Kimberly L

Carolyn Parkhurst’s 'The Nobodies Album' is a distinctive and instantly engaging novel. Parkhurst deftly weaves a tale of delicate relationships forged during a time of murder, uncertainty, and blame. Throughout the story, Octavia Frost, author and main character, intersperses vignettes from her work, mirroring and giving further perspective to the twists of plot throughout 'The Nobodies Album'.

I read 'The Nobodies Album' quickly and hungrily. I strongly recommend Carolyn Parkhurst’s novel to readers who enjoy three-dimensional characters. While not a true edge-of-the-seat murder mystery, the author’s writing carries the reader from one page to the next until finally reaching the (not entirely) unforeseen conclusion.

Night Navigation by Ginnah Howard is a gripping, yet depressing, novel. Del, the 60+ year-old mother alternates telling the story with her 37 year-old son who is a drug addict and a perpetual source of stress for Del. The book intrigued me right from the beginning and did not disappoint through the last page. The parade of unsavory characters and Del’s inability to give her son the “tough love” he seems to be craving proved to be extremely frustrating for this reader. Ginnah Howard bases this novel on personal experiences which enhances its believability and kept me rooting for Del until the end (no matter how many times I wanted to shake her and shout NO!). This book is a terrific read but may need to be taken in small doses.

I haven't read many of Barbara Delinsky's books, something about the cover designs never seem to appeal to me (so much for judging a book by its cover). While My Sister Sleeps seemed to hold a lot of promise from the first page, it quickly became contrived and attempted to do too much. The novel spans one week in the life of the Snow family following traumatic events involving their Olympics-bound daughter. While the daughter’s condition remains central to the plot, the multitude of sub-plots, seemingly a new one each chapter, distracted from the initial premise and promising beginning.

Skeletons at the Feast is at once graphically disturbing and heart wrenching. Bohjalian excels at bringing forth the exodus from Poland and escape from the Third Reich during the Second World War. Told through the eyes of haunting characters, including a POW, an escaped Jew, and a Polish family who initially thrived under Nazi power, it is impossible not to empathize with each of their experiences and stand in admiration of their spirit and fortitude.