A Gentleman in Moscow / Amor Towles / 496 pgs

This is one of those books that I wouldn't have picked up if it wasn't my book club's selection for September. That said, I ended up really liking it. The book is a fictional account of an aristocrat in his late 20s who is imprisoned during the Bolshevik Revolution in a swanky hotel in Moscow. He stays there for over three decades and sees a lot of the changes in Soviet Russia from his hotel room.

That sounds a bit boring, doesn't it? However, the story of Count Rostov ended up being far more interesting that I would have thought. Throughout the book, he forms friendships with all sorts, young and old, learns a lot about himself and others, and ends up finding a way towards having a fulfilling life while unable to ever leave the confines of the hotel. The ending of the book really made reading the whole thing worthwhile, so please stick with it even if you think it's not your cup of tea.

Nine Perfect Strangers / Liane Moriarty / 453 pages

  I tend to compare an author's current book with others they have written, and I have read.  The characters are well-developed. The story was about nine people attending an upscale health resort that promises a transformation for each person. Each person is there for a different reason. Masha, the resort owner is bizarre and treats each person like a rat in a lab experiment. Her ego is enormous.  There will be no deviation from her plan for each person.
     I did not find this story as engaging as The Husband's Secret or Big, Little Lies.  For that reason I gave it 3 stars. A book club would find lots to discuss since each person attending at the resort was going through so much in their life. I'm sure the amateur psychiatrist in all of us would have a great time analyzing these characters.

Make the Connection / Bob Green and Oprah Winfrey 240 p. USA Today Bestseller Challenge

Bob Green and Oprah Winfrey discuss weight issues.  Each present a side.  Oprah shares her personal stories of her weight ups and downs.  She and Bob provide ten simple steps towards a healthier and

happier existence.  

USA Today Bestseller Challenge

Who Moved My Cheese / Spencer Johnson, M.D. 94 p. USA Today Bestseller

Dr. Spencer Johnson offers this parable about 4 characters in a maze, searching for the cheese, as a way to suggest how to accept, manage, and even look for change.

Change affects each character significantly and each respond differently.  Cheese represents what one's goals and the maze the place where one makes one's way.

Appeal factors are thought-provoking, business writing.

Readers may be interested in works by Ken Blanchard or Fish! a Proven Way to Boost Morale and Improve Results.

Beach Music / Pat Conroy 628 p. USA Today Bestseller

Pat Conroy relates the story of Jack McCall, incorporating many facets of southern living as well as all the happenings of his brothers, his Holocaust-surviving in-laws, his poor white trash mother, the 60's, Vietnam War, as well as the reasons behind his flight to Rome to raise his 2 year old daughter.

Jack returns to Charleston, S.C. when his mother is dying of leukemia.  He finds himself learning more about his mother than he ever did.  He gradually develops more in-depth look at his in-laws, his childhood friends, and his late wife.  It is interesting to see how he grows and relates to issues that drove him away.

This will appear to readers of moving family sagas, with lovely descriptions of Southern living, characters, and intricate plots.

Explosive Eighteen/Janet Evanovich/341 pages

Janet Evanovich has does it again.  Stephanie Plum is a bounty hunter for her cousin Vinnie who runs a bails bonds company.  While trying to track down bail jumpers ineptly, she also is trying to juggle two men in her life.  Add to that a sidekick, Lulu an ex-hooker and her grandma Mazur and nothing in Stephanie's life is simple.  Filled with humor and exploding cars, this was a great read.  All of Evanovich's books are good, but this one is one of my favorites so far.

Divergent / Veronica Roth / 487p

 Set in a future Chicago, Beatrice must decide to be a part of one of five factions within the society.  When tested to see what faction she would work best in, she is told that she is divergent - doesn't exactly fit in anywhere - and that she must keep that a secret to protect herself.  This realization is the beginning of Beatrice questioning how truly perfect her society is.

One more dystopian title to add to the YA list (oh Hunger Games, nothing will be as good as you), there's a lot of hype around this one.  I, for one, was not enamored.  Obviously, I'd recommend it to teens interested in continuing on the dystopian path but I would not list it first. (Matched, in my opinion, had a better story with a more realistic romantic side plot.)

Rumpole on Trial / John Mortimer 243 p.

Horace Rumpole, the shrewd, tenacious, curmudgeonly barrister, is back in seven more tales of English justice. He deals with defending a ring of child devil worshipers, unscrupulous land developer (also the popular former cricket star), and his own dismissal from the bar. Intertwined are the returning characters, Hilda Rumpole A.K.A. She Who Must Be Obeyed, Claude Erskine-Brown, Mizz Liz Probert, "Soapy" Sam Ballard, and Mr. Injustice Graves add disturbances of their own. The title story is a gem. Imagine Rumpole in retirement!

Call Me Irresistible / Susan Elizabeth Phillips 387 p.

Returning characters from Phillips previous works (Glitter Baby, Fancy Pants, and First Lady) delight the reader. The aimless Meg Koranda, daughter of Hollywood legends, breaks up the marriage between Ted Beaudine, and Lucy Jorik, daughter of first woman president. Everyone in Wynette, Tex., loves Ted and they defend their favorite son. Meg’s parents show tough love to get her to make something of herself so they cut her off and she finds herself without funds, living in a Rustmobile, and owing a chunk for her hotel room. Stranded, Meg becomes the town’s pariah and forced to accept a menial job cleaning toilets to pay off her hotel room—probably her first. Meg, honest, outspoken, and reckless, finds herself in the center of a campaign to get a multimillionaire to invest in an environmentally green golf course that is needed to boost the town’s shaky economy. This tosses her into contact with both Ted, the billionaire, his daughter, and the quirky townspeople. Her wit and her famous pedigree get the multimillionaire pursing her. To give herself an out with the multimillionaire she declares her love for Ted. So she fakes a romantic interest in Ted. Meg’s path to acceptance is rocky indeed. Phillip’s works demonstrate her gift for witty dialogue and intriguing characters. A bestseller from a RITA winner. Phillips says that Lucy Jorik deserves her happy ending and is hard at work on her story.

Simply magic / Mary Balogh 445 p.

The third in Balogh's Simply series of Regency romances, centered on a group of friends who teach at a private girls' school in Bath puts Miss Susanna Osbourne on a holiday where she meets Viscount Whitleaf, Peter Edgeworth. The more he advances the more she withdraws until Peter charms her into agreeing to be friends. Romance takes a turn when Susanna sends him home and she returns to her teaching. Peter is determined to solve the tragedy of her life and win her hand. March 2008 Best-Selling RWA Authors

Book of the Dead / Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child 454 p.

While Diogenes' FBI brother, Aloysius Pendergast, remains incarcerated in a maximum, escape proof prison cell, the Museum of Natural History reopens a long-closed Egyptian tomb exhibit. A series of murders and strange happenings sparks rumors of a curse. Fast-paced, plot-driven.

Library Journal Best Thrillers: 2006.

Sahara/Clive Cussler/568 Pages

This book was a suspenseful journey through the Sahara, uncovering the fiendish ways of two greedy men who together were causing a global catastrophe that threatened life on earth as we know it. Dirk Pitt, ever the hero, overcomes seemingly insurmountable obstacles to save himself, his friends, and the entire population of the globe.  Along the way he learns of a shipwreck that will change the course of US history.  Overall it was a great adventure read.