A Good American - Alex George

I was intrigued by the review comment on the cover that mentioned "echoes of John Irving", and this did indeed contain much that fit that description, being a family saga with a large cast of characters who are often bloody-minded and eccentric, but generally extremely likeable, in which chance encounters and implausible but humorous episodes often have dramatic repercussions. I enjoyed this novel immensely on its own terms, however, and actually found myself preferring the more soberly written sections to the occasionally farcical comedic ones. In particular, the bittersweet love story of the narrator's grandparents was touching, and the discoveries that the narrator makes towards the end of the story were powerfully described and thought-provoking.

The Testament of Mary - Colm Tóibín

Although this book is slim, it deserves to be taken seriously. It's a beautifully written account of a mother's grief as she gradually loses her son, culminating in her watching his torment as he is crucified, and goes on to show her struggle to preserve her memories of him as they are appropriated and rewritten by those who seek to proclaim their own interpretation of his life. The passages that stay with me most are those about the zombie-like risen Lazarus, and Mary's endless feelings of guilt at her choice to save her own life by running away rather than staying to the end to bathe and bury her son's body.

A Hologram for the King - Dave Eggers

I picked this up out of curiosity, having been intrigued by Eggers' writing before, but didn't have hugely high hopes of it as I wasn't initially drawn to the subject matter (a US salesman in Saudi Arabia). In fact it was a very human and powerful story, exploring one man's alienation and disorientation as he repeatedly fails to make the most of chances for meaningful connections, while watching his hopes for the future slip away in circumstances he can barely understand, let alone control. I was particularly struck by the chillingly terse portrayal of his shame after making a mistake that could have had fatal consequences, and the description of him "feeling devastated, as always, by himself, his inability to do what he should do when he should do it".