Watch Me Disappear by Janelle Brown FIC Bro

       

This book pulled me in from the beginning. For almost a year Jonathan has been a single parent to a teenage daughter named Olive.  That is never an easy task and it is getting harder since Olive has become more remote.  She is even having some issues at her expensive all-girl prep school.  Jonathan is sure that all of this has something to do with the one-year anniversary that is coming up. That is the day that Jonathan's beloved wife, Billie, went out for a hike by herself.  She never returned.  They found one hiking boot in the river and her smashed cellphone.

Jonathan changes his life.  He gives up his crazy work life. He is now working at home thanks to an advance on a book that he is writing about Billie - their life together and the grief he is experiencing.  Olive is also experiencing things - visions of her mother who is asking Olive to come look for her.  She final tells her father.  He wants her to go to a therapist.

But then one day Jonathan thinks it finally time to clean out Billie's things.  He begins to find signs that he may not have really known her at all.  So father and daughter begin to look into Billie's past.  I loved it!

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The Gatekeepers: How the White House Chiefs of Staff define every presidency by Chris Whipple 973.92 Whi

I am a bit of a political junkie and this book was just up my alley.   The gatekeepers are the White House Chiefs of Staff.  The title was first used by Haldeman under President Nixon.  It is a fascinating read - especially since I was reading about these former Chiefs of Staff while a Chief of Staff was being fired on my television!

I really didn't understand how important that position is for the success of a president.  Some Presidents seemed to be aware of that before they ever took office - others learned the hard way.
I really don't know how anyone can last in the job for any length of time.

Whipple did a great job of introducing us to the men (no women so far) who have held this vital position.  He interviewed the 17 men who have held this job and I learned a lot of things that I didn't know before.

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Two by Two by Nicholas Sparks FIC Spa

Summer is a great time to read a book by Nicholas Sparks.  You always know it will be an entertaining read.

Some guys have all the luck.  Russ is married to the beautiful Vivian who left the work world to stay home and keep house for him and their beautiful, charming daughter.  This allows Russ to concentrate on his career in advertising.  Life is great.

And then it begins to fall apart.  Now that their daughter is starting school Vivian wants to go back to work and suddenly Russ is expected to pitch in. Seems there is quite a bit of work and organization that goes into running a house.  Who knew?   It goes downhill from there.

This book didn't get great reviews but I needed a break from some non-fiction that I have been reading and this fit the bill.

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After The Fall by Julie Cohen FIC Coh

This is a book about family.  And whenever there is a family there will be plenty of conflict and secrets!  Honor is an elderly woman living alone in a house that has been home forever.  She is intelligent, stubborn, independent and still mourning the death of her only child, Stephen.  But when the story begins she is in big trouble because she just fell down her stairs.  She is able to crawl to a phone and call for help.  The ambulance transports her to the hospital where they want to know the name of someone to call on her behalf.  Reluctantly she gives them the name of her daughter-in-law, Jo.  She has some secrets.  Even Jo's daughter Lydia has secrets!

Upon her release from the hospital, Honor has no choice but accept the gracious offer from Jo to come live with them while she rehabs.  Three generations of women under one roof is never going to be smooth.

Although Stephen is dead, he is an important part of the story which is told in the different voices of the characters.  An enjoyable story!

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Ginny Moon by Benjamin Ludwig FIC Lud

Thirteen-(almost fourteen)-year-old Ginny has lived in her Forever Home with her Forever Parents for two years.  She is also autistic.  And that brings with it a whole set of other issues.  Routine is important to her - starting every day with exactly nine grapes and a glass of milk for breakfast being just one. She loves Michael Jackson and basketball practice and playing her flute.

Rescued from a dangerous situation four years before, Ginny is plagued by memories of what living in that abusive home was like.  And now that her Forever Mom is pregnant, she really can't escape them.  Despite the life she has now she seems determined beyond all reason to go back to that life.  Even going so far as to try to be kidnapped.

Told from Ginny's point-of-view, we learn things through her filter.  And we come to understand why she so desperately needs to return to her previous life.  Ginny is caring and loving (in her own way) but also frustrating and demanding.

A fascinating look inside the brain of an autistic child, this book is sad and funny and ultimately heartwarming.

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A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles FIC Tow

This book was highly recommended by a friend.  Put off by its length (462 pages) and small print, I resisted for awhile.  And then I started reading.

In 1922 and at the age of 30, Count Alexander Ilyich Rostov is declared a "Former Person" by a Bolshevik tribunal and sentenced to house arrest in the Metropol Hotel where he currently resides.  Not immediately concerned, he soon finds his living circumstances reduced from the suite he has occupied for years on the third floor to a room of 100 square feet on the fifth floor.

Over the next 30+ years, the Count (as most people continue to call him despite the changes in society going on at the time) comes to terms with his living situation.  Full of grace and good humor he makes friends with those around him - from the chef to the maitre d' to the hotel seamstress who teaches him to sew.  When 9-year-old Nina, a bona fide resident of the hotel, enters his life he finds he has much to learn - not only about the inner workings of the hotel but about himself.

This is just the broad strokes of a fascinating book.  Covering the time from 1922 to 1954 it covers not only the life of one man but also a hotel (the Metropol is a real hotel in Moscow) as well as the development of a country under Communism.  On the surface it might sound boring but it is far from it.  And the last forty pages are 'edge of your seat, knuckle clutching, sweat inducing' reading.

I loved this book and hated to see it end.

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Mr. Darcy's Little Sister by C. Allyn Pierson FIC Pie

Set just after the end of Pride and Prejudice, this is the story of Mr. Darcy's little sister - Georgiana.  Still reeling from the mistake she almost made (you remember - she almost eloped with Mr. Wickham), she is painfully shy and dreads her coming out Season.  Fortunately, she adores her brother and comes to love her new sister, Elizabeth.

With coaching from Elizabeth, Georgiana faces the ordeal of preparing for her Court presentation and all the balls that accompany her first Season.  She faces new obstacles but grows from them, finally realizing which of the eligible men surrounding her is the one she loves and wants to spend her life with.

All of the characters you know and love, and a few of the ones you don't, are present in this modern continuation of the Jane Austen classic.  The book is a quick, enjoyable way to spend a couple of hot, summer afternoons, get reacquainted with old friends and be assured that there is a "happy ever after."

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