Reconstructing Amelia by Kimberly McCreight

     This is a modern day drama of a working, single mom who loves her teenage daughter. Kate gets a call while she's at work that Amelia has been suspended and that she needs to come and pick her up. This is crazy news to Kate because Amelia is a good student who never gets into trouble. The real shocker comes when Kate gets to school  and finds the Amelia is dead
     At first Amelia's grief is so deep that she accetps te explanation that Amelia killed herself because she was upset about being caught cheating. But when she receives a text that says Amelia didn't jump, it confirms what she knew all along. Somebody pushed Amelia.
     The rest of the book is a search to find out what really happened. The texts, facebook entries, and blog all reveal things about Amelia's last few weeks that bring several people under suspicion. Was it members of the girls' club, the Magpies? Was it Ben, the supportive texting friend or Woodhouse the administrator, or Liv, the beloved English teacher? Or perhaps one of Amelia's schoolmates; Sylvia, Ian, Dylan, or Zadie? The possibillties are numerous. The author keeps you guessing until the very end.  A great read.

Speaking From Among the Bones by Alan Bradley

Eleven-year-old amateur detective and ardent chemist Flavia de Luce is used to digging up clues, whether they're found among the potions in her laboratory or between the pages of her insufferable sisters' diaries.  What she is not accustomed to is digging up bodies.  Upon the five-hundredth anniversary of Saint Tancred's death, the English hamlet of Bishop's Lacey is busily preparing to open its patron saint's tomb.  Nobody is more excited to peek inside the crypt than Flavia, yet what she finds will halt the proceedings dead in their tracks: the body of Mr. Collicut, grotesquely and inexplicably masked.  Who held a vendetta against Mr. Collicutt, and why would they hide him in such a sacred resting place?  The irrepressible Flavia decides to find out.  And what she unearths will prove there's no such thing as an open-and-shut case.  I really enjoyed this book and look forward to the next one in the series.

Detroit: An American Autopsy by Charlie LeDuff

Hunter S. Thompson has long been famous  for his,“Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas,” and its pull-no-punches morbidly hilarious journalistic style.  Now Charlie LeDuff takes up some portion of Thompson’s mantle with "Detroit: An American Autopsy," which would make for a darkly hilarious novel of its own if not  every word of the book were true.  LeDuff grew up in Detroit, moved away, and then returned in recent years to take a job as a reporter for the Detroit newspaper.  His journalism takes him to the heart of the problems with Detroit, from the abject poverty, to the rampant civil corruption, to the random, constant building arsons.  For anyone trying to figure out how things could have possibly gotten so bad in Detroit, located in a supposedly “first world” country, LeDuff provides invaluable insight into one of the nation’s largest boom-and-bust towns.  Highly recommended.

 

The Last Runaway by Tracy Chevalier

A young Quaker woman, Honor Bright, sails to America from England with her sister, Grace in 1850.  Grace plans to marry in Ohio and Honor is fleeing after her intended leaves her for another woman.  After a difficult voyage and Graces death in America, Honor has to depend on strangers in this foreign land.  It is interesting to hear of her impressions of this new life, and after marrying a farmer, her views of farm life, the work, and the animals.  Writing touching letters home of her life and difficulties adds to the story. Honor's abilities with quilting aid her in this new land.

Slaves are escaping and coming through this area to travel to freedom.  Honor helps them even though the family she is living with disapproves and later forbids it completely with the passage of the Fugitive Slave Law.  She is sympathetic to the slaves and does not understand how the Quaker people can turn them away. She clashes with, but also has an interest in a slave catcher, and is a friend of his sister.  The author builds interesting characters and relates the personality and feelings of Honor well.

Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life from Dear Sugar by Cheryl Strayed

Cheryl Strayed has been writing anonymously for the Dear Sugar columns on the Rumpus website before her New York Times best seller memoir Wild was published.  The book is a compilation of her advice columns in which she responds to the questions that plagued her readers.  Although her language is "strong" at times, she does offer sound advice reflecting her own struggles and tragedies.  The loss of her mother was a turning point in her life...  She comes off as your best friend talking with you.  She urges her readers to let go of toxic people in their lives, accept yourselves and work hard, but most of all, if you have a dream, don't wait, go for it!

Enough by Will Davis Jr.

More is better, at least that is what our culture tells us. The cover of this book says "Finding more by living with less". This was a concept I wanted to know more about. The Author Will Davis Jr. is a pastor in Texas who stopped to ask the question When is enough, enough? He states "that the Bible teaches that it's foolish to try and satisfy the needs of a priceless, eternal human soul by throwing stuff at it". Don't panic he doesn't ask us to take a vow of poverty, but he does present a very powerful case that those of us in America have more than enough. By giving away to the point of having enough we will be richer (not necessarily wealthier) for living a life of giving. I liked the many Biblical references and study questions at the end of each chapter. Although I found it hard to put this book down, it also was very thought provoking and I stopped often to think through what I had read. I found this book so good I hope to own my own copy.

The Sweetness of Forgetting by Kristin Harmel

In this story the author gives us a trip through Holocaust history. It is also a story of family  and love from past to present. There are themes of hardship, secrets, and second chances. The family bakery and some nice recipes are intertwined into the story as well.You find yourself anxious to keep  reading as you travel with Hope to uncover the truth of the past before it is too late. We are also given insight to Alzheimer's through Rose, the beloved grandmother. This story was very sad in parts, but ultimately ended well.