They Never Came Home

Fiction by Lois Duncan.


http://www.barnesandnoble.com

This was an exciting novel that began with a pair of teenage boys who never returned from a hiking trip. The boys are presumed dead, but then some survivors wonder if they really are still alive.



I also read by this author: The Third Eye.

Justice

Fiction by Karen Robards.


http://www.barnesandnoble.com

A fast-paced novel, this is a legal thriller that's not too much in the courtroom. Good book.

As You Wish

Subtitled : Inconceivable Tales From the Making of The Princess Bride
Nonfiction by Cary Elwes.


http://www.barnesandnoble.com

I really enjoyed this book, because I love The Princess Bride. It really went into the minutiae of the movie, so if you aren't a fan of the film, you wouldn't care for it.

But if you've seen The Princess Bride enough times to have it almost memorized (like me) then you'll love it. Inside info! Woo-hoo! For example: Cary Elwes' ponytail and mustache: real or fake? I must know.

And the audiobook makes it even better, because it uses the actual actors' voices.



BTW: the mustache was real; the ponytail was fake. Mystery solved.

What She Left Behind

Fiction by Ellen Marie Wiseman.


http://www.barnesandnoble.com

This story begins in the present, when seventeen-year-old Isabelle begins a research project with her foster mother, who works for a local museum. They have gained access to a historic mental hospital, long-closed and spooky, and open a series of forgotten trunks, left behind by patients who presumably died in the institution. Then the story skips to the past, in a flashback to the time when the hospital was still open.

A fascinating story with good characters, this novel explores a sad period in mental-health history, which made it difficult to read at times.

Big Stone Gap

Fiction by Adriana Trigiani.


http://www.barnesandnoble.com

A nice romance story that didn't completely go as I expected.

In Cold Blood

Subtitled: A True Account of a Multiple Murder and its Consequences.
Nonfiction by Truman Capote.


http://www.barnesandnoble.com

This is a classic (published first in 1965) that I'd never read. Good book.

The Goldfinch

Fiction by Donna Tartt.


http://www.barnesandnoble.com

This book was really long but still held my interest. It had a great story. The characters were believable but unfortunately not super likable to me.

The Third Eye

Fiction by Lois Duncan.


http://www.barnesandnoble.com

Great story about a teenager with the gift of finding missing children, this one is worth the read.



I also read by this author: A Gift of Magic.

Zaremba, or Love and the Rule of Law

Fiction by Michelle Granas.


http://www.barnesandnoble.com

A really unusual book about a Polish girl crippled by polio and her unexpected romance, this was a self-published novel that shouldn't have had to be.

It had good characters and a quietly interesting plotline.

Three Wishes

Fiction by Liane Moriarty.


http://www.barnesandnoble.com

A fun book about a set of grown sisters who happen to be triplets, this story examines sibling relationships from the inside and the outside.

Liane Moriarty is the BEST. Check out also: Big Little Lies.

The Survivors: Book One

Fiction by Angela White.


http://www.barnesandnoble.com

I got this book free on Kindle for my phone. I really hate reading on a screen instead of a book, so that factor may have negatively influenced my opinion of this story.

That being said, I could not finish this book. The post-apocalyptic plot was all right, although a bit gory, but the characters were hard to get interested in. The good guys were unsympathetic and the bad guys were truly horrid. Everyone was kind of one-dimensional.

I think it might make a better movie that a book. Maybe.