Round Robin by Jennifer Chiaverini -- This is book 2 in the Elm Creek Quilts series which I decided to start from the beginning (as I mentioned in last month's books post). This book delves into more of the stories of the ladies making up the quilt club - introducing their families, past conflicts, and current ones. A decent, easy read.
Live to Tell by Lisa Gardner -- another D.D. Warren novel featuring the Boston Police Department trying to solve crimes where whole families were killed. They were staged as if the fathers killed the mothers and children before they killed themselves, but is that what happened? This was an interesting look into children's psych wards and into families who deal with mentally ill children.
When Light Breaks by Patti Callahan Hentry -- an easy read for museums and parks while Sophie is in town; Kara is engaged to a PGA star, but thinks back to her old childhood friend Jack Sullivan and wonders whatever happened to him; an OK book
The Lost Man by Jane Harper -- as the book jacket states: "Three
brothers, One death, No answers..." ; this book takes place in the
Australian Outback, and while reading it, I'm amazed at the planning
these people must make in order to survive. When the river floods
without it raining (due to rain hundreds of miles north), you may be
trapped in your house for a couple of weeks. When you need supplies, you
better think what you want for your meals for a few months. When the
cooler room needs fixing, the repairman won't come unless he has a few
other people's properties to be serviced because it costs a hundred in
fuel to drive there and back. When you see someone stranded, you better
stop to help as it may be a death sentence for the stranded person. It's
the code of that part of the land. When Cam - the clever, well-liked
middle brother - is found dead several kilometers from his well-equipped
and supplied vehicle, people wonder. Was this Cam's way of killing
himself? I discovered this author last year, and enjoyed her mysteries
from Australia so I was glad to see this on the new books list at the
library.
Fear Nothing
by Lisa Gardner -- Adeline was born with a genetic condition which
allows her to feel no pain. She can feel the pressure of scissors or a
razor blade, but she won't flinch or scream from the pain of cutting.
She's the daughter of a serial killer who died decades ago, but her
father's murders are back in the headlines after a couple of murders in
Boston which have similar aspects to her father's MO. This book also
deals with Shana, Adeline's older sister who was incarcerated at age 14
after being accused of murdering a neighborhood boy while she was in
foster care. This was another good book in the D.D. Warren series by
this author.
The Patchwork Bride
by Sandra Dallas -- a rather cute, easy read on the New Books shelf;
Ellen tells her granddaughter about a friend of her's - Nell - who
worked as a hired hand on a ranch, as a waitress, and as a teacher - and
she also broke off 3 engagements of marriage. What a gal!
Saints at the River
by Ron Rash -- Which side would you be on? A 12 year old girl
vacationing in a SC mountain area is stuck under the water, caught
behind a rock in a hydraulic. This river is designated Wild & Scenic
and protected by federal law. Yet, the parents from Illinois
understandably want a temporary dam built so they can retrieve their
daughter's body for burial! Yet, the local environmental types argue for
the sake of the river: it cannot be altered since this sets a precedent
for future alteration, for developers to come in and ruin the river.
That's essentially what this book dealt with from the point of view of
Maggie, native of this area who now is a photographer based out of
Columbia.
The Unwomanly Face of War
by Svetlana Alexievich -- "an oral history of women in World War II" --
this book was highly recommended by Bridget, and her mom spoke highly
of it, too. So I got it for Christmas from my Amazon Wishlist; a great
look at the tasks women performed, the unique hardships they faced as
women fighting for the Motherland (Russia) during the war shared through
interviews with dozens of women
The Hope Jar
by Wanda E. Brunstetter -- I saw this online as a new book and put it
on hold; book one in The Prayer Jars series; an easy read; Michelle, a
former foster child on the run, is mistaken by an Amish couple as their
just-discovered (by letter) granddaughter, Sara. Michelle decides to
pretend to be Sara and spends weeks with the Lapps. What could go wrong?
The Cross-Country Quilters
by Jennifer Chiaverini -- This is book 3 in the Elm Creek Quilts
series; it follows the lives of a group of mostly-strangers (the actress
Julia; the quilt historian Grace; Megan and Donna, who are already
online friends; and Vinnie, a camp regular) who meet at the quilt camp.
They leave that week with promises to overcome challenges and to work
on a quilt that they will complete together the following year.
Save Me
by Lisa Scottoline -- Rose is one of the two volunteer lunch moms when a
small explosion in the cafeteria causes a deadly fire. Rose doesn't
know whether to rush three girls in her charge out the door to the
playground or go back for her own daughter Melly who had fled to the
bathroom after one of the girls bullied her. As Rose tries to clear
things up, she takes it upon herself to figure out what caused this
explosion in the first place.
Home Front
by Kristin Hannah -- A family in Washington - Jolene, the Black Hawk
helicopter pilot, her attorney husband, Michael; preteen daughter Betsy
and four year old Lulu. Life is already a struggle, but then when
Jolene is called up to go to Balad as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom,
Michael has to learn how to be there for his daughters. Jolene has to
decide how much to tell the family back home. And the girls have to
adjust to their mom being overseas, in a war zone.
The German Girl by Armando Lucas Correa -- A look at the passengers of the St. Louis,
desperate German Jews, who thought they would have a place to stay in
Cuba. But the Cuban President passed an order that allowed a fraction of
them to disembark. That story told through the eyes of Hannah, the
German girl. A touching story.
The Decision
by Wanda E. Brunstetter -- I often like having a soft-cover, easy read
when the kids are in town, and while I mostly read this one after Sophie
was back home, it was an OK story about Prairie State Friends (book 1).
It takes place among the Illinois Amish, and talked about Elaine who
was struggling with her forgetful grandmother, and about Jonah who was
getting over a failed marriage attempt. Maybe a predictable story, and
at times a bit too ... simplistically annoying, but, eh, I might find
book 2 just to read more about these folks.
The Next Accident by
Lisa Gardner -- this was not a D.D. Warren novel, and, frankly,
probably one of my least favorite books by this author. It was OK, but
the story of Rainie and the FBI profiler Pierce Quincy wasn't that great
to me. Maybe if I'd read the previous books featuring these two, I'd
like them more, but the library didn't have those so I had to start with
this one. Pierce's oldest daughter and ex-wife are murdered by someone
targeting those close to him, and so it's off to looking for this
person.
Searching for You by
Jody Hedlund -- Final book in the Orphan Train series; this one focused
on the youngest Neumann sister, Sophie, who had run away from her older
sisters when she thought she would have to give up the care of the two
little children, Olivia and Nicholas, whom she had cared for after their
mom abandoned them. Sophie is struggling to provide for them, and
decides to join the orphan train as an orphan. They head west to a farm
in Illinois where they come across a couple of familiar faces.
The Runaway Quilt
by Jennifer Chiaverini -- This is another in the Elm Creek Quilt series
and combines modern-day Sylvia and her friends who run the quilting
retreat with glimpses of Sylvia's ancestors who lived around the time of
the US Civil War. I got many more glimpses of the people familiar to me
from the first book I read in this series which happened to be way
later in the series if I were going in order. It was nice reading more
about Anneke and Hans Bergstrom and Gerda, Han's older sister who lived
with them. Sylvia found Gerda's memoir which revealed some family
secrets and kind of created more. Good story!
Death Books a Return
by Marion Moore Hill -- this book from the Scrappy Librarian Mystery
series was displayed at my local library so I decided to give it a try.
It was decent and an easy read while I was at the beach and riding home
from the beach today (2/26.) Juanita, the public librarian, is trying
to write a history of the town and is tracking down people who might
know something about an unsolved murder involving some high schoolers
back in the late 1950s. A black teenager was killed and his murderers
were never arrested. A decent book.
Maid
by Stephanie Land -- "hard work, low pay, and a mother's will to
survive"; I saw this offered online in the new books section of the
library's website so I put it on hold a few weeks back. It was an
interesting look at the author's life as a single mother working hard to
provide for herself and her daughter. I admire her hard work, but not her life choices.
