What if the Civil War never happened? What if the Crittenden Compromise became law? This is the premise of Ben Winters' riveting new novel. In this book, slavery is still legal in four Southern states, and slave catchers are authorized to find runaways and return them to their "plantations". Jim, or Victor, or Brother (he goes by various aliases) is one of them, an escaped slave himself who is given a chance at life if he becomes a bounty hunter. The main plot of the novel is his hunt for the slave known as Jackdaw. But as he goes on his search, it becomes clear Jackdaw is no ordinary runaway slave. This book also raises many questions of morality. We know today that slavery is a vile institution; are there any circumstances where slavery would be acceptable? Can a good person do bad things? Can I, the reader, root for this bounty hunter? Or do I become complicit? This book would make an excellent book club selection! It's a provocative page turner. I enjoyed it immensely.

I requested this book because my father was born in Muskogee, OK, in 1916, and I wanted to know something about that time and place. I learned a lot from it, not in a didactic way, but in the well-told story of Maud, a young "mostly Cherokee" girl growing up on an allotment (land given to the Native Americans). Maud has two suitors, a white schoolteacher/peddler) and a full-blood Cherokee; a drunk and mostly absent father; and a beloved if strange brother. Their stories are enthralling, and this would make a great book club read. It is written with such immediacy that I felt swept into Maud's world - what more can a reader ask?

Blue Stars, set in 2006-7, is the story of two women with loved-ones in the army: One, a university professor, and the other, a personal trainer, and how they are thrown together when their soldiers injured in the line of duty. More than that, it is the story of the appalling conditions at Walter Reed Hospital; a story of friendships arising in unlikely places; and a story of how literature matters, how reading is important. This would be a great Book Club selection.

I love Laura Lippman, having discovered her a few years ago, and have since been working my way through her books. This one is very different, even from her other so-called stand-alones (the ones I've read have the same police officers, so there's some continuity). And while her series detective makes an appearance, it's definitely not a Tess book. I found the story well-written and compelling, but was confused in the 1st part by the authorial "we" - I found the device distancing. Lippman raises many ethical questions that really don't get resolved. But that would make it a really good book club pick - I can imagine great conversations about lies and responsibilities.

Savage Lands is a beautifully written (almost poetic) story of the early days of Louisiana. Set in the early 1700s, we learn about the French settlers, their relation to the land and to the "savages" that they encounter, befriend, fight, and enslave. The two main characters, Elisabeth and Auguste are finely drawn, fully realized characters, based on real people. Anyone who likes historical fiction will be sure to be intrigued by this compelling story.

I wish I could have given this book more stars. It combines science, history, and religion in trying to solve the mystery of an untranslatable book, and we certainly learn a lot of all three along the way. But the explanations are often confusing, particularly in the beginning, and the writing is pedestrian. It's a translation, from the Spanish, so it's hard to say where the fault lies. I had a hard time getting into the book at first, but it finally caught me enough to continue - and I'm glad I did. Joven has a first-rate imagination and intelligence which shine through the poor prose.

Two secrets collide to create the tension in this book. The first, an assault years ago, comes back to haunt Nora just as she learns her husband has been committing adultery for at least 4 years with her best friend. Morris weaves the two strands confidently and expertly, heightening tension so that you must keep reading. My only caveat - if you have, or have had, a cheating spouse, her descriptions of the anguish Nora goes through are so accurate that it can be quite painful to the reader.

I've never read any of Peter May's books before, but I certainly will now. This book, the 3rd installment of a series, has non-stop action, good character development (unlike many that are only action oriented), an exotic locale (Europe), and a complicated but nonetheless comprehensible plot. I love stories where the past comes to bear on the present (Ross MacDonald was the first author I read that did this), and this aspect is fully realized in this novel. I would certainly recommend this book to anyone who likes a good mystery well told.

I can't remember reading a mystery where the protagonist was an undertaker, but who better to be involved in murder, and Clara makes a very interesting character. The book is quite dark, and some of the scenes might put off a squeamish reader. With that caveat, I would recommend it for someone looking for a mystery a bit outside the ordinary.