Me Before You
Did you read The Fault in Our Stars yet? If you're buying for a mature teenager, check that one out. This is the adult version. The premise is a little dreadful--a young British woman goes to work as a daytime helper for a wealthy quadriplegic. Her employer was once an important business man and world traveler, but now wants to die because his life is so limited. You know it could end so badly but you just fall in love with all the characters, as unlikely as that is, and end up crossing your toes under the blankets that it will turn out ok. Reading it is a bit like watching an old favorite tear jerker movie, like the scenes in "Sleepless in Seattle" when all the women are crying over "An Affair to Remember." A modern classic, really.
The right to die issue is getting some new press right now with the woman in Oregon who wants to end her life due to the pain of her brain tumor. This book brings another interesting perspective on it, and keeps you wondering who the "me" in the title really is. I also think of the arguments surrounding Robin Williams's death and those who called it him brave to face his depression versus those who called him selfish to kill himself. I wonder if any of us can really say what we would do, since we are not in the same circumstances, can never be in exactly the same circumstances as someone else. The two main characters in MBY have this argument again and again, with more information about each person spiraling out until you agree with them both, and love them to the core.
Novel by Maria Semple
For the snarky person on your Christmas list! The writer of this novel used to write for sitcoms like "Mad About You" and her sharp wit transfers super well to this type fiction. She totally skewers Seattle society--the uptight parents and private schools but supposedly casual culture, the Microsoft drive for success and the bureaucracy it creates, the focus on arts in a bit of an artistic vacuum. The stabs are delivered subtly because the story is told by an eighth grade girl via her mother's and others' emails and testimonies. It's not confusing at all, though. It's actually completely clever, just like the humor.
The main story is that the title character is a SAHM (stay at home mom, for those not up on their suburban lingo) who has a supposed break with reality, in conjunction with several minor crises, and disappears. She leaves behind her daughter (the 8th grader) and her husband (the Microsoft exec) and a falling apart mansion (the crumbling artistic endeavors) and angry PTA members (the uptight parents and private schools) struggling to both find her and understand who she really is. Part of the cleverness is that you, the reader, are also figuring out who Bernadette is, not in a Sherlocky way but in a "Is she crazy or isn't she" way. I loved the characterization and psychology as much as the humor and Seattle culture.
Side note: My three year old is super interested in what things say right now since he's learning that letters make sounds and words. He asked the title of the book I was reading and then walked around repeating "Where'd ya go, Bernadette" in a creepy monotone every time he laid eyes on the book. Fun times.
