Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands by Chris Bohjalian

Well, I have to say, I don't think Chris Bohjalian can write a bad book. I finished reading Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands last night and like the rest of his novels, I was sad for this story to end. Unlike the rest of his stories, or maybe not depending on the book, this one started off sad. 

Emily Shepard's parents are killed when the nuclear plant where they both worked blows up. She's left an orphan and chooses to runaway from her town and her life.

The story is told by Emily (who calls herself Abby to protect her identity) so the writing was certainly different. Totally different. How did this man write like a teenage girl so well? Who knows, but he did.

I was surprised to learn where the title came from (you have to read to nearly the end), but the words close your eyes and hold hands is fitting in this sort of doomsday novel.

Book Read:  Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands
Author:  Chris Bohjalian

The Light in the Ruins by Chris Bohjalian

I love Chris Bohjalian's novels, and The Light in the Ruins was no exception. This novel was set in Italy during and after World War II. The suspense built till the very end when it was revealed who was killing members of the Rosati family that had a villa in Tuscany during the war. 

Read a bit more about this interesting book here, if you like.

Book Read:  The Light in the Ruins

Author:  Chris Bohjalian

The Night Strangers by Chris Bohjalian

Last night I finished reading The Night Strangers by Chris Bohjalian. I somehow missed this book when it came out in 2011. Have you read it? Did it scare you? It scared me! I guess I'm getting soft because man, this book creeped me out.

A pilot has to make an emergency landing putting his plane down in a lake, and it doesn't go well. He survives, but is traumatized and stops flying. To make a fresh start, he moves with his wife and twin daughters from Pennsylvania to a small town in New Hampshire that has an inordinate number of greenhouses and women who call themselves herbalists. Herbalists, my foot.

When some of the passengers begin visiting the pilot (called the captain by the herbalists), his grip on sanity starts slipping. The happenings are just too creepy and bizarre for my liking, but I kept reading it. It was really good, just scary!

Book Read: The Night Strangers

Author:  Chris Bohjalian

ISBN:   978-0-307-39499-6

The Sandcastle Girls by Chris Bohjalian

I love Chris Bohjalian's books, usually. This one, The Sandcastle Girls, was good but I didn't love it. For some reason, I had trouble relating to it and getting into the story. It seemed more like a history lesson in places than a novel. 

This book deals with the little-known (at least to me) Armenian genocide during World War I. Shoot, I didn't even know where Armenia is. (It's a tiny country in Eastern Europe nestled next to Turkey and Iran and Asia). The book mainly takes place in Syria.

The history portion of this book was interesting but like I said, it was totally unknown to me. The terrible killing and marching through the desert of more than 1 million Armenians is horrible to read about but of course necessary for the story.

His writing as women (the two main characters are Elizabeth Endicott in 1915 and Laura Petrosian in 2012) seems a bit off to me. Some of the language in the narrative seems more like what a man would think or say.

I did love this passage near the end of the book:

"In any case, the short answer to that first question--How do a million and a half people die with nobody knowing?--is really very simple. You kill them in the middle of nowhere."
 
Chris Bohjalian has written 15 books and most are wonderful. I loved Skeletons at the Feast and most all of his other novels. I know that writing this book was a labor of love for him since he is Armenian and he used many facts from his own life story to set the stage. It is a powerful book, just not my favorite of his.
 

Book Read: The Sandcastle Girls

Author:  Chris Bohjalian

ISBN:   978-0-385-53479-6

Secrets of Eden by Chris Bohjalian

I stayed up late last night to finish reading Secrets of Eden. This novel centered around the deaths of a rural Vermont couple, Alice and George Hayward. It was pretty clear that George had killed his wife Alice, but did George kill himself? And if not, who killed George? Turns out, no, the autopsy showed that George didn't kill himself.

I knew how the story was going to end from a few innocent lines in the book that just had to be a clue to the big mystery unfolding--otherwise they didn't fit. And yep, even though I didn't have the details worked out in my head, I had picked up on the right person who killed George.

This book is certainly worth reading. And from Chris Bohjalian's Facebook page:

Mark your calendars or set your Tivo: "Secrets of Eden," the movie, premiers on Lifetime on November 21 starring John Stamos and Lili Taylor. Director is Tawnia McKiernan. Producer is Craig Anderson.

Nice! Can't wait to watch this one. Have you read Secrets of Eden? How about these other New England authors?

Book Read: Secrets of Eden

Author: Chris Bohjalian

ISBN: 978-0-307-39497-2

Rescue by Anita Shreve

The night before last, I couldn't sleep. I was up till almost 3 a.m. I started reading Rescue and made it halfway through. Last night, I finished it. I don't know when I've read a book that fast. And it was good!

Like I said, this book was good, but it certainly wasn't Anita Shreve's best book. The storyline was good but it seemed sort of simple, at one point near the end, way too convenient.

Something I really did enjoy was the setting. Anita Shreve lives in Massachusetts and  most of her books are set in New England, this one in Vermont for the most part. I think that's one reason I also really like reading Chris Bohjalian and Jodi Picoult's novels.

Do you have a favorite setting for stories that  you enjoy reading?

Book read:  Rescue
Author:  Anita Shreve
ISBN:  978-0-316-02072-5