Did you ever think about how the rape kit came to be? I had heard about rape kits, but never thought about the process or their effect on solving and preventing more rapes. This was a very interesting story of the woman, Marty Goddard, who created it even though it had the name of a male police officer on it. The kit was created in the time period when I was a young adult, and I was totally unaware of the way women were treated by law enforcement when they were raped. Equally astounding is how long it took for rape kits to be used effectively and not just stored on a shelf somewhere. This book made me aware of many of the injustices to women from law enforcement and the public in general.

The story of Marty Goddard was both exhilarating and sad, as she fought to have her rape kit accepted. She worked with the FBI for several years to train personnel on its use. Marty travelled the country in this role and had some interesting experiences. Sadly, Marty ended up going into a downward spiral mentally and at the end of her life was an alcoholic and alone. The author spent years tracking her down, and the story was fascinating. This was an unusual story that I highly recommend.

‘The Cleaner’ is written in first person by an unnamed person who cleans office spaces at night. No one is named in the book except for an initial or a made-up name such ‘The Intern’ or ‘Yarn Guy’. She (I THINK the writer is a ‘she’) feels she is intimately involved in the lives of the office workers because she goes through their desk drawers and uses their computers. She also takes things from their desks and sometimes leaves things or gives them to others. This deeply offended me on many levels, especially because I dealt with this situation many years ago. I reported what I suspected—that the cleaning person was using my computer and moving things on my desk (the drawers were locked). Security set up a camera to catch them, and they were fired immediately. Other than this, the ‘cleaner’ was invading the privacy of people and trying to ‘fix’ their lives. I struggled to finish the book because I intensely disliked her, nor did I like the writing style. Not recommended.

The Little Italian Hotel is a charming book very suitable for a beach read. The main character, Ginny, is a radio advice expert who comes to a crossroads in her own marriage. She solicits 4 listeners to accompany her on a trip to Italy, which was originally supposed to be a twenty-fifth anniversary trip with her husband. The title refers to the hotel in which they stayed. Each character has their own reason for going on this trip, and the novel explores their inner feelings as the group gets to know each other along with the hotel manager and his daughter. There is a fair amount of angst in the book, but each comes to terms with their future in different ways.
The reader slowly comes to know each person and their relationships, especially Ginny, as they navigate different futures than expected. This was a quick, enjoyable read, especially if one likes to explore interconnections between people.

Which Nazi conspiracy might that be? Apparently, there were a lot of Nazi conspiracies, some of which are revealed in this very interesting book. The subtitle reveals that the main topic of the book is the secret plot to kill Roosevelt, Stalin and Churchill at their first face-to-face meeting in Tehran, Iran. I wasn't even aware that Iran played a role in WWII. I've read a good number of books about this war yet had never heard about this particular conspiracy, nor was I aware of the subterfuges that other countries played in it. The book provided good background of the entire war leading up to this plot in 1943 and then briefly summarized the end of the war. There were also riveting tales that captured the personalities of the three major Allied leaders and their interactions with each other. Other tales discussed individual conspiracy players on the ground whom you probably haven't heard of before. This book caught my attention from the beginning and didn't let go until the end. I enjoyed reading it for the knowledge I gained and the fact that it was just a great read in general.

'American Princess' is the novelization of the life of Alice Roosevelt Longworth, daughter of President Theodore Roosevelt and his first wife (who died 2 days after Alice’s birth). I knew very little about Alice, although I had heard of her. This book was very informative about the history of the ‘other’ Washington Monument, which is what Alice was called in her later years. She was ornery and combative as a young woman, but she later put those traits to good use for political influence in the intimate salons of Washington, DC. Alice was personally acquainted with all the US Presidents from William McKinley to Jimmy Carter, indeed a long lifespan of influence. Her actions often infuriated me, but she was definitely an icon to be remembered. I found this book very enjoyable and highly recommend it.

Red, White, Blue by Lea Carpenter was advertised as a thriller. I didn't find this book lived up to the description. I struggled through it as I agreed to review, but it jumped back and forth between character viewpoints and time without clearly defining who and when, so I was unsure where the story was going. Anna was the daughter of a deceased CIA operative, and the other protagonist was another CIA operative who was a student of her father. Anna was finding out about her father's secret life from this student, but I'm not sure if this was in person or via email or some other method. There were a lot of assumptions made in this book which made it difficult to follow, and nothing was ever really resolved at the end. I did not find it a thriller at all, just a dull read.

'The Shore' was not what I expected from reading the synopsis. It was a non-linear read about several generations of related folks in a section of the Delmarva peninsula. The story jumped around a lot in time and was confusing at first, although I did finally fall into it's rhythms. Overall I enjoyed it once I got over my initial discomfort with the format. There was just enough character development to entice me, although there was not enough development of any one character to fully flesh them out. I'm glad I did not read it on a Kindle because I had to keep paging back and forth to remember who each character was and how they related to each other. Overall the book was interesting although disjointed, and I think it would be a good book club choice since the format alone could be a topic of discussion.

I was very conflicted about this book at the beginning as it seemed to be anti-military, which is not what I expected from the description. As the story unfolded, two themes became apparent and not necessarily anti-military. One theme demonstrated a total lack of understanding of what military life encompassed, the other was all on board with the military but demonstrated how deployments can shatter normal family life. This was a gut-wrenching tale of the effect of severe injury on the lives of two service members and their families. Emotions run high throughout the book, both in the characters and also in the reader. This was a tough read but worthwhile, a good recommendation for book clubs.

That Summer by Lauren Willig was an enjoyable, quick read. It is actually two stories in one: present-day heroine inherits an old house in England and must unravel a mystery. Meanwhile, the second story is about the mystery which takes place in the mid-1800s. Portraits and pre-Raphaelite painters are major players in the book, which encouraged me to look up more information about the pre-Raphaelite art movement. This was a mostly satisfying book except that I felt it ended a bit too abruptly, as more of the story could have been filled in. The story was basically resolved, it just needed a little bit more. This will be a great beach read, so the timing for its release in June is perfect.

A child has a rare genetic condition and must be protected from ultraviolet rays. This is the underlying fabric of this story about a seemingly normal family in a quiet, friendly neighborhood. However, to paraphrase a sentence in the book: 'All the ways in which they've worked to protect this house from the sun had only allowed the darkness to creep inside'. This sums up the story in which no person is exactly who they appear to be on the surface, and all keep dark secrets.

A tragedy occurs early on in the book which develops the story of secrets. I found it difficult to understand the thought processes that the main character, Eve, was going through, although I realize she was trying to protect her son, the child with the genetic condition. Her lies and omissions aggravated me, and I did not feel much empathy for any of the characters, although overall the book was interesting enough to keep my attention.

This book reminded me overall of a Jody Picoult novel but without quite as much depth. It would be a good book club read to discuss emotions and decision-making in the face of a tragedy such as the one presented here.

Typhoid Mary! Germ-woman! Mary Mallon was called these things and more in the early 20th century. This novel was a fictionalized account of the life of the first known 'healthy carrier' of typhoid in an era of rapidly advancing science. Mary was a cook who infected numerous persons with typhoid, some of whom died. This book humanized her but left me with mixed emotions about her. She was clearly a victim in many aspects, by being a disease carrier and by her lack of advanced education, although she was literate. The scientists and doctors of the day basically stripped away her rights without providing her with a real understanding of why. However, in the beginning she was belligerent and didn't make an effort to understand, which resulted in the infections and deaths of even more people. The novel also gave a glimpse of the tumultuous relationship Mary had with her 'significant other' Alfred. This relationship provided a secondary story that painted a picture of drug addiction to opium and morphine in the days before doctors realized that what they prescribed caused so much harm. Laws were enacted prior to World War 1 to prevent such addictions.

I enjoyed this book very much as I learned who Typhoid Mary really was and also learned about how science advanced into the modern era. I think that this novel would be great book club material.

'The House Girl' takes place in two time periods, 2004 and 1852, and explores a legal case for reparations for slavery. The book took several chapters to really catch my interest as it laid out the foundation of the story. As the story progressed, however, my curiosity increased and I was unable to put the book down until I finished it.

The chapters smoothly flowed back and forth between the time periods, focusing on the staid young lawyer who was researching the reparations case in 2004 and the young slave girl in 1852. It wove together art and family secrets that occurred in both time periods, and both protagonists had to find their own identities. This was a very unique approach to the search for truth, and I enjoyed it very much. I would recommend this to book clubs!

This book began with an interesting premise, with a young man receiving his late uncle’s diary for his 21st birthday—and the young man (Sean Michael) did not even know the uncle had ever existed! The rest of the book details Sean’s search for his uncle’s history. The chapters switched back and forth between viewpoints, and the dual heroes had reversed names (Michael Sean and Sean Michael) so it was difficult to keep track of the narrator at times. Midway through the book the story devolved into fantasy and reincarnation elements, neither of which particularly are of interest to me, and I generally don’t read books with these plot characteristics. Overall I had to force myself to finish it, although I would recommend it to a reader who likes plots with fantasy and reincarnation.

‘The Kitchen Daughter’ explores the world of a young woman who most likely has Asperger’s syndrome, which is on the autism spectrum, and how she emotionally reacts after her parents suddenly pass away. It is evident from the first pages that her personality is unlike that of so-called ‘normal’ persons, and developments throughout the book support this observation. One of her coping mechanisms when distressed is cooking, hence the title of the book. There are some supernatural aspects to the story, which in general I dislike, but these events fit well into the storyline. I enjoyed the book, although it didn’t ‘grab’ me and it took me some time to finish it since I was able to put it down. It did interest me enough to find out more about Asperger’s and other autistic disorders, and I’d recommend it especially to readers who would be interested in a first-person view of Asperger’s.

‘Agent X’ was a fast-paced thriller which I thoroughly enjoyed. This was the second book in a series, and I would have had a slightly easier read if I knew more of the backstory, but it was ok as a stand-alone book. The action never stopped—I’d think it was over with the villains identified, but some other twist in the story would occur to keep the book moving along. Sometimes it was hard to keep up with all of the characters! Most of the book took place in one locale, the Washington, DC area, which made it easier to follow than some thrillers which hop around the globe. The author writes in a concise manner with little embellishment, so there was not full character development but it served the story well. I think I’ll have to go back and read the first book in the series now!

‘An Eagle Named Freedom’ is an inspirational book about animal-human spiritual connections. Jeff Guidry, the author, volunteers at a wildlife rehabilitation center and becomes close to a young, injured eagle which cannot be released into the wild. His bond with the eagle named ‘Freedom’ is a pivotal point in his fight with cancer and aids his recovery. I truly enjoyed his narrative and all of the information about Freedom and other wildlife that were rehabbed at the center. The spiritual connection that existed between the animals and the humans that helped them cannot be denied. I highly recommend this book as long as you have a few tissues handy while reading!

The Things That Keep Us Here was a very enjoyable novel that kept me engrossed cover to cover. This is an apocalyptic book where life-as-we-know-it is turned upside down during a flu pandemic, and one family’s experiences are developed. The information in it is very timely and the science is accurate, unlike other books I’ve read of this genre. That said, there are several functional questions I had as I was reading that almost took me out of the context; for instance, why didn’t the water pipes freeze? Additionally, the epilogue seemed rushed without complete answers to all of the questions. However, I still enjoyed the book and recommend it!

The book opens with a suicide and a short note: ‘He isn’t who you think he is’, written to the victim’s adult daughter. The rest of the book is the daughter’s present-day actions with flashbacks to her haunted youth, as she searches for who ‘he’ is. Along the way we learn how she came to be the person she is today. I read this book in one day, as it caught me from the first chapter and I couldn’t put it down. Some of it was predictable, but there were still surprises that kept me on edge. Character development occurred slowly, but it all made sense by the end. I recommend this for a quick but not easy read, as it deals with family issues that are very disturbing.

Music is a theme that runs through this book, appropriate for ‘The Music Teacher’! It’s about music, but not about music. The heroine has a lot of personal issues that intertwine with the music. The book had a bit too much angst for my taste, and the writing was in choppy sentences which is a style that generally doesn’t appeal to me. I finished it (luckily it was a short book), but it dragged on for a while without getting to the point. I wouldn’t read it again, nor would I recommend it to a friend.