"THE LINCOLN HIGHWAY" by AMOR TOWLES
What a combination of colorful characters, convoluted stories and even a few history lessons! All in a book whose title is misleading, since we never make it to the Lincoln Highway. Nevertheless, over a short but very adventure-filled ten days, we travel with 18-year-old Emmett and his eight-year-old brother to New York City (even though they intended to head to California). It's a thick book, but easy to read - a hard-to-put-down narrative that will provide plenty of chuckles.
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"AMY SNOW" by TRACY REES
This novel takes us to England in the mid-1800s. We will spend a good bit of our time with the families of aristocracy, but all with a bit of a twist. A treasure hunt of sorts - not for a treasure of gold, but of identity. The author keeps to the more stilted English language of that period and I'm sure there were similar "odd" characters living then, too. But the convoluted story line seems a bit too contrived to feel authentic. Oh well, it was an interesting read.
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"THE LAST MONA LISA" by JONATHAN SANTLOFER
This book is a mystery written around the theft from the Louvre of the famous "Mona Lisa" by Leonardo daVinci. The book's author is also a working artist - a double feature. So, in one book we get a well-turned mystery story written by someone who knows the history of the painting's artist as well as its theft in 1911. Throughout the mystery we learn more about the mechanics of the creation of the painting itself. A double helping of expertise. And, of course, there's a bit of a love story as well.
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"THINGS WE DIDN'T SAY" by AMY LYNN GREEN
I appreciated reading this book while, at the same time, wondered if the author tried to give us too much in one sitting - particularly for a debut novel. There are two concurring themes - German prisoners of war working on farms in Minnesota, plus a Japanese-American boy whose parents are living in a US internment camp. Add to that, our author writes the entire book in letters and news releases. She tells her story well, but I longed for some regular face-to-face conversation.
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"THE FINAL CASE" by DAVID GUTERSON
You may remember reading Guterson's popular novel "Snow Falling on Cedars" some 25-plus years ago. Here we have another gripping story, also taking place in the author's home state of Washington. What we have is a relatively straight-forward story of the death of a girl at the hands of her adoptive parents, with the courtroom trial to follow. But don't expect this thin volume to be an easy read. Instead, it dips and floats on its way to much deeper truths about life and death, love and hate. You won't forget it.
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"THE BOOK OF HOPE" by JANE GOODALL AND DOUGLAS ADAMS
The world-famous Goodall, now nearing 90, who astounded the world seven decades ago when she moved to Africa to live with the gorillas, is still sharing what she has learned. But now she shares her hope for the world through inspirational stories from her career. Through a long series of personal interviews, she narrates her experiences and world views with Adams, a sensitive writer who has also produced "The Book of Joy," interviewing the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Inspiring!
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"THE FOREST OF VANISHING STARS" by KRISTIN HARMEL
In a novel that feels in many ways like a fairy tale, our author weaves together some incredible true stories from World War II. Growing up in the forests of eastern Poland, our heroine Yona happens upon a group of Jews fleeing the Nazis and teaches them how to survive in uncharted territory. It's a long trek in a dangerous land, and enough trials to keep you reading well into the night, but you won't find all the answers until the very last page.
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"THE MIDNIGHT LIBRARY" by MATT HAIG
Have you ever wondered how your life would be if you had made a different choice somewhere along the line? Perhaps most of us have had that feeling at times - or maybe even many times during our lifetime. So here's your chance to try on some other choices in life, as our heroine Nora goes through a series of "other lives" before discovering the worth of what she already has. The plot is fantasy and the characters are a strange mix, but the message is filled with universal truths.
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