Debut novel that is a thriller, chiller, filled with wisdom and laughter (the darker kind but what the heck!). I loved this book and all its twists and bends. She is a great writer – never a dull moment and lots of food for thought. Main character is Jason who gets pulled along in life – always certain that everyone knows more than he does so he is absolutely inert! Three graves on his property – only one that is of his making … will say no more but do read it – ‘Tis grand!

Maya is a nineteen year old who has made a mess of her life and is now running for it. Her grandmother arranges to have her sequestered on a remote island off the coast of Chile where Maya re-invents her “self” thanks to the people she meets there. It is a grand story – with all the magic and wisdom of classic Allende.

What if you could live your life over and over again until you get it right – Ursala is doing just that – every choice she makes has consequences that can alter the course of her life – the novel is filled with “yes, but, what if’s?” I love Kate Atkinson – she keeps getting better and better (but, I must admit, the ending left me somewhat disgruntled)

Set in post-revolutionary Iran this is the story of Saba whose mother and twin sister “disappear” in the airport while on their way to America. Saba spends the next 10 years trying to piece together what happened on that day. The village women become her surrogate mother, her father – although grief stricken by the loss of his wife and daughter – does his best to give to Saba all that she needs. What I loved about the book is the practical ways in which the average person tries to live within a system that is oppressive. The characters are all touched by one tragedy or another – yet they manage to find life in spite of it all. The book is suspenseful, hope filled and the characters are totally believable (even quite witty at times!). Would be a great book club read!

A really good read – liked the characters, good pace, good dialogue and for the first time ever I sort-of figured out the who-dunnit-part (a couple of twists though that took me by surprise!). It’s also a really good peek into New York at the turn of the century!

“It’s not easy to imagine the year 3012, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try.” That’s Clay in a nutshell – he is witty, wise, kind and has an array of eclectic, solid friends. Together they go about trying to solve the mysteries surrounding Mr. Penumbra and his bookstore. Sloan pokes fun at our reliance on technology, our worship of Google and our quest for eternal life. Terrific read!

Loved the main character, Octavia – a writer who decides to rewrite the endings of all of her books – and you get to read the original endings and revised ones. As she is dropping manusctipt off to her editor she finds out that her son (from whom she’s been estranged for 4 years) has been arrested and accused of murdering his girlfriend. The book is suspensful, filled with little gems of wisdom and plausible (well the ending is a little tidy but doesn’t matter). Great read!

Bee is writing a book trying to piece together why her mother, Bernadette, has disappeared into thin air. She pieces together e-mails, letters, conversations as she unravels the mystery. Funny, engaging, quirky – the characters are not quite what they seem – always more complex and simple than we imagine them. Great read and delightfully hopeful ending!

Jasper is looking for his brother, Coleman (don’t even get me started on where their names come from!) who has been missing for 10 years. Jasper’s life is a mess, he can’t move on until he at least tries to find Coleman who is somewhere in the Florida Everglades. This story is filled with alligators, poachers, yahoos and rock and rollers – funny, inventive, suspenseful and ultimately plausibly satisfying. I loved Jasper and all the weird folks he meets as he tries to make sense of what happened to Coleman …

12 year old Mary Bradford is trying to make sense of her world. She is well loved by her grandmother, aunt, housekeeper who are looking out for her since her mother died – her father, small town doctor (1950’s) works all the time and, although he is distant, does love her in an distracted kind of way. Famous Detroit Redwings hockey star, John Pilkie, is confined to the town’s psychiatric hospital for alledgedly murdering his wife and daughter. He becomes embroiled in Mary’s family and so the conflicts begin … nothing is clear and Mary is left to grapple with the complexities of the issues facing her. A wonderfully written, suspensful novel – with my favourite kind of ending – hopeful yet leaving you aching and wondering if things could have turned out differently if only …