by Bernhard Schlink
Vintage Books, 1998.

This is a tremendous book that pulls in the reader, timidly at first and then full tilt
into an excellent story. Set in post war Germany, the book recounts the story of
15-year-old Michael Berg who becomes ill and is rescued by 30 something Hanna Schmitz who
later becomes his lover. Their affair ends when she disappears without a trace. The next
time he sees her he is a young law student and she stands accused of a terrible crime.
Michael relives his affair with Hanna while attending her trial and then becomes
reacquainted with her while she serves a lengthy prison term. The Reader is a tremendous
book, the story is moving, challenging and eminently readable. In the words of one
reviewer, “The reviewer’s sole and privileged function is to say as loudly as he is able,
“Read this” and “Read it again.”  Do read it, you won’t be sorry.

Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult
Atria Books, Simon and Shuster, 2007.

This isn’t a book you’ll want to put down or, when you’re finished, it isn’t one that
will be easily forgotten. New Hampshire’s Jodi Picoult is a perennial on New York Times
bestseller lists and for good reason. She writes well, her characters are believable and
her dialogue is realistic. So too is her subject matter. Picoult poses moral dilemmas
inside intense and compelling narratives. Her books make one think about the bigger
societal issues of our time. Nineteen Minutes continues in this vein.  It is the story of
Judge Alex Cormier and her daughter Josie and of what happens when one of Josie’s former
friends can no longer take the bullying he’s been subjected to for most of his life. It
isn’t an unfamiliar tale but in the hands of Picoult it is both important social
commentary and exceptional storytelling.