aired the week of December 9, 2013

Comfort & Joy by Kristin Hannah is a Christmas novella that follows high school librarian Joy Candellaro after she is divorced from her husband and estranged from her sister.  How can she enjoy the Christmas season when there is no one to share it with.  On impulse Joy boards a flight for Canada where the small charter plane goes down in the Pacific Northwest.  In the woods Joy meet a young boy named Bobby who is also hurting from loss.  Can Joy and Bobby help each other put the past behind them to look forward to the blessings of Christmas?

aired the week of December 2, 2013

Silver Bells by Luanne Rice is a Christmas novella that takes place in New York City.  Christopher has always sold his Christmas trees in the city, but last year his 16-year-old son ran away from the stand.  This year he vows to locate his child, but he may need more help than he can imagine as the city is so very large.  Will Catherine, a woman who witnessed the whole family blow up last year be willing to help Christopher?  Magical things can happen during the Christmas season if you are just willing to believe.

aired the week of November 25, 2013

Sweet Misfortune by Kevin Alan Milne is the story Sophie Jones a chocolatier with major trust issues.  Her parents and grandmother died in a car accident on Sophie's 9th birthday and her fiancé recently broke things off right before the wedding so the trust issues may be warranted.  These heartbreaking events have lead to one wonderful creation, the misfortune cookie, which is one of her best selling items.  They are popular for the handwritten misfortunes Sophie puts in each cookie.  Some examples are:

• You will soon fall in love.  Caution" when people fall, something usually breaks.
• He who throws dirt is losing ground.
• Yesterday was the high point of your life. Sorry.

 

aired the week of November 18, 2013

Bitter River by Julia Keller is the second book featuring Raythune County, West Virginia's prosecuting attorney Belfa Elkins.  Belfa is trying to find out who would want teenager Lucinda Trimble dead, when Lucinda's body is found in a car submerged in the Bitter River.  So far there are no leads and no witnesses.  The hills of West Virginia is a fully developed character in this well written novel.  Julia Keller is an author to watch.

aired the week of November 11, 2013

Storm Front by John Sandford is the 7th title in the Virgil Flowers series.  Virgil is an agent with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.  His latest case has him helping an Israeli agent track down an ancient artifact stolen from Israel by a Lutheran minister from Mankato. This story has great characters and laugh out loud dialog.  If you haven't met Virgil, you should.

aired the week of November 4, 2013

He's Gone by Deb Caletti tells the story of Dani after she realizes her husband is missing.  It is an introspective journey through their relationship and how our perception of the truth is different for each person.

aired the week of October 28, 2013

How to Bake a Perfect Life by Barbara O'Neal is set in Ramona's bakery in Colorado Springs.  Ramona's daughter Sofia has just had to fly to Germany to be with her wounded soldier husband.  Meanwhile Ramona welcomes Sofia's stepdaughter Katie to live with her.  Includes many wonderful bread recipes.

aired the week of October 21, 2013

The Pawn by Steven James is the first in the Patrick Bowers Thriller series.  Patrick has been asked to consult with a task force near Ashville, N.C. as they try to track down a serial killer dubbed "The Yellow Ribbon Strangler."  Things get personal when the killer goes after Patrick and his stepdaughter Tessa.

1. The Pawn
2. The Rook
3. The Knight
4. The Bishop
5. The Queen
6. Opening Moves
7. The King

aired the week of October 14, 2013

The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom follows young Lavinia as she becomes an indentured servant on the Tall Oaks Plantation in 1791.  She doesn't quite fit in with the slaves nor does she fit in with the privileged whites in the big house.  It is a precarious position which Lavinia makes work well until unforeseen circumstances change her life forever.

aired the week of October 7, 2013

Good as Gone by Douglas Corleone.  Simon Fisk recovers children who have been abducted by estranged parents and then fled overseas to countries that don't recognize U.S. custody decisions. Now he has been ask by the French police to track down an abducted 6-year-old American girl who was taken from her vacationing parent's hotel room in Paris. This is not Simon's usual assignment and he is concerned he will not find the little girl in time.  This is an adrenaline charged fast paced thriller.

aired the week of September 30, 2013

Orphan Train: a novel by Christina Baker Kline follows Molly a 17-year-old in the foster care system in Maine as she works with an older woman cleaning out her attic to complete community service hours.  While cleaning and organizing the boxes 91-year-old Vivian's story unfolds.  She was an immigrant orphaned at a young age and became a rider on the orphan train in the 1920s.  Molly and Vivian's stories are similar in some ways and the two draw closer as the community service project concludes.  A wonderful story about a little known era in American history.

aired the week of September 23, 2013

The World's Strongest Librarian: a Memoir of Tourette's, Faith, Strength and the Power of Family by Josh Hanagarne is a beautifully written memoir.  The anecdotal stories about life as a reference librarian in Salt Lake City are amusing but, Josh's recounting of dealing with Tourette's and learning to conquer it and not let it conquer him are poignant and stick with the reader.

aired the week of September 16, 2013

Murder of a Small-Town Honey by Denise Swanson is the Agatha Award winning debut in the Scumble River mystery series.  Follow Syke Denison as she returns home and then is hot on the trail of a killer.  Her brother Vince has been accused of murder and Skye knows he is no killer.  It is up to her to clear his name.

aired the week of September 9, 2013

The Far Side of the Sky by Daniel Kalla chronicles the journey of one Jewish family out of Vienna, Austria after the Nazis come to power.  They manage to escape to Shanghai where they begin to build a new life amidst the rubble.

aired the week of September 2, 2013

Calling Me Home by Julie Kibler is another compelling read in the growing category of race relations novels.  If you enjoyed The Help by Kathryn Stockett or Saving CeeCee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman this is a must read.  Almost 90 year old Miss. Isabelle and her hairdresser and friend Dorrie embark on a road trip from Dallas to Cincinnati to attend a funeral.  Along the way Miss. Isabelle shares much of what happened to her during the late 1930s and early 1940s in northern Kentucky.

aired the week of August 26, 2013

Baltimore Blues by Laura Lippman introduces feisty heroine Tess Monaghan.  Tess a newspaper reporter without a job gets a chance to do a little private investigating.  When things go badly she has to help clear her friend of murder charges.  This is the first novel in the Tess Monaghan series of which there are currently 11 titles.

aired the week of August 19, 2013

The Painted Girls by Cathy Marie Buchanan follows the Van Goethem sisters who live in Paris during the late 1800s.  The middle sister Marie is the subject of Edgar Degas controversial sculpture, Little Dancer, Aged 14.

aired the week of August 12, 2013

Stranded by Alex Kava is book #11 in the Maggie O'Dell series.  Start with the first book titled A Pefect Evil.  The action in this novel takes place around Sioux City, Council Bluffs and Manhattan, KS which places the story close to home.  Maggie and her partner R.J. Tulley are trying to track down a killer who preys on weary travelers at rest stops.

aired the week of August 5, 2013

The Life List by Lori Nelson Spielman tells the story of Brett who has just lost her mother/best friend to cancer.  When Brett reads the will she finds out she will have to complete a life list she created at the age of 14 in order to get her inheritance.  What was her mother thinking?

aired the week of July 29, 2013

Deadly Politics by Maggie Sefton follows Molly Malone as she returns to Washington, D.C. to work in politics yet again.  When her niece Karen is killed Molly calls upon old frineds to help her solve the murder.