So as the Miami Book Fair finishes its last few days of circulation and the authors say their final words, there are still a few more books that are worthy of note. All fiction novels, the topics range in scope but are all creative and intriguing reads.
A Girl Becomes a Comma Like That, Lisa Glatt
Uniting three characters through their desire for love, Lisa Glatt’s novel is insightful and delves into the bonds between mothers, daughters, co-workers and even patients. A funny and blunt tale of relationships about love, sex and death, A Girl Becomes a Comma Like That is a unique look at the lives of women and how female creatures deal with things that go wrong, again and again.
Glatt’s debut novel deals with the character of Rachel Spark, a sexually eager college instructor who moves home to take care of her mother ailing from terminal breast cancer. Ella Bloom is an adult student in Rachel’s poetry class who aspires for more in life and is preoccupied with a teenage patient, Georgia, at her family planning clinic.
Although the characters do not interact that much, the storytelling is compelling and the counts of Rachel’s quickies are entertaining.
Project X, Jim Shepard
Relating to the haunting popularized shootings in grade schools and high schools across America, Jim Shepard’s sixth novel, Project X, is the fictional retelling of these horrific tales told on news and radio broadcasts. Narrated by the main character, 14-year-old Edwin Hanratty, eighth grade isn’t where he wants to be. Witty and miserable simultaneously, he and his only friend, Flake, suffer as the outcasts among the jocks, the popular girls and the taunting of kids even younger than them.
To extend the problem, both Flake and Edwin encounter problems at home. Trying to understand their children, the boys’ parents only unknowingly continue demoralizing their characters. This ultimately leads to the most lethal impulse that so plagued many real-life high schools and grade schools in America.
Shepard’s praise for his novel essentially comes from the understanding that the boy’s don’t commit such heinous crimes for their hatred of life, but instead their love and want for acceptance and understanding.
Only 164 pages and completely enthralling, Project X is definitely a solid read.
Banishing Verona, Margot Livesey
The complicated story of love once again appears in Banishing Verona, only this time, the lovers are separated only 24 hours after their first meeting. Author of a few novels, Margot Livesey is a strong contemporary writer and she delivers again with Banishing Verona.
The novel follows the story of Zeke and Verona, two very different people with many life complications, that fall in love and after Verona vanishes mysteriously, are on a quest to find each other.
Examining some very different romantic connections and obligations to the family, Banishing Verona presents readers with the question of having the capability to ever really know our selves or another person. Inspired by a newspaper article of a lost student, Livesey has created a compelling story with an unusual plot and unusual characters that speak to the heart.
Sweet Bye-Bye, Denise Michelle Harris
Revolving around main character, Chantell Meyers, a successful woman with a well put-together life, Sweet Bye-Bye is a story facing reality.
With an executive job, nice clothes and a near-perfect fianc