Friends Forever

By Danielle Steel

Told through multiple people, it’s the story of five people, who have been best friends since kindergarten, and their families. It tells of everyone’s trials and triumphs, happiness and grief from the very first day of kindergarten to after college graduation.

Once started, it is very hard to put this book down.

~ Crystal

Nobody’s Cuter Than You

A Memoir About the Beauty of Friendship
By Melanie Shankle

This is a book about friendships. Not the electronic kind of friendships. The real flesh and blood, right next to you, no typing required friends. (No offense to social media users-I am one too).

I could relate to her stories even though I am far from a child of the 80’s. With wit and humor Melanie introduces you to her friends from early childhood to crazy teen years, college days and into married life. The book made me think of my friends and reminded me to continue to invest time in them.

I read this on my Kindle but would really like to have this book in my home library so I could re-read and highlight her many words of wisdom such as: “friendships are fragile and we need to handle them with respect and reverence”.

I highly recommend this book.

~ Dixie

The Rope: Anna Pigeon Series

By Nevada Barr

This book is a little more intense then my usual choices but I liked it just the same.

Anna Pigeon is a ranger with the National Park Service. Fresh off the bus from New York City, Anna takes an unglamorous job with the Glen Canyon National Park. One day she heads out for a hike alone and doesn’t return. Because she is so guarded about her life, and all her belongings are gone from her cabin, her co-workers assume she has moved on.

Anna wakes up trapped in a dry well, naked and with no memory how she got there. As her memory slowly returns, she realizes that this was no accident – she is a prisoner in a dire situation with little hope that anyone is looking for her. She will need all her courage, strength and intelligence to survive this situation.

~ Dixie

Joy of Zentangle

Drawing Your Way to Increased Creativity, Focus, and Well-Being

By Marie Browning, Suzanne McNeill, Sandy Bartholomew

There have been oodles of books written about Zentangle, the meditative not-quite-doodling technique catching the attention of artists and newcomers alike. Having never tried it myself, I decided to give this new book a shot. The authors did an excellent job keeping the instructions simple, and most of the book is filled with step-by-step examples of patterns to draw, as well as some more elaborate pieces for inspiration. As the authors say, there is no right or wrong, no required outcome, and anyone can try this fun method of drawing. Whether you want to create a masterpiece, take some time for relaxation, or just doodle for a bit, this book is a great place to start.

~Kaleena

Rock Art!

Painting and Crafting with the Humble Pebble

By Denise Scicluna

This book is jam-packed with full-color photos of everything you need to know to create amazing rock art for your home or garden. The adventure begins with the hunt for the perfect rock, smooth is good, but look for fun shapes, rocks that stand up, dark or light color, etc. Next, look at your rock for inspiration - does it suggest an object? Or, you can make "rocks" out of clay. Now, for the fun part: painting! There are dozens of ideas in this book based upon different themes. 

My favorite part of this book is the "Using Your Rock Art" section where the author/artist shows us practical and whimsical applications for your rock art. Cactus, anyone?

This book rocks! (Please pardon the pun.)

~ Paula

The Rosie Project

By Graeme Simsion

As sometimes happens, I listened to and blogged The Rosie Effect (the sequel to this book) a little more than a month ago. I knew that I would like this book because I enjoyed The Rosie Effect a great deal. Knowing how the book would end did not diminish my enjoyment of The Rosie Project. 

Don Tillman is extremely intelligent but he is also a bit over the top, a bit autistic (maybe) and a bit overwhelmed by the challenges in his life, especially in his search for a wife. He has a hard time fitting in socially and is looking for a wife via a survey he has devised. He is looking for the perfect woman but finds Rosie, who according to his survey is far from the perfect woman. 

This comedy had me laughing repeatedly. I recommend that you listen to The Rosie Project then The Rosie Effect, but in whatever order, they are both lots of fun. (Dan O’Grady’s Australian accent makes the entire experience even better.)

~ Beckie H.

The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy

By Rachel Joyce

This book is the companion novel to The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry.  It tells the story of Queenie and Harold, and what has brought them to this point in their lives.  As Queenie is dying in a hospice home in northern England, she waits for Harold to walk the length of England, to see him one more time.  In revisiting the past, Queenie comes to terms with her parting from Harold twenty years ago.

~Nancy

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry

By Rachel Joyce

Newly retired Harold Fry receives a letter from a long ago colleague, Miss Queenie Hennessy, stating that she is dying and wanted to say good bye.  Harold feels terrible about the way things ended between them twenty years ago, and so decides to walk to Queenie to try to clear the air.  Unfortunately, Harold lives in the south of England, and Queenie lives in the far north. Harold’s walk takes him back in time to relive his memories and teaches him about who he is today.  

~Nancy

Poison

A Wicked Snow White Tale

by Sarah Pinborough

Thought you knew Snow White?  Maybe not. This is a not-so-happy (but wicked) version of the Snow White fairytale. Delve a little into the feelings of the wicked queen, and the sappy lovesick prince. You may like this version better!

The author has also written two other wicked versions of Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty (Charm and Beauty). Definitely something to try if you're a fan of the fairytales!

~Becky

Saving Grace

by Jane Green

Saving Grace is a powerful and riveting novel that will be hard to put down.  Ted and Grace Chapman, married for 20 years, experience a home invasion of a sort.  They hire a woman (Beth) to be Ted’s secretary, he works from home as a writer.  She also helps Grace because she wants to remain busy.  But she has an ulterior motive.  During this time Grace has some issues that she has a hard time working out.  Ever present Beth is being very supportive during this hard time, until one day...
I hope you enjoy Saving Grace as much as I have, I listened in my car - read by the author, but other formats are also available.

~Beckie

The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared

By Jonas Jonasson

Desperate to avoid his 100 hundredth birthday party at the old folks' home, Allan Karlsson climbs out of his window and heads off to begin a new adventure. The chapters of Allan's story alternate between past and present memories revealing comical interactions with historical figures from all over the globe.

Our Tuesday Night Book Club seldom agrees on whether or not we enjoy a book, but we all really enjoyed this one. Some of us chuckled, some guffawed, and others laughed out loud! Give this book a try if you want to be entertained in a refreshing way!

~ Paula

One Wish

By Robyn Carr

The latest edition to the Thunder Point series is One Wish.  This book will not disappoint Robyn Carr fans.  The new girl in town, Grace Dillon, has a secret past.  Her childhood was extraordinary, as a young adult she is quite famous.  One day she has had enough and leaves it all behind to (like so many people in Thunder Point) find a new life in a small town.  Grace has everything she wants and then she has the scare of her life. The nice thing about Robyn Carr’s books is the balance she achieves of tragedy and happiness. The towns she creates are always a place you would want to live. Her next book is due out in July: A New Hope, I can hardly wait.

~Beckie

Outlander

(Now also a Television Show)

By Diana Gabaldon

The year is 1945. Claire Randall, a former combat nurse, is just back from the war and reunited with her husband on a second honeymoon after 5 years of hardly seeing each other, when she walks through a standing stone in one of the ancient circles that dot the British Isles. Suddenly she is a Sassenach—an “outlander”—in a Scotland torn by war and raiding border clans in the year of 1743. Claire is catapulted into the intrigues of lairds and spies that threaten her life and her heart. For here James Fraser, a young Scots warrior, shows her a love so absolute that Claire becomes a woman torn between fidelity and desire—and between two vastly different men in two irreconcilable lives.

~ Crystal

​Old Before My Time: Hayley Okines' Life with Progeria

by Hayley and Kerry Okines

The extraordinary life of Britain's oldest teenager Hayley Okines is like no other 13-year-old girl. Born with the rare genetic condition progeria, she ages eight times faster than the average person. In medical terms her body is like that of a 100-year-old woman. Yet, she faces her condition with immense courage and a refreshing lack of self-pity. Here, Hayley and her mum Kerry reflect on her unusual life. Share in Hayley's excitement as she travels the world meeting her pop heroes and her sadness as she loses her best friend to the disease at the age of 11. Now as she passes the age of 13 - the average life expectancy for a child with progeria - Hayley talks frankly about her hopes for the future and her pioneering drug trials in America.

~ Crystal

The Guest Cottage

By Nancy Thayer

Sophie Anderson, and Trevor Black unwittingly rent the same Nantucket beach cottage for the summer. Sophie, looking for time to consider her life in the face of a potential divorce from her husband, has brought her two children to Nantucket for some breathing space. Trevor Black is looking for a new situation to help his young son recover from the death of his mother. When they both show up at the same cottage, (complete with a whittling grandfather in a separate apartment), the adventure begins.

Well developed characters and good storytelling by Ms. Thayer, who lives on, and writes about Nantucket, make for a good beach read, with a refreshingly different twist.

~ Sally