Ghost

 Fiction by Robert Harris

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

This "ghost" in the name of this book isn't a noncorporeal entity. Instead, the title refers to a ghostwriter. 

In this story, former British prime minister Adam Lang has been paid an exorbitant sum for his memoirs and is running close to the deadline when his trusted-aide-tuned-ghostwriter apparently commits suicide with the book unfinished. At that point, our unnamed protagonist ("the Ghost"--get it?) gets the assignment, complete with a promise of a huge payoff if he delivers the finished work in thirty days.

But our friend the Ghost has an nearly impossible task ahead: not only is the existing manuscript terribly written, but also the subject of the memoirs is elusive, able to carry on long conversations without actually saying anything at all. Plus it's starting to look like the first ghostwriter didn't kill himself after all.

This was an interesting book with a surprise ending, but almost no sympathetic characters.

The Rest of Her Life

 Fiction by Laura Moriarty

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

At the beginning of this book, 18-year-old Kara accidentally hits a pedestrian on her way home from the last day of her senior year of high school. The victim, a girl named Bethany who is two years behind Kara at the same school, is killed instantly. Also instantly, Kara's life is forever changed.

The story is told from the perspective of Kara's mother Leigh, and the focus is on the relationships in the family, and the relationships between the family and the small town they live in. It's a very good character story that gives the reader a lot to think about.

I also read by this author: The Chaperone

The Eden Pruitt Series

The Fabrication of Eden Pruitt, The Aberration of Eden Pruitt, The Revelation of Eden Pruitt, and The Retribution of Eden Pruitt
Fiction by K.E. Ganshert

https://www.amazon.com https://www.amazon.com 

https://www.amazon.com https://www.amazon.com

This is a fast-paced thriller of a series with a lot of plot twists. Book one introduces us to Eden Pruitt, who has about to turn eighteen as has just moved from California to Iowa to start her senior year. But on her first day at her new school a bunch of weird things happen, culminating in the disappearance of her parents and her discovery that she has (sort-of) super powers. Plus she's met a hot boy named Cassian, who could be a helpful friend or a dangerous enemy...

I don't want to give away too much because things change throughout the books, and almost everything after the first few chapters of book one would be a spoiler. This is a good series from an author I had never heard of.

I Have Some Questions For You

 Fiction by Rebecca Makai

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

In 1995, Bodie Kane was a senior at Granby School, a posh New Hampshire academy for wealth adolescents. Bodie had always felt like an outsider at Granby, because she was not a rich kid; she was a charity case with a tragic family backstory she kept hidden as much as possible. 

Then her former roommate Thalia was murdered near the end of the school year. A suspect was caught and convicted quickly, but doubts about his guilt persisted after his incarceration, especially when Dateline did a special on the case ten years later. Online speculation about the murder persisted for many years.

Now it's 2018 and Bodie is a podcaster. She has been invited to come back to Granby and teach a two-week course, and she thinks maybe now is the time to look into Thalia's murder for real. Since she's always felt she's too close to the case to do a podcast on it herself, Bodie manipulates a student to take on the subject. Will they uncover the truth?

This book had an interesting premise and some decent characters but it was way too long and slow. It did pick up during the last third of the book.

Soulmate

Fiction by Sally Hepworth

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

Pippa and Gabe live with their two little daughters on the Australian coast in a house with a breathtaking view. Unfortunately, they also live right next to cliff which is a popular spot for suicide jumpers. In the year or so they've been living there, seven people have come to the cliff's edge, and seven times Gabe has patiently talked them out of killing themselves. 

Gabe is incredibly good-looking, sensitive, kind, and full of fun, and it seems everyone longs to be his friend. In contrast, Pippa sees herself as kind of pedestrian, a caretaking type who prefers staying the background of life. But it's Pippa who earns the money for the family and who carefully monitors Gabe's emotions and keeps him stable.

But then the eighth person comes to the cliff's edge, the person who will succeed in jumping. This event really throws Pippa and Gabe, and exposes the cracks in their marriage that have been brewing for years.

This was a great story, as I would expect from Sally Hepworth!

I also read by this author: Darling Girls

Convenience Store Woman

Fiction by Sayaka Murata
Translated by Ginny Tapley Takemori

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

Okay, number one: Is this the cutest book cover you've ever seen, or what?

This was an interesting short novel about a woman called Keiko who seems to have some form of undiagnosed autism, and who works at a convenience store, of course. Keiko loves working at the store and doesn't understand why everyone thinks it's not normal to keep doing the same part-time, "dead-end" job for eighteen years.

Keiko feels safe and at home in the store, where the expectations are clear, but she is less comfortable in the outside world, where people seem to have so many unwritten rules about who she "should" be. Even her family hope for her to be "cured" so she can be "normal," which apparently means: Get a real job and pursue a career, and/or get married and start a family.

I loved the character of Keiko! I just wanted to jump into the book, give her a hug, and tell her it's okay to just be who you are. But of course she has to figure that out for herself...

I recommend this quick-read novella! I did wish it were longer.

Rachel Weiss's Group Chat

 Fiction by Lauren Applebaum

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

At the beginning of this book, Rachel Weiss wakes up on New Year's Day with a hangover from the night before, a strange guy in her bed, and a new determination to generally try to be more responsible this year. After all, she'll be thirty soon. Maybe it's time to think about trying to settle down with a nice Jewish boy like her mother wants her to.

But then it turns out that what her mother actually wants is for Rachel to marry the rich young man whose parents just moved in next door! Christopher Butkus, as he is unfortunately named, is everything Mrs. Weiss wants for her daughter Rachel, regardless of whatever it is that Rachel wants. 

Told through narrative and the titular group chap (with Rachel and her friends Sumira, Eva, and Amy), this story is funny and has good characters. It's a straight romance done well.