Fiction by Megan Lally
At the beginning of this story a girl who has lost her memory finds herself gravely injured and in a ditch by the side of the road. She's quickly found by local police, though, and they seem to locate her father, who has been frantically looking for her. He says her name is Mary, but she's not sure if he's telling the truth about her name, or anything else...
This was an exciting thriller with an unexpected twist at the end.
Amazon Prime Kindle Fiction by Noelle Ihli
This book was not what I expected. It was about catching a serial killer who targeted girls he met on a dating app, but he was way more successful than might have been hoped. In fact, it's his dead victims who help stop him!
This was exciting and unexpected, but not very cheerful.
I also read recently (free!) by Amazon Prime Kindle: Last Patient of the Night
Fiction by Nicole Trope
At the beginning of this book a man called Damon is struck by a car at a busy intersection on the rain, which is of course "the accident" to which the title refers. The question is, was it really and accident, or did someone hit him on purpose? Then the reader discovers that Damon has both a wife and pregnant girlfriend, as well as an attractive female therapist who refers to him as "the narcissist." Could one or more of them be involved?
This was an okay thriller but the characters were not very likeable. Also it slipped into over-the-top unbelievability after a while, giving me a mild case of I-Can-No-Longer-Suspend-My-Disbelief-Syndrome.** Really, how many affairs/ one-night-stands can this guy actually have? I have loved everything else I've read by this author, but this book is not nearly up to her usual standard.
Fiction by Catherine Ryan Hyde
I love this author and the relatable characters she writes! This book centers on Maggie, doctor and a divorced mother of two who volunteers with an organization called Doctors on Wheels, a mobile medical unit that helps disaster victims. Maggie's boyfriend Alex supports her work wholeheartedly (actually he's a nurse who works directly with her) but her teenaged daughters don't like it. They wish for a mom who is more focused on them than she is on helping strangers.
As usual, this is a great book that gives the reader a lot to think about.
Fiction by Meg Eilson
Layla is fourteen years old and lives in serious poverty with a supremely indifferent mother and a needy six-year-old brother. She is super smart and gets good grades almost without effort, but most of her energy is spent taking care of her baby brother and simply surviving. The reader knows this situation is unsustainable and has to blow up, but Layla is determined to keep gong no matter what.
The character of Layla was heart-breakingly believable, and this whole story was amazingly well-written. The book was engrossing but not necessarily enjoyable. It was awfully bleak and sad. I really wanted things to work out better than they did....
Audible Original Fiction by Ben Winters.
At the beginning of this story, a young woman called Annie is sitting in her fiancé's kitchen when an apparently homeless old lady shows up and disrupts her life in a very unexpected way.
This was an interesting and exciting story. I recommend it!
I also listened to recently by Audible Originals: For We are Many
Nonfiction by Ellen Hunter Ulken
This book briefly profiles the short lives of six twentieth century female singers, all of whom died before reaching age 35. Five of the women were known to me.
It was a good overview and it's interesting to see the similarities and differences in the women's lives.
Fiction by Freida McFadden
Tegan is twenty-three years old and eight months pregnant. She works a crappy low-paying job, but she's hopeful that she'll be able to get support from the baby's father once it is born. But things don't work out as well as she had planned...
This was an exciting thriller with several twists!
Fiction by Jocelyn Green
This was a historical novel set during the Great Chicago Fire. It had good characters, but was basically a romance. It's the beginning of series; I may read the others.
Amazon Prime Kindle Fiction by Gary Gerlacher
A.J. Docker --known as "Doc"-- is an emergency-room physician who likes excitement and dates a lot of women. This book is the beginning of a series about him and his adventures. In this story, Doc solves the mystery of what happened to Jenny, a young woman dropped off at the ER on the brink of death by an unknown assailant.
This was a fun story and definitely worth reading, especially for free. I'm not sure if I like Doc well enough to read more of these, however.
Fiction by Jamie Brenner
Amelia owns a bed and breakfast in Provincetown with her partner Kelly, but on this particular summer she decides not to open the inn to guests. Little does she know that some guests will be coming after all, due to a DNA test match from a young woman claiming to be her grand-daughter.
This was a really good story with characters I enjoyed.
Fiction by Karin Slaughter
In this story, number six --#5 was Fallen-- in the Will Trent series, Will and Sara have finally gotten together but face trouble from Will's past. The reader learns a lot more about Will's origins than has ever been reveled before.
Also there's a serial killer to stop, of course...
Fiction by Diane Chamberlain
At the beginning of this story, Claire Harte-Mathias is the perfect wife to her husband Jon, an accomplished man who also is paralyzed from the waist down. Claire has lived a charmed life, going from a happy childhood to an idyllic marriage seamlessly. But Claire is also repressing almost everything about herself without knowing it.
Across the country, her estranged sister Vanessa has a very different set of memories about their childhood; to Vanessa the past a dark and dangerous place. The two girls were separated by their divorcing parents as children and haven't been in contact since. Vanessa wants to keep it that way.
This was an amazing book in my opinion. I notice that many reviewers disagree and say they hated it and hated Claire specifically. While it's true that Claire is actually kind of a terrible person, I felt that the author gave us enough insight into her personality to make her understandable. It takes great writing to create realistic characters like this. But then, I'm a real Diane Chamberlain fangirl.
Fiction by Stephen King
This book may be considered a classic. It was originally published in the nineties as a serial novel in a set of installments. I had heard of it but hadn't read it before.
The story is of a prison guard remembering his time working on death row. As is usual with Mr. King, the charters are top-notch and something creepy happens.
Fiction by Alison Richman
I tried really hard to like this book; I actually read over half of it.
It just stayed boring.
Nonfiction by Karen Tongsen
I got this book (along with several others about the late singer Karen Carpenter) because I'm kind of researching the Carpenters for a possible musical revue performance. I read a biography of her years ago before I started logging my books --I think it was Little Girl Blue by Randy Schmidt-- and I wanted a little refresher course.
This book was a bit colored by the author's own take. The author herself was named after the singer, and her home country of the Philippines apparently has a special affinity for Karen Carpenter. It was a pretty good short read.
Fiction by Karen Swan
At the beginning of this story, set in approximately 2017, an apartment in Paris is discovered that has been sealed and unoccupied since the second world war. The place is owned by the rich Vermeil family, but they had been unaware of its existence; that is, most of them did not know about it. When the information comes to light, M. Vermeil finds out that his widowed nonagenarian mother had kept the property a secret on purpose, and indeed the old lady still wants to completely forbid entry. But why?
M. Vermeil calls on British art agent Flora Sykes to investigate the property and see what it contains, keeping to the letter of his mother's wishes by not going into the apartment himself. Flora discovers a treasure trove of artwork, including several pieces of great value. She begins to research the provenance of the art so that it can be sold, and runs up against a problem: the valuable art pieces seem to have all passed through the hand of a known and hated Nazi collaborator, a man known for stripping assets from Jewish families during the war. It's an ethical dilemma. Does this art belong to the Vermeil family at all?
As an intellectual exercise, this plot is really interesting and gave me a lot to think about. However, as a story it was a bit lacking. The author left some loose ends but still managed some leaping coincidental plot twists, and the characters were often less than believable. I didn't love this book.
Fiction by Meg Elison
Fiction by Joe Hart
Andy is a mystery/thriller writer who moves into a house in his old neighborhood after his wife has left him. He needs a change, and he needs to keep an eye on his father, who has just been diagnosed with dementia. What he doesn’t need is to start an affair with Rachel, a married woman who lives down the street. He does that anyway. Then he receives an anonymous note, telling him to stop seeing Rachel, “or else.”
This was a pretty good thriller with some surprises. I didn't love it. Still, it was free with Amazon prime...
I also read (free!) from Amazon Prime Kindle: The Inmate
Fiction by Suzanne Redfearn.
At the beginning of this story, Faye is a mother of three who has run out of options in Yakima, Washington. Her husband Sean disappeared over six months ago, her son is in serious need of counseling, and she has no reserves left. Faye moves in with her mother in Los Angeles, and fortunes change drastically.
This was a really good story! I loved the characters, especially Faye. Everything I’ve read by this author is great!
I also read by this author: Where Butterflies Wander
Nonfiction by Ariel Levy
At one point in this story, the author attends a small party where a new acquaintance asks, "Are you the Ariel that all the bad things happened to?" Unfortunately, she has to say yes to that question.
Ariel begins this book at a low point: her spouse has left her, her baby died, and she has to leave her beloved home. Then she goes back in time, and she tries to explain to the reader how she started out to be "the kind of woman who is free to do as she chooses," and ended up finding out how many things that she decidedly did not choose will happen anyway.
This was a really interesting memoir, honest and touching and very readable.
Nonfiction by Drew Magary
The author suffered an unexplained brain hemorrhage in December of 2018 and came very close to death. He tells the story of his struggle to recover in this book.
It was very interesting and quite funny in parts. I really appreciated the honesty.
I also read by this author: The Hike
Fiction by Krysten Ritter
Abby Williams is an environmental lawyer in Chicago, but she is still haunted by memories of Barrens, Indiana, the small town she grew up in. There was a girl called Kaycee Mitchell, who was both Abby's best friend in elementary school and chief bully in high school; Kaycee became inexplicably ill during senior year and then disappeared just before graduation. Ten years later, Abby gets the chance to investigate a case in Barrens, and goes there with the idea of finally solving the mystery of Kaycee's illness and disappearance.
This was a pretty good mystery/ thriller, but I didn't love it.
Fiction by Agatha Christie
At the beginning of this story, discovered in the front room of a blind woman's house, we have: a shorthand typist, several stopped clocks set to exactly 4:13, and a murdered man. The woman herself has no idea how any of those things arrived. They certainly weren't there before she went out shopping that afternoon.
This book is listed at the 34th Hercule Poirot mystery, which is an amazingly high number! However, the famed detective is not a prominent character this time; he shows up in time to solve the case, but mostly stays out of the action. (This is a good thing in my opinion; I like his solutions but he can be a tiresome character.)
I also read recently by this author: A Caribbean Mystery
Fiction by Matthew Weiner.
This was a short but interesting story about an ordinary couple who produced an extraordinary daughter. Heather is loved by all, and by age fifteen is beautiful and kind, brightening the days of everyone around her. But Heather's bright light of a life is threatened by an unknown predator. Can she be saved?
This story would make a great movie. It was a bit too short, but I liked it.
