The Bishop's Wife

Fiction by Mette Ivie Harrison.


http://www.barnesandnoble.com

I really enjoyed this book. It was a great character story and a good mystery at the same time. Also, it gave a lot of insight into the Mormon church in Utah.

Trust No One

Fiction by Jayne Ann Krentz.


http://www.barnesandnoble.com

I have read several Jayne Ann Krentz books, and this is not the best one, but it was still pretty good. This is a suspense novel about a woman who finds her boss murdered, and then begins to think there might be a connection between her present and her past.

The Paris Wife

Fiction by Paula McLain.


http://www.barnesandnoble.com

This is a fictionalized account of Ernest Hemingway's first wife, Hadley Richardson. It was an interesting book with believable characters, although I had some trouble reading it because Hemingway seemed to be such an awful person, and his friends weren't so great either.

Still, from most accounts, it's probably an accurate picture.

Leonard

Fiction by Priscilla Delgado.

http://www.barnesandnoble.com

This is a good novel: it's suspense fiction set in Fairbanks, Alaska, and written by a local author.


I also read by this author: Cold Water.

The Secrets of Midwives

Fiction by Sally Hepworth.


http://www.barnesandnoble.com

In this story, a third-generation midwife has a surprise pregnancy of her own, and she doesn't want to tell anyone who the father is. Later we discover her mother and grandmother have their own secrets.

This was a good book; I enjoyed it.


I also read by this author: The Things We Keep

Alice I Have Been

Fiction by Melanie Benjamin.


http://www.barnesandnoble.com

This is a historical novel about the real person Alice in Wonderland was based on. Alice Liddell was a child in Oxford, England, and she lived near a very odd man who took way too much interest in little girls.

It's less creepy than it sounds. But it's still kind of creepy.

Still, it's a complicated story, and this book is a fair treatment of the subject.



I also read by this author: The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb

All the Stars in the Heavens

Fiction by Adriana Trigiani.


http://www.barnesandnoble.com

This is a historical novel set in the Golden Age of Hollywood. It's good, but a little over-long.


I also read by this author: Big Stone Gap, The Shoemaker's Wife, Very Valentine

Find Me

Fiction by Laura van den Berg.


http://www.barnesandnoble.com

At the beginning of this story, a plague has wiped out half of America's population. Unfortunately, the book does not improve from there, and the whole thing is very bleak. FYI: Don't stick around after the plague, folks. It stinks.

You may wonder why I would expect a dystopian novel like this to ever be anything but awful. (Remember The Water Knife? That was worse than this one.) I mean, if I know going in that it's about a disastrous future, why read it?

But the thing is, some stories about a terrible future are actually good. See The Stand  by Stephen King for a much better after-the-plague story, or Life as We Knew It  for young adults. And there's always Divergent!

Friends Like Us

Fiction by Lauren Fox.


http://www.barnesandnoble.com

This book was interesting to read but ended up being really depressing.



I also read recently by this author: Days of Awe.

Missing Pieces

Fiction by Heather Gudenkauf.


http://www.barnesandnoble.com

This is a suspense story about a woman who goes to her husband's hometown and uncovers some terrible secrets.

I've read several books by Heather Gudenkauf, and this one is not as good as the others. Still, the others were great, so that makes this one just pretty good.


I also read by this author: Little Mercies, Little Lies, One Breath Away,These Things Hidden, The Weight of Silence 

The Rich and the Dead

Fiction by Liv Spector.


http://www.barnesandnoble.com

This is a murder mystery with a time-traveling twist. What?

Just go with it, if you can, and enjoy a fun read.

The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb

Fiction by Melanie Benjamin.


http://www.barnesandnoble.com

This was a fascinating look at the life of an unusual historical person. Mrs. Tom Thumb was a real woman in the nineteenth century, and her story is well told here.

In a Dark Dark Wood

Fiction by Ruth Ware.


http://www.barnesandnoble.com

A modern British thriller, this is an exciting read with a surprising ending.

Inside the O'Brien's

Fiction by Lisa Genova.


http://www.barnesandnoble.com

This book is by the author of Still Alice, the story about the woman with early-onset Alzheimer's disease that was recently made into a Julianne Moore movie. I haven't read that book --in fact, this is the first book by this author I have read-- but I'd imagine it to be pretty similar to this one, judging from the movie. (I don't know if all of Lisa Genova's books are like this. Does she start out by wondering what sort of debilitating disease with which to doom her characters, and then begin writing? Sounds like fun, right?)

Inside the O'Brien's also focuses on a character facing a terrible diagnosis; this time it is Huntington's Disease. (That's not a spoiler, by the way; it's obvious from page one what's happening.) The really sad part is that this disorder is inherited, and so the whole family is directly affected.

Obviously this is not book for you if you are looking for a happy story, but it is amazingly readable and engrossing. It makes you think.