Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention by Manning Marable

In presenting the life of Malcolm X, this book takes the larger-than-life figure presented in The Autobiography of Malcolm X, written with the help of Alex Haley, head on. Marable contends that the autobiography exaggerates Malcolm's criminal days and behaviors and doesn't fully examine his break with the Nation of Islam or his religious changes (in part because Haley, a liberal Republican, had ideas of his own about what Malcolm's legacy should be). The book is meticulously researched and was able to draw on a lot of new sources (papers the estate only released in 2008, Nation of Islam records that weren't previously available, FBI and other government files) to make it's case. The biography works against the easy reading of the end of Malcolm's life as a complete change to being simply in favor of integration in order to show a more complex picture. This book was especially poignant to read because Marable died just a few days before publication.

Mr. Chartwell by Rebecca Hunt

This charming little novel chronicles a mutual friend of Winston Churchill and Esther Hammerhans, a recently widowed librarian. This friend, whom Churchill calls the Black Dog, but who names himself Mr. Chartwell, or Black Pat, is an enormous dog who takes as his work dogging Churchill's footsteps and comes to lodge at Esther's house. While the blurbs on the book call it humorous, and there are some funny parts, for me, the story was much more poignant. It takes on the question of depression with grace and compassion. I am so glad I read this novel.

A Clash of Kings by George R. R. Martin

The second volume in the A Song of Fire and Ice series does not disappoint. There are five people contending for power in Westeros: Stannis Baratheon and Renly Baratheon, both of whom are brothers of Robert, Joffrey Baratheon, called Robert's son (but actually child of Jaime Lannister, the queen's brother), Daenerys Targaryen, only remaining heir of the older line of kings and Mother of Dragons, and Balon Greyjoy, of the Iron Islands. The plot lines are complex, but I found myself more and more drawn into the story. I particularly like Catelyn, Arya, and Bran Stark, Jon Snow, Tyrion Lannister, and Daenerys Targaryen. As with the first volume, nobody's safe. And the plot twists around in sometimes disappointing (for the characters you grow to love), but never out-of-the-blue ways. Also, magic's coming back (with the dragons presumably).

Wish You Were Here by Stewart O'Nan

This book recounts a family's last week at the lake: Emily, the grandmother, is selling the family's cottage because her husband has died. This book covers everyone's experiences in excruciating detail. The characters mostly seem not to like each other all that much (or at least to drive each other crazy), and after spending so much time with them, I can see why. I found it hard to like any of the characters, and because the book was the type where past events unfolding substitutes for plot, there wasn't much else to like. It was well-written, but not compelling.

Holmes on the Range by Steve Hockensmith

I enjoyed this book more than the most recent one in this series. It's about two brothers who work together to investigate the mysterious circumstances at the Bar VR ranch. The mystery plot was quite well done; it took a little while for me to realize where everything was headed, but once I did, I enjoyed fitting the pieces together.

The Madwoman in the Attic: The Woman Writer and Nineteenth-Century Literary Imagination by Sandra Gilbert and Susan Gubar

This book is one of the texts that started the effort to reclaim a female canon. There are great readings of the Brontës, George Eliot, and Jane Austen. While at times the arguments made by the text can seem less like arguments, this fact actually shows how important the text is--many of its assertions, radical at the time, are now commonly accepted. I found the reading of the Snow White story particularly intriguing and persuasive.

Swamplandia! by Karen Russell

This book chronicles the downfall of a family-run amusement park after its start performer (and the family's mother) dies and a chain amusement park (World of Darkness) moves in down the road. At times (especially when describing the World of Darkness, which was given a lot of thought and reads, in certain ways, like a parody of Disney) the book is quite humorous, despite its sad story--the downfall of an eccentric family. The young narrator seems older than her thirteen years, so that I kept forgetting how young she was when she sets off across the swamps to rescue her older sister who's been bewitched by a ghost. The end came a little fast and furious for my taste, and I felt like one of the plot threads in particular was unsatisfactorily resolved, but I really enjoyed this book.