Snapper - Brian Kimberling

I found this book a little disconcerting, as I thoroughly enjoyed reading it, but came away unsure what it had been about. The writing was captivating and full of humorous observations, with a believable and likeable central character, and lots of atmospheric detail about the Indiana setting. The book was written as a collection of episodes from various times in one man's life, but as his approach to life was mostly passive and reactive, and the anecdotes often focused on apparent trivia while only mentioning major life-changing events in passing, it didn't ever coalesce into a conventional novel. I don't think that this was a weakness, however; instead it felt like an accurate reflection of how arbitrary and chaotic life can often appear when compared to the neat and meaningful narrative arcs of fiction, and how the things and people that capture our attention are not necessarily the ones that will appear significant in hindsight.

The Woman Who Dived into the Heart of the World - Sabina Berman

I had an ambivalent reaction to this autism-from-the-inside story about a girl whose aunt finds her in a feral state and helps her to (almost) integrate back into society. 'Me' is an engaging character and her differences and perspective are well observed - I particularly enjoyed a scene where she is baffled that a crowd is moved to tears when her fear of public speaking leads her to sob while reciting a list of facts and figures about tuna processing, with her echolalia repeating certain phrases as though for emphasis. I also found myself constructively challenged by her disdain for the human emphasis on thinking and her eventual conclusion that the key to existence is to "plug back into the real world with every sense". However, I found her sophisticated level of language implausible for someone who acquired it so late, and it was unsettling that the way she used her unique perspective to devise innovative methods of humane fishing was so similar to the work of Temple Grandin, and yet this was not acknowledged anywhere in the book.

Love and other Dangerous Chemicals - Anthony Copella

A witty and erudite, but also rather sweet, look at human sexuality and emotions, using an unexpected romance between a pair of hyper-intellectuals in a sexology lab to make some good points about the nature of attraction and arousal, and academic versus emotional intelligence and awareness.

How to Talk So Kids Can Learn - Adele Faber & Elaine Mazlish

Having already read books on parent-child communication and parenting siblings by the same authors, I found most of this to be a recap of their previous advice, with the examples transposed from the home to the classroom. It was useful to be reminded of some of their key principles (such as acknowledging children's feelings, problem-solving together, and focusing on descriptions of specific incidents rather than general evaluations), but there was not much genuinely new material. The main addition was a chapter on 'the parent-teacher partnership', advising parents to always begin discussions by describing something positive about the teacher's work, before describing what they feel the child needs and sharing any relevant information about the child's home situation and behaviour.  I was also struck by a couple of quotes on the inadequacy of punishment:

"When a child is punished he resolves to be more careful, not more honest and responsible." - Haim Ginott

"Punishment can control misbehavior, but by itself it will not teach desirable behavior or even reduce the desire to misbehave." - Albert Bandura

The Circle - Dave Eggers

I read this just after reading an article on Facebook's 'like' button and the tendency of social media to drift towards a disconnected and extreme experience, so I was receptive to the overall premise of this satire about what happens when an innovative internet technology company goes too far. I found some of it hard to believe (in particular the main character's tendency to agree and blame herself when she's criticised for not 'participating' sufficiently online), but most of it was both funny and scary. The way that the sinister 'circle' of surveillance and control was built up from individual projects that all started with good intentions was horribly plausible, as was the justification that constant surveillance would eliminate shame as well as aberrant behaviour because "when everything is known, everything acceptable will be accepted".

A Tale for the Time Being - Ruth Ozeki

An engrossing story about a Japanese girl's diary and the Canadian woman who finds it washed up near her island home, full of thought-provoking material about radioactive flotsam, kamikaze pilots, Zen monks, moral responsibility, and the tangled relationship between writer, reader and narrative. There is a potentially alienating magical element, but it is introduced late in the story, once the characters have been established as real and likeable, and it is made less jarring by relating it to a discussion about quantum theory.

A Game of Thrones - George R. R. Martin

Like the TV adaptation that first piqued my interest, I found this huge book to be almost addictive, but on reflection I have decided to continue with the TV version rather than read further books in the series. The screen version works extremely well for the complex story's combination of the brutal and the salacious (made likeable by some strangely charming characters), and also brings to life the epic world-building that the author does excellently but I lack the visual imagination to appreciate as a reader.