Lisa See brings so much history of how the early Chinese settlers were treated in our country. And in 1870, post 13th amendment ending slavery, we learn that this did not apply to Chinese women. Another great read by this talented author.

This memoir of Jill Biden’s life as the First Lady portrays her view of her life during those years. It is informative and interesting with lots of details about her very busy every day life. In addition to Biden’s First Lady family responsibilities, she taught English classes at a junior college in Delaware. She also worked tirelessly to raise up the lives of disadvantaged and socially challenged women. I listened to the audio book which felt like a friend telling me about her life. The emphasis was always her on love for her husband, her daughter and her stepsons, who she always referred to as their sons. Of course Biden’s cherished grandchildren are included in the family story. The challenges were many but Jill Biden’s love and caring never wavered.

Imagine discovering you family were German Spies working for Japanese during WWII. It is Non-Fiction and took many years to uncover the facts. This book reads like a spy novel as the author and her husband discover facts about her family. It is well developed and researched. So many events of the time are revealed. My only knowledge of the destruction of Pearl Harbor was that the Japanese attacked us and too many lives were lost, it took countless years to rebuild, and was used to get the United States involved in WWII. How the Japanese secured information was fascinating.

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.

The story is set on Nantucket Island in the summer time. Courtney, from Kansas City, has a crush on her college roommate's brother, James, and returns to Nantucket to see them for her last summer there. It's an exciting, page-turner. Enjoy!

Jodie already killed once for her sister. Jodie just married rich and renowned psychologist Roy Davies and they should be living in newlywed bliss, however Jodie has an agenda. Debbie, Jodie’s sister was married to Roy and ended up dead and it ruled a suicide. Jodie is there to make Roy pay for murdering her sister. When the same facial disfigurement starts to happen to Jodie that happened to Debbie the story takes a surprising twist. Who killed Debbie? Can Jodie make Roy pay for the death of her sister? Read and find out.

This book is a must read for any cat lover. Agnes is a young widow and very detail oriented and steadfast in running her cat shelter charity in Montreal. When magicians destroy the street where her cat shelter is located she must find a new location. She ends up in a too good to be location with cheap rent only to learn the evil magician, Havelock, is running an illegal magic shop in the basement. Agnes and Havelock find themselves working together when a rival magician, Havelock’s own sister, comes to take a magical book from Havelock’s archives. Can Agnes keep her cats safe and find homes for them all while trying to help defeat warring magicians. Is Havelock really as bad as his reputation and can love possibly blossom for Agnes again? Read and find out.

Strange book about a supposed alien encounter meant to be a metaphor about "finding oneself." Hard to like.

This book, while a bit slow, had a great ending. The ending is something I never could have predicted and the whole book I continued trying to figure out what the twist would be. I enjoyed that the book felt so captivating and real.

The Nobel Prize in Literature winner, Herta Muller, writes about what it was like to grow up and become a writer in Romania under the communist dictator, Ceausescu. Under constant threat of, and interrogations by, the secret police; living in a country where every friend could be a spy and where every interaction could lead to arrest and imprisonment -- Muller vividly conveys the repressive fear that gripped the country. In a question-and-answer format, the book also shares Muller's thoughts on memory and the process of writing. A powerful book.