The first few pages did not draw me in right away, but as soon as Trudy's voice emerged, I was hooked. This is a fascinating study of the sea and of the emotional undercurrents of the people keeping a light house on the California coast in the early 1900s. I like the way the author wove together the scientific aspects of marine life and the far less precise and regulated human emotions involved in the story. The twist at the end is intriguing, and I think this is an author well worth reading.

Sharp is horrifying, puzzling, and encouraging. This beautifully written book by David Fitzpatrick shows what mental illness is like from the perspective of a patient, and I think it is well worth reading. We don't always know why someone suffers from mental illness, and the cure and/or management of these maladies is hard to find, but I'm glad David has shared his experiences with the world. If you have family members or friends who are struggling, or if you grapple with your own compulsions, I think this book will bring you hope that you can overcome and live a more normal lifestyle.

From the first page this book captured my heart. Julia, the young narrator of the story, feels very real, and the author's ability to show how people react to changing circumstances is uncanny. Not only is the story intriguing, the author's use of spare, elegant language, along with her insights into human nature, make this a must-read book. Once I started it, I could not put it down, and I've recommended it to several friends. I look forward to more work from Karen Thompson Walker.

I really enjoyed this book. The main character was likeable but far from perfect - she felt like a real person, someone I might know - a woman whose choices were not always the best. She's surrounded by a multitude of plausible suspects, multidimensional people, which kept the story suspenseful. I wasn't sure until almost the very end who the "bad guy" really was. I like stories that have values, like this one, but that still acknowledge the shades of gray that we live with - everything isn't black and white. I liked this book well enough that I'm going to read others by this author. I think you'll enjoy his storytelling, the clarity with which he uses language, and his believable characters.

If you love music and history - and if you like stories that reflect real life - you will enjoy this novel by Alex George. Compelling characters, the sweep of history, and the details of small town life combine to make this a story you'll be sad to finish. In fact, it is so good I'm planning to re-read it!

What happens when a country attempts to eliminate the individual and remold him or her into a nameless, faceless, interchangeable part of a bigger whole? No matter how oppressed, the human heart still yearns for love, for freedom, for something better than what it has. Adam Johnson writes as if he has lived the life he describes in this impressive, exhaustively-researched novel. This dense book explores the life of one man from his unbelievably harsh childhood to an even more difficult adulthood, emphasizing not just the physical pain, but the emotional and psychological scars of living in North Korea. This is a stunning book that should become required reading in college literature courses and for any American interested in learning more about North Korea.

If you like interesting, believable characters and a good story interwoven with its historical background, you will enjoy Next to Love. Reading about the female perspective on World War II and the time after the soldiers returned from war was quite intriguing. I look forward to reading more of this author's writing in the future.

Eleanor Henderson is definitely a talented writer to watch. The young characters in this book are the ages of my adult children and I wanted to get a feel for what growing up in the '80s was like from a youthful perspective. The environment was different from our lives in suburban Dallas, yet the common denominator seemed to be the casual and almost unquestioning drug use that has pervaded so much of society. In this book the parents are drug users and dealers, aging hippies who neglect their children, even though they love them. A tragic death pushes the main character away from drugs but he seesaws to the opposite extreme by joining a clean living cult. There's a hint at the end of the book that he eventually finds his way to a happier, more balanced adult life, but overall this book left me feeling sad. Everyone portrayed - parents and children - lacks a moral compass and while recognizing they need one, life just happens as they drift. The writing was excellent and the author makes us feel compassion for her characters, but I hope her next book has characters with more of a sense of purpose than this ensemble displays. I guess this is how some Americans choose to live, but it's far from inspiring.

This book captured me from the very first line - "I was born twice." From the first scenes in the slums of London to the long journey on the high seas, I cared about Jaffy Brown and his fate. Some books are hard to read in the beginning and become easier as you go along, but Jamrach's Menagerie is the opposite. The grim chapters with Jaffy and his fellow survivors lost at sea were difficult to read, but I had to know what happened and how he came to terms with the tragedies he survived. The book is about life, love, friendship, journeys, life at sea, survival, caring for animals, and coming to terms with tragedy and death, all told against the backdrop of 19th century life. Carol Birch is an amazing writer, not merely a talented one - she's a GREAT contemporary writer - and Jamrach's Menagerie is a book that you really MUST read.

The story of Conor Grennan's visit to a Nepal orphanage, and how his life changed once he comprehended the harm that child trafficking does, is inspiring, heart-wrenching, and fulfilling. It reminds us of the importance of home and family, and how children can overcome amazing hardships if given a chance. A portion of the proceeds from book purchases go to help the children of Nepal, and after reading this book, you'll surely want to help. Kudos to Conor and to the work that Next Generation Nepal is doing to save children from harm and when possible, to reunite them with their families.

Rebecca Dean's historical novel, Palace Circle, overflows with intriguing characters living life in the tumultuous years spanning World War I and leading up to World War II The story, set in Virginia, London and Cairo, and mingling historical people with the fictional cast of characters, is told from the perspectives of the mother, Delia, and four young people, her two daughters and the men they love.

One of the most interesting aspects of the book was the multi-generational and multicultural perspectives shown by the characters. Delia grew up in Virginia, married and moved to London, and spent time in Cairo because of her husband's diplomatic work. The daughters, raised in Cairo, have varying perspectives on England, Egypt and how to live life. One young man is Egyptian, the other English. Some of the famous people you will meet in the book are Wallis Simpson, Edward VIII, Churchill, Nasser and Sadat. I felt like I was swept away to a world I knew little about and didn't want to leave. If you like books that combine history, romance, characters with depth, and exotic settings, you will have a hard time putting this book down. I look forward to reading more of Ms. Dean's books.