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