Think Twice

 Fiction by Harlan Coben

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

This book is number twelve in the Myron Bolitar series. (Number one was Deal Breaker; number eleven was Home) It's pretty rare for me to still be interested in a detective-type character for that long, but with this one, I still am. I actually still like Myron, and the mysteries haven't gotten state or impossible.

In this story, one of Myron's clients is a suspect in a murder. Now this has happened before --Myron is a lawyer and sports agent-- but this time, the client in question is supposed to be dead. But is he?

This was a good story with lots of surprises.

I also read recently by this author: The Match

Differently Morphous

 Audible Original Fiction by Yahtzee Croshaw

https://www.audible.com

At the beginning of this story, there's a training school in Britain for youngsters who show signs of magical powers. Also there's a secret ministry office that is in charge of all things related to magic. But if you think that you've heard this story before, you haven't.

From the very beginning, it's obvious that this is NOT the relatively benign Britain of Harry Potter. The magic in this story is darker and weirder.

This was a really good story with great characters. I loved it up until the very end, at which point I was confused. Maybe the author is trying to set up for a sequel, but I'm seriously not sure what actually happened.

Still, this is a really good book and an amazingly original one.

I also listened to recently by Audible Originals: The Case of the Felonious Faire

How the Penguins Saved Veronica

 Fiction by Hazel Prior

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

I chose this book for its title. Obviously.

It was a fun little story about a crotchety old lady in Scotland called Veronica who became slightly obsessed with fate of penguins in Antarctica.

Postcards From a Stranger

 Fiction by Imogen Clark

https://www.amazon.com

Cara and Michael's father is suffering from Alzheimer's, slipping farther away from them day but day. Well, actually he's slipping away from Cara; Michael checked out of the family a long time ago and leaves the care of the old man to his sister. But then Cara finds some postcards in a box in the attic that make her wonder if she knew her dad at all.

This story was told in a kind of disjointed way, jumping in time and shifting perspective. I liked it okay.

I also read recently by this author: Where the Story Starts

Any Other Family

 Fiction by Eleanor Brown

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

This is the story of three different families who are joined by adoption; namely, they have each adopted one or more of a set of blood siblings and are determined to keep the kids involved in each other's lives.

It was a really interesting character story that gave me a lot to think about.

I also read by this author: The Weird Sisters

Just a Regular Boy

 Fiction by Catherine Ryan Hyde

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

Remy Blake is only five years old when his dad decides the world is going straight to heck and moves them both out to the woods to live "off the grid" while civilization disappears. How will the two of them survive out there alone? Is society really going to burn itself down? And what will Remy do if he and his dad need a doctor?

This was a great story with memorable and believable characters.

I also read by this author: A Different Kind of Gone

Where the Story Starts

Fiction by Imogen Clark

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

After her father’s unexpected death, (the Honorable) Clio Montgomery-Smith feels compelled to find out the meaning of some things written in a little notebook he had carried. Her journey begins with the address of a little house in the seaside town of Whitley Bay, not far away geographically from her own home at Hartford Hall, but worlds away in terms of class distinction.  

At the house she meets a woman called Leah Allen, who lives there with her two children. What is the connection between Clio’s father and this little family? And will Clio be sorry to have gone looking for the truth?

This was a good story with likeable characters. 

I also read by this author: An Unwanted Inheritance

A Mother’s Secret

Amazon Kindle Prime Fiction by Caroline Finnerty

https://www.amazon.com

Rowan Whelan asks her old college boyfriend James to meet her one day because she has something to tell him. When a car accident interrupts them, it seems Rowan will never get to reveal the secret she had meant to tell James. But then it seems the secret will come out on its own: a secret that could devastate Rowan’s husband and three children, as well as James’s wife Helena. 

This was a pretty good book but a little more predictable than I’d have liked. 

I also read (for free!) from Amazon Prime Kindle recently: The Stillwater Girls

By the Numbers

 Fiction by Jen Lancaster

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

This story begins with divorced actuary Penny Sinclair getting ready to host her daughter’s increasingly elaborate wedding in her backyard. The task is complicated by her ex-husband, his new (young!) girlfriend, and her difficult parents. Penny is hoping that after the wedding is over she can sell the house and move on with her life, while hopefully getting a promotion and maybe going on dates again. But life and her family members have other plans…

I really liked the characters in this book, although I didn’t agree with all the decisions they made. This was a pretty good story. 

I also read by this author: Twisted Sisters

The Seven Dials Mystery

 Fiction by Agatha Christie 

https://www.audible.com

At the house party at Chimneys, all of the young people are rather late risers, but Gerry Wade is the latest. After he comes down for breakfast past 11:30 one morning, his friends decide to prank him with eight alarm clocks; he can't possibly sleep in the next morning, they laugh! But the joke turns sour when Gerry doesn't wake at all the following day, because he's dead. But did he die by accident, or has someone in the house murdered him?

This was an exciting mystery with several surprises!

I also read recently by this author: The Pale Horse

The Escape Artist

 Fiction by Diane Chamberlain

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

Susanna Miller is a young single mother with an eleven-month-old son called Tyler whom she loves desperately. So when her ex-husband Jim and his new wife Peggy win custody of Tyler, Susanna feels she has no choice but the take her little boy and run away, changing her name and leaving everything behind her.

This was an exciting story with memorable characters.

I also read recently by this author: Summer's Child