The Dervish House (Ian McDonald)

Reading this sprawling, convoluted story wasn't easy, but it was worth it. In a near-future Istanbul, the lives of several people living in the same house come together in unexpected ways. One is a high-powered financial trader working on an almost-legal plan to earn millions. One is a trader in antiquities drawn into the mystical search for a legendary artifact. One is a retired professor of economics and former activist. One is a 9-year-old boy with a disability and a nearly magical robot. One is a woman who came to the city from a small agrarian community determined to make a name for herself in business. One is an empty-hearted drug user who begins seeing visions of djinni and saints. Their story begins with an explosion on a tram, and ends with a monstrous terrorist attack on the city. It was slow going, especially at first, but came together into a thrilling and satisfying conclusion.

Oryx and Crake (Margaret Atwood)

This tragic and gripping post-apocalyptic tale jumps back and forth through the life of young Jimmy who grows into solitary, doomed Snowman. It starts grimly enough, with the world divided into the gated, guarded, isolated Compounds of the elite, and the desolate, chaotic Pleeblands. As Jimmy grows, the world lurches more an more into an ecological disaster. He befriends a cynical genius named Crake, and finally meets Oryx, the object of his childhood fantasies, just as the final catastrophe befalls the human race. The origins of that catastrophe, and how it relates to Crake, Oryx, and the strange people who survive, makes for an enthralling, heartbreaking story.

A Test of Wills (Charles Todd)

A very interesting psychological mystery set in England just after WWI. A well-respected Colonel is murdered in a town in northern England, and evidence seems to point toward an even more highly respected Captain, but nobody wants to consider the possibility that someone who wore the Victoria Cross and had met the King could have committed murder. An Inspector was sent up from London to sort it all out, but he is dealing with demons of his own, as the result of psychological stress from his war service. I admit I figured out one of the big surprises early, but the main mystery was satisfyingly convoluted. I will watch for more from this author.

The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake (Aimee Bender)

I loved this strange, compelling story. At the age of nine, Rose discovers that when she eats she can tell the innermost secrets of the people who made the food. Over the years this ability torments her, as she discovers things about her family she wished she didn't know and finds eating anything not made by machine a trial. With her, we discover even deeper family secrets, from her grandparents, through her parents, to her brother. The brother's part of the story was especially meaningful to me; I have a son with Asperger's Syndrome who relates poorly to people and spends most of his time in front of a computer, so Joseph's ordeal almost tore me apart. The air of magic blended perfectly with the reality of how Rose worked out her own successful life. Undeniably tragic, the story held a core of empathy and caring that pulled me in. Highly recommended.

Birds of Paradise (Diana Abu-Jabar)

I abandoned this one half way through. It was a book-club book and I just couldn't get through it before our meeting, and then the others in my book club explained how much they didn't like it, so I just stopped. This story of a family torn apart when the teenage daughter inexplicably just ran off to live on the streets was dark, sad, and depressing. Not for me.

The Razor's Edge (W. Somerset Maugham)

This classic book book, published in 1944, follows the lives of a diverse cast of characters over a span of about 20 years. The central character is a young man whose experience in WWI has made him restless, searching for the true meaning of life. This quest sends him tramping across Europe and finally to India, where he finds enlightenment. The book is filled with people, each clearly drawn and complex, and all of them, from prostitutes to nobility, presented with unflinching affection. The locations, from Parisian drawing rooms to
German coal mines, are also vividly portrayed. While I was less impressed with the young man's sensibilities than my friends were, I truly enjoyed the seemingly effortless skill of the author in bringing it all to life.

Consciousness (Susan Blakmore)

This textbook goes into all the theories and controversies relating to the questions of consciousness. When I look at a sunset, what creates the experience of the colors? Who is the one doing the experiencing? What does it mean to experience these colors, as opposed to just registering and labeling them?  There are way more questions than answers on this amazingly complex issue. It's fun to think about, but it kind of makes my head hurt. And what does that mean, exactly? I certainly think about these questions differently than I did before!