The Third Wife/Lisa Jewell/328 pages

Adrian Wolfe is a man addicted to love. When the love wanes in a marriage, he happily moves on to the next woman leaving behind an ex-wife and kids. Miraculously, the families all get along, even to the extent of vacationing together. When wife number 3, Maya, dies in a tragic accident leaving Adrian by himself for the first time, his grief is all consuming. A year later, a mysterious woman comes into his wife and makes him start questioning Maya death and the true relationship he has with two ex-wives and five children.

An interesting page turner with a slightly disappointing ending. I (as always) was hoping for more of a mystery. Overall, it was a good read. Blogging has been fun, but it's time to pursue other projects. Happy Reading!

Prodigal Son/Danielle Steel/318 pages

Peter McDowell broke away from his parents and his twin Michael after high school. His trips back to see them were limited to seeing his sick parents once before they died and then their funerals. His life in the New York financial world was complete with a luxury apartment and a wife and two boys until the stock market crashes, and he loses everything. With his wife moving back to her father's home in LA with the boys, Peter restarts his life by moving back to the lake house his parents left him. He tries to stay out his brother's way in town, but Michael seeks him out and makes an attempt to bury the past. Peter happily decides to let go of the past until more information about his brother, the beloved town doctor, comes to light.

This is part of my project of reconnecting with authors I used to enjoy decades ago but no longer read. First up was Mary Higgins Clark a couple of months ago. The book I read did not convince me to start reading her books again. I never was a devout Steel fan, but I had read a couple I had enjoyed. This one started out promisingly, but the last third of the book was just too easy. I wanted a twist, a surprise, something other than what I got. I give this one a "pass."

The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry/Gabrielle Zevin/270 pages

A. J. Fikry is a lonely bookstore owner on Alice Island. His lovely wife died a while ago, and she was the one who kept the business afloat. He's a young man with an old heart. When his prized possession is stolen, he feels there is nothing left for him. Then one day, someone leaves him a surprise, a gift really, in his store. That gift helps him to get out of his head and start living again.

This is our book club selection for the month. It's a sweet, moving story about the choices we make about our life. Each chapter is preceded with a lesson about a specific book or short story from Fikry's point of view. Some were familiar to me; many were not. Funny and entertaining.

Nemesis/Catherine Coulter/384 pages

Savich and Sherlock are working on separate cases in Coulter's latest installment of the FBI Thriller series. Sherlock was on her way home when she was pulled into a terrorist's attempt to blow up a grenade in the security line. The New York FBI office decides that she will be a good resource, so they keep her on the bigger case tracking down the person behind the attack. Savich, on the other hand, is at home in D.C. looking for the reason a young man would stab a good friend in broad daylight and not remember he did. That case pulls him into a small town with families of Wiccan and intertwining relationships.

Good addition to the series. Coulter stays true to the characters and the backstory she has created.

How to be a Grown-Up/Emma McLaughlin & Nicola Kraus/240 pages

Blake Turner's career started off with a bang when he was just a tween, but now he's just a mostly working actor kept afloat with regular, substantial residual checks. Rory, his wife, freelances as a stylist for photo shoots. When Blake's latest "big break" falls through, Rory must take a job at a start-up run by twenty-somethings and learn the new buzz words that make up their conversations. Between caring for their two children, trying to bolster up Blake's self-esteem and reasoning with  two bosses who are clearly unsuited for leadership, Rory's hands are full.

McLaughlin and Kraus, authors of the Nanny Diaries, have written a funny and sometimes poignant story of a woman faced with a changing world. Longevity and experience are discarded in favor of youth and bad behavior. Quick, fun read.

Naked Greed/Stuart Woods/307 pages

Stone Barrington's last few adventures have been a mix of politics and international intrigue. This time around, he's just facing off with a group of common criminals with connections with the New York mob. That must be such a letdown for him. No one gives him vast sums of money which has become a pretty common occurrence, but he does land a huge client for himself and Woodman & Weld. There's plenty of shooting, and someone close to Stone is a target as well.

Not the worst, or the best, of the series. I've always liked the character of Dino, Stone's former partner, but as he moved up the ranks right up to Commissioner (all the dumb luck can't be Stone's), he lost some of his appeal and sense of humor. I was glad to see some of the fun come back into the conversations with Stone and Dino. I keep hoping that Stone's meteoric rise will lead to an equally fast fall and we'll be treated to the Stone of old. It hasn't happened yet.

Summer Secrets/Jane Green/308 pages

Cat Coombs is in her twenties, a journalist and a party regular. She grew up with a distant father and her depressed, American mother in England. She always knew she was a disappointment to her father, but she never knew why. After his death and a particularly bad hangover, her mother reveals a secret that gives Cat hope for a better family life. But her trip to Nantucket doesn't go like she hopes and her life in England goes on. Years later, another trip to Nantucket, this time to make amends, opens up a surprise relationship and leads her back to another one.

I don't know anything about Jane Green, but this book and it's intimate knowledge about alcoholics and AA seems very close to her. I almost wouldn't call it a summer read or beach book just because it's such a heavy subject. But with its focus on relationships and forgiveness, it is just what most people want from summer book.

The Rumor/Elin Hilderbrand/374 pages

Madeline and Grace have been best friends for 20 years. Grace lives a very pampered and expensive existence with her husband, Nantucket real estate mogul Eddie, and twin daughters, Allegra and Hope. Madeline's life is much more low key with local pilot husband Trevor and son Brick. While Madeline is a moderately successful author, Grace's passion is her hens and her spectacular gardens. Nantucket is a small island and an even smaller community, so when the rumors start to fly about both ladies and their families, everyone gets involved, but the most scandalous events might be the ones no one guessed.

Which is worse: a rumor that is true, one that isn't or one, true or not, attributed to someone erroneously? While Hilderbrand's books will never be touted as great literature, they are entertaining and present some interesting questions. Great summer read!

A Man Called Ove/Fredrik Backman/477 pages (Large print)

Ove is 59 and drives a Saab. Anyone who drives anything else is an idiot. Maybe not a complete idiot, but an idiot nonetheless. Ove likes routine and knows right from wrong. He doesn't talk unnecessarily which is to say he barely talks. When he does, he's likely to be shouting. As gruff and unwelcoming as he is, he knows that he was lucky beyond measure to find his wife all those years ago. Sonja kept him in touch with the world and loved him back unconditionally. Now he has new neighbors, and since Ove isn't much into learning names of new people, he thinks of them as the Lanky One and Pregnant Foreign Woman. The couple has two small girls, and the whole family is overly familiar in Ove's mind. Ove just wants to get on with his life and his plan for it. He has no intention of this family diverting him from his plan, but he may have to stop and help them, because goodness knows they need help.

This is our book club selection for the month, and I'm so excited to meet this week. What a heartwarming story of curmudgeon who meets his match in a small, pregnant Iranian woman! Highly recommended.

One Hundred Names/Cecelia Ahern/471 pages

Katherine (Kitty) Logan's career as a journalist is pretty much over after a scandal that lands both her and her bosses in court. When the judgement comes down that costs the television news program a bundle, Kitty is suspended, another word for fired. Kitty's mentor from her first job, Constance, is dying of breast cancer, but she is still happy to talk about a comeback story for Kitty at the magazine that she and her husband run and where Kitty got her start. Constance tells her to get the file from from her house, and then they will discuss what Constance has in mind for the story. Kitty jumps at the chance for redemption, but before she can get back to the hospital, Constance has slipped into a coma. She dies the next day without regaining consciousness. The magazine will be publishing a tribute issue for her, and Kitty boldly asks to write the story that Constance would have written. The problem is the file is just a list of one hundred names and nothing more. Kitty has less than two weeks to figure out the story or her career will be over for good.

This is a charming story of redemption, forgiveness and love.

The Silent Sister/Diane Chamberlain/343 pages

Riley MacPherson has come home to settle up her father's affairs. She has a house to clean up and sell, an RV park to sell and a will to execute. Her brother lives on the outskirts of town in the RV park, but he has no interest in helping her. His time in Iraq damaged him physically and mentally, but his soul was damaged before that. Living in a home that had lost the oldest child, Lisa, to suicide when he was a child scarred him deeply. Riley was only 2 at the time, so her memory of Lisa and her suicide are non-existent. As Riley goes through her father's things, she begins to discover things about Lisa and her family that have her questioning everything she thought she knew.

Good story with an ending that was just a little unrealistic, but overall, I would recommend it.

Sh*t My Dad Says/Justin Halpern/158 pages

This book evolved from a Twitter page by Justin Halpern. His father, by all accounts, is a blunt and profane man. Sometimes he is funny. Other times he is strangely aware of other peoples problems. Mostly, though, he swears like a sailor. This is our book club selection for the month in honor of Father's Day. It should be an interesting discussion.

Daddy's Gone A Hunting/Mary Higgins Clark/338 pages

When Kate Connelly is severely injured and Gus Schmidt is killed in an explosion at Kate's family's furniture plant, the assumption is that they were responsible for the blast in an effort to collect insurance money. Kate's sister, Hannah, and Lottie Schmidt are sure that there is another culprit, but since Kate is in a coma, there's only supposition on the part of the fire investigators. A skeleton found in a sinkhole found during the clean up of the site only adds to the mystery. Plus, evidence of a squatter in one of the wreaked delivery vans in the back of the parking lot also throws more doubt at the theory. Add several more murders and one (possibly two) fraud schemes and you have a typical M.H. Clark monstrosity. 

I loved Clark's first five or so books, but it's been decades since I've read her books. It all became come back to me while I was reading this. She has so many stories going on at once, it makes me dizzy. After I finished the book and went to bed, I woke up suddenly with the realization that she had left one part of the mystery unexplained. I went back and reread the pertinent parts and found out that she just didn't finish that part of the story. She was probably just as dizzy as I was. I don't recommend this book.  

The Knockoff/Lucy Sykes and Jo Piazza/338 pages

When Imogen Tate comes back to her job as editor-in-chief of Glossy magazine after a six month medical leave to treat breast cancer, she's shocked to find her one-time assistant, Eve, running the transition from a print magazine to an online only app that provides links to BUY IT NOW on absolutely everything. At 42, Imogen hadn't expect to be obsolete, but Eve thinks she is. Imogen's learning curve has to be especially steep to keep up with Eve. Eve needs Imogen for her contacts in the fashion world, but she still calls her "the dinosaur" to her face.

This book is for anyone who works for an organization that is falling over themselves to hire and/or cater to "Millennials", and face it, who doesn't? The Boomers days are waning, and Gen X was never the force that either Boomer or Millennials have been. You'll find yourself cheering for Imogen even though she hardly embodies the average Joe. A great read!

Hot Pursuit/Stuart Woods/337 pages

The newest Stone Barrington novel finds our hero jetting off to jolly old England with his new plane and his new main squeeze. Stone is on the peripheral of most of the action this time. He mainly serves as a source of information by being in the right place at the right time. Most of the story focuses on Holly Barker's new job as assistant to the president for national security affairs and an immediate threat by a couple of sleeper cells.

In the past I've bemoaned the changes in the Barrington series as the print grew larger, the plots thinned, the dialogue became laughable and  the characters became caricatures. I wished for the
Stone from the early days. In this novel, Woods seems to be moving slightly back to those days. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that he'll keep going in this direction. Decent story even if there isn't much action.

Sidney Chambers and the Shadow of Death/James Runcie/392 pages/Historical fiction challenge

Sidney Chambers is not your ordinary village priest. He is fond of warm beer and jazz. He also has a keen mind and an eye for details. His friendship with the local inspector, Geordie Keating, gets him involved in the village life in ways that a priest usually is not. His bachelor status as well as his new curate Leonard, his housekeeper Mrs. Maguire, and his black lab Dickens provides him with plenty of distractions from his duties.

A completely delightful set of stories. Set after World War II, Runcie gives us a nice view of life in a English village. Masterpiece Mystery has turned this first book into the first season of The Grantchester Mysteries. I can't wait for the second book and the second season. 

A Small Indiscretion/Jan Ellison/323 pages

Annie Black sits down to write a letter to her son to explain everything that led up to his tragic accident and how life has changed since. Her story goes back to the year before she met her husband when she was living in London trying to save money to study in France. She had fled her colorless life in the States looking for adventure. Her memory of what happened may be skewed by time and guilt. Ultimately, she has to face what happened all those years ago and how it effects the present.

A very good first novel. This is our book club selection for the month, and I look forward to the discussion.

Where They Found Her/Kimberly McCreight/326 pages

When an infant's body is found in the woods back behind Ridgedale University, Molly Sanderson gets the call to go investigate for the local newspaper. The other "real" reporters are unavailable, as is the paper's contributing editor, so Molly, the paper's freelance features reporter, is it. Any other story would be welcomed as her big break, but Molly delivered a stillborn baby a while ago and suffered from severe depression.

As she uneasily begins the questioning of authorities, she finds herself drawn into the mystery of whose baby it is and what is the significance of where she was dumped. Is the long ago accidental death of a teen in the same spot merely a coincidence?

Told from several difference viewpoints (almost a requirement these days) and covering different time periods, McCreight weaves a intricate story of murder, betrayal and tragedy.

Silver Girl/Elin Hilderbrand/408 pages

Meredith Delinn's life is falling apart. Her husband has been arrested, tried and sentenced for an elaborate Ponzi scheme that cost his investors billions. Both she and Leo, her oldest son, are also being investigated as accessories. Meredith has become the most hated woman in the world. After being evicted from her New York penthouse, she needs somewhere to stay. Forbidden from having contact with either of her sons, she calls her ex-best friend for help. Connie agrees to let Meredith stay with her even though they haven't spoken in years. Connie takes her to her summer home on Nantucket to hide, regroup and possibly mend their broken friendship.


I seem to be attracted to the beach/island location for my reading lately. Possibly, I need a vacation. This would be a great addition to your summer reading/beach book list.

Double Fudge Brownie Murder/Joanne Fluke/356 pages

At the end of the last book, Hannah Swensen had been charged in connection with her part in a tragic accident. Her trial is about ready to start with jury selection when she and her lawyer are called to meet with the judge. When Hannah discovers the judge's body in his office, she needs to find the killer to clear herself and her crystal clear motive. On the personal front, Hannah may finally be ready to decide which marriage proposal she'll accept. Of course, once she does (in the next book), I'm sure there will be some obstacle because "the course of true love never did run smooth."


Another fine entry into the Hannah Swensen series with lots of new recipes to try.