The Story of Arthur Truluv/Elizabeth Berg/218 pages

This is the story of lonely people who find friendship and "family" with unexpected individuals.  Arthur Moses is an elderly widower grieving his dead wife.  He has lunch every day at the cemetery sitting in a chair at his wife's grave and talking to her.  Maddy Harris is a high school student who is a misfit at her school.  Her mother died when she was a baby and her father is distant and unloving towards her.  Maddy is a very sad girl who has never fit in with other children at school.  Lucille is Arthur's neighbor.  She is overweight, a wonderful cook, and never been married.  Each character's story is heart wrenching and their journey of coming together is heart warming.  An interesting note is that the book does not have chapters.  A space indicates the change to a different character.

The Unlikelies/Carrie Firestone/323 pgs.

Sadie Sullivan isn't looking forward to the summer before senior year. Her best friend graduated, and will be spending the summer in California, and Sadie has distanced herself from the kids in her own class. She's anticipating a boring summer, until she performs and unconscious act of heroism. This act leads her to be recognized at a banquet with other teenage heroes--and her life takes a new direction. It's an inspiring YA novel that shows a different group of teens ,"the Unlikelies," banding together to try to make the world a better place. Recommended.

The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend/Katarina Bivald/394 pgs.

What a fun debut novel by this Swedish author! Sara Lindqvist travels from Sweden to meet her pen pal, Amy Harris, who happens to live in Broken Wheel, Iowa--an extremely small town that has seen better days. Upon arriving, Sara learns that she has showed up on the day of Amy's funeral. The residents don't quite know what to do with Sara, and vice versa. It's a heart warming story of a small town pulling together, and a tourist discovering herself in a most unexpected place. Highly recommended!

The Friends We Keep/Susan Mallery/375 pgs.

Three friends--Gabby Schaefer, Hayley Batchelor, and Nicole Lord--all living in Mischief Bay, and each dealing with problems on the home front! Gabby has been looking forward to going back to work part time now that her twin daughters will be starting kindergarten. Unfortunately,  her stepdaughter, Makayla, throws a wrench into her plans. Hayley has wanted a baby of her own as long as she can remember, but some things just aren't meant to be--she's resistant to her husband's suggestion of adoption for a variety of reasons. Nicole has pretty well been raising her son, Tyler, by herself, for years. Her ex-husband has been less than stellar as a father, so Nicole has trust issues concerning men. The women's friendship ties the three "stories" together, resulting in a rather predictable ending. Recommended.

Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend / Katarina Bivald / 394 pgs.

I just finished my ARC of this, and I do not see anyone else asking for it. Please let me know and I will be happy to send it your way. This was a cute story. It was one of those nice books that you want to read when you just need a happy ending. Swedish twenty-something Sara arrives in the tiny town of Broken Wheel, Iowa. She plans on staying with her pen pal, Amy, for two months only to find that Amy passed away from a long illness. Stranded and a stranger, Sara finds herself welcomed by the townspeople and realizes that the best way she can thank them is to start a bookstore in Amy's honor, sharing their mutual love of reading to the rest of the residents of Broken Wheel.