Keeping the World Away by Margaret Forster

The story is about the artist Gwen John and her painting The Attic. It is fascinating how the painting ended up in various people's hands and impacting their lives throughout the years.
Gwen's affair with the married and controlling Rodin gives her both joy, yearning, and persistence to capture the essence of The Attic. She is able to convey that a "tranquil golden place" does exist amid the chaos if we care to look for it. I enjoyed reading this book!

The Gate House by Nelson DeMille

The Gate House is a sequel to DeMille's 1990 best seller The Gold Coast, but can stand alone if you haven't read (or don't remember) The Gold Coast. John Sutter returns to Long Island for a funeral but gets caught up in the privileged world of his ex-wife, the ultra-rich and ultra-spoiled Susan Stanhope. There's also the matter of a little unfinished business with the son of the mafia don that Susan murdered. It's a long book and fairly predictable. But it's well written and the sarcastic humor of the narrator is worth the read. I enjoyed it.

Your Heart Belongs to Me by Dean Koontz

Plot: Ryan Perry is 34 years old, wealthy and in love. His life is wonderful until he discovers he has heart disease and needs a transplant. His life spins out of control as he becomes suspicious of everyone around him and doesn't know what is real, what is paranoia, and what is a side effect of the regimen of drugs he must take. He undergoes a successful transplant, but strange occurrences continue.

I'm a big fan of Dean Koontz, but this is not one of his best. The characters are not as engaging and endearing as Koontz' characters usually are, and the plot is full of holes.

The Bodies Left Behind by Jeffrey Deaver

Deaver is a master at suspenseful plotting and this book is no exception. Responding to an aborted 911 call, Deputy Brynn McKenzie walks into a murder scene. She loses her car and her weapon and must flee into the woods to escape the killers who are determined to leave no witnesses. It's an action-packed read with plenty of twists and surprises. If you like light-weight thrillers, you won't be disappointed.

We Bought A Zoo by Benjamin Mee

Yes indeed, this is a book about an English family that bought a struggling zoo and worked to restore and re-open it. Although the blurbs on the book led me to believe there would be more anecdotes about the zoo animals, that's not what the book is about. It's very much one man's personal tale of the enormous job of buying and refurbishing a zoo; why they chose to do it, and why running a zoo means much more than putting some animals in cages and selling tickets. Apparently, there was a BBC production about this zoo, so many readers may already be familiar with this story. Although it wasn't what I was expecting, I enjoyed this very readable tale.

The Brass Verdict by Michael Connelly

Mickey Haller (The Lincoln Lawyer) is back! When attorney Jerry Vincent is murdered, Haller inherits his caseload, including a high profile murder case. It's a good read, as I've come to expect from Michael Connelly, including a couple of twists. Harry Bosch appears as a secondary character, and I must say I prefer it when he's the main character! It looks like there may be more Haller/Bosch collaborations in the future...

Dewey: a Small Town Library Cat Who Touched the World

I had a feeling I was going to like this book. After all, I like libraries, I like cats, and I like Vicki Myron. Still, I was a little worried that it wouldn't live up to all the hype. But I did like it. I liked it alot! I think you will too.

Dewey is the story of a cat who was dropped in a library book drop in Spencer, Iowa. When the staff found him, they decided to keep him. He became a fixture at the library and eventually became famous. The book is about Dewey and what a great cat he was, but it is also about Spencer and about Iowa. It's a bit about libraries too, and why they are important. It's all told in the direct, no-nonsense style of Vicki Myron, the former director of the Spencer Public Library.

Cats, libraries, small town Iowa... you can't go wrong reading this book!