Rewind

 Fiction by Catherine Ryan Howard

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

Social media influencer Natalie O'Connor suspects that her husband Mike is hiding something from her after she finds a charge on his credit card for Shanamore Cottages, a seaside resort in western Ireland. He claims to have never heard of the place, but Natalie is unconvinced and sets out to go there herself on the spur of the moment. 

Meanwhile, Mike has no idea where Natalie has gone and eventually files a missing persons report. That report gets the attention of a small-time internet reporter named Audrey, who runs with the story. Will Audrey find Natalie alive? Or is it already too late?

This was an exciting mystery thriller with several surprises!

I also read recently by this author: The Nothing Man

Worth Fighting For

 Fiction by Jesse Q. Sutanto

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

This book is a modern reimagining of the Disney movie Mulan, part of something called the "Meant to Be" series. The other books are by different authors, and I may try another one because this novel was light and fun, all in all.

It was, of course. quite predictable, as we already know that Mulan and Shang have to fall in love at the end, and it contained a bit too much "I-Can't-Tell-The-Truth-Or-The-Story-Will-End-Here- Syndrome,"** but it was not bad for a straight romance.

I also read recently by this author: I'm Not Done With You Yet

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

(Most recently occurred in Left by Tamar Ossowski)

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.

Based on a True Story

 Nonfiction? by Norm MacDonald

https://www.audible.com

I put a question mark after the word "nonfiction" above because, although this book is labelled as a memoir, the story seems to be almost completely made up.

Norm MacDonald was indeed a comedian who was on Saturday Night Live in the nineties, and he was alive in 2016 and doing stand-up when the book was written (he has since died), but the rest of this "memoir" is quite fictitious.

Also it's not funny. At least the first half isn't. I gave up.

Milo’s Story

 Nonfiction by Louise Allen

https://www.amazon.com

This is the eleventh book in Louise Allen's "Thrown Away Children Series," which I had almost given up on after the terrible ending of the last book (see below). That's the problem with nonfiction, though. Real life doesn't offer tidily happy endings.

This book was better, in that it didn't end absolutely horribly, and that it was interesting. I did really enjoy reading Milo's story. That said, I do feel like the author takes a lot of liberties with the category of nonfiction, almost veering into "based on a true story" novelization rather often. Still, that makes it more fun to read, so I shouldn't complain. More troubling is the lecture mode she slips into too often.

So I liked the book but didn't love it.

I also read recently by this author: Willow's Story

The Mystery Guest

 Fiction by Nita Prose

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

A sequel to the author's first novel The Maid, this book was enjoyable but not nearly as good as the first one. That's okay though, since the first was really excellent and sequels are hard.

In this story Molly the maid witnesses ANOTHER murder in her hotel and has to help solve it. Molly is a really likeable character and this book was fun, but I'd love to see the author write something different next time.