shown that there are two main factors that point to success in raising young. One is arrival to the breeding area. If you come a week early your brood won't hatch as successfully as if you came a week later. The other factor is the snow pack. Compared to rain, a good snow pack will release the water gradually which leads to more herbs and forbs which in turn leads to more insects in the area. The main food of flammulated owls is insects but they have been known to eat mice or other small birds such as sparrows. I enjoyed hearing about flammulated owls but I also enjoyed hearing about this man's passion and excitement and enthusiasm for his work with them.

 

 

Sunburn

 Laura Lippman is the author of Sunburn, a mystery psychological thriller. Polly comes into a bar with a sunburn. She is a wife and mother who just abandoned her husband and young daughter and took a bus to Delaware. Adam comes into the bar and notices her. He eventually gets a job at the bar as a cook. Polly gets a job as a waitress. Adam's real job is a private investigator and he is investigating Polly. What follows next is a summer of lies and deceit, revenge and blackmail. I liked the beginning of the story but by the end there was so much manipulation I couldn't keep it straight.

 

 

About A Boy

About A Boy is a comedic fiction novel written by Nick Hornby. This story was also made into a movie which is available on YouTube (with ads) starring Hugh Grant as Will. The story is about two guys. One is 34, unemployed, living in London, living off the royalties of a holiday song his father wrote 30 years ago. His name is Will. The other is Marcus. Marcus is 11 and now living in London with his mother after his parents split up. His mother is a hippie who loves Joni Mitchell music, cuts Marcus' hair and picks out his clothes. Although Marcus had friends at his previous school he is being relentlessly bullied here in London. Marcus is funny because he takes things literally. Marcus turns to Will for help. Will is greatly reluctant but they form a mutual friendship that helps them both. This book is very charming.

 

 

The Compound

The Compound is a fiction novel with some mystery and some science fiction. Written by Aisling Rawle, an author living in Dublin, the story is set in a rural desert in Arizona. The story is about a reality show. Twenty young people are sent to live in a house in the wilds of Arizona. The women arrive first. They are drugged and placed in various rooms of the house and/or yard. The ten men arrive on foot after walking through the desert for a couple of days. One of the men is missing. The men and women are forced to sleep together on beds. Any man or woman who sleeps alone is banished. The fame and fortune come to those who last the longest. People are voted out of the compound regularly. The contestants are given challenges to complete to earn things such as a door for the house or food or water or coffee or champagne. Contestants can complete individual challenges to earn things that start with basics like a comb to diamond earrings at the end. This story is told by Lily who is 20 years old and bored with her life as a cosmetics sales person in a department store. Being a contestant has given her the ability to own cosmetics she could never afford before. Lily is a material girl. Besides being a book about a reality show this book is about consumerism.