This book moves backwards.
Some old people you don't care about fall off a cliff and die. Then at
the end, two people who have made it through world war two fall in love,
marry and split up all in a short time, and you care deeply. In between, their children's lives are interspersed and the island of Mallorca, where they live, becomes a character in itself. Which I usually hate. But not here.
Damn, this was good!
This is a feel good, Natucket-y "yeah, maybe my husband left me for another woman, but I've still got it" kind of book.
Dang! I usually hate this
sort of book, the Bourne Colonoscopy and what have you. If I am going to
be subjected to some confused white fella with mysterious secret
organization ties fighting bad guys, it better be on screen with Matt
Damon or someone of that ilk.But I was pleasantly surprised by this. It cranks along, there aren't any gaping plot holes and all the characters are well drawn and realistic, even the completely indestructible bad guy. I could not put this thing down.
This was wonderful. I loved
LIFE AFTER LIFE so much and it took me awhile to appreciate the very
different feel here. I loved the main character right out of the gate,
but I found his daughter so insufferable I could barely read her parts. I
should have trusted Atkinson, she wove the story together so
beautifully, I want to start over and read it again. And while I am at
it, pick up LIFE AFTER LIFE again, just for the hell of it. Not to be
missed!
There is a certain type
of librarian who worships at the alter of Neal Gaiman. I am not that
librarian. I usually have little patience for them. I liked CORALINE and
THE GRAVEYARD BOOK just fine. He seems a likable sort. I just never
understood the high fangirl index rating of the guy. Then I read
AMERICAN GODS. Holy cow. This was brilliant. I laughed out loud, I read
some passages over and over. I sat and stared into space thinking about
possibilities in this world. The story is the buildup to a war and a man
on a quest and a marriage that death can't quite split up and a million
other details that just pulled me in. I loved this book.
Well, she can still write!
This is a great story, set in the 1950s, that feels fresh and
of-the-time all at once. Planes fall from the sky, first love blooms,
families fall apart, little girls get possessed by dead dancer - there's
something for everyone. 
Kate Morton is pretty
much a sure thing on several fronts. England between the wars, parallel
time lines, different points of view - all things I love. This one is no
exception. A little boy goes missing on midsummer's eve and everyone
feels the ripples even 70 years later. Sure, you will probably figure it
out a little early, but that doesn't take away from the pleasure of
reading the details. And, as always, Morton's details are what make her
books so appealing. There are three sisters, a police inspector who has
made a lapse in judgement, an elderly writer with a secret, war,
infidelity, first love and a lot of coincidences. A fun read that will
make you neglect whatever you are supposed to be doing until you're
finished!
This book was as fun to
read as it was enlightening. I have been married since Hector was a pup.
There wasn't internet when I got hitched! Ansari and his pal,
sociologist Eric Klinenberg, take the reader through the maze that is
modern dating They discuss the idea of soulmates vs. settling, cheating
and snooping, and how technology has changed the way that single people
looking for love or a reasonable facsimile thereof go about it. 
Full disclosure, this is actually a children's book. But it is so good, I think anyone with a soul would love it. All the reviews say the same thing - you have read this sort of thing before. Abused girl finds a parent-substitute in childless adult who has a private pain of their own. It is the details that make this so splendid.
It is set in the early days of WWII when Ada and her brother have been evacuated from their horrible life in London to Kent. Susan, who is mourning her partner (a sweet detail that is there for those who will see it and will be over the head of those who don't), has no intention of taking in evacuees, especially these two very damaged souls. Guess what?? They end up saving each other! Did you see that coming? Of course you did!
The writing is so so so so good. And all the characters, even the old fellow who takes care of the horses at the manor house, are fleshed out without that feeling of the writer trying too hard.
At the end of the book, there is enough left unresolved that I would love to follow these characters, well, for the rest of their lives!
Well,
there's nothing so close to a sure thing as Jojo Moyes. She hits the
funny bone and heart strings in equal measure with equal skill. This is
the sequel to ME BEFORE YOU and I actually liked it better than its
precursor. Which is crazy, because I really liked that one, too. There
was one point where a "wacky misunderstanding" threatened to derail the
whole relationship aspect and it was headed towards four-star territory
(I HATE a wacky misunderstanding where simply uttering one honest phrase
could make everything better, but no one is willing to utter it. Good
grief, sack up...) but it was remedied fairly quickly. And the rest of
the book was a treat. Yes, everything ends up fine. And Moyes doesn't
wimp out at making her characters make hard choices. Very gratifying
read.
Damn right we should. This brief book, adapted from a TED talk, gives some pretty great reasoning on the topic. 
This was a grippy little
mystery. It was nearly a 5 star because it did keep my interest, but
something about the way it went back and forth in time kept me from
reading it obsessively. I loved the parallel stories and I particularly
loved how Maud was shown to be declining as the book progressed. I don't
know how accurate this look at Alzheimer's is, but it was very
interesting. 
Oh I just loved this one!
It is funny, because it is a character driven books with some very
irritating characters. But Johnson is magic in that she creates these
kind of aggressively unpleasant characters and makes you fall in love
with them anyway. M.M. Somebody or other is this reclusive writer who
wrote one Harper-Lee-Salinger-esque book that everyone loves and thinks
of as a touchstone of their lives and then she stopped writing. Well,
she has lost all her money and must produce work again so her publisher
sends his assistant out to L.A. to help her. The assistant, Alice, our
first person narrator, is tasked mostly with taking care of Frank,
Mimi's 10 year old son. There is something very off about Frank. He
spouts facts and dresses like it is 1927, he loves movies and sometimes
lies down on the ground completely stiff when life becomes too much for
him. He is a royal pain in the ass, but he is unique and charming and
Alice loves him. Then there is Xandar, super-hot handyman. Mimi is
HORRIBLE. Truly a wretched person to deal with (unless you are Frank)
and yet Johnson makes me care about even her.
I haven't reviewed this yet, but I did like it a lot. There are 4 siblings who have been counting on an inheritance to fix the messes that they have made of their lives. Well, one of them screws it up for everyone and all hell breaks loose. I love a book where initially unappealing characters begin to show more depth and worm their way into my heart. This is just that sort of book.
Did you like Downton Abbey? Well, you'll love this story of a independent minded school teacher who moves to a small English town the summer before...well, you know when... 
