The Mother-in-Law by Sally Hepworth

Lucy's own mother died when she was a young girl so when Ollie takes her to meet his mother for the first time, Lucy has hopes that she would bond with the woman her fiancé adores.  It wasn't meant to be. Diana is rich, beautiful, and proper, and runs her own charity for unwed mothers. The one thing she isn't is warm.  Lucy keeps trying to connect with Diana--at her wedding, when her first child is born--but something always goes wrong.  She does establish a relationship with other members of Ollie's family, his sister and her husband, and his father, Tom, but as time goes on relationships with them get complicated as well.  Then, one day, Diana is found dead.  Was it suicide, or murder?  

Although this was published a few years ago, it is really making the book club rounds right now.  It is one of the most popular books in my library and has a long wait on Libby.  My collections manager ordered an extra copy, and wanted to know if I would like to be the first to check it out, since I was going on a vacation.  I did, and read through the whole thing in a couple of days.  It is an engaging read.  It isn't really a murder mystery.  None of the main characters acts like a detective trying to figure out who killed Diana.  It is, instead, a family story, like The Dutch House, where people, over time, work through their relationships and come to a point of equilibrium.  The characters are complex and empathetic.  There are no good guys and bad guys, just a bunch of people who are struggling to understand each other.  (2019, 352 p)

The Mesmerist by Ronald Smith

 Jessamine Grace's father has died and she and her mother survive by offering fake Spiritualist encounters for gullible Victorians. Then one day, the sham becomes real and Jessie is thrust into another side of England that she never knew existed.  Little does she know when her mother takes her to the enigmatic Lord Bathesar, that he will hold the key to a future of fighting evil on a scale she had never expected.

This is an odd story.  Smith mixes the Victorian obsession with spiritualism with the terror of the bubonic plague and throws in some necromancy for good measure.  The book kind of has the "Lockwood and Co" vibe, but the world building and character development isn't quite as good.  I think Jessie goes from prissy, timid, Victorian girl to totally awesome demon fighter to quickly and easily. Still, I enjoyed it and would recommend it to fifth or sixth graders who were looking for something a little spooky.  I think it was written as the first in a series, but I cannot find that any others were ever done. (2017, 272 p.)

Peace in Every Step by Thich Nhat Hahn

 Thich Nhat Hahn is one of the most famous Zen Budhist teachers of the last century.  He was born in Vietnam and became an advocate for peace during the Vietnam War. He went on to found two meditation centers, one in France, and one in the US.  This is a collection of his teachings and essays collected and edited by a group of his disciples.  He focuses on finding joy in life by being mindful and remembering to follow your breath.  He urges readers to be aware that they are part of the bigger world and so have a responsibility to aid and protect others and nature. 

I chose this book mostly because, after reading all the smut and profanity in Lawn Boy, I felt like I needed some mental "dental floss".  I enjoyed it very much.  It is suffused with peace and had lots of good ideas to ponder.  I couldn't help examining my own life and looking for ways I could be better. (1992, 134 p)

Lawn Boy by Jonathan Evison

 Mike Munoz may have a Hispanic name, but he was born in the US and doesn't speak Spanish. His dad left when he was just a boy and he and his mom have struggled to care for Mike's disabled brother while making ends meet ever since. The one thing Mike is good at is lawn care.  When he gets fed up with a vindictive boss and quits the only lawn service company in town, he starts an epic journey to find gainful employment and his place in the world. 

I read this book because it was the second most banned book last year.  It was one of the titles that was under particular attack from the groups of "concerned parents" who harassed libraries for secretly harboring pornography on their shelves. There is a lot here to complain about.  The language is full of F-bombs and lewd sexual references. There is also discussion of an instance from Mike's childhood when he and another boy experimented with oral sex. Despite all that, I actually enjoyed the book.  The language was authentic, and the book gave me a peak into a lifestyle that is ubiquitous in the US but is totally foreign to me.  It helped me see what a struggle it is, if you are from a certain class and raised a certain way, to ever even see yourself as someone who could be successful in life. Evison managed to create a character, that, despite his disadvantage, doesn't give in to the temptation to use dishonestly to get ahead, even when it would have been very financially advantageous. Mike is just not willing to "sell his soul to make the dough." Even though the "Christian Right" is all up in arms about this book, I have hardly read a story that demonstrated the "light of Christ" better than this one. (2018, 320 p)

The Number of Love by Roseanna White

Margot De Wilde is a mathematical genius and the only woman code breaker in England's "room 40."  The other code breakers treat her as an equal and sometimes forget she is a mere girl of 17, and that is how she likes it.  Numbers speak to her, and she feels totally comfortable in the world of computation, but not so much in the level of society to which she was born.  When the Lord prompts her to become friends with the new girl in the secretary pool, Dot, she meets Dot's Navy officer brother, Drake.  Like Margot, Drake is more than he seems, and fate keeps bringing them together. 

This is actually the first in the series, the second of which is On Wings of Devotion, which I already read.  Despite this one's SUPER cheesy title, I enjoyed it quite a bit.  It takes place during the same time period as the second one, but just follows a different couple's relationship.  I thought it was cleaver that White included some of the same scenes as the second novel but told from a different character's point of view.  I also liked the way White portrayed how the numbers acted in Margot's mind.  I have been married to a mathematician for 30 years, and I don't think he sees numbers quite like that, but I could imagine a mathematical genius seeing the world that way.  I know in my father's last hours he was reduced to just using numbers to communicate. It was intriguing. I look forward to the third book, which, according to the descriptive blib, follows a different couple mentioned in the second book. (2019, 370)

A Beauty Refined by Tracie Peterson

 Phoebe Von Bergen is visiting Helena Montana with her domineering father who is in search of sapphires from the recently developed saphire mines.  Phoebe is used to using her beauty and wealth to get positive attention from men, but has never really cared for any of them.  Then she meets Ian Harper, who is a local lapidary.  She is impressed with the kindness he shows to a young boy and to his mother and her friend.  As Pheobe's father conducts his questionable business dealings, Phoebe finds she has much deeper connections with the people in this small town than she could have immagined.  She also comes to realize that her father is much more sinister than she had ever allowed herself to imagine. As she becomes more distanced from her father, she finds herself growning closer to Ian and his friends and family. Could they be her family, too?

I am not sure why I read this book. The writing is so bad.  The dialog is stilted, the characters are cookie cutter, and everyone's reactions to crisis is so unnatural.  It really is like a meladrama stage play.  I was looking for something light to read after The Slow March of Light, and just picked this one because I knew it would be clean.  I think I had forgotten how much I had been disappointed in the first in the series.  Yet, I stuck it out.  I guess the story was engaging enough to pull me through, (though, I did finish two other books while trying to get through this one).  I need to remember how bad the writing is and not mistakenly check out the third one. (2016, 318 p)

The Slow March of Light by Heather B. Moore

Bob Inama is just about to finish his last semester at BYU before heading to George Washington University to get his law degree when he receives a draft notice in the mail.  Within a few months he is stationed in Germany with a long-range artilary unit.  There in Germany, he meets Luisa Voigt at a church meeting and they become quick friends.  Fate takes a hand again, and they both find themselves in West Berlin, he on a secret spy mission, and she trying hard to help her countrymen, even those in East Berlin, find a better life.  Then, in one August night in 1961, the Berlin Wall goes up, and with it the level of danger for both brave patriots.

This book is based on a true story of man raised in Idaho.  Ms Moore was asked by her publisher to write a fictionalized version of his story, and in preparation she interviewed him for hours over several weeks.  She says, in an author's note, that the parts of the story about Inama are mostly straight from those interviews. The story of Luisa is fictional, but based on similar experiences of the people in Berlin. I am glad Moore included the note, because otherwise I would have thought, "noone in the real world is that good hearted." The way Inama endures the trials he faces is by staying grateful and seeing the good side of every situation, no matter how bleak.  Ms Moore also does a good job portraying the differences between East and West Berlin, and how the Berlin Wall divided families. I was astounded by the story, and deeply moved.  It is now my favorite historical fiction I have read in a log time (and I got a signed copy when Ms Moore spoke at my library in March, yay!). (2021, 368 p)