The Visible World
Mark Slouka

3.5 stars

Tough Choices
Carly Fiorina

1 star

An Italian Affair
Laura Fraser

3 stars

Echoes
Maeve Binchy

2 stars

This one started out very slow, the last 1/3 of the book was interesting. Disappointing for a Maeve Binchy book.

The Pull of the Moon
Elizabeth Berg

3 stars

First-Time Mom
Dr. Kevin Leman

George & Sam: Two Boys, One Family, and Autism
Charlotte Moore

One of the best accounts of life with autism that I have read.

4 stars

Digging to America
Anne Tyler

4 stars

Sense and Sensibility
Jane Austen

3.5 stars

Birthday Party Murder
Leslie Meier

Mystery.

2 stars

The Yada Yada Prayer Group Gets Caught
Neta Jackson

2 stars

Freakonomics
Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner

Circle of Friends
Maeve Binchy

4 stars

Tara Road
Maeve Binchy

4 stars

Pastwatch: The Redemption of Christopher Columbus
Orson Scott Card

3 stars

Good Omens
Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett

2 stars

Whitethorn Woods
Maeve Binchy

3.75 stars

The Homeplace
Gilbert Morris

3.25 stars

The Last Van Gogh
Alyson Richman

1 star

The Handmaid and the Carpenter
Elizabeth Berg

2.5 stars

Adelaide Piper
Beth Webb Hart

3 stars

The Poisonwood Bible
Barbara Kingsolver

Second time I've read this one. Great book.

4 stars

Chinese Lessons: Five Classmates and the Story of the New China
John Pomfret

Suite Francaise
Irene Nemirovsky

Amazing, very beautiful story. Highly recommend.

4 stars

The Thirteenth Tale
Diane Setterfield

Nice book. The author got a little carried away with her own cleverness and went on longer than necessary.

3 stars

Olivia Joules and the Overactive Imagination
Helen Fielding

By the author of Bridget Jones - fun quick read. Fielding continues to try to create a character as endearing as Bridget Jones, and comes close but does not meet the bar she has previously set for herself. Still, not a bad read.

2.5 stars

The Book of Bright Ideas
Sandra Kring

I started out thinking that Kring was trying hard to ride the coattails of Ya-Ya Sisterhood, but she made a nice turn and created some good characters and an alright plot line. Good, not great.

2.5 stars

In Spite of the Gods: The Strange Rise of Modern India
Edward Luce

On library wait list...

From Publishers Weekly
A burgeoning economic and geopolitical giant, India has the 21st century stamped on it more visibly than any other nation after China and the U.S. It's been an expanding force since at least 1991, explains journalist Luce, when India let go of much of the protectionist apparatus devised under Nehru after independence in 1947 from Britain, as part of a philosophy of swadeshi (or self-reliance) that's still relevant in India's multiparty democracy. From his vantage as the (now former) Financial Times's South Asia bureau chief, Luce illuminates the drastically lopsided features of a nuclear power still burdened by mass poverty and illiteracy, which he links in part to government control of the economy, an overwhelmingly rural landscape, and deep-seated institutional corruption. While describing religion's complex role in Indian society, Luce emphasizes an extremely heterogeneous country with a growing consumerist culture, a geographically uneven labor force and an enduring caste system. This lively account includes a sharp assessment of U.S. promotion of India as a countervailing force to China in a three-power "triangular dance," and generally sets a high standard for breadth, clarity and discernment in wrestling with the global implications of New India. (Jan.)

The Memory Keepers Daughter
Kim Edwards

"A snowstorm immobilizes Lexington, Ky., in 1964, and when young Norah Henry goes into labor, her husband, orthopedic surgeon Dr. David Henry, must deliver their babies himself, aided only by a nurse. Seeing his daughter's handicap, he instructs the nurse, Caroline Gill, to take her to a home and later tells Norah, who was drugged during labor, that their son Paul's twin died at birth. Instead of institutionalizing Phoebe, Caroline absconds with her to Pittsburgh. David's deception becomes the defining moment of the main characters' lives, and Phoebe's absence corrodes her birth family's core over the course of the next 25 years. David's undetected lie warps his marriage; he grapples with guilt; Norah mourns her lost child; and Paul not only deals with his parents' icy relationship but with his own yearnings for his sister as well."

3 stars

The Return Journey
Maeve Binchy

Collection of short stories, all linked through travel. Beautifully told stories with thoughtful lessons weaved in.

4 stars

Glass Castle : A Memoir
Jeannette Walls

Fantastic story - totally crazy family! I love memoirs - truth is always stranger than fiction.

4 stars

Made to stick : Why some ideas survive and others die
Chip Heath & Dan Heath

Currently reading...Self-proclaimed companion book to Gladwell's "Tipping Point." The authors explore what makes certain ideas memorable.

The Clock Winder

Anne Tyler

The protagonist of the story is Elizabeth, a young woman who is taking time away from college to earn a bit of money and discover a sense of direction. By happenstance, she ends up landing in Baltimore near the home of Mrs. Pamela Emerson, a recent widow and the mother of seven grown children. Seeing Mrs. Emerson struggling to store her porch furniture in the garage for the winter, she stops to offer help and ends up becoming Mrs. Emerson's handyman and companion. The story, which spans 14 years, discusses the relationship between first Elizabeth and Mrs. Emerson and then the relationship between Elizabeth and several of Mrs. Emerson's children, particularly Timothy and Matthew. Elizabeth and the Emersons end up changing each others' lives in fundamental ways.

3 stars

Up All Night
Martha Gies

Sixteen snapshots of people who work at night. Interesting for the rare glimpse at people who seem to live in a sort of alternate universe. The strange is made familiar by the author's willingness to take the perspective of her characters.

3.75 stars

A Tale of Two Cities

Charles Dickens

Listened on the iPod. I think I prefer actually reading this, as opposed to listening. Harder to get into - kept falling asleep.

Anne of Green Gables

L. M. Montgomery

Listening on my iPod.