Frozen River, by Ariel Lawhon, is a book of historical fiction - big in history and even bigger and better in fiction. Martha Ballard, a midwife, wife, and mother in the years after the Revolutionary War, was also (luckily for us!) a prolific journal writer. Author Lawhon takes the journal framework and creates a wonderful story - part history, part mystery, part family life, and part romance. It was a great story. I loved it!

41. The Yellow Wife by Sedeqa Johnson. The story of a woman, Pheby Delores Brown, thrust into the Devils Half Acre prison for slave trade in Richmond Virginia. Heart wrenching and graphic cruelty. Reads like a Historical Fiction.

A sequel to The Guncle which takes place five years later, this book is a quirky fun read that also examines loss and love. A very entertaining read!

I saw the author on the Drew Barrymore show and the author made sense of life and how a person would think in a positive way on a daily basis. Oprah's name as co author is misleading. Enjoyed some of the reflections about appreciating life more and wanting less. Lots of reflections on gratitude for things obtained without constantly trying to use things for happiness.

A very twisty mystery that I read straight through! Millie is hired as a housekeeper for the Winchester family but all is not as it seems. First half narrated by Millie and second part by her employer Nina Winchester. Very suspenseful!

This is a story of three generations of an Irish Catholic family. The story is told from six different points of view, including the matriarch, Catherine McLaughlin, her daughter Kelly and son-in-law Louis as well as their two daughters, Gracie and Lila. As in most families there are problems communicating.

Wonderful story about family secrets. When the secrets are exposed, nothing will ever be the same again. Powerful and gripping. Unable to put book down, finished in 4 days.

A stolen parking space and an emergency plane landing introduce this couple. Their adventure continues across the US as they both try to reach California to be with their families. The book started out great, their adventure exciting and at times humerous, but then the book turned into a graphic romance novel. After that, it just fell apart and led to an extremely poor ending in my opinion.

I really enjoyed this book. Two women about 40 years apart in age meet in the 1980s and are drawn to each other. They find that they have many things in common. Each has lost her fiancé, one during WWII and the other when he was abducted while working for Doctors without Borders, and neither knows for sure whether he is alive and tortured, or dead. This book also deals with mother-daughter relationships, depression after loss, starting over, and other themes. I highly recommend this book!

This is the 2nd book in the Gaslight Mysteries series. The main character, Sarah, is a midwife in the 1890's. Gerda, the teenage sister of one of her indigent patients, disappears. During this time period, the corrupt NYC police department only investigates cases if family or friends pay them to. Sarah turns to Frank, a policeman who she has worked with before, and convinces him to investigate the case. She knows that she needs to be involved to solve this crime, as people will not speak to the police. Sarah goes to places she's never been before, such the dance hall where Gerda was last seen and Coney Island, where Gerda found a man who bought her things in exchange for what was likely sex. A really fun character is Sarah's meddling next door neighbor, who believes that Sarah and Frank are in a relationship, and who tells Sarah about the omens she sees in every day occurrences. This is a great series for anyone interested in historical fiction and mystery.