The Rosie Effect: A Novel by Graeme Simsion(2009-10-20) by Graeme Sision, Published by Simon & Schuster Not listed in PBS, 1/21/2024.  Quick entertaining read.  Good choice when one needs a change.

Wide Blue Yonder by Jean Thompson, 1/28/2024, 2 stars.  Check out what happens to a family dealing with a member who isolates himself and focuses on weather day in and day out.

East of the Mountains by David Guterson, 2/7/2024, 4 stars.  Learning to cope with aging and the death of spouse is often very difficult.  The author does an outstanding job of dealing with both issues in this novel.

The Wishing Trees by John Shors, 2/20/2024, 3.5 stars.  Enjoyed this book as Ian copes with life after the death of his beloved wife.  He misses her so much.  However, the ending seems unrealistic to me.  As he and his daughter are completing an Asian trip which his dying wife urged him to do with their daughter, he decides at the end to marry his wife's close friend.  It seems far too soon.

The Ethical Assassin by David Liss, 4/7/2024, 4 stars

Dear Child by Romy Hausmann, Jamie Bulloch (Translator, 5 stars, ):  Told by Lena, a kidnapped woman; Hannah, her 'daughter'; and Lena's father, Matthias, whose daughter, Lena, went missing 13 years earlier, the story progresses.  Unfolding layer by layer, one views the life that Lena, Hannah and young Jonathan, Hannah's brother, endure.  They live in a small cabin in the woods locked inside by "Papa," who goes off to work, brings home food, and disciplines everyone all who must obey his rules.

The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections Eva Jurczyk, 3+ stars, 4/23/2024.  An interesting tale about theft and relationships between librarians.  It drags in spots but picks up in the last few chapters.  One gets a good look at how a library and what happens as it moves from traditional ways of handling its books into modern ways of tracking its precious property and it isn't easy.  Good read.

Tom Lake by Ann Patchett:  Pretty good read but a little slow moving in spots.  Found it interesting that the author had many references to an Oscar Wilde play, particularly since I have a book called The Wit and Humor of Oscar Wilde by Oscar Wilde, edited by Alvin Redman who purused much of Wilde's work in assembling the book.  Wilde was supposed to have been a brilliant conversationalist.

Ballad of the Northland by Jason Barron, 4/30/2024, 4 stars.  This is a moving story about a boy who grows up in the Alaskan wilderness.  He is tough, determined and his best friends are his sled dogs.  No other musher has created such a bond with his dogs.  When he begins to race his team, he begins winning, often against those who have money, much more experience and better equipment but no one has the tenacity of the boy or his beloved dogs.  

The Talented Miss Farwell by Emily Gray Tedrowe, 5/6/2024, 4 stars.  Becky Farwell is a math prodigy who manages her father's business accounts at a very young age.   When he becomes ill and the business is over she is working for the city.  A chance encounter with a painting is intriguing.  With research, making friends with collectors, and borrowing money from the city coffers she becomes a renowned collector.  She funnels some money back but always needs more for her collecting passion.  Will her embezzlement of city funds catch up to her?  Check the book and see.