The Thirteenth Tale: A Novel by Diane Setterfield. Synopsis from Amazon: Margaret Lea, a London bookseller's daughter, has written an obscure biography that suggests deep understanding of siblings. She is contacted by renowned aging author Vida Winter, who finally wishes to tell her own, long-hidden, life story. Margaret travels to Yorkshire, where she interviews the dying writer, walks the remains of her estate at Angelfield and tries to verify the old woman's tale of a governess, a ghost and more than one abandoned baby. Comments: "I LOVED this book." and "I wish I'd saved this wonderful, entertaining gothic novel for vacation. The author was artful in how she built to the revelations, much in the style of 19th century gothic novels mentioned throughout." "Very entertaining."

Still Alice by Lisa Genova. I wouldn’t ordinarily peg this as summer reading, but it got SO many positive reviews, and one of you even gave me a copy. (From Amazon): "In this novel, the author, a Harvard neuropsychologist, tells the story of a Harvard neuropsychologist who realizes she is suffering from early onset Alzheimers. A claustrophobic first hand account of her world as it grows ever smaller." Comments: "The most accurate account of what it feels like to be inside the mind of an Alzheimer's patient I've ever read. Beautifully written and very illuminating." "A very interesting book about a female professor who has Alzheimers. It and decribes what is happing to her as she becomes more and more disoriented. It is a fictional book, but the author went to great lengths to learn what Alzheimers patients go through as they slowly lose their memory."

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played with Fire, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson "I devoured them. Inhaled them. They are page-turners for sure, but with a social conscience. Mind you, a few of the scenes are very troubling and difficult to read. But there is nothing gratuitous about them. The characters are some of the best I’ve read in a long time, I think of them often." and "Hands down MUST read is the girl with the dragon tattoo trilogy. Just finished all and now will spend the rest of the summer with end of book blues. I dare you to find something better...amazing character development. Makes you want to go get some piercings and kick some a**." The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. “The first in the trilogy, this Sweden-set thriller warms up after the first third with great characters and a fascinating plot. Warning: a subplot is violence against women and some of the descriptions are quite graphic.” “It took a few chapters to get into the story, but then I was hooked! A total page turner.” “scary, but a page turner. Don't read if you're home alone!” The Girl Who Played with Fire. "The second book in the trilogy - more exciting and polished than the first. Larsson, who died shortly before publication, was a master." "Double wow! I liked this one even better than the first." "It's as intense as the first book with a cliff-hanger ending." The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest. "I haven’t read it yet, but only because I’m saving it for a trip to BVI later this month. Hear it’s fantastic!"

Major Pettigrew's Last Stand: A Novel by Helen Simonson. "What a terrific first novel. It's about a widower in a small English town who falls for a Pakistani widow who runs a shop. The writing is lovely, as is the story. This is an author who knows and plays to her strengths. Yeah, it's a little neat, but who cares? It was a delight to read, a feast for Anglophiles. Like this bit of dialogue:

'But he already has a title,' said Jasmina.
'A Scottish title isn't really the same thing at all,' the Major said.
'Especially when you buy it on the Internet,' added Roger.

There were times I wasn't sure if I shared the author's sensibilities -- intentional perhaps. In the end, all who deserved my compassion had it."  "I listened to this on audiobook, which was excellent."

Cutting for Stone (Vintage) by Abraham Verghese. I am not sure I know anyone who didn’t love this book. It’s about identical twins born to a beautiful Indian nun in Ethiopia. (Yes, really.) She dies in childbirth, leaving them to be raised by one of the most wonderful couples I’ve ever encountered in literature. I'm not going to say how long it is … read it on the Kindle, as I did, and find out AFTER you’ve finished it. Comments: "Gorgeous writing style and story." "The book opened so many windows -- allowing a rare glimpse into Ethiopia, into surgery (NEVER thought I'd want to read all of that!), then crossing the pond with our protagonist to his life at a hospital in the Bronx."  "My goodness, I loved this book. Sweeping, yet intimate family saga of twin brothers born to a doctor and a nun-nurse and how their lives unfold. Stranger in a strange land, what is home, what is family -- all themes in this beautifully written book."

The Charm School by Nelson Demille. Okay, I cheated and added this NOT NEW book after the list was published. Until this Russian spy story emerged, this book might have seemed a little dated. But hey! Cold War intrigue is BACK, baby, and suddenly this novel is not only timely, but seems weirdly prescient. If you haven't had the pleasure of reading this great old (v beachy) book, I highly recommend it. I remember when I got to the end of this book, I absolutely HAD to be somewhere, but I absolutely COULD NOT put it down. DeMille's best, I think. Maybe now that fear of Russian spies is once again in vogue, they'll finally make a movie of it.

The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine by Michael Lewis. "Very good reportage on the financial meltdown from the viewpoint of several people who 'shorted' the housing market and made a killing while the banks imploded." "For those who want a quick read (except the middle) of what happened in the CDO market between 2007 and 2009." (NB: latter comment from contributor who is extremely well versed in financial services – she found a chunk of the book to be extremely technical, but said it not vital to understand everything to get the gist of/enjoy the book. I'm thinking it might be like the philosophical riffs in The Elegance of the Hedgehog, some of which I found pretentious, and great chunks of which I skimmed).

A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan. Each chapter in this novel, which won the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for fiction, is told from a different character’s point of view –friends and associates of a music producer/former punk rocker. Contributor comments: "Smart, modern, and well-written book dealing with the aging of a generation of hip youngsters." … "This is a fun but thoughtful book about...well...about a whole bunch of people who all have some connection to each other, some more than others, all dealing with different stages of life, and we meet several of them over again as they age or in their past. Confused? You won't be. I never felt out of place or out of time in this book. Egan does a great job of quickly establishing where you are at and with which character and then you fall completely into their story."

Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand. By the author of Seabiscuit: An American Legend, this is a biography of Louie Zamperini, an Olympic runner who wound up an Air Force Lieutenant and prisoner of war in WWII. By all accounts I’ve seen, Unbroken reads like fiction – a “breathless” narrative style, in the words of the New York Times. Contributor comments: “I am not usually a nonfiction fan but this story is too amazing not to read. Laura Hillenbrand's story is pretty interesting as well. She lives DC and suffers from chronic fatigue syndrome.” … “Definitely not my usual pick but impossible to put down.”