I had planned to post a very short list of books that I have particularly enjoyed at the end of 2007, but now it's already 2008. The books are still worth reading, so here's my belated list of good reads.
I just finished Ann Patchett's new novel, Run, and it was lovely to read. Patchett's novel takes place over a period of 24 hours in the life of Bernard Doyle and his three sons, two of whom are adopted. An accident brings the family together with Tennessee, a single mother, and her daughter Kenya, changing all their lives profoundly.
A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian by Marina Lewycka is another novel about families. Nadia and Vera, middle-aged sisters with no great love for each other, try to cope with their aging, widowed father, and his infatuation with Valentina, a gold-digging Ukrainian determined to marry him. Lewycka's writing is both amusing and poignant, and rings especially true if you have an aging parent in your life.
