Carissa's Law

Fiction by Misty Boyd.

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

What do you know about spina bifida? I didn't know much. What I was pretty sure I knew was (a) it's caused by lack of folic acid in the mother's diet during pregnancy, and (b) babies born with it usually die soon after birth or are in a permanent near-vegetative state.

Well, this book didn't address the folate deficiency thing, and wikipedia agrees that it is a risk factor but not necessarily a cause. So I was partly right about (a). But I was quite wrong about (b)!

This novel was actually written by a woman with spina bifida. The story is about an 18-year-old girl with the condition who uses a wheelchair and has some medical troubles, but is otherwise just like any other girl of her age: going to college, trying to be independent from her parents, and meeting boys she'd like to date.

I enjoyed reading about a character who is different from myself and realizing how alike we all really are. Also, I learned a few things about dealing with a disability that I'd never thought of before. For example: When able-bodied people take up the only handicapped stall in a public restroom, it's pretty upsetting to a person who uses a wheelchair, especially if there are regular stalls open. I'm trying to remember not to do that in the future!

Anyways, this was a nice story and a quick read.

The Second Silence

Fiction by Eileen Goudge.

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

Mary Jeffers has a shotgun wedding and a baby daughter by the age of seventeen. But these are not the things she ends up regretting at almost fifty.

This was an interesting character story with some romance and suspense.

How to Stop Time

Fiction by Matt Haig.

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

In this story, the main character is over 400 years old, but looks about mid-thirties. He's not exactly immortal, but it's pretty close to that. The book has a plausible explanation but I won't go into that any further because....

The important thing here is that this is a great story! Like the movie The Highlander, this book makes you think about what it would be like to live on after everyone you know and love is dead. The scene in that movie with the song, "Who Wants to Live Forever" sung by Queen, still breaks my heart when the immortal Connor calls for his wife and she comes up the path, suddenly older, while he still looks just the same.

But I digress.

Anyways, this story does a great job of making such a strange concept seem real. This is a great book!

The Sittaford Mystery

Fiction by Agatha Christie.

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

I haven't visited my Agatha Christie list for a while, But I hadn't forgotten about re-reading all her books in order through audiobook.

This one is a classic non-detective story, by which I mean there is no Hercule Poirot or Miss Marple here to show everyone how clever they are and you AREN'T. There is only a regular policeman with the help of a regular person to solve this mystery.

Great book!! I actually remembered who the murderer was at the beginning (from previous reading) and still enjoyed the story!

I also read recently by this author: Murder at the Vicarage

The Other Woman

Fiction by Sandie Jones.

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

Emily thinks she's found the perfect man in her fiance Adam, except for one problem: his mother is a complete psycho.

This is not a spoiler; it's obvious from the book jacket.

The surprise is HOW psycho the woman is, and WHY.....

It's an exciting read, but I was unsure if I completely buy the ending. Still a pretty good book!

The Last Hours

Fiction by Minette Walters.

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

This novel is set in 14th century England at the outbreak of the black plague. Although that sounds like a terrible place to put a story, I really enjoyed this book, mostly because the author manages not to kill off everyone you like. The plot was very good and the characters were believable.

The only problem was, apparently this story is just an opening to a series, and the book ended with"to be continued..." Grrr.

The Wife

Fiction by Alafair Burke.

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/

Now THIS is actually the "psychological thriller" it claimed to be.

It starts out with Angela, who is apparently standing by her husband, although he's being accused of some kind of assault. She's a tightly controlled character, hyper-focused on her son and her perfect homelife; it's not surprising at first how loyal she is to him, and what her reactions are. Still, as the story unfolds, we get more and more layers of information about her and her relationships and it gets really interesting. By the end, the story packed in so many surprises I was practically yelling WOW!

This is en exciting read!