Fiction by Samantha Downing
Lottie Moore is an elderly woman who just wants to take it easy and be left alone in her old age. Unfortunately, when you have a criminal past, it can be difficult to truly relax. Complications can keep arising...
This book was surprisingly great fun! (Which you wouldn't expect, given that the protagonist is an old lady who happens to be a serial killer.)
Fiction by Catherine Ryan Hyde
In 1969, fourteen-year-old Lucas Painter discovers several new things: that he loves running, that his best friend is severely depressed, and that he (Lucas) can make a difference in the lives of others.
This was a lovely story with beautifully-drawn characters.
I also read recently by this author: Don't Let Me Go
Fiction by Robert Harris
This "ghost" in the name of this book isn't a noncorporeal entity. Instead, the title refers to a ghostwriter.
In this story, former British prime minister Adam Lang has been paid an exorbitant sum for his memoirs and is running close to the deadline when his trusted-aide-tuned-ghostwriter apparently commits suicide with the book unfinished. At that point, our unnamed protagonist ("the Ghost"--get it?) gets the assignment, complete with a promise of a huge payoff if he delivers the finished work in thirty days.
But our friend the Ghost has an nearly impossible task ahead: not only is the existing manuscript terribly written, but also the subject of the memoirs is elusive, able to carry on long conversations without actually saying anything at all. Plus it's starting to look like the first ghostwriter didn't kill himself after all.
This was an interesting book with a surprise ending, but almost no sympathetic characters.
Audible Original Fiction by Matt Dinniman
What if aliens took over our planet and killed most of the people, and then pitted the survivors against one another in a real-life role-playing video game, broadcast all over the galaxy for their entertainment?
Then you get Dungeon Crawler Carl, a crazily entertaining story of a human and his cat trapped in an underground world and trying to survive.
This was an exciting story that kept me guessing, and it had some very funny parts too!
Fiction by Rufi Thorpe
This story is about Bunny Lampert, an amazing girl who is tall and strong, beautiful and rich, but also insecure and nearly friendless. But Bunny does have one real friend, a boy named Michael who lives next door, relying on the tenuous goodwill of his aunt. Michael is fascinated by Bunny and cares deeply about being a good friend to her, but he is also quite preoccupied with staying safely in the closet in order to keep his place to live.
This is an incredibly good character story that makes the reader truly invested in both Bunny and Michael. I loved it, but it also was pretty heartbreaking.
Fiction by Laura Moriarty
At the beginning of this book, 18-year-old Kara accidentally hits a pedestrian on her way home from the last day of her senior year of high school. The victim, a girl named Bethany who is two years behind Kara at the same school, is killed instantly. Also instantly, Kara's life is forever changed.
The story is told from the perspective of Kara's mother Leigh, and the focus is on the relationships in the family, and the relationships between the family and the small town they live in. It's a very good character story that gives the reader a lot to think about.
Fiction by Christina Suzann Nelson
This was a good story about a group of college friends who reunite after 25 years and then inexplicably go on a survival trip together in Oregon wilderness. I liked the characters a lot.
I also read by this author: What Happens Next
