It’s an intriguing concept: Charles Lindbergh has defeated Roosevelt and the United States becomes an isolationist country (with Nazi sympathies) during World War II, but Roth’s story (told by a 9-to-11-year-old version of himself) drags throughout the novel. Unfortunately, telling it from the point of view of a child without many insights from his adult self is what keeps the book from picking up velocity. Young Philip’s musings about his stamp book and his various family members bog the book down in superfluous details. While yes, the book is an alternate family history as well as an Orwellian account of what America could have been in the 1940s, I found myself craving for more news of what was happening in Europe throughout the book instead of hearing family members whine about their fates over and over again.

In sum, I’m not disappointed I read it; it’s definitely worth a skim, but it doesn’t deserve all the acclaim it’s been getting, that’s for sure.

Kafka on the Shore features the journeys of Kafka, a 15-year-old desperate to escape his father’s gloomy Oedipal prophecy and Nakata, an old man left with only half a shadow and the ability to speak with cats as they drift towards each other during a dreamy early summer. I really enjoyed Murakami’s latest work and found it hard to put down. The author’s devices of alternating Kafka’s story with Nakata’s and speckled with wartime records of an incident in the mountains definitely kept me hooked. Those who enjoy philosophy, music, and the possibility of secret worlds will definitely enjoy Kafka on the Shore.

An investigative journalist takes time off to follow her boyfriend when he becomes an Austrailan correspondent in India. What follows is her account of spiritual practices (sects of Hinduism and Islam get most attention, but spirituality and meditation as a whole is also considered) in travel memoir format. Macdonald doesn’t pull any punches about her uneasiness and queasiness at the prospect of staying in India, but she chronicles her brushes with religion and faith with honesty and good humor.

I learned quite a bit from this book about religions and spiritual practices that I probably wouldn’t have otherwise. It’s a good light read, suitable for a plane ride, and moves along quickly enough to keep you interested.

I really enjoyed this book and by the end I felt as though I was part of the protagonists’ (Henry’s and Clare’s) family, going through the same heartache and longing page after page. The novel delineates so many genuine emotions and issues without a bit of pandering (love, lust, frustration, loneliness, desperation, sickness, fear, etc.)

In many other instances when I have read books about time travel, I’ve been confused about the sequence of events, but Niffenegger does a fabulous job explaining Henry’s condition and the effects his time traveling has on his family and friends. But this is first and foremost a love story, not a science fiction read, but those who aren’t big fans of romance (myself included) shouldn’t hesitate to pick it up.