The Heart's Invisible Furies by John Boyne
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book! I've been sitting on my review for days because I want to gush about this book but I also don't want to give anything away. Let's start with this - the dedication page is for John Irving. I knew at that point that this was going to be a great read.

This book is about Cyril Avery. It opens with the day his sixteen year-old, unwed mother is cast away from her church and home in 1940's Ireland. His birth is eventful and he finds his way into the home of the Avery's, his adoptive parents. His life story is told in these pages. What may seem like a long book becomes pressed for pages as readers will want to know more and more about Cyril's life. He struggles during his life to be true to himself while his friends, family, and country expect something quite different from him. His struggles are heartbreaking but certainly not all that unique.

The writing in this book is so funny. I loved the witty dialogue between characters. Cyril is a weak man at times, but he is a strong protagonist. It will be a long time before I forget him. His adoptive parents (the real Avery's), his friends, eventual co-workers, and everyone else Cyril encounters was a pleasure to read about. There were some parts that brought tears to my eyes, but mostly I found honesty in Cyril's story. There were some graphic(ish) scenes in this book and may not be a great choice for young or sensitive readers.

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4 3 2 1 by Paul Auster
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

This book found its way to my TBR list because of the concept. A boy, Archie Ferguson, is born but what happens in his life depends on which version of Ferguson's story is being read. This book follows what happens to four versions of Ferguson, an idea that was very intriguing for me.

I've never read any work by Paul Auster, and I enjoyed his writing from the beginning. His sentences are long but detailed, something that I both admire and found to be a drawback to this book. I loved the all-encompassing nature of this story. I generally want more, more, more about characters I like and this book delivered. However, the amount of reading time this book commanded was overwhelming, bordering on arrogance.

The one other part of the book I could have done without was the inclusion of all of the Vietnam era politics. This was by no means a main part of the book and very much of the times covered in this hefty novel, but it's not content that I enjoy as a reader. Some readers may, however, find this appealing.

Read this book for the great stories (and satisfying ending) but know that it is a long, dense time investment.

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