How to connect, by Thich Nhat Hanh

 

This is the second book in a series of "how to" books by Vietnamese Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh that I've read; other books in the series include How to Eat, How to Fight, How to Love, How to Relax, How to See, How to Sit, How to Focus, and How to Work. How to Connect is a thoughtful, yet brief, book (124 pages) that provides insight into how you might make more meaningful connections with others through mindfulness, breathing exercises, meditation, and other techniques.

Headshot, by Rita Bullwinkel

I was prepared to dislike Headshot because I really don't like boxing as a sport, but I was surprised by how engaging this book was. It's about a boxing tournament for teenage girls that takes place in Reno, with many of the girls traveling long distances to participate along with their coaches and family. Eight girls are boxing, and each chapter chronicles the interior lives of each pair as they advance through the brackets. I think the author did a masterful job of presenting each girl's personality and motivation as they go through the eight rounds of each bout. The writing is very good and presents each girl's personality and background without making it about race or diversity. I also found it interesting that the focus is on the girls without bringing in romance or boyfriends back home. There are men in the book, but they're in the background as coaches and judges. This is a short book (only 207 pages), but definitely worth a read.
 

Much ado about nothing, by William Shakespeare

 

I really enjoyed this play about Beatrice and Benedick, Hero and Claudio. I read it in anticipation of seeing the play performed at Penn State's Centre Stage, and I'm glad I read it first because I understood the performance much better than if I'd gone in cold.

Long after we are gone, by Terah Shelton Harris

In this family drama, author Terah Shelton Harris reveals the problems inherent in "heir property," which is land that has been inherited, but without a title or formal transfer of ownership. This makes the land vulnerable to predatory investors who are often able to purchase the land below market value from one heir, undercutting the property rights of the other heirs. In Long after we are gone, the Solomon family comes together after their father dies. Each member of the family, including two brothers, two sisters, and an uncle, have serious problems. One has an eating disorder, one has an anger management issue that has landed him in jail twice, one is a closeted gay man, and one has embezzled money from her law firm and is being sexually blackmailed by a colleague. The uncle is a violent criminal who has sold part of the property without their knowledge and who wants to sell the rest. The plot takes us through all of them coming to terms with secrets they've held for years, ultimately learning the value of openness and communication. I had a hard time getting into the book; each character is so flawed that they are not very likable, and it was a struggle to get to the half-way point. Once there, though, I was able to root for them and was happy to see how they ultimately come together with honesty and love.
 

Trust her, by Flynn Berry

 

I didn't realize when I began Trust Her that it is a sequel to Northern Spy, which I haven't read yet. I would have preferred to read them in order, but it's not necessary to understand the book. It begins with the narrator, Tessa, being kidnapped. It becomes apparent that she has been tracked down by members of the IRA three years after Tessa and her sister, Marian, changed their identities and moved to the Republic of Ireland from Belfast, where Marian was first a member of the IRA, then later an informer for MI5. The IRA wants Tessa (who also served as an informer, although she was never a member of the IRA) to contact her former MI5 handler in an effort to turn him. Both Tessa and Marian have young children, which makes them vulnerable to blackmail and threats of violence. Tessa follows their instructions and this begins a series of meetings and actions that result in high anxiety for Tessa. When her sister fails to return from a hike, Tessa contacts the police and this begins to unravel everything. As a thriller, this is very well written and suspenseful, without resorting to the over-the-top action and violence of many books in this genre. It's gripping, and leaves the reader guessing about how it will turn out until the very end. This book was eye opening to me; after the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, violence in Northern Ireland seemed to fall out of the news here, and I didn't realize that there are still factions of the IRA in existence, fomenting violence in protest against the UK. This book reveals not only the fact of its existence, but also highlights the exhaustion of living with the threat of violence.

Traitor's gate, by Jeffrey Archer

 

This is a bit of escapist fiction featuring a group of Scotland Yard officers who are tasked with protecting the crown jewels when they're being transported from the Tower of London to Buckingham Palace when the Queen needed them for affairs of state as well as a criminal who wants to get revenge for his capture and imprisonment for an earlier crime. There's a lot of action and many twists and turns to this completely implausible tale, but it was fun.