Finished April 30 Cold Comfort by Charles Todd This short story is a prequel to the Inspector Rutledge series and takes place during World War I in France in 1915. I've had this as an ebook for a while and finally got around to reading it.  The story is centered around some Welsh soldiers that worked to dig under the enemy's lines, plant explosives and then set them off, sending the enemy into disarray so your side could attack more easily. This type of work was done by both sides during the war, and many methods were used to dig quietly and to detect the digging done by the other side ..read more

Finished April 30 With My Little Eye by Joshilyn Jackson This suspenseful thriller is centered around actor Meribel Mills, a woman who started off as Didi a side character in a sitcom in the '90s that she's still known for. She done a lot of work since then, but nothing big. So she finds it surprising that she's suddenly being stalked. After finding evidence that he'd been in her home in L.A., she needs to go somewhere else. She accepts a role in a film shooting near Atlanta, Georgia, and rents a condo there for her and her daughter Honor. Honor is adopted and on the autism spectrum. So she ..read more

Finished April 30 Women Talking by Miriam Toews This book was inspired by a real life event that occured at a Mennonite colony in Bolivia named the Manitoba Colony. While eight men were convicted and jailed there, the assaults continued. Toews wrote this book as a reaction to those events.  The book begins after the discovery that some men in this fictional Mennonite colony of Molotschna were using veterinary anaesthetic on women and girls in the the night and sexually assaulting them. Some of them are now pregnant.  Most of the men in the community have gone to the city to try to ..read more

Finished April 29 Familiar by J. Robert Lennon I've had this book for a few years, and finally was moved to read it. It is a rather odd book, but compelling. I got this book as part of a book subscription series from Powell's in Portland, Oregon, and it a special edition, signed by the author and with a little leaflet that gives information on both the book and the author and has an interview the bookstore did with him. This book also contains discussion questions should you choose to read it as a book club.  The main character, Elisa Brown, is driving home from Wisconsin to New York ..read more

Finished April 28 Somewhere Towards the End by Diana Athill This is a collection of essays about various subjects around aging. It was an absolute delight to read. Written by Athill when she was eighty-nine (she lived to the age of one hundred and one) she has personal reflections on many topics. Athill was an editor and writer and her skill with words shines through here.  She talks about relationships, sex, children, friendships, gardening, drawing, reading, writing, and health. She isn't afraid to be honest about her feelings, her mistakes, or her life choices. This book won the Cost ..read more

Finished April 28 Busted by Karin Slaughter This novella is in the series featuring Will Trent, an investigator with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI), the state equivalent to the FBI. Here, Will is undercover and headed towards his assignment, one that took a lot of effort and planning to set up his identity. He's stopped at a convenience store for an icee, but the machine is super slow. As he's waiting a cop arrives and comes in to use the washroom, but after that things begin going very wrong.  This is fast-paced, with a lot of action including a chase scene. There are a few ..read more

Finished April 28 There's Always Plan B by Susan Mallery This is an interesting mix of romance and domestic situations along with a touch of the supernatural. Carly is moving back to her childhood home, a large old stone house that her great-grandfather imported from England. Her parents ran it as a bed-and-breakfast, and her mother Rhonda has continued that since her dad died a few years ago. Carly is moving back because her very recent divorce leaves her with no home, and her mother could use the help. She'd like Carly to eventually take the house over so that she can retire.  Carly's ..read more

Finished April 23 Plot Twist by Erin La Rosa Romance author Sophie Lyon had a hit with her debut novel, but the deadline is fast approaching for her second novel, she's spent most of her advance and she's coming up against a writer's block. She thinks maybe it's because she's never actually been in love, and she's decided to try and figure out why. That entails meeting up with her previous partners and seeing what they think.  Sophie lives in L.A. and her best friend Poppy Montrose is from a well-known Hollywood family. Poppy's father and both brothers are actors, and her mom is a publi ..read more

Finished April 22 The Summer List by Amy Mason Doan This is a story of friendship, of miscommunication, and of secrets.  Laura grew up in the small lake town of Couer-de-Lune in northern California. She was adopted by parents older than most of her peers, and resented her mother's strict ways and churchgoing habits. She was closer to her father, a man who was quieter, yet still very much a part of the community. Every summer, when her mother went to an adult church camp, Laura and her dad did a project, getting more complex as she grew older.  Just before she moved to junior high ..read more

Finished April 20 Jack and Joe by Diane Capri  This is the third full novel in the Hunt for Reacher series which follows FBI agents Kim Otto and Carlos Gaspar as they hunt down information on Jack Reacher. They have become aware by now that they haven't been told the real reason behind their case, and they are also aware there is some sort of rivalry around it between their boss and one of the highest ranking political advisers in the country. So, while they are pawns of a sort, they are thinking pawns and occasionally make moves that take them in directions that lead places that advanc ..read more