Let the Great World Spin is one of those novels that could have been trying too hard, but miraculously wasn't. I think this is mostly because McCann focuses on the characters -- what they're feeling, how they see the world around them -- and then lets the reader make up their own mind about how they interpret those feelings and actions. A friend of mine picked up this book at the bar yesterday and was reading aloud the Library of Congress tags. When he got to "4. Grief -- Fiction," it hit me how well the term "grief fiction" would apply to this book. But it's more than that as well. There is so much grief and pain and heartache in this book, but there is also love and joy and hope. McCann captures all the darkness of the time, and of humanity in general, but he also illuminates the goodness of people, and the idea that we can -- sometimes, not always -- grow, change, and overcome the tragedies in our lives. 
 "The world spins. We stumble on. It is enough." 
 -- 
 Rating: 4.5 Tightrope Walks 
 Favourite Quote: This is a tough choice, but for that quiet elegance I always admired in Austen's writing -- "I'd rather be deep-solving algorithms. That was her specialty. College days. One of only three women in the math department. She got mistaken for the secretary as she walked the corridors. Had to go along with eyes downcast. A woman of two shoes. Knew the floor very well. The intricacies of tile. Where the baseboards broke." 
 Recommend: Absolutely.