Snow Angels, by Stewart O’Nan

Pity the dear friend of mine who recommended this title to our book club. It was roundly criticized as so unremittingly bleak that there is not a lot to say about it except that O’Nan is a masterful portrayer of the lives of sad, dysfunctional people with no hope of recovery or redemption. Perhaps if we had read this in the midst of a beautiful summer we would have found something positive in it, but given that we are experiencing what has been called Snowmageddon, it didn’t have a chance. Still and all, this is an extremely well-written book by a very talented author, other works by whom I’ve enjoyed and even  recommend. 

Noah's Compass, by Anne Tyler


Published in 2010, this is Anne Tyler's 17th novel, and I enjoyed it every bit as much as her most highly acclaimed works, Breathing Lessons and The Accidental Tourist. Tyler is a kind of  alchemist, whose compassionate vision allows her to take the saddest, most poignant aspects of life and magically convert them into humor. Liam Pennywell, the protagonist of Noah's Compass, is a typical Tyler misfit. He's 60 years old and doesn't have a success to his name, professionally or personally. He is knocked unconscious on the very first night he spends in the shabby Baltimore apartment into which he's been forced to downsize and wakes up in a hospital with no memory of the blow. Liam's family and few friends, who find him a puzzling curiosity (or worse) in the best of times, do not understand why the fact that he cannot remember the incident troubles him so desperately. To say much more would be to give away the delightful twists and turns of quirky Tylerian fate to which this leads. Suffice to say that Liam stumbles upon a woman who is every bit as much of a misfit as he is; however, thanks to Tyler's fidelity to life's messiness, that does not mean we get an ending that is neatly tied up with a bow.