
You can read last years list here.
1. We Thought You Would Be Prettier: True Tales of the Dorkiest Girl Alive - Laurie Notaro
2. The Persian Pickle Club -Sandra Dallas
3. Alice’s Tulips - Sandra Dallas
4. The Shoemaker’s Wife: A Novel- Adriana Trigiani
Trigiani cast a spell over the reader with detailed descriptions of Italy, New York City, the Met, the costumes….so descriptive. This is a beautiful story of Ciro and Enza, their lives, loves and losses. The story begins in 1904 and spans the end of WWII. A captivating and emotion filled story of love, family, hard work and grit!
5. Calico Joe - Grisham
A very quick read, probably due in part to the fact that I skimmed all the baseball stat pages. Despite my ignorance to all things baseball, I still found the story entertaining. The book was light with a few deeper themes of forgiveness and accepting responsibility. Two themes that could lead to a great discussion if this was read in a book club.
6. Tending Roses (Tending Roses Series, Book 1) - Lisa Wingate
7. Chasing Paris - Jen Carter
The story was compelling which kept me reading despite the weak dialogue and poor writing. The plot was interesting and I wanted to know what happened to Lizzie, but most of the characters were so flat which was a real detriment to the book.
8. License to Pawn: Deals, Steals, and My Life at the Gold & Silver - Rick Harrison
9. Autobiography of a Fat Bride: True Tales of a Pretend Adulthood - Laurie Notaro
Laurie has a great self deprecating sense humor and ability to see the absurdities of life. I laughed out loud as Laurie described her husbands “man hands”!
10. Home Front Girl: A Diary of Love, Literature, and Growing Up in Wartime America -Morrison
11.Summer at Tiffany Marjorie Hart
What a fun quick read! This is a non-fiction account of Marjorie’s 1945 summer job at Tiffany. She and her girl friend were the first women employees to be “on the floor”, they worked as pages. In addition to fantastic encounters with celebrities, is a detailed description of daily life during the war years. Anyone who loves nostalgia and historical account will enjoy this book. Well written and easy to read.
12.The Lake of Dreams by Kim Edwards (author of The Memory Keeper’s Daughter) At first I didn’t like the book, as the story began I really did not like the main character Lucy. I kept reading and gradually began to not like her a little less. Once the mystery began to unfold I found the story to be very interesting. The discovery of a long lost relative that was hidden from family history. A relative who had ties to the Women’s Suffrage Movement and showed great strength and grit through hard times.
13.The Fire Chronicle (Books of Beginning) here is the review I wrote for Book One (The Emerald Atlas). I finished Book Two just as fast and enjoyed it just as much! I realize this book is meant for a far younger crowd than the middle aged mother of 3 that I am, but I really enjoyed this book. It was a birthday gift for my 9yo son and I wanted to read it along with him…well, I ended up reading WAY ahead (finished the 400+ page book in 3 days). He is a fine reader but doesn’t enjoy reading for pleasure. Some of the language and sentence structure was a bit difficult for him to grasp (for example: “…Kate couldn’t hear, and it was as if a heavy curtain was drawn around her mind, obliterating the man in the doorway, the light, her mother, everything.” he had trouble understanding that this was describing the girl falling asleep). However I think any child who is really well read and understands the cadence of the written word will surely be able to understand this book.
The story is very captivating and the point of view goes back and forth between people and time making the story that much more rich and exciting to read. It is set in modern times and the traits of each child make them very believable.
The only downside is that this book JUST came out…which means I am totally hooked now and have to wait who knows how long for the next installment!
14.The American Heiress: A Novel Daisy Goodwin. Enjoyed this story- although it starts out slowly. The reader can see a lot of things about the Duke that the wife simply doesn’t see and for that reason it is easy to get an idea of how the book will progress, however I found the ending to be quite a surprise! A refreshing surprise!