Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister by Gregory Maguire

Though not quite as amazing as Wicked (Maguire’s critically acclaimed novel turned Broadway musical) this was an engaging read. Mostly I appreciate the creativity inherent in this approach: telling a well-known tale from the “villain’s” perspective. In this novel we see the Ugly Stepsister’s perspective on the typical Cinderella story, including a great deal of background on the hardships she and her wicked stepmother endured. Essentially, Maguire uses the events and characters to make a commentary on beauty, its purpose, and its preservation. Favorite Quote: “Drawing is the only honesty. Don’t interpret. Merely observe. Don’t think about what you see. Merely see it.”

Expecting Adam by Martha Beck

Martha and John Beck were both doctoral candidates at Harvard when they found out that their second child would be born with Down Syndrome. This memoir details Martha’s painful struggle with the news that her child would be born “defective,” and the many tumultuous events that took place (including a car accident and an apartment fire) to strengthen her preservation of this baby’s life. Also, Adam turned out to be a great source of enlightenment. I could have done without all the new age spirituality, but it was honest. The heartwarming bond of pain and support between Martha and her husband produced a significant emotional response in me. (Stupidly, I Googled them after I finished the book and found out they had been divorced for over ten years. Perhaps there are no real love stories in the non-fiction section after all.) Favorite Quote: “the immediacy and joy with which he lives his life make rapacious achievement, Harvard-style, look a lot like quiet desperation. Adam has slowed me down to the point where I notice what is in front of me, its mystery and beauty . . . Adam takes his joy straight up.”

The Radioactive Boy Scout by Ken Silverstein

This was an absolutely delightful piece of non-fiction about a teenager who builds a nuclear reactor in his back yard during the early 1990s. I love the boy’s curiosity about science growing up, and Silverstein’s prose style really makes you build an affection for him. It also includes some interesting facts about chemistry and the history of America’s nuclear program. I highly recommend it. "Even Ken [David's father] couldn't ignore a transgression the size of a breeder reactor. He grounded David for two weeks and took away his car keys."

The Milagro Beanfield War by John Nichols

A group of teachers read this together because the Mayor chose it for One Book, One Denver. Quite honestly, if it had not been part of a book club that I was running, I would have abandoned it. It took me three running starts to even get into it and it was one of the slowest books I have ever read. If you enjoy colorful characters, this book is full of them, and Nichols has a gift for descriptive language and dialogue. But here’s the plot: a poor guy steals water to water his beanfield. A bunch of people in town talk about it. Some are mad. It’s your basic battle between the “haves” and the “have nots.” Favorite Quote: "'I'm afraid. I'm afraid of losing, afraid of winning, afraid of the fight. I've always been afraid. . . . I spent my whole life looking for the big rock-candy mountain. I can't stand the fact that there isn't Santa Claus. The people around here, if they ever saw Santa Claus in the neighborhood, they'd fall all over themselves scrambling for their .30-30s so they could put a little reindeer meat in their freezers.'"