Insight into war and what Post Traumtic Stress can do and how it is handled

Always enjoy reading Adriana Trigiani. This novel has it all. Great story telling with wonderful humor.

Mansion Beach is sort of a modern take on The Great Gatsby. After quitting her career and breaking up with her boyfriend, Nicola is staying on Block Island in an internship for sea conservation. She is staying at her favorite cousin’s rich wife’s family cottage. Nicola is living next to the biggest party house on the island owned by Julianna George and becomes friends with her. Can Nicola navigate the rocky terrain of keeping up with the affluent residents of the island? Who doesn’t survive the summer? Read and find out.

This was a very interesting Historical Fiction that takes place in Nebraska and the Dakota Territory during the 1800s. Melanie weaves the story through the perspective of two teenage sisters serving as teachers in two different areas. It is based on a real event when a severe Winter storm developed midday. You are drawn into the lives of children, adults, and westward expansion.

This is the fourth book in The Thursday Murder Club Mystery series. The club consists of a group of friends who live in a retirement community and solve murder cases together. This book has a more somber tone than the first three books, which, despite being about murders, were quite funny. Besides dealing with murder, this book has a lot to say about Alzheimer’s and its effect on the individual, caregivers, and friends.

Two women decide to investigate together the disappearance of their missing sisters. The sisters were taken in different incidents separated by only a few weeks. Both cases were reported as runaways. Nicole Monroe and Jenna Conner don’t believe that their sisters ran away, and are determined to investigate together to determine what really happened. A little bit of a different concept. I like my mysteries so it was a good read for me. This is one of those that some of the incidents seem a bit preposterous, but keep the plot going.

This book comes with a lot of hype and I think that's important to know going in. This will definitely not be a boon for everyone but it was a good read. Without giving too much away it's about a woman, Rowan, who is looking to see what happened to her husband who has gone off to take care of the seed vault on a remote island near Antarctica. Upon washing up on the island she discovers the mysterious Salt family. Pros: The scenery and the details of not only the foliage but the animals on the island was so vivid that you felt like you were there. The mystery was haunting and drew you in. As a reader you wanted to learn about the Salt family and what was happened to all of them. The concept of climate change was also extremely well written and made you think. I also really liked the characters and their development. Cons: SLOW BURN. The story moved incredibly slow which is why it received four stars from me instead of five.

The Frozen River is a historical fiction murder mystery that centers around Martha Ballard ( who actually is a real person, a midwife whose diaries are a rich resource for this novel). A dead person ( villainous) has been discovered in a block of ice and Martha, using her tremendous assets of courage and sense of justice, as she champions women's rights, must discover what happened. Between death, illness, rape, miscarriage and loss of children, these rights were pretty much non existent in 18 th century America.

Very good book. Fast read, kept me interested. Great historical fiction novel.

I found this novel truly heartbreaking as Claire in her husband experience so many losses. But Claire is resilient and a devoted mother and grandmother; she carries on with her life and makes a real difference to the children she fosters. The ending is cathartic.