The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears by Dinaw Mengestu

Inside and outside his urban Washington, D.C. grocery store, an Ethiopian refugee watches the neighborhood shift and change around him. Sepha is haunted by his past and frozen in place, unable to move or act in his ill-fitting, lonely American life.

In this literary novel by an Ethiopian-born American author, the themes of loss, friendship, and the American dream make for a rather sad, yearning tale. Nonetheless, it's beautifully done - filled with thoughtful characters and gorgeous prose.

Sepha's life, the store, and, in fact the whole city decay before his wise, analytical gaze, but he takes no actions to forestall their decline. He awkwardly makes friends with a young new neighbor and there's romantic tension with her mother, but again these interactions require actions - enthusiasm, even - that Sepha can't muster.

This would be an awesome book for discussion, and the more diverse the group, the richer: There's a lot to discuss in the way Sepha wanders his neighborhood and ponders its residents, and his African immigrant friends and their war-themed mind games could be quite a conversation in itself.

The Orchardist by Amanda Coplin

Family doesn't have to be inherited - sometimes you piece and patch together a family of people you love and who love you. In this emotional literary novel, when two bedraggled and practically feral preteen girls - both pregnant - appear in the orchard of a solitary farming man, he chooses to act from his heart and help the girls.

Talmadge is an isolated farmer, tending his fruit trees alone in the mountains of Washington. His family is gone, and his few friends are enough. But the girls need help, and he can help them; it's just that simple. And while their relationship isn't ordinary, they form a family of sorts over time.

There's a lot unsaid in this book - every character is a still pool of dark water. I'd expected a straight-forward historical novel (this book was chosen by our book discussion group at the library), but I was pleasantly surprised almost from the start by the complex characters and drama that takes place.

I enjoyed the casual unspooling of time across the story - weeks pass slowly as the story unfolds, then it accelerates and several years pass in a heartbeat. A large part of the book takes place in a single year, then a decade zooms past. It's unsettling, but also feels right for the story.

Fledgling by Octavia E. Butler

A girl is born into a world of hurt and hunger. Shortly, she is strong enough to heal and hunt. But who is she, and where is she? She has no memory - and yet, she seems to know how to survive. She finds a savior in an adult man named Wright and together they attempt to puzzle together her story.

In this fantasy fiction novel, Shori is a creature similar to vampires yet wholly different. She is Ina, a race of blood-drinking creatures who form close-knit communities with their human "symbionts." Her amnesia is a result of a major head injury - Ina heal from injury quickly, but complex brain regeneration can't restore lost memories.

This is a slightly different kind of vampire story with a whole new cosmology, and Shori's total amnesia allows the author leeway to have characters do a lot of lecturing on history and tradition. But the book's not without suspense and action - somebody's out to get Shori, and her amnesia makes it impossible to know who to trust.

And the culture of Ina and of their symbiots leads to a different kind of vampire philosophy - where typically there is an underlying theme of existential angst about God, death, and immortality, in this story characters spend more time pondering connections, family, and kin.

I enjoyed the book, and found it refreshing to see a unique twist on the vampire legend.

Border Songs by Jim Lynch

The war on drugs and paranoia about the country's largest unguarded border bring an unlikely superhero in this book. An innate sense of attention to detail and change makes Brandon Vanderkool a phenom in his new role as a Border Patrol officer in his hometown in Washington state. His linebacker size makes the resulting arrests easy. Too bad he's really more interested in watching the birds and building spontaneous nature sculptures.

In a small town, it's easy to get pigeon-holed - and early in life, Brandon was labeled "dumb" and "weird." Even his dad can't get past those labels. Brandon's social awkwardness has made it tough for him to find a girlfriend, make personal connections essential for friendships, or even really find a place in life. Until now.

This is an excellent novel - lyrical, strange, touching and funny. You can't help but root for Brandon to somehow come out ahead, and his small town is just chock full of the kind of characters you know from real life.