I am smitten with Louise Penny. And that's saying a lot because I am not enamored of murder mysteries. But her mysteries are another thing all together. Her books are expertly written with not only a compelling whodunit plot, but also extraordinary, entirely human characters that are so real they pop off the page.

Louise Penny's novels—there are 16 of them now—all "star" the brilliant and loveable Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, who is repeatedly sent to the tiny and picturesque Canadian village of Three Pines to solve the latest murder. (Other than the extremely high rate of murder, this would be an idyllic place to live!)

In this, the second of the series, Chief Inspector Gamache is called to Three Pines to investigate the murder of a woman named C.C. de Poitiers, who was inexplicably electrocuted—and not by accident—on Boxing Day while sitting in a chair on a frozen pond watching a community game of curling. Taking place from December 23 through New Year's Day, the book also has several subplots, including a murder of a homeless bag lady on the streets of Montreal, as well as the fractious interactions of some of the detectives and the delightful interactions of the Three Pines residents. Enough clues to the murderer's identity are given so the particularly astute reader stands a chance of figuring it out before the last page (surprisingly, I did), but the plot has enough twists and turns to keep even those astute readers riveted.

Louise Penny's books are highly intelligent, and that's what I enjoy the most about them. She peppers the story with numerous cultural references—literary, poetic, musical, and historical—which truly engaged my mind. I loved asking my Amazon Echo to play the Tchaikovsky violin piece she cites, and I eagerly Googled some of the history she discusses because I wanted to know more. So here we have the ultimate entertainment book, but it's also educational!

This is a multilayered, literary mystery that is perceptive and smart. Wonderful!

This book had me riveted. It's the rarest of nonfiction tomes in that I couldn't stop reading. Just a few more pages…just a few more pages.

That said, it is emotionally exhausting to read. Even if you yourself are not financially squeezed, chances are pretty good you know people who are. Finding out what must go on behind their closed doors is heartbreaking—and frightening.

Written by Alissa Quart, this is a well-researched and spot-on explanation of why and how the middle class in the United States is being squeezed out of existence. And this isn't happening only to high school dropouts and people who may have loafed through college. It's happening to college professors with doctoral degrees, attorneys, journalists, and teachers, among others.

Find out:
• Why having a baby may place a middle-class couple in a financial downward spiral from which they may never recover;

• Why your child's geometry teacher may be grading tests and planning the next day's lessons between his trips driving for Uber;

• Why some day care centers now offer care 24 hours a day;

• Why so many people are drowning in student loan debt.

• Why you may lose your job to a robot.

With each of the reasons why families are being squeezed, Quart attempts to offer solutions. Some are more tenable than others. I don't fault her in this because the solutions to most of these problems are far bigger than something she can conjure. Rather, they go to the heart of who we are as a country—and what we intend to do about it.

This book is shocking, heartbreaking, and an absolute must-read for everyone.

This is a very special book. And while I absolutely loved it, I know it's not for everyone.

Written by Pulitzer Prize-winner Geraldine Brooks, the story takes place in the mid-1600s in Massachusetts in Cambridge and on what we now know as Martha's Vineyard. Bethia Mayfield lives a happy, albeit incredibly hard, life with her English Puritan parents and siblings as new settlers on a beautiful island. Her father is a Calvinist minister who views his life's work as preaching to the wild Wampanoag, who also live on the land. As a girl of 9, Bethia befriends a boy in the tribe that she names Caleb. Their secret friendship—were it known, it would be scandalous—brings her much joy as she teaches Caleb English and her catechism. Caleb is brilliant, kind, and honorable in contrast to many of the white settlers. Eventually he is offered admission to Harvard, the fledgling new college in Cambridge. Bethia doesn't fit the mold of women for her time, and her curious, vibrant, and independent spirit takes her places she otherwise would never go, but it also sparks trouble. The story is framed by questions of religious belief, awakening sexual passion, and the sense of right and wrong in a strict and stilted society.

While this book is totally fictional, Caleb was a real person, who was the first Native American graduate of Harvard College. The title of the book reflects his "crossing" from his native culture and life to that of a scholar in English society.

What makes this book so special is its style and tenor. Brilliantly written in Bethia's first-person voice, the rather slow-paced story reads much like it would if it had been written in the 17th century, including judicious use of some archaic words. (The Kindle dictionary was VERY helpful!) While it takes a few pages to adjust to that tone, what requires a bigger adjustment is the occasional use of words in Wampanaontoaonk, the language of the Wampanoag—and these words are never defined. That said, by paying close attention (Google isn't much help), the discerning reader can figure out what they mean.

Most of all, this is an extraordinary writing achievement, and I was utterly enthralled!

This is a book that is steeped in white male privilege…and the white male who has all this privilege is only 14 years old. But that is the point. Ben, the privileged white teenager, is coming into his first realization of who he is, all he has, and all he could lose.

Written by Alexander Tilney, the novel takes place in the 1990s at St. James School, a posh and storied boarding school in New Hampshire. As Ben enters as a third-former (translation: ninth grade), he is following in the footsteps not only of his brother, father, and uncle, but also generations of his family who have matriculated here. However, all does not go as expected. Ben's randomly-assigned roommate, the fabulously wealthy Ahmad, has brown skin and no sense of how he should act among all these wealthy American boys. It's embarrassing to Ben! But trouble at home soon finds its way to St. James, and Ben quickly realizes his first semester at St. James could be his last. It is only then that he starts to appreciate all he has and mourn what he could lose.

If you can get past all the white male privilege, there is a tender and moving story of adolescence, emotional insecurity, and the pain and travails of growing up. It is a book—as the title says—about expectations: the expectations that Ben has for his new life at St. James, the expectations that the adults have for him, and the expectations of all the rules, written and unwritten. Most of all, it is about expectations unmet and unrealized…expectations that cause great disappointment.

But still…the book presented an obstacle I just couldn't surmount: Ben and the other characters are so (so!) wealthy and have had so (so!) many advantages in life, it was hard for me to feel much empathy for their trials and tribulations. And if I, as the reader, can't feel empathy for the characters, much of the story's meaning gets lost.

This book. This book is gripping. This book is provocative. This book is haunting. This book is intense. This book is genius.

Written by S.M. Hulse, this masterpiece novel takes place in the tiny mountain town of Prospect, Montana. The two mines that once offered employment and prosperity—Eden and Gethsemane—have long been shuttered, leaving a dying town in their wake. Josephine Faber and her older brother, Samuel, have lived together—just the two of them—for years. Their father was killed when the Gethsemane mine collapsed. Their mother was horrifically murdered in front of them by an ex-boyfriend, and when the carnage was over, Jo, who was still a little girl at the time, was shot in the spine and paralyzed from the waist down. But Samuel became her beloved guardian and protector. He was her everything--until the day he did the unthinkable: set off a bomb at a courthouse that gravely injured a little girl, the daughter of the pastor whose church across the street was inadvertently caught in the blast. Samuel thought he could get away with it, but a surveillance camera captures his image. The FBI hounds Jo for any information, while agents search for Samuel, who has seemingly disappeared. Or has he? Meanwhile, Jo befriends a most unlikely man, someone who slowly brings out the story of her past and her terrors of the present.

This is a multilayered psychological novel that is so intricately and tightly woven it will leave you reeling. Shrouded in extraordinary biblical symbolism, the story examines the meaning of faith, the importance of family, and the heartbreak that only those we love the most can cause.

Even though the plot is well-developed, the novel's strength is in the finely-wrought characters. The story slowly unfolds but in such a tantalizing way that it pulls in the reader bit by bit by bit. The writing is absolutely beautiful with stunning language and astonishing descriptions of seemingly minor details. Brilliant imagery of light and dark, earth and sky, and love and evil cement the novel as true literature.

This book is genius.

What a delightful and richly imaginative book! Author Alice Hoffman has perfected the genre of magical realism, telling tales that are captivating and intelligent with just a sprinkle of magic.

This is the first of a three-book series, and while it's not as strong as other Hoffman novels—the writing feels rushed somehow—it is still wonderful.

The Owens siblings—Franny, Jet, and Vincent—were brought up to think they were normal, but they know better. Birds alight on Franny's hands, Jet can read people's minds, and everyone who sees Vincent falls in love with him. When Franny turns 17, she follows family tradition and traipses from her New York City home to her aunt's old house in Massachusetts. Jet and Vincent accompany her, and the three of them spend a memorable summer with Aunt Isabelle, who helps them realize the obvious: They are witches. In addition to learning spells and potions, they learn about their bloodline, which extends to the Salem witch trials. They also learn about the Owens family curse that dates to 1620: If they fall in love, the object of their desire will fall to great harm. The book is the riveting story of their lives—and loves—and how they live with such a curse hanging over them. What is the remedy for this curse? What is the remedy for being fully human?

The real magic of this novel isn't the hocus-pocus. It's the words of wisdom about life and fate, love and loss, and death and dying. Enchanting storytelling combined with complex characters equals a novel that is a true pleasure to read and is perfect for those cool, bewitching autumn evenings.

Bonus: The three rules of magic espoused in the novel are also ideal rules for living a happy, good life.

This is a short novel that is eloquently written, but it's a very slow, almost abstract read. It is a deeply profound and philosophical book that tackles the big questions, such as the meaning of life, the importance of love and family, the significance of God, the impact of the Christian church in our daily lives, especially through the sacraments of Holy Baptism and the Holy Eucharist, and the grief we humans suffer.

While parts of it are absolutely mesmerizing, much of it is rambling and sluggish. There are no chapter breaks; instead, it is a single, long narrative.

Translation: This isn't a book for everyone.

It's the 1950s, and the Rev. John Ames is dying. He 76 years old with a wife in her early 40s and a seven-year-old son. John is the minister at the congregational church in the fictional town of Gilead, Iowa. The book is a letter he is writing to his young son. In addition to stories about his life, he offers life lessons—those things he would have shared with and taught the boy had John lived to see his son become an adult. He also explains to him what John calls his son's "begats"; that is, the family history, which goes back 100 years to John's rather eccentric grandfather, who served as a chaplain for the Union forces in the Civil War.

While this highly original book by Marilynne Robinson feels like a prayer in parts, it is just as much the theological inquiry of a man who spent his life in the Lord's service as he considers and deeply probes what it all means.

This is an intelligent and accomplished literary achievement. Read it because it is a masterpiece, but don't expect a compelling, page-turner of a story.

Typically, we learn a lot about and frequently see in the news Supreme Court justices only when they are nominated and subsequently confirmed by the Senate after a series of hearings, some of which can be quite confrontational and even belligerent. Then they seemingly disappear from public view. This book, expertly written by Jeffrey Toobin, gives us an inside look into what is largely considered a highly secret, if not clandestine, branch of government.

What makes this book especially fascinating is that it is both a detailed expose on how the Supreme Court works, as well as a deep dive into the personalities and quirks of the nine justices. Published in 2008, the book focuses largely on the William Rehnquist court of 1986 to 2005 and then the first few years of the John Roberts court that began in 2005.

When Toobin explores the major Supreme Court cases—from Planned Parenthood v. Casey (a 1992 landmark ruling on abortion rights) to Bush v. Gore (which settled the contentious 2000 presidential election), he not only explains the cases, what they mean, and which justices supported/opposed them, but also the interactions, ploys, and conversations between the justices. It is the latter that makes this book so worth reading.

Find out…
• …why Roe v. Wade was not overturned in the early 1990s when eight of the nine justices had been appointed by Republican presidents.

• …about the surprising workplace culture of the Supreme Court, including how often they socialize or chit chat at work and off the job.

• …the real mess the justices made of the 2000 election decision of which even they are (mostly) still ashamed, as well as the unintended consequences of both this decision and the George W. Bush presidency that altered the culture and leanings of the justices.

• …why there really are only two types of cases before the Supreme Court: abortion cases and all others.

• …why the Fourteenth Amendment seems to be critical to so many Supreme Court cases.

Even though there are several sections that are heavy on legalese, the book overall is highly readable and no law degree is needed to understand it and enjoy it.

Who are you…really? And can you ever escape your past to create a completely different future? When do lies become the truth? These are the central questions that gently guide the characters and plot of this engaging book by Brit Bennett.

Desiree and Stella are identical twins born in Mallard, Louisiana, a town so small it's not on any map. Mallard's population is quite unusual: All are light-skinned (and some are very light-skinned) Blacks. As little girls, Desiree and Stella watch as their father is lynched. They grow up poor, so poor their mother forces them to leave high school and work. Despising this life, the inseparable twins together disappear one night, wanting to leave their suffocating little hometown for the city of New Orleans. Stella successfully passes as white, and one day she seemingly disappears to begin life as the wife of a highly successful white man. A devastated Desiree moves to Washington, D.C. and marries a Black man, who abuses her. While Desiree and Stella spend their lives apart, each has a daughter. When these two very different girls meet and figure out who the other is, the family's lives are upended. Secrets and lies have a way of eventually revealing the truth. The title of the book not only describes what Desiree and Stella feel when they separate, but also how Stella feels when she denies who she is in order to live a life that is grounded on a deception, duplicity, and betrayal.

This intriguing multigenerational story is emotionally complex with a richly imagined storyline that also serves as a brilliant reflection on race, racism, and the essence of our very identity as a human being.

This is a highly creative and original collection of short stories celebrating the 100th anniversary of women's right to vote in the United States.

Written by a celebrity lineup of some of our country's best living writers—Paula McLain, Christina Baker Kline, Jamie Ford, Chris Bohjalian, and Fiona Davis among others—all the stories take place on a single day: October 23, 1915 in New York City. On that day, thousands of women dressed in white (as well as yellow, purple, and green) and marched in a three-mile parade down Fifth Avenue in support of women's suffrage with an even larger crowd watching—and sometimes jeering—on the sidewalks.

It's easy to Google this parade and find out the big, sweeping historical facts. And while readers of this book will learn much about the suffrage movement and this one parade, the short stories focus more on the microcosm—the individual women who marched. For many women, this was a true act of personal bravery as they defied their husbands, sons, and the mores of the times to take part in this decidedly unladylike venture.

As is the case in any short story collection, especially those with different authors, some stories are stronger than others. My favorites were "Siobhán," by Katherine J. Chen and "Apple Season," by Lisa Wingate.

One fun literary ploy is used. In my opinion, the weakest story is "A First Step," by M.J. Rose. It's the story of Katrina Tiffany, wife of Charles Lewis Tiffany, who was the son of stained-glass artist Louis Comfort Tiffany, and their seven-year-old niece, Grace. The story has an odd ending that just left me hanging. But it turns out, that was not really the end. The story of Grace weaves its way through two other stories, mostly as an unimportant sidebar until the real ending of "A First Step" is finally revealed in Fiona Davis's "The Last Mile." That's clever and fun.

Most of all, this is a literary celebration of women's suffrage, as each of the stories applauds the brave, strong, and persistent women a century ago who changed the United States forever when their mission succeeded.

If you're the type of reader who stops reading a book early on because it doesn't grab you right away, don't even bother with this one. The first half of this bestselling thriller by Gillian Flynn is so slow, it's almost boring. It's one very long set-up. And then about halfway through, whamo! The speed picks up, the plot thickens, and before too long, the story totally changes direction and yanks you on a roller coaster ride. Fasten your seatbelts, readers.

Nick Dunne and Amy Elliott Dunne are both stewing in a miserable, unhappy marriage. After living the good life in New York City—hot shot jobs, lots of money, the right house in the right neighborhood—it all disappears seemingly overnight when both are laid off within weeks of each other. At Nick's insistence, they move to his childhood home of North Carthage, Missouri, a small town on the banks of the Mississippi River. On the day of their fifth wedding anniversary, Amy disappears. As typically happens in these cases, many believe Nick is responsible. Is he? Did he murder his wife? Or is something even more diabolical going on?

The No. 1 strength of this book is the plot twists…one after another. And even those twists and turns I could see coming were still a page-turning exhilaration. This is a book you read with eyes wide open—even if it's way (way!) past your bedtime.

Like most thrillers, this one is plot-driven to the exclusion of all other literary niceties. Even so, it is more than a straight-up thriller: It's also a psychological study of Nick and Amy—and boy are they messed up. Both are meanspirited, selfish, coldhearted, and diabolical. As their loveless marriage and carefully cultivated professional lives unravel, their deepest secrets and flagrant lies devastatingly haunt and harm them. I give a lot of credit to Gillian Flynn, though. Even though I disliked both of them (a lot!), I still cared about them. That doesn't often happen with such characters.

But…and this is a big 'but." The ending is disappointing. VERY disappointing. It's as if Gillian Flynn just got tired of writing and stopped.

Who knew grammar books could be FUN!?! And FUNNY!?! This one is both.

STOP right there.

What I just did with the exclamation points and question marks is absolutely NEVER DONE. That's the definitive word from copyeditor extraordinaire Benjamin Dreyer, the author of this must-read tome for all those who truly care about getting it right when they write. While the book's primary audience is book authors (of which I am not), it is still valuable, informative, and fun for the rest of us. (Yes, fun. This book is one of the most fun books I have read in a long time.)

The book can be used two ways: Use it as a reference volume that you consult as needed, or read it in its entirety from first to last page as I did.

Dreyer will set you straight on a lot of things, including:
• words you should never use in writing or conversation

• some of the most important English grammar rules and some "nonrules"

• punctuation problems

• a highly entertaining list of frequently misspelled words

• an equally highly entertaining list of frequently confused words

• a list of celebrity names almost all of us spell incorrectly, such as Zbigniew Brzezinski, Dan Aykroyd, Cruella De Vil, and Wookiee.

• a list of trademarked names that is riveting to read. (I mean that. It is.) For example, fun fact about Häagen-Dazs: The name of this ice cream manufacturer is not Danish but gibberish intended to sound Danish.

If you love words and sentences and have fond memories of seventh grade grammar, this book is a treat!

Advice: Read all the footnotes. Not only are they informative, smart, and sassy, but also they are hilarious!

This is not the kind of book I could read in the winter while curled up in front of a blazing fire or in the summer lazing poolside. This is the kind of book I felt I should read sitting up straight in my desk chair. This book is work! But like anything that demands full concentration, a bit of effort, and even a furrowed brow, the reward is (mostly) worth it.

Written by Yuval Noah Harari, this is a series of predictions of problems we will face in the 21st century—from the power of artificial intelligence to the theater of terrorism. What makes it fascinating is that it is also a philosophical treatise. Harari may make a prediction—such as, the job market as we know it will disappear—but he counters it with what this means for individuals, families, companies, governments, and society as a whole.

Here are just a few of his predictions/philosophical treatises:
• Find out how the merger of biotechnology and artificial intelligence will seek to change the very meaning of humanity. (Read that sentence again. It's really frightening!)

• Find out why philosophy may be best college major for finding a job (yes, really!), and why physicians, psychiatrists, and even artists could be replaced by computers. (But nurses will still have jobs.)

• In the 21st century, what asset do you think will be the most valuable? Land, machinery, or personal data? Yep, it's personal data. And with enough of it coupled with enough computing power, data giants (think Facebook, Google, and Amazon) will be able to hack the deepest secrets of life. How will they manipulate human beings?

• Find out why it will be extremely difficult for major powers to wage successful wars in the 21st century—and it's not only because of the suicidal threat of nuclear weapons.

• Find out why the future is not what you see in movies. It is totally different and far scarier.

And then Harari takes an odd—and for me, quite disconcerting—detour. When it comes to religion, instead of predicting the form and shape it will take and the impact it will have on individuals, nations, and cultures in the 21st century as he did with every other issue he explores in the book, he spends pages and pages and pages debunking as fictional stories the tenets and history of the world's major religions, focusing especially on Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. I vehemently disagreed with his thoughts, but I kept reading…waiting for what he didn't offer: He did not connect those important dots and offer his opinion of the future of religion in this century. And until he got to this subject, that was the point of the book. Because he didn't do this, he just used his book as a bully platform against religion. And that's the reason I gave it three stars.

I will say this: While I didn't agree with everything Harari posits, he always made me think. And that's one of the greatest powers of reading.

Have you ever watched a horror movie with your hands covering your eyes, but your fingers weren't actually touching-- just so you could see through them a little? Yeah, that's this book.

Let's back up a bit.

Written by Emma Donoghue, this is the story of Julia Power, a midwife/nurse in an overwhelmed Dublin hospital in 1918 at the height of the flu pandemic. The Great War is still raging, creating intense deprivations for the residents of Dublin—from too little food to too little fuel. The story takes place over three days—October 31, November 1, and November 2—when Julia is suddenly placed in charge of a small three-bed overflow ward of pregnant women who have developed the flu. Working tirelessly by her side is Bridie, a young volunteer with a mysterious background that is slowly revealed. Dr. Kathleen Lynn, a physician who is part of the fledgling and violent Sinn Féin political movement, makes occasional appearances on the ward.

Back to covering your eyes…a very large part of the story's narrative is detailed descriptions of these flu-infected women giving birth prematurely, a common complication of the 1918 flu. At times it's fascinating, but it's also almost always graphically gruesome. This is not a book you can read while eating lunch. If the sight of blood is too much for you, then reading this book will probably be difficult.

This is a very fast read. The action moves quickly as the plot—death, life, doom, hope—relentlessly unfolds, much like someone suffering with the flu. At times, it's almost too much to read, too much to take in, but the gripping, provocative story will not be left alone for long.

This is a story about the power of the human soul to survive and the body to fight for life. It is about finding love in unexpected places, and the joy and hope that brings even as death scurries around the corner.

A note for 2020: Even though it was written before Covid-19, this is a pertinent book for our times. If nothing else, it serves as a reminder that the world has previously experienced and recovered from a pandemic—one far worse than Covid-19. And even in our turbulent, politically divisive times, we are not experiencing a world war as well as a deadly illness that killed between 3 percent and 6 percent of all humans worldwide. It was worse in 1918 than it is now. We will survive this, too.

This book is brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. Written by Anna Solomon, it is the story of three women from vastly different times, and when their separate stories merge into one, it is creative genius.

The three stories:
• Lily: It's 2016, and Lily and Adam and their daughters Rosie and June live in a New York City rental apartment. Lily is 46. She has given up her dreams of becoming a writer to be a stay-at-home mom, but she is horribly conflicted about it. Her inner turmoil only becomes more tumultuous when she develops a crush on a friend's husband.

• Vee: It's the early 1970s in Washington, D.C. Vee is married to Alex, a U.S. senator from Rhode Island. Alex enjoys rough sex, but nothing prepares Vee for the shocking and shameful request Alex makes of her during a party they host—and her response changes absolutely everything in her life.

• Esther: It's about 475 years before the birth of Christ, and Esther, a poor Hebrew living in tents in Persia, is chosen from dozens of women to replace the banished queen Vashti. While the story of how Esther saved her people is well known, the author sketches out a stunningly imaginative backstory that weaves a uniting thread through the stories of Lily, Vee, and Esther.

This is a fierce and smart book. The characters are vividly drawn, the multilayered plot is riveting, and the underlying message about the power of women in a world where they are dominated by men is provocative and profound.

This remarkable, heartwarming book by James McBride is truly an original. It's a masterpiece of a story that is unlike anything I have ever read. It's funny. It's tragic. And it's nearly perfect.

The book is a character-driven roller-coaster ride through a bleak, poverty-stricken part of Brooklyn just as heroin and the violent drug dealers who peddled it got a firm foothold. And, oh, what characters they are! From two old drunks named Deacon King Kong (also known as Sportcoat) and Hot Sausage, to the church ladies who rule and care for their insular world, to the teenagers who are just coming into their own and are being lured into a drug-fueled world of money and expensive sneakers, these characters together create a microcosm of society. And, you, the reader, are thrust into the middle of it.

Taking place in massive housing project in the fall of 1969, the book opens with an inexplicable—but not too destructive—act of violence when Sportcoat shoots 19-year-old Deems, a boy who can pitch a baseball at 90 mph but has decided selling heroin is a better way to live. Deems, whom Sportcoat has always treated as a son, is injured but not badly. Now…imagine that shooting scene as the hub of a wheel. The rest of the book is the spokes—the convoluted, fascinating, head-scratching stories, backstories, and actions of a slew of characters who are somehow related to this shooting. And every single one—from the white Irish cop to Sportcoat's dead wife to the Italian mobsters who are taking over the drug business—is vivid, real, and very colorful. Amazingly, even though there are what seem like a bajillion characters (give or take), it's easy to keep them all straight, which is a tribute to the terrific storytelling ability of James McBride. (And Kindle users can always use the X-ray feature if they need help with that.)

Parts of the book are hilarious. Parts of it are deadly serious. It's even part slapstick. But absolutely all of it is really, really good. This is a richly imagined story that drew me in slowly until I got wound up tight in it. The writing is extraordinary, a powerful force field of its own.

While the society in which the story takes places is fractured and destructive, there is also a deeply spiritual goodness that permeates over the despair and evil, leaving in its wake hope and love and faith. It's everything you want in a novel. Read it!

Bah humbug! Reading this book—and even though it's very short, I still had to force myself to finish it—is turning me into Scrooge. Author John Grisham should stick to writing legal thrillers.

I bought this book several years ago, but never read it. The title made it seem like the perfect book for 2020, since it feels like we're all skipping Christmas this year. I was wrong.

It's the Sunday after Thanksgiving and Luther and Nora Krank have just bid farewell to their only child, Blair, who has begun service in the Peace Corps in the jungles of Peru. Because she won't be home for Christmas, they decide to skip the celebration this year, as well as all the frenzied work that goes along with it, and go on a cruise instead. Thanks to ridiculously nosy neighbors, coworkers who pay far too much attention to Luther's personal life, and weirdly offended friends, their quest to skip Christmas is met with everything from concern to disbelief to outright hostility. And then the most unexpected and potentially calamitous thing happens.

The writing is part sappy and part snarky, the plot is groaningly predictable, and the characters are mind-numbingly one-dimensional. Paper dolls have more personality!

Don't skip Christmas, but make sure you skip this book. I'm being generous giving it three stars.

This very short, light book is hilarious! And it's also heartwarming. I laughed. I teared up. I loved it. But what's not to love about the author, Betty White?

Published in 2012 soon after Betty White's unlikely career resurgence following that classic Snickers ad that aired during the 2010 Super Bowl, which was followed by an Emmy award-winning gig hosting "Saturday Night Live" and a leading role in the TV Land sitcom "Hot in Cleveland," the book is combination memoir, life advice, and funny bits.

• Her exercise routine: "I have a two-story house and a bad memory."

• Her innuendos: When asked by an interviewer the very common question, "Is there anything you haven't done in your career that you would still like to do?" She answers, "Robert Redford."

Find out what it was like to host "Saturday Night Live," her honest take on the red carpet, what happens backstage at awards ceremonies, how the sexy homemaker character of Sue Ann Nivens she played on "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" totally changed her career, and Robert Redford's response to her quip above.

The best chapter is the one titled "Animal Kingdom" in which Betty extols her love of animals in some quite unusual experiences she has had, including making good friends with Koko the gorilla and Beethoven, a Beluga whale at the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta.

Written in a conversational tone, this book is a fast read laced with fun photos of Betty White's personal life and career. If you want an easy, short, feel-good read, grab this one!

This book consumed me. Often, I would look up after reading and like waking from a deep sleep, I wondered where I was. Or my husband would talk to me while I was reading, and all I wanted to do was tell him what had happened—not because I wanted to tell him about the book, but because I felt as if we both knew the characters as real people and I needed to tell him what they were doing now. Yes, this book consumed me.

Magnificently written by Louise Erdrich, this is the story of a group of close-knit Chippewas living on the Turtle Mountain Reservation in rural North Dakota. The novel begins in September 1953 and continues through the spring of 1954. Although Thomas Wazhashk, who works as a night watchman, might be considered the lead character, there are others who are just as important and prominent in the story. There are two major plotlines:
• Thomas works as a night watchman at the new jewel bearing plant so he can spend his days working for the tribe to better their poverty-stricken lives. When the U.S. Congress writes legislation to terminate the tribe, take their land, and relocate them to cities, Thomas enjoins the tribe to fight the government—with every brilliant trick he can muster.

• Patrice just graduated from high school and has a job at the jewel bearing plant to support her family as its only source of income. Her father is a drunk, who only comes home to steal their money and terrorize his wife and children. Patrice's sister, Vera, relocated to Minneapolis but is now missing, and her family is terrified for her. Patrice ventures to Minneapolis in an attempt to find her sister, and what has happened to her is truly horrific.

• More minor plotlines include two Mormon missionaries who want to convert the largely Roman Catholic tribe to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; the conflicts and passions of friends and lovers; and the wrestling with death—those deaths that are sudden, those that are feared, and those that are expected.

This is a masterpiece that I will long remember. It is not only a riveting story, but also an exposé on what it truly meant to be a Native American in the 1950s when government-sanctioned discrimination and deprivation of basic life services kept the tribes mired in deep poverty and often alcoholism. (Of course, how much has really changed in nearly 70 years?)

But in the hands of the talented Louise Erdrich what could be a dark, melancholy tale based on historical events becomes one of redemption and hope sprinkled with just enough laughs to make this book a real treasure.

This is what great literature does: It helps us appreciate and value other cultures and makes us better human beings.

This is a true horror story. It is impossible to read this book and not feel blessed—no matter what you're dealing with in your life.

This is the story of the Galvin family. Mimi and Don Galvin had 12 children—born from 1945 to 1965. Ten boys, two girls. Six of the boys developed schizophrenia, which not only wrecked their individual lives, but also wreaked permanent havoc on the rest of the family. When mental illness strikes a family, especially of this severity, everyone is irreparably touched, and often damaged, by it.

Author Robert Kolker does an extraordinary job dividing the tale into two parts: the personal and the scientific. First and foremost, this is the very personal, very tragic family story of the Galvins and how what seemed a picture-perfect life went astoundingly askew. In addition, he offers extensive factual information about schizophrenia, the disturbing history of its treatment, and the progression of medical research about the disease over the years, which is still frustratingly slow, as well as the vital role the Galvins played in that research.

The book is imminently readable—even the medical information, which speaks volumes about Kolker's talent for "translating" scientific data, facts, and figures into an understandable and interesting narrative.

But the gem of the book is in the family stories, their 14 individual personalities, the horrific childhoods the Galvin children had, especially the two girls, and all they have done as adults to overcome those unspeakable circumstances. It is the story of two parents—a mother who was a demanding perfectionist with an uncanny ability to ignore the horror in front of her but was also the ultimate caregiver and a father who purposefully absented himself from the chaos and confusion of home through demanding work and numerous love affairs.

This is a story of suffering and heartbreak, but it's also a story of human resilience and the power of love. As much as it's a story of mental illness, science, and medicine, it is most of all a human story. A family story. And while it left me gasping in anguish, I was also filled with hope.