Elsie Fitzpatrick finds her neighbor and nemesis dead in his kitchen one day which makes the police suspect her of murder. However the truth of who she really is and the past she’s hiding from comes out. She is Mad Mabel Waller, the youngest person convicted of murder in Australian history. Along the way Mabel makes new friends and discovers that maybe she was never mad and people should be careful who is telling the story. This book keeps you wanting more as Elsie/Mabel’s story unwinds between past and present. A must read.

John Searles writes a fictionalized account of Helen Gurley Brown's rise to the top as editor-in-chief (since 1965) and creator of " Cosmopolitan" magazine as we know it. In the decades that she gained reknown, she supported and freed women's sexual independence and self-awareness out of the confinements of the 1950's, to the glittering decades of the 70's, 80's and 90's.

The book grabbed me right away but took a turn I was not expecting. After I gave into the mythological switch I enjoyed the rest of the book.

In the book WHISPER SISTER by Jennifer S. Brown I learned that the term Whisper Sister was used in the Prohibition era for a female bartender- when legally there were no bars or the need to tend them. The main character arrived from Eastern Europe as a young child, not happily I might add. Her father secretly runs an illegal bar. As luck would have it, her father is arrested and sent to prison. Someone had to keep the family afloat and she steps in to do just that ... This coming of age in American story is set against the backdrop of the Jewish immigrants of the lower East Side in New York. An interesting story with lots of local color and interesting historical fiction thrown in. The end was somewhat predictable, but an enjoyable story non the less.

It's 2014 and Hannah is now in her eighties. You first meet her living in Germany when Hitler was rising in power and her family know they have to escape. How she left and where she ended up is all part of the novel. Then there is Anna, a preteen, who is excited to learn of Hannah and maybe learn the story of her family. The two meet and their stories are complete.

The book starts off so simply. A chance meeting of an ex stepfather. It then goes on to such a thoughtful remembrance of the short time they were in each other's lives. So interesting to read about how one event was remembered by a 9 year old girl and what other members of the family thought happened.

This was a quick novella at the end of one of the author's books that I just finished reading. It was a great story and makes me look forward to reading the next book in this series.

At first I did not like the format of emails, texts, and transcripts. But it ended up working. There were little moments that felt tacked on but I guess we're included to deepen the story. The final reveals and subsequent ending were surprising even if they were a little empty. A different take on the crime thriller.

Two brothers and their wives share a 2 family house in Brooklyn. Rose and Mort have 3 daughters, while Helen and Abe have 4 sons; Mort longs for a son. Rose and Helen, who are extremely close, deliver their 4th and 5th babies on the same day, during the Great Blizzard of 1947. Rose has post-partum depression, so Helen steps in to help her and her family. Rose ends up resenting Helen, and refuses to spend time with her. The story goes through 23 years of life from the perspectives of Rose, Helen, Mort, Abe, and, later, that of 2 of the daughters. We see the differing impact various decisions and occurrences have on each of them. I highly recommend this book if you like character-driven stories.

This book was a real downer. Full of death, pain, struggle, and sadness. I originally thought there would be some kind of person/character(s) to like and hope for their survival, but I found myself not caring about any of them. They are all unlikable and I do not feel like the story added anything to the lives of the survivors. I'm disappointed I was interested in this book. The fourth wall breaks also added nothing to the story. It mentioned how we will “never know why” one of the characters was on the platform that day, but we could know, if the author chose to write it.