Just the Nicest Couple

 Fiction by Mary Kubica

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

Lily and Christian are the titular Nice Couple in this story. They are young professionals looking to start a family soon, but at the beginning of this story something happens that threatens them. The reader begins to see that under their nice exteriors, Lily and Christian are willing to do anything to preserve their reputations, even if it's not so nice.

This book was okay but too slow for a thriller. It did have a surprise twist at the end.

I also read by this author: Local Woman Missing

Nobody's Girl

Subtitled: a Memoir of Surviving Abuse and Fighting for Justice
Nonfiction by Virginia Roberts Giuffre

https://www.audible.com

Oh my goodness. This was wrenching and way, WAY too sad. I couldn't finish listening.

What Happens Next

Fiction by Christina Suzann Nelson

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

Faith Byrne is a mother of two teenaged daughters who is still reeling from her unexpected divorce at the beginning of this story. A former investigative reporter, Faith does a podcast about people who recover from tragedy called “What Happens Next.” Now she has been contacted by someone from her past about featuring a cold case disappearance, and there are some surprises in store.

I really liked this book and will look for more by this author. 

That Night

 Fiction by Chevy Stevens. 

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

At the beginning of this story, Toni Murphy is finally getting paroled after a fifteen-year prison sentence for murder. Although she knows she was innocent of the crime, she's no longer really trying to prove it to anyone. No one believes her anyways. All she wants is to try to go back to her hometown and have a sort-of normal life. But the past keeps coming up to haunt her, and slowly the reader learns what really happened the night of the murder...

This was a good story with good characters. The ending was somewhat of a surprise, but some elements were too predictable.

I also read by this author: Still Missing

Death of the Author

 Fiction by Nnedi Okorafor

https://www.audible.com

Zelu is a Nigerian-American woman who has been partly paralyzed since age 12. She is the second born of a large and loud family, and a child of parents from two different African tribes: Ibo and Yoruba. All of these things make up part of who she is, but none of them define her as much as this: Zelu is an author.

This book is about both Zelu and her writing, combining elements of her novel, scenes from her life, and interviews of her family and close friends about her. It has wonderful and believable characters, and I would give it a very high rating… except for the ending. 

Without resorting to spoilers, I can’t tell you the ending of course. Let me just say it was ambiguous and anti climactic. So this book is well written, and the narration on the audiobook is stellar, but it’s been demoted down to one thumb, or less. 

The Windy City Saga, Books 2 & 3

Shadows of the White City and Drawn by the Current
Fiction by Jocelyn Green

https://www.barnesandnoble.com  https://www.barnesandnoble.com

I read the first book in this trilogy (Veiled in Smoke) a while ago, and these books continue the story. All three books were good!

The first book was set during the Great Chicago Fire, and I liked how the author skipped ahead in time for the next two books to other significant events in Chicago’s history. The second book was during the World’s Fair and the third involved the Eastland tragedy, which l had never heard of. It was all interesting. 

The Secret to Southern Charm

 Fiction by Kristy Woodson Harvey

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

The story in this book seems to have nothing really to do with the title; it’s about a mother, grandmother, and three grown daughters in a coastal Georgia town and the challenges they face. It also is apparently book number two in a series, although nothing in the cover identifies it as such. 

It was an okay story but not great. 

Where We Belong

Fiction by Catherine Ryan Hyde 

https://www.audible.com

Fourteen year old Angie and her family are about one step away from homelessness. It’s just Angie and her mom and her little sister Sophie; since Angie’s dad died they have been struggling. After getting evicted from their home, they have worn out their welcome at every friend and relative in town. Sophie is a non verbal (but also VERY non quiet!) autistic child of six, and her disability makes trouble for them everywhere they go. 

Everyone is strongly suggesting institutionalizing Sophie, but Angie can’t bear that option. Can Angie and her family figure out how to live and stay together? Then an unlikely possibility presents itself, and strangely enough it begins with a dog.

This was a lovely character story, and the audio narration was wonderful as well. 

I also read recently by this author: Falling Apart and Other Gifts from the Universe

The Greatest Love Story Ever Told

Nonfiction by Megan Mullally and Nick Offerman

https://www.audible.com

This hyperbolically named book by the married actor/comedians is pretty funny, but not hysterically so. 

It was a bit too long and repetitive; if you like these people already you'll probably like it. If you don't know who they are you will be bored. 

The Lost Girls of Willowbrook

 Fiction by Ellen Marie Wiseman

https://www.audible.com

I could not finish listening to this book because it was about a girl imprisoned in a mental institution and I can't handle that subject emotionally. (I should have realized it from the description, I know. Sometimes I don't read the descriptions.)

I'm logging it in as Did Not Finish because I like this author and have read other books by her; I don't want to find myself in the middle of this one ever again.

I also read by this author (and finished!!): The Orphan Collector

Falling Apart and Other Gifts from the Universe

Fiction by Catherine Ryan Hyde

https://www.amazon.com

Addie is sixty-something year old working a night shift security guard job and attending five AA meetings a week. But even though she’s eight years sober, she’s really never dealt with what was underneath her addiction. 

Her new sponsor assigns her to redo her moral inventory, and she starts to really uncover some things. But then she kind of falls apart. Fortunately, although she is a chronic loner, Addie has a couple of good friends to help her through.

This was a really good character story. 

I also read recently by this author: Walter's Purple Heart

The Housemaid

Fiction by Freida McFadden

https://www.amazon.com

Millie needs a job badly, and she takes one as a housekeeper/ nanny for the Winchesters, only to regret it soon after. Nina Winchester is capital-C crazy and her child is a class-A brat. But Andrew Winchester is pretty darn hot, and it seems like he might be falling for Millie…

This book started out a little tedious but got interesting about halfway through. The ending was a surprise! There are a couple of sequels; I might give them a try. 

I also read by this author: The Coworker

The Summer that Changed Everything

Fiction by Brenda Novak

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

Fifteen years ago, Lucy’s dad was convicted of three terrible murders in their beachside hometown. Only seventeen and ostracized by her neighbors, Lucy changed her name and left town for good. But now she’s coming back to try to prove her father’s innocence…

This was an okay story but a little far fetched. 

Stupid Perfect World

Short Fiction by Scott Westerfeld

https://www.amazon.com

In the distant future, everything is so very perfect that they make high school kids go through “Scarcity” class so that they can appreciate how great they have it now. Each student must pick a past hardship that has now disappeared and experience it for two weeks, such as the common cold, or adolescent hormones.

This was a novella; I wished it were longer. It was a fun read.

I also read by this author: Afterworlds

Reset

 Audible Original Fiction by Mark Tufo

https://www.audible.com

An EMP from some kind of sun storm knocks out all technology on planet earth at the beginning of this story and the reader learns about it from three different perspectives in three different areas of the USA. It’s a serious post apocalyptic world in every place. 

This book started out exciting and I really loved the characters, but it was just so DARK. It got awful. There is a sequel, but no thanks! I can’t sit through any more of the hopelessness of evil humanity. It was well written but terribly so. 

I also listened to recently from Audible Originals: The Break Up Artist

Still Missing

 Fiction by Chevy Stevens

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

The missing realtor on Vancouver island was a pretty famous case to begin with. Then when she was miraculously found almost a year later after an harrowing hostage ordeal, Annie O’Sullivan’s name was even more well-known. But Annie feels like she’s still missing in a way; she can’t get over her fear that she could be abducted again and media attention is worse than unhelpful. Can Annie return to any kind of normal life?

This was an exciting and unsettling story with some surprises.

I also read by this author: Always Watching

Burn After Reading

 Fiction by Catherine Ryan Howard

https://www.amazon.com

Emily Joyce is a writer who can’t seem to write anymore. She wrote a bestselling novel and accepted a large advance to write a follow up book. Then, somehow, six years went by without said follow up book materializing. Now she’s surviving on a dead end job and just hoping that Morningstar, the publishing house, has forgotten about her. 

But then Morningstar decides they need a ghostwriter and that Emily is going to have to repay them by being one. So Emily ends up interviewing a famous athlete who may or may not have killed his wife. 

This was an exciting thriller with several surprises. I love this author!

I also read recently by this author: Rewind

The Last Word

 Fiction by Taylor Adams 

https://www.audible.com

Emma Carpenter is house sitting for the winter in a lonely beach home on the Pacific coast. She is grieving deeply, escaping through binge-reading, and flirting with suicide. But when a murderer comes after her, she will discover that she doesn’t really want to die. Still, she might be killed anyway…

This book had twist after twist after twist. I loved it!

I also read by this author: Eyeshot

Murder in Disguise

 Fiction by Mary Miley

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

This is a mystery set in the 1920’s. Jessie Beckett is a former vaudeville child performer and is now working as an assistant script girl for a Hollywood studio. When her friend Barbara’s husband is murdered, Jessie investigates. 

This was a lighthearted story with some surprises. 

The Break Up Artist

Audible Original Fiction by Erin Clark and Laura Lovely

https://www.audible.com

Zelda is a wheelchair user and an assistant in an advertising firm. She is hoping to move up into a more creative role as soon as she can, but her boss seems uninterested in promoting her. Besides that, she’s still reeling from her mother’s death and her father’s hasty remarriage. She needs an outlet, and she finds it in the role of The Break Up Artist, anonymously writing scathing letters for people who want to quickly end their relationships.

But what happens if she actually meets a real person who has been on the receiving end of one of her angry missives? And what if it’s a good looking guy she just might fall in love with?

It’s obvious what will happen here; still this story was engaging and had some funny parts. It’s a pretty good straight romance. 

I also listened to recently by Audible Originals: The Kaiju Preservation Society 

Lady in the Lake

 Fiction by Laura Lippman

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

This was a slow-moving mystery story set in the late sixties. The characters were believable but not always sympathetic. It was okay but not great.

I also read by this author: Dream Girl

Life and Other Inconveniences

 Fiction by Kristan Higgins

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

Emma London is doing fine nowadays with her teenage daughter Riley, although some thought Emma would never survive when she first became pregnant as a teenager herself. Chief among the naysayers was Emma's wealthy grandmother Genevieve London, who had raised Emma since the age of eight. After over fifteen years of silence, however, now Genevieve is suddenly calling to ask Emma to come home.

Emma is proud to have never needed her grandmother's help, and she is unprepared when the old woman might need help herself.  Will she forgive old hurts and try to repair their relationship?

This was a really good character story with some romance.

I also read by this author: Pack Up the Moon

The Stranger in Her House

Fiction by John Marrs

https://www.audible.com

This was a very exciting story that kept making turns I didn't expect. Most of the characters were rather terrible people but you couldn't help being sympathetic to some of them anyways.

I also read by this author: You Killed Me First

The Program

 Fiction by Gregg Hurwitz

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

This is apparently #2 in the Tim Rackley series, which I wasn't aware of when I picked it up. I didn't need to have read The Kill Clause (the first book) to understand this one; however I do think reading this one might have ruined the prospect of reading the first one by giving everything away...

In this story ex-state trooper Tim Rackley is tasked with trying to rescue a girl called Leah from a cult. It's kind of upsetting to read; I don't like to think that a cult could really suck normal people in like that.

This was an exciting story but very dark.

I also read by this author: The Survivor

All The Lies

 Amazon Prime Kindle Fiction by Nicola Sanders

https://www.amazon.com

Amy used to be a dance teacher, but now she is only Jason's wife. Since their marriage, Jason has taken control of every aspect of Amy's life, watching her every minute and trying to catch her deceiving him. She had foolishly signed over all of her money to him to "invest" for her; now she has no resources and no way out. Even her mother takes Jason's side in their arguments, refusing to believe that Amy is being abused.

When her mother offers her a ticket to a cruise ship vacation, Amy is desperate to take it and try to get away. Her mother means for the trip to be for both Amy and Jason, but Amy tells her husband that she'll be traveling with her mom and is relieved when he believes her. Or does he? 

This was an exciting story with several surprises! (And one over-the-top twist at the end that I don't 100% buy.)

I also read by this author: Don't Let Her Stay

I also read (FREE!) from Amazon Prime Kindle: The Sideways Life of Denny Voss