Ghost

 Fiction by Robert Harris

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

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.

The Twist of the Knife

 Fiction by Anthony Horowoitz

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

Apparently this is number FOUR in a series of books of which I have read none. I REALLY wish they would label these things...

To be fair, I understood the plot of this story just fine without having read the previous novels. The author is pretending (at least I'm pretty sure he's pretending) to be actually narrating real events he gleans from following a murder-solving detective around. It's as if the great Mrs. Christie herself used her own name in the place of Captain Hastings and narrated Poirot's exploits as if they were true. (I mean, they can't really BE true. Right?)

Anyways, this time Mr. Horowitz himself is accused of the murder! The story was interesting and convoluted; I was surprised at the end. I didn't love the characters.

I also tread by this author: Magpie Murders

Memoirs and Misinformation

 Fiction by Jim Carrey

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

Jim Carrey's summation of this book is: "None of this is real and all of this is true."

If you said, "Huh?" then welcome to the club. I didn't get it either, and unfortunately I didn't get this book. It's supposed to be a peek into Mr. Carrey's mind but in a fictional way?

Also it wasn't funny. I mark this one DNF--Did Not Finish.

How to Invent Everything

 Nonfiction? by Ryan North

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

This book breaks my reading rules. To review, I only like stories about people, and I prefer fiction.  

BUT... this book has no characters and no plot. I like it anyways because it’s hilarious. 

As an aside, I couldn't decide if it was fiction or nonfiction; the information is factual but presented in a fictional way, if that makes sense. (Yeah, I realize it doesn't.) I looked at the book jacket of my library copy, and it's listed as nonfiction officially. There you go, I guess.

Malibu Rising

 Fiction by Taylor Jenkins Reid

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

At the end of every summer in late-70's-early-80's Malibu, the fabulous Nina Riva holds a party, and everyone who is anyone is there. But August 27th, 1983, may very well be the last time. That night, the Riva party will go out of control and start a fire on Malibu beach.

This story is about that party and all the events leading up to it. It's a great character story about celebrities real and imagined.

I also read recently by this author: The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo

The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman

 Fiction by Ernest J. Gaines

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

This is a fictional account of an interview with a 110-year-old former slave conducted in the late sixties. Miss Jane is quite a character, and her life story is very interesting! I didn’t care for the ending as much.

Apparently this is a classic of sorts; it was originally published in 1971. This audiobook version is newer; I’m not sure about the narrator but I did enjoy the book. 

By the way, there is rather extensive use of the N-word in this book, which I understand is consistent with the history of the story, but can be jarring. Don't listen to the audiobook where anyone can hear it out of context!

The Royal We

 Fiction by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

This was a fun story about a fictionalized version of the Prince of England romancing an American girl. It was a pretty good story, although I thought it dragged some in the middle.

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo

Fiction by Taylor Jenkins Reid

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

This was a fun story about a fictional version of Old Hollywood.

Evelyn Hugo is a Liz-Taylor-esque star famous not only for her beauty, but also for her many affairs and her refusal to dish about them. In this book, she finally agrees, at age 79, to speak to one specific reporter, Monique Grant, a little-known woman recently hired at a fashion magazine after a long spate of freelance and weblog writing.

Will Evelyn really tell everything? And why has she chosen Monique to talk to? This story was fascinating and surprising.

I also read recently by this author: Daisy Jones and the Six

Daisy Jones and the Six

Fiction by Taylor Jenkins Reid

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/

This book took me a little time to get into; it's pretending to be about real people being interviewed about past events, so I kind of had to get over that. Once I got interested in the characters I couldn't put it down.

The idea is that "Daisy Jones and the Six" are a late-seventies rock band who broke up despite their popularity, and the author is doing a documentary-type-thing to uncover the reasons why.

That the answer is infighting and drug addiction will surprise no one who has ever seen an episode of "Behind the Music." Still, to paraphrase Tolstoy, all unhappy rock bands are unique, and the story got very interesting near the end. It's more honest than any REAL rock-band-expose could ever be.

Funny Girl

Fiction by Nick Hornby.

http://www.barnesandnoble.com

Okay. This is NOT the Barbra Streisand movie. It has nothing to do with the musical or stage show.

It's the story of a BBC sitcom star in the sixties, sort of a British Lucille Ball.