Prayers For Sale by Sandra Dallas

Set in a Colorado mining town in 1936, Prayers For Sale is about two women who become friends while quilting and sharing stories. Hennie Comfort, an older woman and long-time resident, takes young Nit Spindle under her wing and teaches her the ways of the mining town. This is a character driven book--not a lot of action--and is sprinkled with bits of history and local color. If you're in the mood to "sit a spell" and enjoy a tale, you'll probably like this book. I did!

Home Safe by Elizabeth Berg

Helen Ames is a successful Chicago novelist who lost her writing muse after her husband Dan dropped dead in the kitchen. Helen's life begins to unravel as she realizes how handy it was having Dan around. Tessa, their grownup daughter, is frustrated with Helen's neediness; Tessa helps around the house, but feels Helen infringing on her personal life. Helen also discovers that a huge sum of their retirement money was withdrawn by Dan just before his death. Was there an unspeakable secret?
Through grieving loss, Helen determines to find the truth and discovers her talent for teaching and that love remains, long after the departed. Home Safe is a good read, but it lacks the intensity of Berg's previous books.

All Other Nights by Dara Horn

This is the story of Jacob Rappaport, a Jewish soldier in the Union army during the Civil War. Jacob joins the army to escape family expectations, but has to examine his beliefs and loyalties when he is recruited by the army to be an assassin and a spy. Although the book is fiction, it is based on real people and events. It's a very human story about love and family and betrayal, as well as the larger social issues that framed the Civil War. I recommend it.