How Hard Can It Be? by Allison Pearson

Audio.  13.5 hours.
Read by Poppy Miller

Kate Reddy is a SAHM forced to go back to work when her husband decides to retrain as a counselor, for 2 years.  Enjoyed the story and the narrator very much.

5 stars.

Give Me Your Hand by Megan Abbott

Odd coincidences form a bond between two women scientists.  Add a star if you don't mind stuff about testing on animals. 

3 stars.

Elevation by Stephen King

Good writing not stopped by a weird concept.  Scott Carey is losing weight without getting smaller or weaker.  What will happen when his weight hits zero?

4 stars.

Ambush by James Patterson and James O. Born

Latest Detective Michael Bennett story.  Most of the book was pretty good, but deducting a star for the ridiculous ending.

There was aBennett short story at the end of the book that was pretty good.

3 stars.

A Spark of Light by Jodi Picoult

The story of those effected by an abortion clinic shooting.  It was a good story with good characters, but I didn't care for the reverse timeline format.

3.5 stars

Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty

When nine people go to a health spa for a ten-day retreat, they get more than they bargained for. 

4 stars. 

End of Watch by Stephen King

Audio.  14 hours.
Read by  Will Patton.

Retired detective Kermit Hodgeson continues to chase Brady Hartsfield, despite Brady being hospitalized for persistent brain damage.  Sidekicks Jerome and Holly help him out. 

Lost half a star for the strange premise.

4.5 stars.

A Dangerous Game by Heather Graham

Good enough to finish, but barely. 

Kieran Finnegan is a psychologist who is drawn into a murder case after the victim shoves a baby into her hands shortly before she's killed on a Manhattan street.  Her boyfriend, Craig, an FBI agent helps investigate.

Kieran makes a bunch of dumb move that put her in danger, but of course is rescued by Craig.  Yawn.

2.5 stars

Clock Dance by Anne Tyler

Nothing happens, and yet it does.  Willa learns it's not too late for her to have her own life.

5 stars.

If You Knew Her by Emily Elgar

Audio.  10.5 hours.
Read by Katey Sobey.

Cassie Jensen is run down by a car in the early hours of New Year's Day.  Alice, one of her nurses, wants to find out who did it.

Story was okay, but never really grabbed me.  Narrator did a good job.

3.5 stars.

We Were Mothers by Katie Sise

Scandal in the wealthy suburbs.  Can Cora believe the anonymous tip about her husband having a relationship with the babysitter?

5 stars.

Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King

Audio.  14 hours.
Read by Will Patton.

I didn't care for the narrator at first, but he grew on me.  The story grabbed me at once and held my attention the entire time. 

A man purposely mows down a group of people and manages to escape.  After the detective on the case retires, the killer, Mr. Mercedes, begins watching and toying with him, trying to goad him into suicide. 

5 stars.

Every Note Played by Lisa Genova

Audio 7CDs.  No info on length of reading.
Read by Dennis Boutsikaris and Dogmara Domincyk.

Concert pianist Richard develops ALS and slowly begins losing control of his muscles.  The only one ready, willing, and able to care for him is his ex-wife Karina.

4 stars.

Badlands by C.J. Box

Detective Cassie Dewell moves from Montana to North Dakota where she battles drug gangs and the cold.

4 stars.

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

Audio 18 hours.

Civil rights in Jackson Mississippi as told from the point of two maids and the white woman who wants to tell their stories.

5 stars

The 17th Suspect by James Patterson & Maxine Paetro

Latest in the Women's Murder Club series.  Better than most of them.

4 stars.

Corrupted by Lisa Scottoline

Bennie Rosato defends a man for murder, the same man she defended as a 12 yo boy for a trumped up assault charge.

I didn't love it, but it was good enough to finish.

3 stars

Betrayed by Lisa Scottoline

Judy's aunt battles cancer while Judy battles a Mexican drug cartel.  Oh, and maybe this is a great time to break up with your boyfriend.

I am reading just about anything from the large type section.  I should really stick with my kindle.

3 stars.

Shadow Play by Iris Johansen

Forensic artist, Eve Duncan, recreates the face of a young girl when her skeleton is discovered.  She starts to communicate with the dead girl and races to save another young girl in trouble with the help of her former-SEAL boyfriend, Joe.

It was a good story if you can suspend your disbelief of communicating with the dead, and with animals.

4 stars.

The Perfect Mother by Aimee Molloy

When a group of new moms decide to go out for a drink, one of their babies is kidnapped.  Kept me guessing the whole time.  The ending was a little hard to understand at times.

4 stars

Ginny Moon by Benjamin Ludwig

Audio 9 hours.
Read by Em Eldridge.

I loved this story.  Ginny Moon is a 14 year old autistic girl who was removed from her mom's home at age 9.  On her 3rd set of "forever parents", Ginny struggles with her past, especially after finding her mother on Facebook.

5 stars.

A Year of Pleasures by Elizabeth Berg

The story of Betta Nolan and how she grieves the loss of her husband by reinventing her life.

Very little action, but enjoyable prose.

4 stars.

The Third Victim by Philip Margolin

Two women dead, but the third victim of a presumed serial killer manages to escape.  When attorney Robin's client is found guilty and given the death penalty, she can't stop thinking the police got the wrong man.

4 stars.

The Female Persuasion by Meg Wolitzer

Audio.  15 hours.
Read by Rebecca Lowman

The story of Greer Kadetsky and the people around her and how she became a feminist.

3.5 stars.

Caged by Ellison Cooper

Interesting debut novel, about an FBI team investigating a serial killer.  Kept me guessing, but DO NOT EVER LET THE DOG GET SHOT!  EVER! 

Identity of killer was a surprise.

4 stars.

The Breakdown by B.A. Paris

Audio.  9 hours.
Read by Georgia Maguire

The story was interesting, but I didn't like the protagonist, Cass. 

Cass thinks she's losing her mind, but is she really?  And who murdered her friend Jane, and why?

Thought I knew the identity of the murder several times, but I was wrong. 

3.5 stars.

The Girls in the Garden by Lisa Jewell

What happened to Grace in the garden that night?  The new neighborhood that Clare moves her daughters to, after her husband burns down their home in a psychotic break, has many creepy characters that could be behind the assault.

Finished in a single day because it was so compelling.

5 stars

Don't Let Go by Harlen Coben

Nap Dumas is a police officer who cannot get over the death of his twin brother 15 years ago.  He doesn't believe the official story which is suicide or accident.  Immediately after the brother's death, Nap's high school girlfriend disappears.  Cut to the present, Nap gets a phone call that his old girlfriend's prints came up in connection with the murder of a police officer in another state, an officer that also went to high school with Nap, his brother, his girlfriend, etc.  Too many coincidences convince Nap to investigate and get to the bottom of what really happened that night.

4 stars.

After Anna by Lisa Scottoline

Maggie is thrilled to have her daughter back home after her father (the ex-husband) dies.  But Anna's reentry into Maggie's new life does not go smoothly.

I might have given this another star, but I really disliked the characters Maggie and Anna.  Story was also told from the POV of Maggie's second husband, Noah.  He was much more likable.

3.5 stars

Keep Quiet by Lisa Scottoline

Audio  8.5 hours
Read by Ron Livingston

Jake and his son, Ryan, are driving down a dark road and hit something that changes their lives.

5 stars.

Fifty Fifty by James Patterson and Candice Fox

Second in the Harriet Blue series which is set in Australia.  These are the best JP novels in a long time. 

4 stars

I Found You by Lisa Jewell

Audio.  10 hours, 2 minutes.
Read by Helen Duff

Great story about a man who loses his memory and the woman who takes him in.  "Frank" has memories of strangling a man, but is he really a killer? 

Loved the narrator's voice.

5 stars.

Murder, Interrupted by James Patterson

Audio  5.5 hours.
Read by Jay Snyder.

True crime stories with details changed to protect identities, yada, yada, yada.

I enjoyed listening to the two stories.  Like audio Law & Order.

4 stars.

Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert

Audio 5 hours.
Read by the author.

Creative living beyond fear. 

How to create despite being afraid, of rejection, of not being good enough, etc.  Great self-helpy book for me.  I love the author's narration, as well.

4 stars.

Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell

New author for me.  Will look for others she's written.

Teenage girl goes missing without a trace.  Ten years later, her mother meets a man with a 9 year old daughter who looks just like the missing girl.

Interesting plot.  I read it in just 2 days, which is unusual for me.

The Highway by C.J. Box

Not a bad read if you can see past the misogyny:  dumb girls get kidnapped!  Female cop described as "overweight" several times.

3.5 stars

Mrs. Fletcher by Tom Perrotta

Audio
11 hours
Multiple readers

There was a lot going on in this book, and many POVs, each with a different reader.  Normally, I don't enjoy this style, but I was easily able to keep the characters straight, most of the time.

Eve Fletcher begins to expand her life when her only child goes off to college, only to have him return home a few months later.

4 stars

Sometimes I Lie by Alice Feeney

Her name is Amber Reynolds and sometimes she lies.  Unreliable narrator story that was a bit confusing at times, but overall I enjoyed the book.

4 stars.

Picture Perfect by Jodi Picoult

Movie star is a wife batterer.

I didn't like any of the characters.

If this was the first JP book I'd read, I doubt I would have picked up another.

2 stars

Murder Beyond the Grave by James Patterson

Audio 5 hours.
Read by Christopher Ryan Grant.

Two true crime stories.  First up, a man kidnapped and buried alive.  The second about a woman developer murdered at a lodge in the Sierra Nevada mountains. I enjoyed the second one more.

4 stars.

The Story of Arthur Truluv by Elizabeth Berg

Almost like a fairy tale, the story of Maddy, the sad, lonely, pregnant teenager who is befriended by a recently widowed old man, Arthur.  I think Lucille may have been my favorite character though.

4.5 stars

Home Sweet Murder by James Patterson

Audio: 5.5 hours
Read by Peter Ganim

Two true-crime stories fictionalized by the author.  I really enjoyed this.  It reminded me very much of the earlier Patterson works, which I really loved.

Unrelated stories of two home invasion murders.

5 stars

Look for Me by Lisa Gardner

Detective D.D. Warren teams up with survivor Flora Dane in an attempt to find a missing teenager after the rest of her family is murdered.  Is the girl a suspect or a victim though?

4 stars.

The Chalk Man by C.J. Tudor

Interesting mystery set in England about a group of 12 yo friends and the summer a young woman is murdered in their town.

4.5 stars

The People vs. Alex Cross by James Patterson

Why do I keep reading these?  Meh continuation of the Alex Cross series, this time with added ridiculous story lines about his son, Ali.

2.5 stars

Paradise Valley by C.J. Box

Investigator Cassie Dewell chases a serial killer until he blows himself up in an attack on law enforcement.  Or did he?

New author for me.

4.5 stars

Look Behind You by Iris and Roy Johansen

Kendra, a formerly blind psychologists (?), is called in by the FBI for certain cases.  This one is a serial killer who has used different methods in different areas of the country.  Kendra puts together the clues that the "dream team" of profilers can't.

I didn't like Kendra.  I wouldn't go as far as I disliked her, but I was kind of meh on her and all the characters really.  The plot was good, but I didn't call for the ending.

3 stars.

The Divorce Papers by Susan Rieger

Audio

This book did not translate well to audio form, too much reading of addresses and email info.  I probably would enjoy it in book form.

Didn't finish, so no rating.

Haunted by James Patterson and James O. Born

Detective Michael Bennett takes his family on vacation, but ends up embroiled in a local police investigation in Maine.

3.5 stars

The Hoarder in You by Dr. Robin Zasio

Audio
Read by Cassandra Campbell
7.5 hours

The psychology behind hoarding and strategies to deal with it.

4 stars

The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning by Margareta Magnusson

Lovely little book about sorting through your possessions before you die, partly to spare your relatives the task, and partly to enjoy your memories.

4 stars

All Fall Down by Jennifer Weiner

Allison is a stress-out wife and mother who turns to opioids to help her cope.  Novels follows her decline and ascent.  I liked the novel, but wish the author hadn't given her quite so many problems. 

4 stars

The Arsonist by Sue Miller

Audio

Read by the author.

11.5 hours

Someone is burning down the houses of the "summer people" in a small town.  Frankie Rowley, recently returned from working in Africa, returns to find the town atwitter, her father's mind failing, and possible romance with the publisher of the local newspaper.

The stories were enjoyable, but the ending was very disappointing.  The identity of the arsonist was never positively named.

3 stars