In both, the addict is classic– a textbook manipulator who thinks he has everyone fooled. As the stories unfold, the only people who don’t see the addicts for what they have become are those closest to them. Mom, Dad, sibs and grandparents can’t seem to forget that charming, brilliant,” beautiful boys”  they once were, and continue to buy their lies lock, stock and barrel. They fork out money and attention to the detriment of everyone else. Marriages teeter on the edge of ruin because parents differ in their perceptions. The mood in the house is always tense…the family starts to head for the brink.

Beautiful Boy was far more popular, but– of the two– I recommend Cost. Call me cynical, but when the addict who rose to fame in Beautiful Boy jumps on the coat tails of the sick cycle of abuse he created for everyone who’s ever loved him and writes his own best seller (called Tweak: Growing Up on Methaamphetamines), I want no part of any of it.

Read Cost. It will break your heart.

So when  I heard the buzz that Robert Dugoni was a fresh voice in the genre, I anted up my $5.99 and snagged the paperpack at B

It’s a pensive day for me today. My mother, had she lived, would have been 80 years old today…that makes me think of home.

Home. The word is so primitive, so basic to the human condition, that most of us spend our lives trying to rediscover it– or find it in the first place. Such is the case in Pulitzer Prize-winning author Mailynne’s Robinson’s most recent offering Home.

Retired Presbyterian minister Robert Boughton is dying, and two of his eight children have returned home to care for him in his last days: youngest daughter, Glory— a dedicated teacher, unlucky in love and alone in the world– has spent day after day in the prime of her life caring for the old gent, and the newly-arrived Jack, family black sheep and sower of wild oats. Once Jack appears– after a 20-year absence–his father all but kills the fatted calf, turning all his attentions toward his beloved son. You don’t have to be a Biblical scholar to recognize the Prodigal son parable here.

According to author Marianne Robinson, she chose [to write about] the parable of the Prodigal son because it’s so powerful. “At its core, it’s a story about love. It’s about the fact that love is not earned ,” she says. “The Prodigal Son is one of Jesus’ most radical parables, because it completely overturns all notions of deserving, all notions of how you are scoring relative to other people in life.”

Should we ever attempt to go home again? Will it be there if we do? Is redemption within our grasp? Home is a beautiful, enduring attempt to answer.

All that changes when he finds out his high school girl friend has been killed in a car accident, and he is facing real responsibility for the first time in his life. Turns out he and his late girlfriend had a 14-year-old son, and– through a series of at-times incomprehensible and far-fetched circumstances– he ends up being the guy in charge of this grieving, angry and troubled youth.

On one level, How Evan Broke His Head is a book about the power of the mind to deceive us when the truth is too much to bear. On another level, however, it’s about the craving that honest people have to make sense of the decisions they have made in their lives. However uneven and incredible it may be at times, How Evan Broke His Head is a book that stays with you. In fact, for me, its insights reverberate more loudly the further I get from the last page.

It’s imperfect, complex, subtle and fascinating– give it a try.

When Rosie’s suitcase is unearthed in Number 16, what actually happened that long-ago December night is called into question. Did she really move on alone, or did something far more sinister happen? Although not officially assigned to the case, Frank gets drawn in. Figuring out what happened to Rosie Daly is not only what he feels he owes her; it’s his only hope for ending the path of self-destruction that’s become his own life.

Author Tana French has lived around the world, including awhile in Ireland where we can only assume she learned how to tell a story with the best of them. The sense of place she crafts is real and haunting;  her cast of characters incredibly real. Her ear for dialogue is so keen that I could recall not only what the characters said but the sound of their voices as well.

With this her third book, French finally nails it. Her first book, In the Woods, still stands as one of the most exciting books I’ve ever read (Note: I CANNOT recommend it; sorry, to say more would be a spoiler), and its sequel, The Likeness, is brilliant but far fetched beyond words. Faithful Place, however, has it all. Caution: Don’t pick up this book unless you have 24-36 hours to devote to it. It’s that good.

Yours may be wine, chocolate, Texas Hold ‘em, Twitter or shoes.

Mine? Undeniably….books.

We book nerds are a large and passionate tribe, so I thought I’d use my blog to start a conversation about what we’re reading. I’ll post my thoughts when I finish a book; if you’ve read it, whether you loved it or hated it, chime in. Certain days I’ll call a “Free for All” when I’ll just ask people what they’re reading, and we’ll go from there. Maybe we’ll get guest bloggers involved at some point. For now, though, let’s keep it simple. So here goes….

Title:                   Plum Wine

Author:            Angela Davis-Gardner 

The year is 1966. American Barbara Jefferson is teaching English in Japan. Her best friend, mentor and surrogate mother, Michiko Nakamoto is found dead.  The cause? Unknown. “Michi-San,” a Hiroshima survivor, has bequeathed to Barbara a tansu chest filled with bottles of homemade plum wine dated by year, each enwrapped in a sheet of rice paper. Inscribed on each in Michi’s own hand is what appears to Barbara, a novice Japanese speaker, as an account of one year of Michi’s life. Unable to translate the writings herself, Barbara calls upon Michi’s childhood friend, Seiji, an artist who is between the two women in age. From here on, the plot is inventive and unexpected, and the characters multi-dimensional enough to walk straight off the page.

Plum Wine is a fascinating study in Asian character and culture. Treat yourself well. Read Plum Wine.