Nonfiction by Peter Godwin
This author grew up in Africa, but he and his family are white. This book weaves together the story of his family history and the collapse of their troubled adopted country of Zimbabwe.
It was interesting, but I didn't love it.
Fiction by Anne Rivers Siddons
In 1961 there is in a small town in Georgia called Lytton where a girl called Peyton is growing up motherless. Suddenly into her little world comes like whirlwind Nora, an older cousin with a pink Thunderbird, cigarettes, and progressive ideas.
This is a character-driven coming-of-age novel that I really wanted to love. I can't say why I didn't; there was nothing wring with it. In my opinion it was only okay.
Fiction by Kristin Harmel
In this story there is an old woman who lives like a hermit in the forests of Poland and Germany; in 1922 she feels compelled to steal a girl-child from a pair of budding Nazis in Berlin. From this strange beginning comes Yona, a girl raised completely in the wild but educated by her foster mother for a strange destiny neither of them understands. It's only when the Germans invade Poland and small bands of refugee Jews take to the forest that Yona understands her true purpose is to help these broken people survive.
This was a really good story with some unusual twists.
Audible Original Fiction by Liv Constantine
At the beginning of this story, Iris is taking her seven-year-old stepdaughter Molly to a birthday party... at Iris's ex-husband's house, where he lives in an ostentatiously rich fashion with the b-word he left Iris for. But she's trying to be the bigger person and put Molly's friendship needs before her own. Then some surprising things happen...
This was a pretty good novella, although I wish the twist had been less easy to predict. Also I think it would have been more fun as a full novel with more time for character development.
I also listened to recently by Audible Originals: Tell Her Story
I also read by this author: The Last Time I Saw You
Audible Original Fiction by Margot Hunt
Paige Barrett is a disgraced journalist who starts a true-crime podcast that suddenly links up to her real life. This was a pretty good short mystery.
I also listened to recently by audible originals: The Last She
Fiction by Kristan Higgins
Josh and Lauren Park are the perfect young married couple, about to have their third anniversary. Unfortunately, Lauren is dying, and knows she won't make it to their fourth one. She decides to leave Josh a series of letters for him to read after her death, to help him get through his grief and hopefully find love again.
I remember a similar idea in a book called P.S. I Love You by Cecelia Ahern. I guess I read that before I started this book blog; it was made into a movie in 2007. Pack Up The Moon is as good or better. It's a sweet story with really good characters. I really enjoy this author's style.
I also read by this author: Fools Rush In
Fiction by Jon Haldeman
Matt Fuller is a research assistant at the MIT physics department when he discovers that he's accidentally built a time machine (hence the title). What follows is exciting, unpredictable, and sometimes hilarious.
This was a fun little story with narration I enjoyed a lot.
