Harmony

Fiction by Carolyn Parkhurst.

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

Alexandra Hammond is near the end of her rope in dealing with her "on the spectrum" daughter, 14-year-old Tilly. Then a charismatic man called Scott Bean offers her a hope of helping Tilly, but it will require her family to change everything and commit to a completely new way of life. Alexandra and her husband are hopeful, but you can tell from the beginning that this is not going to work out.

The story is told from the perspective of Iris, Tilly's younger and "neurotypical" sister, and (interestingly) in the second person from Alexandra's point of view, which draws the reader in.

It's a really good story with fascinating characters. There's a blurb from Jodi Picoult on the cover, who is one of my favorite authors. and this writer reminds me a lot of her. I recommend this one!

The Summer Wives

Fiction by Beatriz Williams.

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

I thought I'd read other books by this author, but apparently I haven't. Well, I will now! This book was really good.

On a small island off the cost of New England, there is a sharp divide between the summer "Families" who vacation there, and the year-round residents, who are lobstermen and working-class folks of mostly Portuguese descent. In 1931, when the story begins, the two sides come briefly together in a way that will have disastrous consequences for years to come. The story stretches to 1969, when Miranda Thomas returns to the island as a grown-up movie star, ready to confront the past.

I'd definitely recommend this book.

Run Away

Fiction by Harlan Coben.

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

A new book by Harlan Coben? Everyone say it with me... "SQUEEE!!!"

Sorry; I was really excited to read this. I've been waiting and waiting...

It did not disappoint. For one thing, this is not in a series of any kind, which I like because I enjoy meeting new characters. For another thing, it was really exciting to read!

Simon's daughter Paige is the eponymous runaway, although the title is two words and implies a few other ideas as well. Paige has been stolen away by a dirtbag boyfriend and a drug addiction, neither of which she can break away from, and Simon would pay any price, brave any danger, go through anything to get her back. He doesn't realize just how much he'll have to go through, however.

This was a great thriller!

I also read recently by this author: The Final Detail

Lying in Wait

Fiction by Liz Nugent

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/

This story starts with a murder in 1980. Andrew, or more likely his wife Lydia, kill a woman called Annie Doyle and hide her body in the first few pages. There's no mystery about it; this is not a spoiler. The story is about how this terrible act affects the couple, their son Laurence, and Annie's sister.

It's a dark book but fascinating to read. I didn't expect the ending.

I also read by this author: Unraveling Oliver (Apparently I never posted this book here on my blog, but I know I read it last year and it was also dark but fascinating.)

After the Lie

Fiction by Kerry Fisher

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

This book, which I really wanted to like (see below), suffered from both "Oh-No-I-Can't-Look Syndrome"* and "I-Can't-Tell-The-Truth-Or-The-Story-Will-End-Here Syndrome,"** both of which are plot devices that annoy me greatly.

The basic plot is, the main character Lydia did something when she was thirteen that she doesn't want her husband to know about. But it's obvious that the husband is a good guy, and the youthful mistake is so ridiculously forgivable--not to mention it was thirty years ago!!!-- that all her agonizing should-I-tell-him?-but-he-might-hate-me! seems less than believable. And she whines about it for pages and pages!

And then Lydia has to complicate things by doing something she should not do and does not even even to have a good reason to do, and I just couldn't stand her any more.

I'll admit I wanted to find out the ending, but I just could not take one more page of Lydia's whining victim-mentality, so I skipped to the last chapter. (I never do that, but Lydia made me. I'm the victim here.)

I also read by this author: The Silent Wife WHICH WAS REALLY GOOD! That's why I tried to give this one a chance.

* Oh-No-I-Can't-Look Syndrome

(see The Party by Robyn Harding)

That's when you know a main character is making a major error in judgement that's going to have huge and terrible consequences.

**I-Can't-Tell-The -Truth-Or-The-Story-Will-End-Here Syndrome

(See Every Last Lie by Mary Kubica)

This shows up in romances quite a bit, in which a main character withholds some vital piece of information form his/her love interest for flimsy reasons, making it obvious that the author is using the device to further complicate the plot and lengthen the story.

Watch the Girls

Fiction by Jennifer Wolfe

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/

Olivia Hill and her sister Gemma are TV teen queens, pushed and prodded into stardom by their mother Desiree. Unfortunately (in Desiree's opinion) their youngest sister Miranda has no interest in being a performer of any kind, much less a star. But one night all three sisters reach a crisis that leaves one of them better, one of them worse, and one of them gone.

That's just the beginning of this story, which twists up pretty creepily after that. It's a really dark book with more gore than I usually prefer, but it was exciting, and the end was unexpected.

Her Pretty Face

Fiction by Robyn Harding,

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

At Forrester Academy, a fancy private school in the Pacific Northwest, two boys who are new to sixth grade become friends, drawing their mothers together as well. Frances's son Marcus is a slightly awkward child, and she's grateful he's found a calming influence in Kate's son Charles. It seems an added bonus for Frances that Kate is such an easy and fun person, a cool mom who is so cool she doesn't even care what the other moms think. The two women become fast friends.

But both Frances and Kate have something to hide.....

This was a great novel, both a good character story and a page-turner.

I also read recently by this author: The Party

The Clockmaker's Daughter

Fiction by Kate Morton.

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

This is the story of a house, first and foremost. The house is called Birchwood Manor and the book spans time between the mid-nineteenth century and today, as the house goes from a private home to a girls' school to a modern museum. At first I was thinking the book should have been called "Birchwood Manor," but eventually I realized that the story was just as much about the girl (the clockmaker's daughter) as it was about the house. Or that, perhaps, the girl and the house were the same.

The novel is both mystery and a romance, and keeps you guessing about what really happened to the clockmaker's daughter until the end, while weaving the whole story in and out of many lives over the ensuing 150 years.

It's a very good book!

I also read recently by this author: The Secret Keeper

Don't Look Behind You

Fiction by Lois Duncan

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

This was a fun break from the heavy reading I've been doing the past week or so.

In this story, a high-school girl named April has everything going for her, until her family is suddenly forced into witness protection and she must leave everything she knows behind.

It's an exciting thriller!

I also read recently by this author: Ransom

Whistle in the Dark

Fiction by Emma Healy.

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

At the beginning of this book, fifteen-year-old Lana is found after having been missing for several days, refusing to disclose where she has been. She says she was lost and just can't remember where she was. Her father is inclined to accept this and just be glad that she is home safe, but Jen, her mother, feels like she has to know what really happened while Lana was gone.

Another complication is that Lana had been very depressed before the incident and had attempted suicide, so her mother has been on high-alert for so long that she doesn't feel able to relax. She seems to transfer all of her anxious energy into this Quest, trying to find out what had really happened, although it seems clear to the reader that Lana probably does remember and just doesn't want to tell her mother. ( A secretive teenager? Surprise, surprise.)

Eventually, Jen does find out where Lana had been, but I don't think she's happy about it. In fact, no one in the book is very happy. I found the whole story kind of bleak. It was interesting, but not really an enjoyable read.

Killing Commendatore

Fiction by Haruki Murakami.

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

Translated into English, this book covers close to 700 pages; I don't know how long the original Japanese text was. IQ84, which I read several years ago, (see below) was of a similar size and was well worth the reading; it was a great story. On the strength of my memory of that book by the same author, I read this whole book (it took me almost two weeks), waiting for it to get interesting.

It didn't. Not really.

The characters were okay, but nothing much happened to them, and what did happen just didn't make any sense. It could be that the whole story took place inside the main character's head. The only things I know actually happened: At the beginning of the book, the main character's wife divorced him for no reason. At the end of the book they got back together, also for no discernible reason.

Lest you think this is a spoiler: it isn't. He actually says near the beginning of the story that they would get back together at the end.

I can't recommend this book, even though I really have enjoyed others by this author. Sorry. But I did finish it...

I also read by this author: Norwegian Wood, IQ84

Congo

Fiction by Michael Crichton.

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

In this story, an expedition looking for diamonds in the African Congo disappears into the jungle, leaving behind satellite video images of the entire party inexplicably killed by some mysterious force.  Another expedition is sent to find out what happened to them, and to find the diamonds, but will the second party survive?

This was a good thriller, but not quite up to the standard of Jurrassic Park.

I also read recently by this author: The Great Train Robbery

Eyeshot

Fiction by Lynn Hightower.

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

I found this book when I was looking for a different book of the same title at the library. I ended up getting both books, and I'm not sorry.

Sonora Blair is a police detective in Cincinnati, and she starts working a missing persons case at the request of a husband whose wife, Julia Winchell, didn't come home after an out-of-town business conference. At first, the case looks pretty cut-and-dried: Julia, strikingly beautiful in her photo, has left behind two kids under three and a mountain of work at the small business she and the slightly mousy husband own together. It seems likely that Julia has cut out voluntarily, as Detective Blair knows so many young mothers secretly fantasize about doing, and will show back up again after she's had a little break. But the case doesn't go that way, and Julia isn't coming back.

I think this is the second book in a series; however, I didn't feel like I couldn't understand the story because I hadn't read the first book or anything. It is interesting to note that the mystery in this story was not super-mysterious; it was fairly obvious from near the beginning what had happened to Julia Winchell. Still, I wanted to keep reading and find out what happened next, and discover how Detective Blair could prove that her hunch was correct.

This was a good detective story.