The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith

I wonder if this is the beginning of the next series of books for J. K. Rowling.  Yes, she wrote this book under the name of Robert Galbraith.  It's a murder mystery with a private detective and his assistant diligently working to solve the crime and bring the murderer to justice.  A beautiful supermodel dies and the police determine it's suicide.  Strike, the detective, is hired to investigate and see if it might be a murder.  The plot is interesting and the characters are well developed.  And the ending is surprising although it seems that questions remain especially about how Strike was able to pull all the clues together.  My only criticism is that it could have been 100 pages shorter.  There were just so many subplots involved - how strike lost his leg, his dysfunctional family history, his relationship with his former fiancée, his flirtations with his assistant, etc. etc.  None of these really have a connection to the mystery part of the story and sometimes I think they could have been just eliminated or certainly reduced in length. However, I enjoyed it.  But I'm ready for a change from the murder mystery stories.  On to something else for a while.  -June

Mission Flats by William Landay

Carla ordered this book moments after finishing Defending Jacob because she loved the author's writing and wanted more.  I agree - Defending Jacob is a great book.  Mission Flats was Landay's first novel, and although I liked it and recommend it, I also found it to be a bit too long and confusing.  Seems as if there were so many characters (police officers, lawyers, bad guys) that I felt I needed to take notes.  And because there were so many characters involved, I never felt like I got to know any of them that well.  However, the plot is interesting and I liked the way the book started off with some seemingly unconnected events that proved to be very important in the novel.  And I really liked the main character and wondered if eventually he would resurface in another book.  -June

We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler

I was glad that I had no idea what this book was about before I started reading it (actually listening to it).  I probably wouldn't have chosen it if I'd known, so for that reason, I won't mention here what it's about.  But let's just say that it's a story about a young woman who was raised in a family that was..... hmmmmm..... unusual.  The story is told from the point of view of the woman and is extremely conversational.  She writes as if she is speaking directly to you with comments like "I'll tell you more about that later" or "I'll start in the middle of the story".  She tells us right away that she didn't see her brother and her sister for years, but she takes her time in explaining why this is so.  Very interesting and entertaining.  Recommend it.  -June

Orphan Train: A Novel by Christina Baker Kline

This year, I've read two books that have described the orphan trains that moved children from orphanages in New York to families in the Midwest in the early 1900's.  (The other book was The Chaperone) OK, I may suck at history because I had never heard of this until I read these two books.  I've heard since reading this book that there is a series of children's books that describe these trains and the children who were on them, but it's not something I've seen or heard about.  And I think it is such an interesting topic. 

In Orphan Train, we meet an elderly woman who tells her story to a teenage girl who just happens to be an orphan living in a foster home.  Their stories have similarities; however, the elderly woman's life is the one that grabbed me.  Not all the children on the trains were welcomed into loving families.  Many were made to work long hours or were abused.  We learn how Vivian (also known by several other names) experienced great hardship before finally finding a real home with responsible adults.

This is a quick read, and one that I enjoyed while learning about a bit of history.  Highly recommend.  -June