The Lavender Garden by Lucinda Riley FIC Ril

I was a little apprehensive about this novel but I ended up liking it.  I was afraid it was going to be too much on romance and normally romantic stories are too predictable for my taste!  And it was..... However, it had other saving graces!  It was written in one of my favorite formats.  The story is divided into two time periods.  During the late 90's Emilie inherits her childhood chateau.  She has created her own life as a Vet in Paris and is very content.  Now she has to clean out the place, go through her father's book collection and decide the fate of said chateau.  Her vision changes a bit when she meets Sebastian.
      The other part of the story takes place in the France of 1944.  In London Constance signs up to help the war effort after her husband is listed as missing.  Because of her ability to speak French like a native (thanks to summers spent there with relatives) she is chosen to go on a very dangerous mission to France.  Of course the lives of Constance and Emilie are going to end up (spoiler alert!) intertwined!  I enjoyed the book.

The Tao of Martha My Year of LIVING, or Why I'm Never Getting All That Glitter Off of the Dog by Jen Lancaster 921 Lan

I think there are people in this world who read LIVING and just nod when they read the articles because it makes perfect sense to them and of course that is the way they would do it.  Then there are people like me who like her magazine but have never have the nerve to actually try anything.  (I did learn how to fold a t-shirt in 2 seconds from Martha, but I don't remember if it was on her tv show or in the magazine.).  Jen Lancaster decides that she could use a little more Martha in her life.  So from pet care to entertainment she decides to improve her life.....and that of her husband, Fletch.  Sometimes Fletch even gets to help. Take the Easter get-together Jen planned.  Following Martha's suggestions for the celebration Jen drafts Fletch to help dye and hollow out eggs.  It is not as easy as it seems it might be - especially when you only skim the article.  They went through 6 dozen eggs and ended up with 11 eggs that were unbroken. When Fletch suggested they could hard boil them Jen was absolutely opposed.  Too much danger of losing one and having it smell up the place.  Fletch agreed, "I used to have to hunt for hard-boiled eggs when I was a kid.  What was the point of that?  Was I supposed to be, "Yay! I found them!  Egg-salad sandwiches for everyone!'  I was seven!  I wanted chocolate, not bioavailable protein."  I think this excerpt will give you a taste of what is in the book.  An enjoyable read!

Crossing the Borders of Time by Leslie Maitland 940.53 Mai

 

Most of the time I avoid 'love stories'.  So many of them are sappy and unrealistic.  The love story in this book is sappy and unrealistic........but it is a true story!  It doesn't get much better than that.  Maitland is an investigative reporter.  Growing up she lived with her mother and father - but the story she heard most often was about the love of her mother's life.  Janine was 18 and madly in love with Roland, 21.  He was French Catholic and she was a German Jew.  They swore their undying love to one another.  In 1942 she boarded a ship to escape from the Nazis.  When the war ended she tried to find Roland.  He tried to find her.  It took Maitland to finally track down the man whose picture Janine had cherished for almost fifty years.  It is a wonderful look at France (in particularly Alsace-Lorraine) from the 20's through the war years.  It is a wonderful example of love that can exist even when the two are separated for decades.  I am sure there are many WWII stories that are similar to this one, but very few could have the ending this one does.  Sigh........

We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver FIC Shr

(This book is available at IPL but also from WILBOR as an ebook or an audiobook).
This is definitely not a 'beach read'.  School shootings have been the subject of many novels during the past couple of decades.  Normally they focus on the incident itself sandwiched between the lead up and the aftermath of the shooting.  This story is about the shooting, of course, but it is more focused on the relationship between the mother and the shooter (Kevin).  It is all told in a series of letters written by Eva, the mother, to Franklin, Kevin's father.  In her first letter Eva tells Franklin that since they have been separated she most misses sharing the tidbits of her day with him.  And so she begins to tell him about trying to avoid a woman at the store because she is the mother of one of Kevin's victims. This book focuses more on how Eva got to this point rather than how Kevin did.  I thought it was very well written, it kept my interest all the way through and even gave me a surprise ending.  It was published ten years ago and I missed it.  That won't happen again!  I just started her newest book last night.

I'll be Seeing You by Suzanne Hayes and Loretta Nyhan FIC Hay

  
I loved the cover of this book which is what attracted me.  I love the era of the story (WWII).  Then I discovered that it is comprised entirely of letters.  That did not excite me but I decided to try it anyway .......  and I loved it.  In January of 1943 a young wife and mother named Glory attended a ladies' group in Rockport,  Massachusetts.  To help the women who might be feeling lonesome they passed around a hat filled with pieces of paper containing addresses and a nickname.  It was suggested that they write to other women who might be in similar circumstances.  Under pressure Glory reached in and pulled out "Garden Witch" from Iowa City.  The letter that she received in return was from an older woman whose husband, Sal, was working as a medic in Europe and whose son, Toby, was in the Pacific.  Garden Witch was actually named Rita.  She had also been strong-armed into participating in the letter exchange.  She was in a bad mood that day and thus her 'alias'.  The theme of this book is friendship.  They live in different parts of the country, their ages are far apart, their financial situations are divergent and yet they become the closest of friends.  One really gets a feel for that period in history.  I enjoyed reading the recipes the two exchanged.  Because of rationing the women had to be creative - one of the recipes was for an apple pie with no apples in it!  I think one of the reasons I love this time period is because of my admiration for a nation who sacrificed a lot of comfort at home to support the troops.  I am not sure today's America would be able to give up their cell phones for a day even if it would help the troops.  Oops - that didn't have anything to do with the book!  After I read this book I found out that the two women who penned it have never met (at least they hadn't when it went to publication)!  I would like to know what their relationship is like now!  I think this would be a great book club selection - lots of things you could discuss.

The Book of Why by Nicholas Montemarano FIC Mon

  

     This wouldn't be a book that everyone would like but I did.  It is the story of Eric Newborn.  For years he wrote and lectured about the power that we all have within us.  We can visual things and are able to create our own success and happiness.  We can improve our health.  We have power!  People are devoted to Eric and often share their personal journeys with him because he was the inspiration that saved them.  Unfortunately Eric couldn't save the love of his live and now he can't save himself. The words he wrote and spoke aren't helping  him.   He lives as a recluse in a house with a dog.  His darkness is interrupted by a fan who has come to find him.  She forces him out of the house and might be able to help him seek some peace for himself. A little dark but I liked it. 

All You Could Ask For by Mike Greenberg FIC Gre

     This novel is about three women.  In the first part of the book we learn about their individual lives.  Brooke is still crazy about her college sweetheart even after 15 years of marriage.  He travels a lot but it makes it even sweeter when he comes home.  Samantha has only been married for a couple of days when she finds some things on her husband's computer that make her suspect he has not been faithful.  Katherine is a driven business woman with no interest in finding a man -  because the one she loves is her boss, Phillip, and he broke her heart many years ago.  They don't know each other - yet.  But their lives will intertwine and become a  part of a 'club' that no one wants to join.  I enjoyed the book a lot. The only thing that puzzled me was this:  How in the world did a guy who works for ESPN write a book from the point of three women?  And how did he do it so well???????? 

The Unfinished Child by Theresa Shea FIC She

 

    I thought this was an excellent novel.  A woman named Margaret gave birth to a daughter with Down Syndrome in 1947 and at that time these children were referred to as 'unfinished'.  Margaret's story is interspersed throughout the book with that of Marie.  Marie is married with two daughters.  But at the age of thirty-nine she finds out she is pregnant.  Although she and her husband didn't want any more children,  the hardest thing will be telling her best friend Elizabeth.  After years of fertility treatments Elizabeth and her husband have not been able to conceive.  So you think you have already figured it out, don't you! Marie will have the baby and give it to grateful Elizabeth.......this book is a lot deeper than that.  The characters will draw you in.  The descriptions of institutions in the  '40's will break your heart.  The dilemmas faced by these women may be ones faced by someone you know.  I doubt that anyone can read it and not be touched.