The Orphan Sister, by Gwendolen Gross

The Orphan Sister, by Gwendolen Gross.  Simon and Schuster, 2011.  283 pp.  978-1-4516-2368-0.

... in which Clementine, one of a set of triplets, examines the relationships in her family after her father disappears and old family secrets are revealed.

Every now and then, you read a book where nothing much really happens, but the book is still completely engrossing and enjoyable to read.  This is one of those books.  Clementine Lord is one daughter in a set of triplets.  Through a strange quirk, her two sisters are identical, while Clementine is fraternal.  Although she shares a strong bond with her sisters Olivia and Odette, Clementine has always felt like something of an outsider.  The three daughters grew up with a famous pediatric neurosurgeon for a father, and a picture-perfect housewife for a mother.  Olivia and Odette went on to Harvard and had successful medical careers, both marrying high-achieving husbands and becoming pregnant at the same time.  Clementine barely finishes college and floats through her 20s with little direction.  One day, Clementine's father fails to show up for work, triggering a family crisis where Olivia has discovered a terrible secret about their father, Odette just  wants him to come home, and Clementine is caught between rage and pity.  In order to cope with her father's disappearance and betrayal, her sisters' advanced pregnancies, her mother's vacancy, and her friend Eli's romantic interest, Clementine retraces the events of her life to understand the place where she is today.

Kraken, by Wendy Williams

Kraken: The Curious, Exciting, and Slightly Disturbing Science of Squid, by Wendy Williams.  Abrams Books, 2010.  223 pp.  978-0-8109-8465-3.

... in which we learn about the new frontiers in the field of squid/cephalopod science.

In Kraken, author Wendy Williams takes the reader on a tour of various research projects involving squid (and octopi, etc).  Starting out with a general discussion of the myths and cultural beliefs associated with squid, we learn a little bit about the evolutionary history of squid, and molluscs in general.  From there, Williams moves on to follow several different scientists who study different aspects of squid and their cousins.  She describes life on a squid research vessel, participates in or observes several squid dissections, explores the intricacies of the cells that allow some cephalopods to change color, and compares various parts of the squid anatomy to human anatomy. 

Room, by Emma Donoghue

Room, by Emma Donoghue.  Back Bay Books, 2010.  321 pp.  978-0-316-09832-8.

... in which a young woman and her five year old son are kept captive in an 11' x 11' room.

Andrea already described and reviewed this book here, so I won't bother to recap it here again.  Given the amount of attention this book got, the odds are good that you already know the general idea of the book's plot.

The Osiris Ritual, by George Mann

The Osiris Ritual, by George Mann.  Tor, 2010.  319 pp.  978-0-7653-2323-1.

... in which Sir Maurice Newbury and Miss Veronica Hobbes, investigators for Queen Victoria, solve a series of murders connected to the recent discovery of an ancient mummy.

Following The Affinity Bridge, this book is the second book in the Newbury and Hobbes Investigations series, featuring supernatural and occult mysteries in a steampunk setting.  In this installment, after dealing with the revenant (ie, zombie) outbreak from the previous book, Sir Maurice Newbury and his assistant Veronica Hobbes are investigating two separate mysteries.  Newbury attends the opening of an Egyptian sarcophagus, but later people connected to the mummy begin to be murdered, possibly by a man who is part undead human and part machine. Meanwhile, Hobbes is investigating the disappearances of several young women, all of whom were last seen attending a traveling magician's show.

The Kingdom of Ohio, by Matthew Flaming

The Kingdom of Ohio, by Matthew Flaming.  Penguin, 2009.  328 pp.  978-0-425-23694-9.

... in which the princess of Ohio and a young construction worker in 1901 New York City shape history and find themselves caught up in a struggle between Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla.

This is a difficult book to summarize or categorize.  The main setting is 1901 New York City, though it may or may not be the same 1901 NYC from our timeline.  The story is also set in Los Angeles, probably in the 1990s, where the narrator lives. Peter Force is a young man who has moved from the wilds of northern Idaho (Kellogg, ID, if you must know) to NYC to be a construction worker on the new underground railroad system.  One evening Peter encounters a distressed young woman, who claims to be Cheri-Anne Toledo, the daughter of the king of Ohio.  She claims to have survived the assassination of her family, and was suddenly transported through space and time from 1894 Toledo to 1901 New York.  Claiming to be a student of famed inventor Nikola Tesla, Cheri-Anne attributes her travel to her work on a teleportation device.  However, after going to visit Tesla, she finds that he has no idea who she is, suggesting that not only did she travel through space and time, but that she also traveled between parallel universes.  Peter and Cheri-Anne find themselves caught between Nikola Tesla, Thomas Edison, and Edison's financier J.P. Morgan, all of whom are using the subway construction project to search for something hidden below the ground.  The outcome of their struggle could change all of history and time.

One Perfect Day, by Rebecca Mead

One Perfect Day: The Selling of the American Wedding, by Rebecca Mead.  Penguin, 2007.  245 pp.  978-0-14-311384-3.

... in which we learn about the American wedding industry and the culture surrounding it.

In One Perfect Day, Rebecca Mead takes us on a tour of bridal industry conferences, wedding dress factories, decoration companies, and all of the other aspects that contribute to the $161 billion wedding industry in America.  She interviews several professional wedding planners, and attends conferences and expos to get a feel for what both the professionals and the brides experience over the course of planning a wedding and reception.  She explores the wedding dress industry, and its move from proudly-American-made dresses to large factories in China.  Mead spends one fascinating chapter exploring the current trend for the "traditional" at a wedding, while still keeping the wedding personalized and modern.  We also get a chapter on officiants, and the many different officiants on offer to a couple, religious or not.  She explores the wedding niche markets on offer in places like Gatlinburg, TN and Las Vegas, NV.  The whole book comes together in a very interesting look at the business of weddings and what this massive industry says about American culture.

America Pacifica, by Anna North

America Pacifica, by Anna North.  Little, Brown and Company, 2011.  297 pp.  978-0-316-10512-5.

... in which Darcy, a resident on an island of refugees, searches for her missing mother and fights a dictatorial government.

America Pacifica takes place at some point in the not-so-distant future (my guess would be about 40 years from now).  In the future, North America succumbs to a new ice age, leaving most of the continent completely uninhabitable.  An island colony was established in the Pacific Ocean.  This new settlement was dubbed America Pacifica, and holds about 50,000 residents.  The island is governed by a mysterious dictator whose council keeps a very tight hold on everything.  Darcy, an 18 year old girl, lives on America Pacifica with her mother, Sarah.  Sarah came to the island as a young woman, several years before Darcy's birth, and was one of the earliest residents to settle there.  Darcy and Sarah are extremely close, and have no other relatives or friends.  They live in a dilapidated apartment with leaky ceilings and a communal bathroom, and with both of their wages they barely have enough money to pay rent and to buy cans of cheese food.  One day Sarah receives a strange visitor at their apartment, and the next day, she's gone.  Darcy sets off on a journey to find her missing mother, and along the way she starts to learn truths about the island's history, its government and various secrets being kept by both the government and Darcy's own mother.

Founding Gardeners, by Andrea Wulf

Founding Gardeners: The Revolutionary Generation, Nature, and the Shaping of the American Nation, by Andrea Wulf.  Knopf, 2011.  349 pp.  978-0-307-26990-4.

... in which we learn about how much America's Founding Fathers loved their gardens, and how this contributed to the shaping of a country.

Andrea Wulf, a British design historian, takes us on a journey around the world with George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams and James Madison in Founding Gardeners.  For the purposes of this book, "gardening" is used loosely, and can refer to gentlemen who simply oversee the planting and cultivation of an estate, either with servants or slaves.  Each chapter is devoted to either a particular man or a particular significant event in early American history.  Wulf's writing is full of colorful details and is very engaging.  She addresses topics like Washington's beloved gardens and plantations, Jefferson's world-wide search for plants to bring to America, Adams' love and pride in his fully American garden, Madison's tour of Europe and his prolific plantation in the USA, the Constitutional Convention, the creation of Washington, D.C., and the westward expansion during Jefferson's presidency.

Death in Yellowstone, by Lee H. Whittlesey

Death in Yellowstone: Accidents and Foolhardiness in the First National Park, by Lee H. Whittlesey.  Roberts Rinehart Publishers, 1995.  276 pp.  1-57098-021-7.

... in which we learn of all the gruesome ways an unlucky person can die in Yellowstone National Park. 

Death in Yellowstone chronicles many different deaths that have occurred in Yellowstone National Park during its long history.  This is not a book for the squeamish, and it's not a happy read, but it's really fascinating in a morbid sort of way.    The book is divided into two main sections: Death by Nature, and Death by Man.  Death by Nature is divided up into sections like death by hot water, death by wild animals, death by poisonous gas, death by lightning, death by avalanche, etc.  Death by Man is divided into chapters on death in war, death by murder, death by stagecoach crash, death by structural fire, etc.

Eye of the Tempest, by Nicole Peeler

Eye of the Tempest, by Nicole Peeler.  Orbit Books, 2011.  338 pp.  978-0-316-12808-7.

... in which Jane True, half-selkie, saves her friends and works to stop a major magical disaster.

This book is the fourth book in the Jane True series.  If this review seems early... that's because it is.  The book isn't supposed to be released until July 26, but the Borders near me put it on the shelves a week early.  For whatever reason, I seem to have reviewed book one, but not books two and three.  Jane, the daughter of a selkie mother and a human father, has managed to survive many dangerous events in the past three books.  At the end of book three, Jane learned of a widespread threat against the future of all magical halflings and humans.  Book four starts with her returning home after some very dangerous events, only to be attacked again on her home turf.  Jane and her friends (most notably, the barghest Anyan) hear news of an ancient powerful being asleep under her hometown of Rockabill, Maine.  Whoever manages to find and awaken this creature gets its power, and therefore a huge advantage in the coming magical war.  As events unfold, it becomes clear that this sleeping creature could destroy most of North America, and as Jane's friends are incapacitated one by one, it's up to Jane to fix the problem herself.

Kraken, by China Mieville

Kraken, by China Miéville.  Del Rey Books, 2010.  509 pp.  978-0-345-49750-5.

... in which a missing giant squid comes close to causing the end of the world.

For those of you not familiar with China Miéville, it's important to remember that this guy is basically known for writing weird fiction.  So if you don't have a decently high tolerance for weird fiction, this is probably not the author for you.

At its heart, Kraken is a story of faith.  The book opens with Billy Harrow, a curator at London's Natural History Museum, giving a tour of the museum's specimen rooms.  The most interesting specimen in the museum's collection is the body of a giant squid (kraken), preserved in a large glass tank.  When Billy brings the tour group into the squid room, however, the squid and its tank are missing, with no evidence to explain who took it or how they got it out without anyone noticing.  From this point on, Billy finds himself pulled into a conflict in a hidden underworld of London, an underworld involving magic, myths, cults and gods.  At the center of this conflict are four groups: the Church of the God Kraken, the followers of crime lord Grisamentum, the followers of the crime lord known as the Tattoo, and the Londonmancers.  For various reasons, each of these groups want to find the missing squid, because the kraken might have the powers of a god, and it might be the key to ending (or saving) the world, and everyone thinks that Billy is some kind of prophet for the kraken god..

The Emperor of All Maladies, by Siddhartha Mukherjee

The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer, by Siddhartha Mukherjee.  Scribner, 2010.  571 pp.  978-1-4391-0795-9.

... in which we learn of the history of oncology.

This book was one of the most highly praised non-fiction works of 2010; it made numerous top ten lists made by respectable sources, and its author went home with the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for non fiction.  As such, I went in with high expectations.

Written by a doctor who is both a practicing oncologist and a cancer researcher, the book has two separate narratives woven together.  The dominant thread is the story of how scientists' understanding of cancer has evolved.  Beginning with the ancient Egyptians, and moving through time all the way up to current medical practices, Mukherjee does a nice job of showing not only how oncology has evolved, but also how medicine as a whole has changed in the last 4000 years.  In some parts, he focuses on the people who were behind each breakthrough or new practice, and in other parts, he focuses on the science itself.  I haven't had any classes remotely resembling molecular or cell biology since I was in high school, but I found the science parts to be really clearly laid out for readers who are not biologists or doctors by training.

The second thread involves Mukherjee's own patients.  Stories of them are woven into the main narrative, showing how some of them have benefited hugely from centuries of dedicated research, and how scientific knowledge has fallen short for other patients.  Human anecdotes are usually easier reading than scientific history, and in this case, Mukherjee's personal recollections did a nice job of breaking up the long science passages and reminding the reader of the reason for all of the work on the part of scientists and researchers.