Schroeder by Amity Gaige ***

A father- daughter story, wth Eric Kennedy ( whose real name is Schroder and who has hidden his past for all of his life in America after fleeing East Germany in the 80s) and his daughter Meadow, who is visiting her father after a bitter divorce and custody battle. Eric was the chief caregiver before the divorce, and his heat is broken over his inability to see his daughter when he wants to. 

My reasons for reading this book are obvious, but it wasn't really any more enlightening than what we lived through four years ago. 

Carthage by Joyce Carol Oates ****

Another excellent novel by Oates, this one was published in 2013. This is the story of Cressida Mayfield, who vanishes in a forest preserve in upstate New York, Corporal Brett Kincaid, the wounded and damaged veteran of the war in Iraq, who confesses to having attacked and murdered Cressida, who is the sister of his fiancée, Juliet Mayfield, as well as the parents of Juliet and Cressida.

There are some riveting scenes in this book, especially the tour of Death Row in a Texas prison, and some very LONG sentences! I often re-read them just to figure out their construction, and even their meaning. However, Oates' novels are not difficult to read, she is an excellent writer and uses

 intricate details effectively. They are pretty well all dystopian in theme and content, but nonetheless, interesting and illuminating.

The other novels by Oates that I've read are: We Were The Mulvaneys, The Falls, Blonde, and The Grave- Digger's Daughter.