River Readers

Taylor Halstead, psychologist and successful radio personality, is terrified that she'll never be safe again. Coming on the heels of a series of tragic and terrible events, the e-mail sends chills racing up her spine. Her safe, secure world has already been violated by her cousin Stephanie's boyfriend, Gordon Mallory, in her own apartment. Only the door buzzer and Stephanie's intervening voice rescue her, but not before Gordon promises to return. Soon after, he is killed along with Stephanie in an inexplicable explosion aboard his yacht. Or is he?

Nancy has just arrived at Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward Children. This is not your normal boarding school. It is a school for children who have traveled to other worlds and for one reason or another been sent back to their original world. These kids no longer fit in and miss their "homes". Nancy was in a world of the dead and when students start turning up dead she is suspected. It is up to her and her newfound friends to figure out who is killing everyone before the school has to be closed. 

This novella is in the form of a letter from a father to his adult son. The father is reminiscing about what a terrible father he has been and how he regrets that he can never change that. What he is going to do is change a person's fate. The man has had cancer and in the hospital met another patient, a 5 year old girl. They have both seen the woman in the gray sweater. In fact the man has seen her at several points in his life. She comes to collect the dead. When he sees her coming to collect the little girl he makes a pivotal decision that will change both of their lives.

We have finally reached Immortality along with a Governmental Utopia. Everything is perfect and when someone gets deathly hurt they are just sent off to a recovery center to heal and be fine within a few days. But what about the population problem? If everyone is immortal then the world would be overpopulated in no time. In come the Scythes, these are humans who's job is to kill a certain amount of people each month. They have specific rules to follow but some see these as minor guidelines.

Victoria Waverly, noble daughter of the war-ruined South, is sold in marriage to a ruthless rancher. Honor and pride help her endure life as a wife in name only but nothing can quench her forbidden desire for hired gunman Jake Roper. His gaze is hard, but tenderness he can't hide promises to unveil to Victoria the mysteries of love.

Only true love can destroy....

When Virgil Flowers gets involved in a murder investigation, it usually goes sideways, with a good dose of laughter. His return to Trippton, Minnesota, is no exception, where one of the planners for a class reunion has turned up frozen in a block of ice -- and even the killer isn't sure how. While tracking the killer, the governor has requested Flowers look into another case in the area involving Barbie and Ken dolls that have been...altered...by someone who everyone is protecting.

A woman on the subway car is acting suspiciously, and Jack Reacher's training tells him why: she must be a suicide bomber. He confronts her and she kills herself, but there's no bomb to be found.

The story opens on Jack Reacher between Hope and Despair -- literally. In the 12th book of Lee Child's popular series, Reacher finds that Despair is a place that doesn't want visitors, and soon finds himself in jail for vagrancy. Determined to explore what the town might be hiding, he encounters a beautiful deputy down the road in Hope and, later, stumbles upon a dead body between the towns.

I liked this book a lot because it was a bit different. While the dysopian society is similar to others, I liked the idea of belonging to a passion. I'm not sure I would want that passion to decide my fate, but I guess in a way that is what choosing a career does - just not usually at seventeen. I had a little trouble keeping everyone straight, but the charts at the front were a good reference tool. I began to care for many of the characters and look forward to the next book to see how Brienna and the others fare.

This book reminded me of the real life story of Jaycee Dugard who reappeared after 18 years. She had two children and quite a story. This one makes sense because of the guilt Amy feels, both for having gone meekly along instead of resisting and for the act that results in her return. The secrets she keeps and the fear she feels are believable. It is also nice to see someone trying to make decisions that protect someone else and not taking the easy route to save one's self or make life simple. Not an easy read, but worth it.

Listening to this second book gave me new insights into my favorite series. I keep uncovering things I don't remember reading or have forgotten since watching the movies after reading the book. Jim Dale once again transports the listener back to Hogwarts and makes you feel such a part of the action. I can visualize the characters and the places with ease - even ones I had forgotten about. As always it was fun to rediscover Dobby, the Forbidden Forest and the beginning of Harry and Ginny's love.

A fun mystery using one of my favorite foods as a character. Never met a chocolate, a cherry, or a cheesecake I didn't like, so this was clever and made me hungry. Not a bad cast of characters and I will probably check out the next one in the series to see if it is as entertaining or is too predictable.

This was not exactly what I was expecting. It was a much darker look at the fairy tales I love. While I enjoy a good fractured tale or a remake, this book had me looking at the stories in too much of a literal tunnel. The idea of Snow White being a 7-9 year old girl who "marries" the dwarves or the more pagan/Wiccan rituals that are suggested were not my cup of tea. I know Grimm's stories are much darker than Disney's, but that doesn't mean I enjoy looking at them through the eyes of a pedophile either.

This graphic novel was recommended by Kayla and I really enjoyed it. The story was done in a subtle fashion that didn't preach. The differences between Aster and the other boys was defined, however neither the girls or the boys seemed to know what to make of him. It took his elderly grandmother and a girl from the wrong neighborhood to help Aster discover who he truly is and how to accept the differences about him.

This was an interesting page-turner. Not your typical murder mystery, it had a decent amount of twists and false clues to keep you interested. I had my suspicions about the actual killer from the beginning, but not for the reason they ended up being the killer. This one had some nice romance and closure for the family and those falsely believed to be involved.

A new thriller from #1 New York Times bestselling author and “Queen of Suspense” Mary Higgins Clark.