On My Own by Diane Rehm BCD 791.44 Reh

This is an audio book that was written and read by the author, Diane Rehm.  I don't listen to NPR where Rehm had a program, but I wished I had after listening to this book.  I think I would have enjoyed it a lot.  This book has several different themes running through it.  Ms. Rehm lost her husband of 54 years a few years ago - and thus the title of the book.  She talks about the abrupt changes that happen when one is left alone to deal with life's usual challenges.  She talks about the depth of pain that comes with losing a spouse.  What was unexpected and made her pain seem so raw was the truth she told about the marriage.  Often after a death the lost one becomes a saint.  Ms. Rehm tells about the wonderful parts of their marriage but doesn't hold back when telling about the hard parts.

Another theme that she weaves in and out the entire book is the question of the "right to die".  Her husband, John, had suffered a long time with Parkinson's.  He wanted to die but could no longer physically commit suicide.  His state does not allow physician-assisted suicide.  So desperate to die was John that he did the only thing he could to bring an end to his suffering.  One of Ms. Rehm's passions now is to help change the culture so that people can have control over their own deaths.

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Coffin Road by Peter May MYS May

Three plots converge in an isolated location in Scotland:

1.  A man washes up on the seashore with no memory of who he is, what he does, or how and where he got the gash on his forehead;
2.  Karen, a lonely 17-year-old in Edinburgh continues to mourn her father's suicide two years ago and feel, somehow, responsible for it.  If only her last words to him hadn't been "I hate you, I hate you, I hate you!";
3.  Detective George Gunn investigates the murder of a man who's body is found at a lonely and hard-to-reach lighthouse on an island located twenty miles out in the Outer Hebrides.

Loaded with tons of Scottish atmosphere, this book hooked me from the beginning and kept me reading.  I was anxious for the mystery man, felt sorry for troubled Karen, and enjoyed the solution to the mystery.

The author is new to me but I will go back to read some of his other mysteries.

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Today Will Be Different by Maria Semple FIC Sem

     

I loved Ms. Semple's previous book "Where'd You Go, Bernadette", so I was eager to read her newest book - and I was not disappointed.  Her characters are a bit quirky which makes them so much more interesting.  I tend to think that since tomorrow is a new day, it is the perfect time to clean my house, eat more veggies, pull weeds and so forth.  So from the first page I felt I had found my literary soul sister.  Yes Eleanor Flood had a long list of things she was going to do so that "today will be different".

Eleanor is supposed to be writing her graphic (in the picture sense!) memoir.  She is married to Joe who is an outstanding hand surgeon.  After ten years of living in Manhattan they are ready to start a family and Joe doesn't want to raise a child in the city.  He has a lot of job offers.  Their deal is that he will choose where they are going to live for the next 10 years.  And then they will move back to New York for ten years.  He picks Seattle.  They are almost to the ten-year mark but Joe hasn't mentioned moving.  They also are parents to 8-year-old son named Timby (you'll love the way he got his name!)

Well Eleanor's day didn't go the way she planned.  Her poetry lesson (which she loves) is interrupted by a call from the school to come pick up Timby (even though Eleanor knows he really isn't sick), she finds out that her husband hasn't been to work all week, and her son finds out about a family secret that Eleanor has been keeping from him.

A wonderful book!

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Behind Closed Doors by B. A. Paris FIC Par

This is a debut novel.  The problem with debut novels is that when you read a good one you can't run back to the library to check out others by the author!  Oh well, I'll wait.  This is a 'psychological thriller' which I love to read.  Grace and Jack seem like the perfect couple.  Jack is always solicitous of his wife.  He is always praising her.  He seems eager to welcome Grace's down-syndrome sister into their home when she finishes her schooling.  And the home?  It's a beautiful house in a wonderful  location.  Everyone is envious.

But behind closed doors not everything is perfect. A fast read that will keep you interested and wondering how this will end.  I was reminded of the movie "Sleeping with the Enemy" - but on steroids!

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The Book That Matters Most by Ann Hood FIC Hoo

I loved this book as I have other books by Hood.  Ava Tucker had a lot of trauma in her childhood.   She married a guy named Jim and they had two children Will and Maggie.  Will was an easy kid to raise. Maggie wasn't.  She was a wild child into trouble all the time.  When Maggie finally survives to the fringes of adulthood things seem to be okay and Ava feels confident that Maggie will be okay studying in Italy for the next year.  Will is off doing good works in Africa.  And Ava finds herself alone - because Jim has left her for another woman. Desperate for some social life she bugs her librarian friend, Cate, to let her join the book club when an opening is available.  (Only ten are allowed!).  This year the theme is "the book that matters most". Members are supposed to come to the next meeting with their selection.  Except that Ava forgets and under pressure she blurts out the name of a book that she read and reread after the deaths of her sister and then her mother.

The books flips back and forth between Ava's story and the horrific adventures of Maggie in Europe.  I loved reading the parts about the book club meetings when they discussed their books and how they were influenced by them.  A good read!

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Don't You Cry by Mary Kubica FIC Kub

       

I enjoyed this book although it was a bit hard to follow sometimes because it flips between two stories - but it might just have been my brain that was the problem!   One part of the book is focused on Quinn Collins.  She has been working in downtown Chicago for a year and was fortunate enough to answer an ad that led to an affordable shared apartment.  Her roommate is Esther and they have developed a great friendship.  One Saturday night Esther begs off going to a new bar because she thinks she is coming down with something.  On her own, Quinn ends up bringing a man back to her room.  It isn't until the next day that she realizes Esther is missing.

An hour from Chicago there is another story unfolding.  Alex is 18.  His childhood has been horrible.  At the moment he is earning money by working in a coffee shop.  One day he sees this mysterious woman.  When he finally gets to talk to her he is completely smitten.  But 'true love never runs smooth' to quote Gene Pitney (for those of you who are old enough to know who he is!).

Everyone is keeping secrets.  Not everyone will survive the next week!

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Hope For A Cool Pillow by Margaret Overton 362.175

  

It is the autumn of the year and for some of us, or maybe for someone we love, it is the autumn of our lives.  Dr. Overton wrote this book because she is an advocate of planning for end-of-life care.  This may sound like a dry subject but she has written a great book.  She writes about it from different points of views - financial, emotional and physical.  Interspersed is the story of her life and how she dealt with the deaths of her parents.  Her father died of cancer.  Several years later her mother is suffering from dementia when she finally dies.  Two ways of dying and each has its own challenges.

It won't take you long to read this book but I think what you read will stay with you and maybe start a dialogue that everyone needs to have.

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