Fiction by Robin Caroll
Brennon is a search and rescue pilot used to difficult situations in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and she's always relied on her Christian faith to see her through. But in this story she faces trouble with a heart transplant patient, a child trafficking ring, a helicopter crash, a corrupt politician, AND a handsome US Marshall. It's a lot.
This book had an exciting storyline but I didn't love the characters.
Fiction by Stephen King
This audiobook was actually a collection of stories, of which the title story (If It Bleeds) was the best. I really think it should have stood alone. That one I give two thumbs up.
The other stories were:
Fiction by Louise Ferrier
In 1928 Edward and Eleanor Hamilton are living a good life in England. Eleanor is a lady of good breeding and Edward is a scholar, specializing in research on the current eugenics movement. They have a four-year old daughter called Mabel and another baby on the way. Both believe that society would be well protected by laws that prevent "lower orders" of people from increasing in number, and forcing deficient individuals to be institutionalized. After all, poor Eleanor's own mother was killed by a criminal degenerate!
But when little Mabel begins exhibiting disturbing symptoms of epilepsy, Eleanor starts to re-examine this line of thought. Is Mabel's life really worth less because she faces a medical challenge? Edward's plan is to quickly put Mabel away in a care home and forget about her; he both fears political repercussions and is genuinely baffled as to how to help his daughter. But Eleanor can't bear that...can she?
This was a thought-provoking story --who knew that it wasn't just the Nazis espousing these ideas?!-- but it was upsetting to read. It was well-written but I had trouble with it. I will say the author came up with a decent resolution at the end.
Fiction by Ashley Elston
Evie Porter is a little nervous to be meeting her new boyfriend Ryan's friends for the first time. After all, she's a new girl in Lake Fortbing, Louisiana, and all of these people have grown up with Ryan.
Plus, everything Evie has told Ryan about herself is a lie, starting with her name. Her real name is Lucca Marino. But then another new girl shows up in Lake Fortbing who says that SHE is Lucca Marino. Evie can't figure out what's going on...
This was an exciting thriller with several surprises.
Fiction by Liane Moriarty
At the beginning of this story a flight from Tasmania to Sydney takes off and a very unexpected thing happens, but it has nothing to do with the annoying flight delay that had just occurred, or indeed even with the airplane flight at all. A woman suddenly stands up and begins predicting the age and cause of death for each of her fellow passengers. She does it with such a chillingly matter-of-fact manner that people become quite alarmed, calling her the Death Lady. It's a very unpleasant experience, but of course it's short-lived.
But the real trouble starts when some of her predictions begin to come true....
This was a really good book!
Fiction by Catherine Banner
This story was about the Esposito family, who lived on a small (probably fictional) island off the coast of Italy near Sicily called Castellemare. It takes place over the course of most of the twentieth century.
It was okay but...the characters just didn't hold my attention. I finished it but felt like it hadn't been worth it to push through to the end. I can't really articulate why.
