The Fortune Hunter by Daisy Goodwin is a highly readable Victorian era novel about a romance triangle. It centers on the Empress of Austria, the infamous Sisi, the Fortune Hunter of the title, Bay Middleton, and a young English heiress, Charlotte. Ms. Goodwin does an admirable job of introducing details of Empress Cici's struggles against fame an notoriety as she searches for happiness in an unforgiving and judgmental world. She is unfortunately not a sympathetic enough creature and I spent much of the book rooting against her. Unfortunately, it was difficult to root for star crossed lovers as I tire of books that represent woman as either grasping and conniving (Sisi) or insipid and weak willed in the face of the man they love (Charlotte) and the man who needs their forgiveness to be redeemed (Bay). It ends well if predictably. Great mindless beach reading for the summer.

Marisa Stapely has an engaging writing style. Every chapter is headed by a description of an animals mating habits and she does a nice job tying these in with each of the characters through the story. Each character is well written and their stories are compelling and highly readable. A great book for the summer beach!

Walk Me Home is a story about 2 sisters who are making their way to what they wish/hope will be a new home. Throughout their long walk they learn what home and love really are. Though this is a young adult novel, I was gratified to see that the children/young adult are not smarter than the grown ups. Though this book is somewhat predictable, it is a heart warming read that ends exactly how it should.

I was looking forward to this book. It is a genre that I enjoy...action/adventure and took place in two settings that I enjoy--India and Boston/Martha's Vineyard. Unfortunately, the story quickly fell flat. Outside of the protagonist, character development was lacking and the motive for the villain was weak. Even the love interest did not make sense. I appreciated the author's attempt to tie the main character's previous experiences as a solider in the Indian Army to his current dilemma but in the end I was left feeling flat and disappointed.

In the first 10 pages you absolutely know how the book is going to end. No plot spoiler here. The thing that kept me reading was that the story that was told is one I am always interested in reading. I like knowing that people...even fictional people...can overcome their bad decisions and petty ways and come out the other side. If you prefer Christian novels and predictability then you will enjoy this book.

I was hooked from the opening pages of Jonathan Dee's "A Thousand Pardons". I could not put the book down and completed it the day that I started. It is a story about a family that falls apart and then some how puts things back together--but there is so much more. The character development is phenomenal and the story keeps moving forward, bringing you right along with it. This would be a great one for book clubs.

This is a great story but this book is emotionally terrifying. It is a story of loss and the control that we cede to others in times of need. This story examines the relationships in families and how hard we try to "make things" right for them. From the first page you know something bad is going to happen and like a train crash or a car accident I couldn't stop watching/reading. I was screaming at Claire to STOP!!! But alas she didn't listen. Read this book but be prepared to be riveted.

This book takes work. Both mother and daughter spend time in self reflection and and in analysis of their relationship with each other. The world is their setting--apparently you need to take a break from life in order to be able to figure it out...what a luxury! I enjoyed this book much more when Claire and Mia got to Avignon. It was then that I thought the real work of the book began--they were better able to understand themselves and each other. It gave me insight into my relationship with my mother--I am nothing like either of them as a person, but I believe that we all need to do the emotional work that they began during their odyssey. I am really glad that I read this book.

My husband said, "You must be enjoying that book, you have laughed out loud several times", and while this was true, I was still undecided. The Voluntourist impressed me as the man's version (rip-off) of Eat, Pray, Love and because it was written by a man, I did not connect with Mr. Budd's existential angst in the same way. Despite that, the story did energize me to think beyond myself in this world and seek opportunities to make an impact. In the end, I think that was the point. Mr. Bud's anecdotes are alternately touching, disturbing and funny. All in all an engaging read.

I am a developmental pediatrician and so was drawn to this book because one of the main characters has Asperger's syndrome. The author did a great job getting inside that character's head and helped us to understand the point of view of an Aspie. This story is told in 2 parts in alternating chapters and I thought that this was a very effective technique. I was interested strongly in both plot lines and really did not see the end coming. It is a compelling story of 2 people overcoming moral dilemmas, both from different perspectives. This is not an easy story, there is a t of human ugliness, but in the end we are able to see how people can find their inner strength and make the right, albeit difficult, choices.

This is a good story about a mother and daughter finding themselves and each other after long years of estrangement. The writing is somewhat heavy handed with a few too many extraneous adjectives that got in the way of the plot for me. I appreciate that the author avoided a cliched feel good ending and left it up to the reader's own imagination.

This book was difficult for me to read at first. I knew that something bad was going to happen and I wanted it to happen right then so that the pervasive sense of foreboding could go away. Well, bad things started happening all right. This is a Greek Tragedy set in a logging camp during the Depression. Ron Rash cleverly incorporates the Greek chorus in the body of a logging gang--such an insightful, observant and ultimately impotent group of men have never been more skillfully written.

This story seems on the face to be one of cliches that we have seen too often recently--southern white girl who is close to black townsfolk in the segregated south battling entrenched racism in her town. But "Sweeping up Glass" draws you in from the first page. There is a mystery to be solved and its elucidation is where the story gains its momentum. Drama is created through character interaction and dialogue. Carolyn Wall is a master story teller. Read this book!

"Gifts of War" did not draw me in in the way that I had hoped. As a person in the military, I was interested in this book as a work of historical fiction. In that sense, Mackenzie Ford delivers. Her story is set within the chaotic backdrop of England during WWI. She writes so that the reader has a sense of the fear and recklessness that the British lived with during that period. Unfortunately, the story drags a bit and seems a bit contrived at key junctures so that it is all too neatly tied up in the end. This was not a page turner for me.