Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson
After seeing this book around for over a year, I had studiously avoided it.  I figured, what's all that interesting about an older English gentleman nursing a school-boy crush on a shopkeeper?  However, after finding it on sale at Village Books (got to love the second hand carts by the front door), having my book-loving friend tell me it was a good read, I figured I had to give it a go.  I was shockingly, suprisingly, completely delighted by it.

The main character, Major Pettigrew, is a rather frumpy old English gent on the outside.  He doesn't like change, of any sort.  He's been widowed for six years and resides in a quintessential, sleepy old countryside village.  One would think that all the stereotypes of this type of book would be played out, with the busybody neighbors, snobby titled earls, and teenagers desperately in love.  However, in a creative and thoughtful manner, Simonson veers away from using any of these.  The major is a wickedly funny man, with the dry ironic British humor, and the love interest is a Cambridge-born Pakistani shopkeeper who is articulate, intelligent, and passionate.  Throw in a spoilt son, an environmental crisis in the village, a couple of historical pistols, and...oh yes, a culturally divided community who is insensitive and ignorant, and you actually have a wonderful book.  I wasn't sure for the first forty pages or so, and easily set it aside.  However, once I got to know Mrs. Ali, Roger, and of course, the Major, I actually couldn't put it down - another midnight bedtime!

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
I'm one of those freaky book lovers that actually doesn't like to listen to music very much.  In fact, my iPhone is packed with audio books, not music.  My students all think I'm weird, but I figure when I'm working out or walking the dog, why would you want to waste good time on songs when there are so many books left in the world to read?  My favorite source is audible.com.  I only choose books with great reviews on the actual reader; that way I get a movie playing in my head as I listen.

My latest book-listen was Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn.  It's been on the top of all the Northwest bestseller lists, plus it's a mystery, so I figured I couldn't go wrong.  It is the story of Nick and Amy, a young couple who have been married for five years.  After job losses, money problems, freaky parents, and a move from New York back to Nick's home town in Missouri, Amy winds up missing on their fifth wedding anniversary.  The story is told through both Nick and Amy's eyes, in a diary/prose format.  Unfortunately, I cannot really say anything else about the plot line or I would wind up the biggest 'spoiler' in world.  Suffice it to be said, that this book is NUTS.  Every twist and turn an author could put in, red herrings all over the place, and some wickedly drawn characters populating the story - this book is a brilliant, mind-bending story.  I was so engrossed with it that I had to grab a paper copy from a friend and stay up until midnight to finish it (audible was reading too slowly for me!).  That was a first.  I love that it's not a 'pretty lil package' story and that unexpected things continuously pop up.  Good brain candy, yes, but also brilliantly written, wicked funny in spots, and thought-provoking.  This would be a great book club book as so much exists to discuss in the end.  Whether you like mysteries, romance, whatever, this is a book you should NOT miss.

The Clifton Trilogy by Jeffrey Archer
Beginning many years ago, I have been a Jeffrey Archer fan.  Starting with Kane and Abel, moving on to Prodigal Daughter, and loving the politics of Not a Penny More, Archer is the quintessential English writer.  Not known for his lyrical style or his brilliant turn of phrase, Archer is 'merely' a good story teller.  However, he's a REALLY good story teller, one of those authors that can suck you in quickly with his plot lines, making you stay up late for 'just one more chapter.'  His characters aren't necessarily original - there's usually a titled Englishman who has 'issues,' a 'pull yourself out of the muck' commoner, and always a love interest that has challenges along the way.  Throw in a bit of politics and intrigue and you've pretty much got the gist of it.

Archer's newest series follows the story of a boy named Harry Clifton.  His is the usual tribulations in the first book, Only Time Will Tell - poor boy with hard-working mum, gifted singer, attends private boarding school, makes friends with titled and wealthy boy, and falls in love with the sister.  However, there's a lovely little twist, with the question of who his father is, as well as the beginning of the second World War.  The characters are all quite lovely, particularly his mother Maizy, who is a strong-willed, intelligent, though uneducated young woman.  The teachers who influence Harry along the way are also quite delightful.  In the second book, The Sins of the Father, we follow Harry to an American prison, as well as the continuing sage of his love affair and his best friend Giles' war conflicts.  It's all quite British, with family inheritance, ship-building, politics, and unrequited love.  It is definitely good brain candy.

The Haunting of Maddy Clare by Simone St. James
Summertime seems a strange time to pick a ghost story to read, but that's exactly what my book club did.  Perhaps it was better to read this eerie story out in the broad sunlight; I think a drizzly grey day would have created even more creepiness than ever.

St. James has created three fascinating characters to lead the reader through this ghostly story.  First is Alistair, a middle-class, handsome young man who is driven to research, document, and write about the presence of ghosts throughout England.  His faithful sidekick is Matthew, a comrade-in-arms from WWI, still tortured by his time in the war, as well as his horrific burns he suffered.  Last is Sarah, the young orphaned woman, living in London, but plucked out of a dull life to become Alistair's assistant.  Of course, she thought it was secretarial work - a bit surprised to find out he wanted her to talk to a ghost.


Because, yes, our less-than-friendly ghost Maddy Clare is creating havoc in a small English village.  Throw in a mystery of why she haunts this place, the strange characters in the village itself, a lost love of Alistair's, and a passionate attraction between Matthew and Sarah, and you've got a lovely Gothic novel.  While at times predictable, it is also capable of raising a few goosebumps on the back of your neck.  Ultimately, it was a darn good read!

Unwanted by Kristina Ohlsson

As a huge fan of The Girl with a Dragon Tattoo series, I had high hopes for another mystery written by a Swedish writer.  I was not disappointed.  The story takes off right from the first chapter, with a distracted mother standing on a platform, watching the train leave the station, with her six-year old daughter onboard.  When the train pulls into the next station, the little girl is gone...and the mystery begins.  Ohlsson creates an interesting crew to solve the mystery - the chief with a big reputation, the new detective with more book knowledge than experience, the sleazy partner who cheats on his wife, and the nerdy media specialist whose love life seems suspect.  The families who are the victims are also well-drawn, with both their background history and the location of the bodies part of the solution.  As the disappearances and deaths pile up, the puzzle pieces remain scattered.  It's not until the last thirty pages, that it all comes together.  This is definitely a very gripping mystery.  I'm already anxious for Ohlsson's next book in the series to come out; I only hope she can equal this one.

All Woman and Springtime by Brandon Jones
The premise of this book is interesting...a girl in North Korea, living in an orphanage, becomes friends with another girl, one from a very different background from her's.  This wealthy, spoiled girl winds up orphaned through bad luck, where as the main character has been 'reeducated' in the gulags of North Korea.  Through a variety of poor choices, these girls wind up in the hands of the sex trade.  It's a pretty brutal story, though I questioned how well-researched the book was.  I doubt it is as easy to 'escape' from North Korea as author Jones makes it out to be.  While the story was quite disturbing in so many ways, I wished that it was more factual and political.  The last one-third of the book takes place in Seattle, where the sex trade is a serious problem, so it felt more 'real' when it got there.  The two girls and their stories are compelling and it is an intriguing read, just not the 'best' ever.

Before I Go to Sleep by S.J. Watson


Don't we all love that feeling of compulsion to keep reading, of not wanting to put a book down?  If you do, this is a great book for you.  It's definitely what I call addictive 'brain candy.'

Many of us have seen the Adam Sandler/Drew Barrymore movie Fifty First Dates.  It's a sweet romantic comedy about a man who falls in love with a girl with a traumatic brain injury, who has to be told each day who she is, what happened yesterday, and why she should love the man next to her in bed.  Now, take that same story, but give it a creepy mystery spin...because if you think about it, there's really nothing funny about not having your memory.  Watson does a very realistic job of peering inside a woman's head who wakes up each day next to a stranger and looks at an older version of herself in the mirror, wondering where all the years have gone.  Christine and her husband, Ben, have created a seemingly reasonable life, using pictures and stories to retell Christine's past each and every day.  However, is it real, or is it fiction?  As Christine discovers her journal and memories of the past, so do we, the reader.  As Christine pieces together the puzzle, wanting to know the answers pushes the reader towards the end.  I will leave it up to you, to decide if the ending works for you or not.  I started it one day and finished it the following evening.  It's not particularly lyrical writing, but the style is solid and Watson narrates a compelling mystery.