Fiction by Shana Abe
This story begins with Madeline Astor recounting to her newborn son the events that made her a billionaire's widow. Short version: she married man older than her father -- but NOT for his money, of course!-- and took a trip with him on the Titanic.
I couldn't get interested in this story for some reason. I feel bad about it, but there it is. At least I got the book free with prime reading!
Fiction by Patricia Highsmith
This is a classic novel, first published in 1955, that I have heard of but never read.
Tom Ripley is a young American a little down on his luck, but he's quite willing to use his charm and good looks to get ahead in life. He's the type to move boldly forward and deal with the consequences later. This trait will both serve him well and get him into trouble throughout this story.
This was a really good story, although I didn't much like Mr. Ripley...
Fiction by Kimberly Belle
Beth is not her name, but that's what she's calling herself as she flees her abusive husband, driving out of Pine Bluff, Arkansas, and laying a false trail to Tulsa before landing in Atlanta. Meanwhile back in Pine Bluff, Jeffery is looking for his wife Sabine, who didn't come home from work one night. He admits to maybe slapping her a time or two, but tells the police they were "working on their marriage." To police detective Marcus, The Husband looks pretty suspicious, and Marcus is on a mission to find out what really happened to Sabine...
This was an exciting story with a surprise or two waiting!
Audible Original Fiction by Benjamin Stevenson
Fiction by Heather Gudenkauf
Cora, Violet, and Jordyn are three twelve-year-old girls, supposed to be snug in their sleeping bags at a sleepover in Cor's bedroom. So what are they doing out after midnight by the abandoned railroad depot? When the girls are found, two of them injured, it's up to the local police to discover what they were really doing....
This was a good story but not quite as great as this author's other books. The ending felt a little rushed.
I also read recently by this author: The Overnight Guest
Fiction by Nikki Erlick
Fiction by Agatha Christie
Ariadne Oliver, mystery-story writer, is setting up a "murder hunt" on a country estate for a village fete. She is caught up in making the clues (and the solution!) as interesting as possible, but she keeps feeling like something is wrong. What if the planned pretend murder somehow turns into a real one? She calls on her friend Hercule Poirot for help.
Although Poirot doesn't prevent the murder that the reader knows is coming (alas!), he does solve the case in the end. And you'll never guess!
I also read recently by this author: After the Funeral
Nonfiction by Cathy Glass
I also read recently by this author: Neglected
Nonfiction by Louise Allen
This is the first book in the "thrown-away children" series by Louise Allen, an author whose memoir I read recently (see below). Louise is a foster mother, like Cathy Glass.
Stella was born to a teenaged mum and then raised sporadically by her grandmother, her father, and a series of relatives until aged four, when she was found abandoned in a house with only a dog and the dog's food and water, naked and alone. A search goes out for her mother, but the reader is pretty sure she'll end up in foster care.
This was an interesting story, told a with little more dramatic style than the Cathy Glass books. I liked seeing different perspectives than just the foster carer's (Louise's), although I recognize that it's blurring the lines of nonfiction somewhat. I will look for the next book in the series.
I also read by this author: Thrown Away Child
Fiction by Ann Patchett
A small and unimportant country in South America wants to attract foreign investors, and so they plan a party to honor the fifty-third birthday of Japanese businessman Mr. Hosokawa. To ensure the attendance of the guest of honor and his rich influential friends, they hire Mr. Hosokawa's favorite opera singer Roxanne Cass to give a private recital. Thus the room is filled with important people when armed terrorists appear and a hostage situation begins.
This was a really good story; it really made you think about the characters.
I also read recently by this author: State of Wonder
Fiction by A. Lee Martinez
This was a fun little fantasy story about a castle ruled by an evil magician (Margle) and managed by his pleasantly efficient assistant, Nessy. One of Margle's odd quirks is that he never kills his enemies; rather, he curses them to horrible (but creative!) fates and imprisons them in his castle forever. Nessy's job of keeping the castle in order is greatly hampered by the cursed things, such as a bleeding wall that makes a nasty mess; plus there are quite a variety of monsters that simply must be fed on schedule.
I enjoyed this book; it was funny and also had an interesting plot.
Fiction by Ben Winters
Hank Palace is a police detective in a world that has an expiration date. It's April, and everyone has known since January that an asteroid is coming in October to wipe out most of Earth and leave the rest of the planet shrouded in ashes and darkness. If it's inevitable that we are all going to die soon; what do we do now?
For Detective Palace, the answer is: I'm going to do my job. But you can guess that not many are like him. The economy is collapsing, people are killing themselves, and martial law is taking over. But Hank just wants to solve a murder....
This was a good story with real and believable characters but it was just so BLEAK. There are two more books in this series but I'm gonna pass. I can't bear living in Hank Palace's world.
(Side note: I labeled this book "futuristic fiction" but it's more accurate to say it's contemporary fiction set in a parallel fictional universe. No one's in a flying car or whatever. It's us, in the USA, but with a big What-If.)
I also read by this author: Self Help
Fiction by Heather Gudenkauf
Fiction by Alison Gaylin
