The Cellar by Natasha Preston

My rating: 3.0

A girl gets kidnapped and put in to the kidnappers basement only to find, there are other girls already there who were also kidnapped. He renames each of them to be one of his "Flower Family" (Violet, Rose, Lily and Poppy.  They have to call him "Clover"

I found the writing to be immature and the characters were very poorly developed.  You get slight glimpses into their issues (Clover had mother issues, 16 yo Summer vacillated between crying, fighting back and wanting to go home) but it was all very simplistic.  All of that being said, I still enjoyed this book enough to finish it.

Blindsighted by Karin Slaughter

My rating: 4.4

A young college professor is brutally murdered in a small Georgia town's local cafe. This small town has a interwoven cast of characters some of which were:

• Sara the local coroner/pediatrician 
• Sara's ex-husband, police chief Jeffrey Tolliver, leading the investigation
• Lena Adam's - the county's sole police detective and victim's sister

As with other Slaughter novels, the writing is horrifically graphic at times and always beautiful. Despite this being a murder mystery, it felt fluffy. Perhaps that was due to the narration? I still enjoyed this book and will continue on with this series. I found myself wanting to return to this novel due to it's easy style, beautiful writing and to find out what happened.

The Couple Next Door by Shari Lapena

My rating: 4.3

Anne and Marco leave their baby girl at home while they go to a dinner party next door.  They monitor her with the baby monitor and take turns going home every half hour to check on her. They come home to the front door ajar, and their baby girl gone.

The police investigation that ensues slowly unravels many secrets. Lots of twists and turns.

Indiscretion by Charles Dubow

My rating: 4.7

Harry and Maddy have the idyllic marriage with a beautiful son, money, friends and an amazing career. A really bad decision could change all that. This is narrated by Maddy's bestfriend Walter (which draws comparisons to The Great Gatsby's Nick)

I loved the writing and how it drew me in to each of the characters...even the ones I didn't care for. This captures....so much. This is popcorn - addictive and leaves you wanting more. I think this is going to make a very interesting discussion at my bookclub. 

Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson

My rating: 4.4

Major Pettigrew is a proper English Gentleman. His brother's unexpected death creates the opportunity for an  unlikely friendship with Mrs. Ali, the Pakistani village shopkeeper. Sharing their mutual loss of their spouses, love for books, gardening, tea and all things proper, this sweet story gently unfolds.

Yes, this was slow in unfolding and there were several scenes/chapters that I thought would never end.  Sill, I loved how this captured so much in a soft way - grief, prejudice, healing, small town mindsets, the beautiful English countryside and so much more.  In many ways, this reminded me of A Man Called Ove.

The Inseparables by Stuart Nadler

My rating: 2.0

Three women (mother, daughter and granddaughter) face three different problems. It was hard at times to know if I should feel sorry for the characters or be laughing.

Despite the beautiful writing, mainly due to lack of liking the characters, this story couldn't keep my attention.

Barkskins by Annie Prouix

Rating: 2.4

The story of seventeeth century Frenchmen in New France working as wood cutters. There is a lot of hardships and great writing in this novel that spans three centuries.  I do not dispute that Prouix (author of The Shipping News and Brokeback Mountain) is amazingly talented and captures the era so well. For myself, the characters throughout the many generations ran together and I just couldn't see continuing for all 700+ pages. Let me know if I should revisit this book.