The Wedding People

 By Alison Espach. 2024. This has been on my to-be-read list for quite a while. It didn't disappoint! Phoebe Stone watches her life implode when her husband leaves her for another woman. She is having trouble picking up the pieces of her life. She heads to Newport, Rhode Island to stay at an expensive old hotel by the sea. Surprised to find all the guests to be part of a five-day wedding event. Quickly becoming a confidant of the Bride, Phoebe feels her life shift. A comedy of errors incur and the reader is swept up into everyone's life. A combination chicklit and literary fiction I found myself immersed in this novel. Part wise and part ridiculous The Wedding People is a winner.

The Impossible Fortune

 The Thursday Murder Club Mystery series, book 5 by Richard Osman. 2025. Accessed on Libby, narrated by Fiona Shaw. A delicious novel. Very engrossing. All characters are well developed and most had endearing qualities. Joyce was charming as usual. Her daughter, Joanna, has a more human side to her in this story: the story of her wedding to Paul. It turns out that Paul's friends have an interesting storyline that involves the Thursday Murder Club. Ron's son and daughter test the devotion of their father. Altogether an interesting story with a mystery to solve.

A Time of Renewal

 Daily Reflections for the Lenten Season. By Mother Mary Francis. P.C.C. 2015. "Mother Mary Francis, abbess of a Poor Clare Monastery for over forty years, left an enduring legacy in her writings...In this work she presents beautiful meditations on the liturgical season of Lent." Daily reading of the scripture for Lent and the reflections were a blessing to me during Lent.

Making the Best of What's Left

 When We're Too Old to get the Chairs Reupholstered by Judith Viorst. 2025. Advice for the Final Fifth by best-selling author of the series, The Decades of a Woman's Life. A delicate balance of humorous antidotes and soulful observations of loneliness discovered in her acquaintances. A delight to read and to appreciate our mutual experiences even if we're not lucky enough to end up in a luxurious retirement center like the one that Viorst inhabits. 

The Main Corpse

 Goldy Schulz mystery, no. 6 by Diane Mott Davidson. 1996.

A Big Little Life

 A Memoir of a joyful dog named Trixie by Dean Koontz. 2009

Dean Koontz and his wife Gerda were the caretakers of a golden retriever who had been trained to be a service dog for a wheelchair bound young woman. Early in her career Trixie suffered an injury to her leg that required surgery. Unable to support a wheelchair bound individual Trixie had to be retired. Longtime supporters of Canine Companions for Independence, Dean and Gerda Koontz apply for a retired dog. First time dog owners, the Koontz soon realized they were now blessed to be the owners of a special dog. Trixie won their hearts by her unique skills and loving personality, Koontz even going as far to say she possessed Angel qualities. 

The Correspondent

 By Virginia Evans. 2025 Read this for book group. We were to read a book recommendation. A friend wrote in her Christmas card that this was her favorite book for 2025. Apparently she is not alone in that thinking. It was a good choice for me. I'm 74 and vision impaired due to macular degeneration. I bought the large print edition. My mother and I kept up a long season of writing back and forth. It only stoped when I moved about 40 miles from her here In Ohio. Sometimes I think we only present the better parts of ourselves when we write letters. I certainly love getting letters still, but the cell phones make it easier to call and to text. 

The Correspondent  is the story of one woman's life told through letters. She is 73 and about to make some changes in her life that increase her ability to become more aware of others. She writes to many people, ie. her daughter, her brother, past colleagues, authors of books she has read, etc. I think it helps the reader to contemplate their own life, if only to think, I should write more letters. How many times have I wanted to write to an author to say, I love how you expressed the life of your characters.

Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death

 By M C Beaton. (1992)Audio by Penelope Keith. Agatha's First Case. (2015) A comforting listen to a book that I've read before. M C Beaton has just the right amount of description that leads you to believe you are in the Cotswolds. It helps that I've watched Ashley Jensen in the Acorn Series for TV many times. Penelope Keith does an exceptional job as well. One of my favorite series. 

The Body

 A novella published 1982 with three other stories in "Different Seasons" by Stephen King. Accessed on Libby. A coming-of-age story with a dramatic flair, not a horror story. It was made into a movie, "Stand by Me" by Castle Rock Entertainment. 

The Saboteur: a Novel ****

 By Andrew Gross. Published 2017. A winter thriller on events from 1942-1945 in occupied Norway, with some training in England and Scotland. As early as 1939 the Germans were doing atomic research. The English were being kept up to date by the Danish underground. This work of historical fiction tells the story of brave Norwegians who carried out the plan to sabotage the German's production of heavy water, an instrument needed in the experiments of atomic research.

2026