Fiction

On Canaan's Side by Sebastian Barry. "a lyricalbook written by an Irish playwright. It follows a woman who comes to the US on the run from the IRA. Her life is full and full of twists. It is a beautiful story and especially poignant to those of us of Irish heritage."

Capitalby John Lanchester: “It’s 2008 and the markets are crashing. The residents of Pepys Road, London begin receiving anonymous postcards that say ‘We Want What You Have.’ Who are they from? An epic novel with intimate portrayals set a time of extraordinary tension.”

Career of Evil (Cormoran Strike Book 3) by Robert Galbraith. "Career of Evil is the third in the highly acclaimed series featuring private detective Cormoran Strike and his assistant Robin Ellacott. When a mysterious package is delivered to Robin Ellacott, she is horrified to discover that it contains a woman's severed leg. Her boss, private detective Cormoran Strike, is less surprised but no less alarmed. There are four people from his past who he thinks could be responsible--and Strike knows that any one of them is capable of sustained and unspeakable brutality.With the police focusing on one of the suspects, Strike and Robin delve into the dark and twisted worlds of the other three men. But as more horrendous acts occur, time is running out for the two of them..."

The Carrie Diaries by Candice Bushnell. "Before Manhattan and Manolos, who was Carrie Bradshaw? In her first novel for teens, Bushnell fills in her Sex and the City star's growing-up years with this chronicle of Carrie's senior year of high school in a small New England town. Bushnell maintains believable continuity of character in this teen version of her cultural icon, and fans will enjoy watching Carrie develop her familiar adult traits." (Ed: I think that came from Amazon, but now I don't remember.)

Carry the One: A Novel by “The story of three siblings after the oldest marries. The writing really picks up about mid-way and the complicated story of the 3 siblings is compelling, although the premise - that the death of a young girl the night of Carmen's wedding changed everyone's life - did not work for me. If just Nick and Olivia had been in the accident, the story would have made much more sense, particularly the much more extreme derailing of Nick's life. Even Alice's painting of the dead girl could have been made possible, but it did not seem like anyone else was as affected by the tragic accident as you would imagine they would be. Yet the story of the siblings, brought up by an overly severe and unsupportive father and a weak mother, got really interesting at about the 50% mark. Lives filled with choices, consequences, and happiness found in unexpected routines.”

The Castaways (and other titles) by Elin Hilderbrand. "This is perfect beach reading. She writes well, her characters, dialogue and plots ring true, and they are all set on Nantucket, so it’s like a mini-vacation just reading her books."

The Cat's Table by Michael Ondaatje. By the author of the English Patient. From Amazon: chronicles a young boy's passage from Sri Lanka to London onboard the Oronsay, both as it unfolds and in hindsight.”

A Catch of Consequence (Makepeace Hedley) by Diana Norman. "I didn't read much about this book prior to reading it, and no ‘in real life’ friend had recommended it. I guess I expected a tolerably written historical fiction. Perhaps because of my low expectations, I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of writing and by the story (I was up until 1 a.m. trying to get through it). I won't recite the basic story -- it helped my enjoyment to know little beyond the fact that a female tavern owner in pre-Revolutionary Boston plucks a drowning Englishman from the harbor, and that there are (as the title implies) consequences. A great read."

A Certain Chemistry by Mil Millington. Funny, in a Jonathan Tropper kind of way – in other words, men behaving badly. With British humor. A ghostwriter has an affair with the actress whose memoir he is writing. Page turner. Beach book epitomized.

The Chaperoneby Laura Moriarty. “A fast beach read with a vivid 1920's backdrop, this is the story of Louise Brooks (who became a famous silent film star) and the chaperone accompanying her to NY where she will attend dance school. To borrow from Wicked lyrics, both women are not sure they were changed for the better, but because they knew each other they were changed for good...”

Charles Lenox Mysteries by Charles Finch: A Beautiful Blue Death (Book 1), The September Society (Book 2), The Fleet Street Murders (Book 3), A Stranger in Mayfair (Book 4), A Burial at Sea (Book 5), A Death in the Small Hours (Book 6), An Old Betrayal (Book 7), The Laws of Murder (Book 8), Home by Nightfall (Book 9). "I love this series. I like to think of these books as sorbets between “harder” reads!"... From MacMillan: "Charles Lenox, Victorian gentleman and armchair explorer, likes nothing more than to relax in his private study with a cup of tea, a roaring fire and a good book. But he can't pass up a good mystery, and this amateur sleuth is often called on to leave his comforts behind in the pursuit of clues. Follow him into the public houses, Mayfair mansions and servants’ quarters of Victorian London, into the intrigues of Parliament and secrets of Oxford. This historical mystery series, with its keen eye for period detail and razor-sharp plotting, offers readers an unparalleled brand of charm, sophistication and suspense."

Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith. "Gripping beach read. My husband and I listened to it on CD on a car trip, but didn't finish it on that voyage. I had to go buy a 'real' copy. From Amazon: "If all that Tom Rob Smith had done was to re-create Stalinist Russia, with all its double-speak hypocrisy, he would have written a worthwhile novel. He did so much more than that in Child 44, a frightening, chilling, almost unbelievable horror story about the very worst that Stalin's henchmen could manage."

Circe by Madeline Miller. This is a tremendous tour de force by the Brown professor, Madeline Miller, who made her mark with The Song of Ulysses (2012). Circe is the retelling of the goddess' story and it's beautiful. The language, the imagery... all of it. Amazing. And, in telling the story of Circe, Miller really tells the universal and eternal story of all women. It's one of my favorite books ever.

A Circle of Wives by Alice LaPlante. “This is a super-fast beach read about a man who was married to multiple wives (only one knew about the others) who is found murdered and the story is about trying to figure out which wife killed him and how. It isn't a wonderful book, but it is readable and does keep you guessing about who murdered the polygamist and why.”

Circling the Sun by Paula McClain – coming this July. Early reviews on Goodreads are very positive about this book by the author of The Paris Wife. “Paula McLain, author of the phenomenal New York Times bestseller The Paris Wife, takes readers into the glamorous and decadent circle of British expats living in Kenya in the 1920s. Circling the Sun tells the story of the beautiful young horse trainer, adventurer, and aviator Beryl Markham, from her childhood in British East Africa to her relationship with hunter Denys Finch Hatton and rivalry with Out of Africa author Karen Blixen—a notorious love triangle that changed the course of Beryl’s life.”

Citizen: An American Lyric by Claudine Rankine. (Poetry) “This book, a meditative poetry/prose hybrid was widely praised and short-listed for the National Book Award. Its main concern is the hot button of race in America but she addresses this huge topic in an intimate and personal way, with small, quiet snippets of conversation and scenarios in which the subtlety of racism (which go by the irksome name of micro aggressions) gets played out. An important book which will be an eye-opener for many."

Citrus Countyby John Brandon. “Brandon finds shards of redemption in the swampy backwaters of Florida in his funny and horrifying latest. When Shelby Register moves to Citrus County, Fla., with her single father and little sister, she's expecting ‘surfers instead of rednecks,’ but the precocious teen makes the best of it.”

The City & The City by China Mieville. "I like my science fiction 'light.' I'm generally not interested in aliens, space exploration, crazy futuristic technology (dinner in the shape of a pill - no thanks!) Although I can cite books that I've loved with these elements, I just don't gravitate to them naturally. The City & The City has just the right mix for me, taking a traditional crime novel plot and executing it in a fantasy setting. Plot-wise the story is fairly standard - a young woman is found murdered and our hero, Tyador Borlu of the Extreme Crime Squad, is assigned to the case. The complexity of the setting is what makes this book so engrossing."

City of Thieves by David Benioff. “Serious wartime subject matter, yet the humor seeps in. Very entertaining. During the Nazis’ brutal siege of Leningrad, Lev Beniov is arrested for looting and thrown into the same cell as a handsome deserter named Kolya. Instead of being executed, Lev and Kolya are given a shot at saving their own lives by complying with an outrageous directive: secure a dozen eggs for a powerful Soviet colonel to use in his daughter’s wedding cake. In a city cut off from all supplies and suffering unbelievable deprivation, Lev and Kolya embark on a hunt through the dire lawlessness of Leningrad and behind enemy lines to find the impossible."

Clara and Mr. Tiffany by Susan Vreeland. From a published review: "(Luncheon of the Boating Party) continues her art-history inspired novels by focusing on Clara Driscoll, the director of one branch of Louis Comfort Tiffany’s glass studio. Letters of hers found recently indicate that she, not Tiffany, was the brainchild behind the famous Tiffany glass lamps. To protect this glass studio from union strikes, Tiffany hired only unmarried women and gave Clara management and artisitic freedom to run the studio. The book is an interesting look at how hard Clara Driscoll fought for the women in her employ and the private sacrifices Clara made in order to continue in her art."

Fiction

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