The Good House by Ann Leary

I read a positive review about this book that made me think I'd love it.  So I downloaded the audio version to take on a road trip with me last week.  As the review stated, the narrator of the book, Hilde, is a feisty 60-ish New England woman.  She's outspoken and very independent.  Perfect.  I liked her right away.  And I thought I was in for a fun, witty story.  But what I didn't know is that there is this secret side to her life.  Hilde is an alcoholic.  Her daughters have conducted an intervention and she's completed rehab.  Yet, as often is the case, she doesn't really think she has a problem, and so she starts drinking when she's alone while she pretends to the world that she's staying sober.  The book is not just about her drinking.  There are other story lines that take place in her small coastal town where Hilde is a realtor.  There's an affair between two people and somehow Hilde gets involved, and there's a relationship Hilde has with one of the local men.  But the drinking gets in the way of all the other stories.  OK, I'll admit that my personal history caused me to grip the steering wheel every time Hilde would make yet another excuse for her drinking.  She had millions of them...... she had to drink to celebrate a sale, she had to drink to relieve her stress, etc.  So I can't say I enjoyed this book, but I can also see how others might.  -June

Nate in Venice by Richard Russo

Here are some things I love:
1. Venice
2. Richard Russo
3. Reasonably priced Kindle downloads
4. A man named Nate

So when I saw a Kindle Single called Nate in Venice by Richard Russo for $2.99, I couldn't push that "Send it to me right away" button fast enough.  This short novel is in some ways typical of Richard Russo's writing.  There is a wonderful main character, Nate, who is completely lovable and yet flawed.  And he is surrounded by a small cast of characters who are quirky and yet beautifully described.  As a reader, you feel you know these people, and I think every book Russo has written has these qualities.  Nate is a retired college professor who is on a tour of Italy with his brother, Julian.  Their relationship isn't good and we learn more about why throughout the book.  There's also a subplot about a Nate and one of his students, but unfortunately, I found this part of the book to be vague and incomplete.  There were lots of hints about the student, but there was no explanation as to what really happened and how Nate felt about it.  I did love the parts about Venice (although I wanted more!).  And I truly love the way this guy writes.  I think I'd read anything coming from him - and maybe I already have. It's definitely worth the money here.  -June

Before I go to Sleep by S. J. Watson

A woman wakes up each morning and can't remember anything.  She doesn't recognize the man in bed with her, and she has no memories from the past 30 years or so.  Anything she learns in her day is erased when she goes to sleep at night.  Can this even happen?? At any rate, Christine decides to try to gain some control, and at the advice of her doctor, she starts a daily journal where she writes down everything that she learns about herself, and then every day she has to read the entire journal so she can figure out who she is.  There are several twists throughout the book, but it was a book I read to the end just to figure out how it could possibly be concluded.  I found the book to be pretty repetitive in parts and also unbelievable.  Visions of her past would appear to her just when she needed to have that information.  So even though it gets great reviews online, it doesn't get one from me.  -June

The Art Forger by B. A. Shapiro

What an interesting read!  I know nothing about art forgery (maybe this is a good thing?) and really not much about art.  But I learned more than I ever need to know about it from this book, and I found it fascinating.  The plot may be a bit contrived, but it kept me reading and enjoying.  Claire is an artist who paints reproductions for a living because her own art work has not yet been discovered.  She's approached to paint a reproduction of a Degas painting, and is told she's painting it from the original.  Because Claire is not only talented artistically but is also brilliant, she recognized that she's painting from a copy and she begins her research to find out the story.  All kinds of other interesting characters cross her path, and there's a nice satisfying ending.  What more can you ask for?  A great summer read. -June

Eternal on the Water by Joseph Monninger

A book club member recommended this one and said it was an adventure and love story.  Hmmmm.  Maybe some people would consider Shades of Grey an adventurous love story.  My first red flag was a comment I read in a review on Amazon.  "Henry David Thoreau meets Nicholas Sparks in this poignant love story..."  I guess I have nothing against Nicholas Sparks, but I always have a hard time with men who write romantic love stories that are marketed to women.  But since it came recommended by a friend and receives great reviews online, I read it.  And I'll admit it is very well written.  The author captures the outdoor, nature scenes beautifully and his descriptions make you feel like you are there.  But I had two problems with the book.  The first is the relationship between the Cobb and Mary, the two central characters.  Have you ever been with a couple who are so in love and so physically turned on to each other that they can't keep their hands off each other?  And you feel like you should look away or you might throw up?  That's the way they act.  The story is told from Cobb's point of view, and he is constantly and repeatedly telling us how much he loves Mary, how wonderful/beautiful/perfect she is.  We get it.  You love her.  Move on with the story.  They never fight or disagree, and they have all kinds of cute personal jokes that they banter about in every chapter.  We know from the first chapter that Mary will die, and even the difficult conversations about how she will die become tedious after a while.  The second problem I had with the book is that all the minor characters are also perfect.  Cobb's father, Mary's mother and brother, their friends, everyone is good looking, smart, politically active, kind, etc. etc.  The last book my club read was Gone Girl, and we discussed how we can enjoy a book and dislike the characters.  But in this book, all the characters are completely loveable and yet I didn't like the book.  I'm not sure what that says about me, and maybe I don't want to know.  -June

The Seduction of Water by Carol Goodman

On the cover of this book is a quote from the New York magazine describing the book as "an atmospheric thriller".  Not sure at all what that means exactly, but I was expecting something like Daphne du Maurier perhaps.  The only atmosphere in the first 100 pages is life in New York City.  Generally if I haven't fallen into a book after reading 100 pages, I give up.  But while I wasn't sure about this book, I kept on reading.  Fortunately, it did get better once Iris returns to her family's upstate hotel to research her mother's life and her mysterious death.  This book has many characters that often make the plot confusing and complicated.  There are references to her mother's fantasy books that are strange and yet are supposed to be helpful in figuring it all out.  I think the book manages to be a bit of a love story, a mystery, and a fantasy novel - and it just didn't work for me.  I read to the end to find what Iris discovered - but frankly, I was relieved to have it done. -June

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry

This is another one of those quiet, well-written books that is just a nice read.  It reminded me a bit of Major Pettigrew - in fact, in the movie in my head as I read the book, the same actor played Harold and Major Pettigrew.  Harold, however, is not as clever and quick as MP.  He's actually kind of a boring guy until one day he just sets out on this journey to see a dying friend.  Like other books I seem to have read lately, the main character spends a great deal of time looking back on his life as he walks, and he often is filled with regret.  I enjoyed the beginning of this book, but frankly found the middle a little slow.  As Harold walks, he encounters many people and learns their stories.  This happens over and over again until I was ready to just skip to the end.  There's a twist a few chapters from the end that fills in some of the blanks and makes the ending a bit more satisfying.  I told a friend to read the first third and the last third.  That's my recommendation.  -June

The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker

Sounds like a religious book, doesn't it?  Well, I'm not exactly sure what the miracles are that are mentioned in the title, but the book itself is very good.  This is a coming-of-age story that focuses on a family of three, a mother, father, and a daughter.  In addition to the preteen issues the daughter, Julie, experiences, there is also a scientific event unfolding.  The earth is starting to slow its rotation, which causes the days to become longer each day.  The affects this has on people, society, food, transportation, and the environment is profound, and all these changes take place slowly over a year.  It means the end of the earth, but it's going out with a whimper rather than a bang.  Very interesting premise and a well-written book.  -June

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

I've been saving this book since Christmas.  I knew once I started reading it, I wouldn't be able to put it down.  So true!  I think I read it in 3 days.  I've had enough friends read it to know the basic plot and even a spoiler or two, but it still was exciting and amazing.  The author does a wonderful job of slowly revealing all the twists and turns of the plot, and although it might seem completely unrealistic if you stop to think about it, it seems so true when you are caught up in it.  I loved it.  And highly recommend it.  But wait until you can devote a few days to it, because you can't put it down!! - June

Benediction by Kent Haruf

Are you looking for an exciting page-turner?  A riveting plot that hooks you at the beginning and doesn't let you go?  Well, if so, this is not the book for you.  It's beautifully written, the characters are fabulous detailed, and I loved it.  But it's one of those quiet books that is just a "slice of life" in a small town.  Dad (he goes by that name to everyone in town) has been diagnosed with terminal cancer, and as he looks back on his life, we learn his life story.  His wife and daughter take care of him, but there is also a son who is missed.  The book also focuses on other people in the town - a young girl who has come to live with her grandmother, a minister who is struggling personally, and two women who are a part of it all.  This book isn't for everyone, but it was just what I needed.  -June

The Submission by Amy Waldman

As I looked at my last review, I realized I never wrote a review about this book!  And this one shouldn't be missed.  It's one I'd never heard of, and frankly when one of my book club members suggested it, we all thought it must be a Shades of Gray type of book based on the title.  Far from it.  A panel has been formed to select the best submission for a 9/11 memorial.  We learn at the beginning of the book that the winner has been chosen, and the architect is Muslim.  Of course, this causes controversy on many levels - the victims' families, the people in New York, the rest of the nation, and Muslim groups.  This is a fabulous book and one that you'll think about long after you finish.  If there is a "right" side, I'm not sure what it is.  The ending is not what I expected but it still was appropriate - even if I wanted more from one of the characters (I won't give it away).  -June

The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman

Recently I read a book called "The Submission".  In both that book and this book, we are presented with a moral dilemma and while we may think we know which side we are on and what choice we would make, as we read the books, our minds can be changed multiple times.  Tom and Isabel are living on a small island off the coast of Australia in the 1920's tending the lighthouse.  They discover a small boat that has landed on the island with the body of a man and a live newborn baby girl.  The decisions they make as to how to handle this event and the consequences of those decisions make up the rest of the book.  I thought it was an excellent story, and although the writing sometimes became a bit wordy with excessive descriptions, I loved it. -June