The Promised World by Lisa Tucker

This is a psychological novel - dysfunctional family and all that! Lila and her twin Billy had a difficult childhood. Lila doesn't remember a lot of it herself - just what Billy tells her. Lila is grown up now, a literature professor and happily married. Then one day Billy commits "suicide by cop". Billy had been estranged from his wife but tries to keep close to his kids until he is charged with child-endangerment of his middle child, William who is 8 years old. Lila delves into Billy's life and writings to find out the truth - not just about William but about their childhood too.
Lila's sanity begins to waver and her husband, Patrick, tries to help. In the process he finds that Lila and Billy's mother is not dead as he had always believed. He connects with her and the plot thickens. An intriguing story!

Apple Turnover Murder by Joanne Fluke

Sometimes I like a new author with a plot line that keeps me guessing the whole time. And sometimes I like the familiarity of an author I know and the characters that I have come to love. Joanne Fluke has created a wonderful character in Hannah Swensen. Even though Hannah is much younger than I am, she has found at least a dozen dead bodies - I have yet to find one!
This time the victim is an old flame of Hannah's who turned out to be a rat! So we are not really sorry that he's dead. Hannah tries to solve the mystery with the help of her two boyfriends and her lovable family.
And, as always, the recipes scattered throughout the book sound yummy - well, the watermelon cookies didn't sound that great! (They are made with Kool-Aid.....) If anyone tries to bake them, bring one to me please.

The Hungry Season by T. Greenwood

This was a great book! It's about a family trying to overcome tragedy. Sam and Mena are a happily married couple with twins. Every summer they traveled from California to Vermont to spend the summer where Sam grew up. As the children reach their teens it becomes too hard to find the time to go to the cabin and so for five years they have gone. This summer they are again back in Vermont trying to keep what is left of their family together. Their daughter, Franny, is dead and her twin, Finn, is spiraling into his own place of sorrow. We don't find out until the end what happened to Franny.
In a parallel story we have Dale, a young woman who becomes obsessed with Sam and the novels that he has written. As a senior thesis she has decided to write a biography about Sam and will stop at nothing to get that done!
Great characters and a plot-line that kept me reading straight through.

Every Last One by Anna Quindlen

Wow. I stayed up until 1 this morning to finish this. (Given my age and the condition of my eyes, this is not a common occurrence anymore.) If you like your books on the light side this is not a book you will want to read. It's filled with tragedy and sadness that will tie your heart into knots. Yikes, that sounds a bit poetic for me. I just want you to understand that it is a hard book to read because of what happens in the story.
But if you can stand the sadness read this book. It is so well-written and she does a terrific job with the characters. This first part of the book is the story of a regular family - Mary Beth, her husband, 3 teenagers and a great dog. Then something horrific happens. The rest of the book is the story of how she copes with her life going forward.
If you have never read a book by Anna Quindlen, check them some of her earlier books too.

Committed by Elizabeth Gilbert

I didn't read Eat Pray and Love by Gilbert. I didn't intend to read this one either.....but I looked at the cover and read the book jacket. It had to do with her decision to get married and her conversations with women around the world on the subject of marriage. I've never been married so I really didn't think I would be very interested. Then we received the audio book. Suddenly I was more interested because I'm always looking for books to listen to! So I took it home and put it on my Ipod and actually listened to the whole thing and truly enjoyed it. Gilbert tells the story of falling in love with an older divorce from Brazil. Felipe and Elizabeth get along very well. Of course they don't spend all of their time together so that helps. Neither one is interested in giving marriage another try and they see no reason to even try.......until Homeland Security steps in. Suddenly Felipe is not free to continue his frequent trips to the States. When asked what they should do about the problem, the Homeland Security guy confides that probably the only solution is to get married.
The book is about the time they spent in "exile" waiting for the red tape to allow them to be together in the US. While they travel around Elizabeth makes it her mission to find out more about the state of marriage. I found it to be an enjoyable, interesting and sometimes informative book.

Broken Window by Jeffrey Deaver

Does banking on-line make you nervous? Do you always hesitate before filling out a survey? When a waitress takes away your credit card to swipe it, do you ever wonder if she's doing something else with it? If you can relate to any of these situations, do NOT read this book. Your "uneasy feeling" will erupt into uncontrolled paranoia!
this book is from Deaver's series which features Lincoln Rhyme. Lincoln's cousin (whose name I can't remember- so he will become known as LC for now!) is arrested for murder. There was a falling out of sorts and Lincoln hasn't spoken to LC in a long, long time. But LC's wife comes to plead with Lincoln. LC really isn't the type to commit a cold-blooded murder like this one, but the evidence is overwhelming - I mean really, really overwhelming. Someone reported seeing a car like LC's driving away from the scene. He has no alibi. He is in a world of hurt.
Lincoln finds out that LC is not the only one who has been accused of murder and found guilty because of the forensic evidence. This murderer is using a computer to frame these innocent people. So it's up to Lincoln and his partner Amanda (with help from a few others!) to solve this mystery. It really will give you the creeps!

Imperfect Endings by Zoe Fitzgerald Carter 616.85 Car

This is not a book for everyone. Zoe's mom has been suffering from Parkinson's disease for quite a while and she does not want to continue. She wants to end her suffering but she wants the support of her daughters. (Zoe has two sisters). Despite a busy schedule with her husband and children, Zoe flies cross-country many times during the last year of her mom's life as she gets drawn into her mom's suicidal plan. It sounds like a very depressing book but it actually wasn't. There are many humorous moments and the mom, Margaret, is quite the character! There are conflicts between the sisters and conflicts between mother and daughters. It made me think about a lot of things - and every once in a while I like to think!

The Weed that Strings the Hangman's Bag by Alan Bradley

If nothing else, it's a fair bet that a book with a title as strange as The Weed that Strings the Hangman's Bag is going to be different from your run-of-the-mill mystery. It makes you want to read the book just to understand the title.

Alan Bradley first introduced us to 11-year-old Flavia de Luce in his award-winning mystery The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie. Flavia has not changed since her last adventure -- she is still being bullied by her two older sisters (and tormenting them right back), still zipping around town on her bike Gladys, and, of course, still keeping one step ahead of Inspector Hewitt.

In this case, BBC puppeteer Rupert Porson is electrocuted to death during the final act of a show he gives in Flavia's hometown. Since no one pays much attention to Flavia anyway, she is free to come and go as she pleases, listening to gossip, gathering clues, and putting her precocious chemistry skills to work to solve the case.

There are many eccentric and enjoyable characters in this series - including the debut appearance of the formidable Aunt Felicity - but none as interesting as Flavia.

Both The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie and The Weed that Strings the Hangman's Bag are available at the Indianola Public Library in the Mystery section under MYS Bra.

Kitchen Chinese by Ann Mah

I hesitated to check out this book. It appeared that it might be too much of the chick lit genre for my tastes. Having decided to give it a try anyway, I'm glad I did! This book is about the Lee sisters, Isabelle and Claire. Their mother is so worried that neither girl will find a man and give her grandchildren. At first she would only push Chinese men on them - but as she gets more desperate she would be thrilled with ANY man. It's hard for momma to have control over Claire who has gotten a law degree and is working for a firm in Beijing. She hasn't been home in two years and has no plans to visit soon. Her much younger sister Isabelle has been working for a magazine in New doing menial tasks and in a relationship that doesn't offer much. When she is fired from her job she decides to join her sister in Beijing - even though they aren't really that close. This is the story of her struggles in the country of her grandparents - the culture, the language (she really only speaks "kitchen chinese") her job, her sister ...and of course a few men thrown in as well. It read quickly and was very enjoyable.

The Hole We're In by Gabrielle Zevin

This book was different than what I expected - but I really liked it. The write-up I read talked about the Pomeroys, a Christian family that gets themselves into financial trouble. I thought that subject alone could fill a book! The book begins with the beginning of the "hole they dug". With one child graduating from college, another in college and the 10-yr. old Patsy, still at home, Roger Pomeroy decides he should leave his job as a principal in a religious high school and return to college for his PHd. He has lots of reasons why this is a good idea- for him. For the rest of his family - well, not so much. The consequences of this financial bind are obvious as the bills mount up. What I loved about this book is the continuation of the lives of the Pomeroys. We see how decisions that were made and secrets that were kept had a profound affect on the family for decades to come. Great book.

Weeping Underwater Looks a Lot Like Laughter by Michael J. White

This will be a mixed review. I absolutely loved reading this book with the reference to Des Moines and Davenport. I don't know why I get such a kick out of that but I do! In my opinion the book was well-written and the characters were believable. George moves with his family from Davenport to Des Moines. So here he is in a new town without friends. Fortunately he meets Emily who is an aspiring actress and stars in all the high school plays. He falls for her but never says anything because she obviously wants to keep it on a friendship level. So they become best friends and George is drawn into Emily's world. A big part of that world is Emily's sister, Katie, who suffers from a rare case of juvenile multiple sclerosis.
This is a "coming of age" novel - and I really don't care for that genre! But if you do, I think you will like this book.