Maid of Murder, by Amanda Flower

I hoped to enjoy this more than I did, but based on how many (other) readers felt this held promise to become a series comparable to Donna Andrews, I will probably check out the next one too.

Little Blog on the Prairie, by Catherine Devitt Bell

Really fun, sweet book. Genevieve's family goes to prairie camp to live out her mother's dream of experiencing life as it was for the settlers, but Genevieve's furtive and secret text messages to her friends at home gain a life of their own when her friend uses them to create a blog about the pleasures and perils of life in the 1880's. A dash of romance, a splash of 'finding oneself', and a really unusual and creative setting made this a really enjoyable read.

The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place, by MaryRose Wood

Odd and kind of infuriating book. I loved it until the end made it quite clear that there was no resolution, was obviously the start of a series, and that there would be no real ending. Grrrr. Made me want to howl like a wolf-child, in fact.

The Double Human, by James O'Neal

There was a LOT going on in this book. Set in an apocalyptic near-future Florida, the Unified Police Force is the last vestige of control within what is left of the USA, while anarchy basically reigns in the Miami Quarantine Zone. Manhattan has been destroyed, as has Tehran, wars flourish across the world, but mostly the book follows one officer, and his attempt to hunt down a serial killer. Talking dogs, incoming aliens, and 2 rival groups of Eastern European alternate hominids who live, seemingly, forever, only complicated what was already a pretty lively and crowded plot. It was a page turner, but left about a thousand loose ends, which I hope will be tied up in the inevitable sequels.

Book of Shadows, by Alexandra Sokoloff

Horror, but without depth. Murder, witchcraft, Salem, etc.

The View From The Top, by Hilary Frank

Interesting, well-done YA. Told in a rotation of voices, this linked short story collection covers the summer after high school in a small Maine holiday town. Townies vs. tourists, college-bound vs. town-bound, and everyone is in love with a girl named Annabel. Well developed characters and excellent writing distinguished this book (and there was a character named Lexi, which always gives me a kick), but Annabel herself remained a bit of a blank for me.

Thin, Rich, Pretty, by Beth Harbison

Fast, fluffy and fun book. Lexi Henderson was the Mean Girl at Camp Catoctin when they were girls, and Holly and Nicola, as adults, should have long grown past her cruel comments and teases. But when Lexi turns up, her life shattered, Holly and Nicola rediscover themselves and find a way to help the girl who always seemed to have everything.

Broke, USA: From Pawnshopts toPoverty, Inc.- How the Working Poor Have Become Big Business, by Gary Rivlin

Excellent, if depressing look at how abusive lending practices have created billions of dollars in wealth for those willing to ignore the consequences of charging interest rates up to 390%.

Star Island, by Carl Hiaasen

Very funny, classic Hiaasen. Florida capers and antics, with some familiar characters (Jim Tile, Skink, Chemo) getting mixed up in the drama surrounding a messed up starlet, her body double, and her hanger-on family.

Innocents, by Cathy Coote

Well written reverse/perverse Lolita tale. In this disturbing, twisty novel, the 19 year old author wrote a 16 year old girl who deliberately sets out to seduce her 34 year old teacher, using artful coyness to make him believe he is doing the seducing. The psychosexual manipulation was fascinating and horrifying, and made for uncomfortable reading.

The Rehearsal, by Eleanor Catton

Amazingly well written book, set within a drama school and in a girls' school, seething with sexual tension, power shifts, and occasional discourses on the importance of theater. The nameless Saxophone Teacher, and the faceless Heads of Movement, Voice, and Acting steer their students like puppets, and show as much remorse when th

ings get broken as one would with a doll one didn't much like. Reminded me of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, but in a more distant, kind of chilling way.

Thieves of Manhattan, by Adam Langer

Astonishly good, tricky, literary book. This was like watching someone juggle while dancing a tango on the back of a moving horse. Incredible narrative tricks, plot inversions like a mobious strip, and some of the cleverest turns of phrase I've read in a LONG time made this an absolutely delicious, delightful, deceptively light serious book about fiction and publishing today.
Ian Minot, struggling writer and barrista, is working on his growing pile of rejection letters, even as his beautful and heavily accented Romanian girlfriend is ising fast on Manhattan's literary scene. A Confident Man enters the scene, and in a dazzling take-off of noir pulp, Ian is on his way into some of the most convoluted and literary troubles possible.  Fakes, memoirs, fake memoirs, and fake people are the key characters and plot devices here, but if I had to pick one favorite trick of the book, it would be the use of some terms which, to a reader, felt like they were the only possible way to describe things or people.
Eg.
"Like the writers at any book party, the artists were easiest to find, self-consciously dressing down - ripped kowalskis and torn Levi's - or dressing up, in gatsbys and ascots, all ironic."
Can you not see them????
Franzens are styling eyeglasses, fitzgeralds are drinks, a golightly is the LBD the publicist girls wear (!), a humbert is a lonely perv... a scherherezade is a cliffhanger.
BRILLIANT.

Fairy Houses Everywhere, by Barry and Tracy Kane

So beautiful! I love this series of children's books. The authors inspired communities all over the country to create their own completely natural fairy villages out of found materials, and they are so, so wonderful.

Faithful Place, by Tana French

Once again, Tana French took a minor character from her last Dublin murder squad book, and created an intense and twisted novel about them. This time Frank Mackey, Undercover detective, receives a call that shatters all he thought was true. The girl he was going to run away to England at 18 with, Rosie Daly, the girl who he thought had left him behind, is found dead, and her body hidden, presumable since the night she never showed up.
Psychological suspence at its best.

Stork Raving Mad, by Donna Andrews

Very fast and funny addition to Donna Andrew's long-lasting bird series. Meg Lanslow, blacksmith, is pregnant with twins, yet she and husband Michael are still hosting an amazing amount of guests- students of Michael's from Caerphilly College, where the heat has malfucnctioned. The ususal amusing supporting cast of secondary characters continue to entertain, and despite a busy plot involving lots of academic shenanigans, it was a blast to read, and still looking forward to the next.

The Darling Dahlias and The Cucumber Tree, by Susan Wittig Albert

Really pretty badly done cosy mystery, set in Alabama during the Great Depression. Aside from the sickly sweetness of the whole thing, the improbable conversations about sex between the ladies of the Dahlia garden club and the uncomfortable portrayals of the African Americans left a horrible, sticky aftertaste.
Ick.

Cut, Paste, Kill, by Marshall Karp

Another smart, sharp, snappy mystery from Marshall Karp. Quick, with witty dialogue and some pretty funny scenes, this one had a scrapbook-creating avenger for justice loose in LA, righting wrongs that had fallen through the justice system's cracks. Very clever and very fun and fast.

A Vintage Affair, by Isabelle Wolff

Surprisingly moving book- I had rather expected a kind of Katie Fforde real-estate porn-y shoes and champagne kind of book, but this had unexpected depth. Emma, who has left a successful career in the vintage textiles department at Sotheby's, has just opened a new vintage clothing boutique, and is trying to re-invent her life after losing her best friend and also her fiancee. Through a woman whose wardrobe she is buying, Emma becomes involved in a quest to find out what happened to a young French Jewish girl in WWII, and the book had a real emotional impact. Lovely, and cleverly done.

Leave it to Psmith, by P.G. Wodehouse

The always funny Wodehouse, not at his best, but his worst is so much better than almost anyone's best, that it's great anyway. I prefer Wooster and Jeeves, but just about any goings on at Blandings Castle are a good time.

My Life and Hard Times, by James Thurber

I LOVE James Thurber. I laugh until I can't breathe. One of the all time best American writers. Wonderful beyond words or reason.

The Starlet, by Mary McNamara

Fun, breezy mystery- sequel to the very good Oscar Season.  Juliette Greyson is avoiding Hollywood by retreating to the family estate in Tuscany, when she encounters troubled starlet (think Lindsay Lohan) Mercy Talbot, about to dive into a fountain in a public piazza. Juliette, unable to watch a young actress break her neck without interfering, takes in Mercy, and eventually a whole film crew, and while various shenanigans go on, all the original characters from Oscar Season grow and become even more interesting, and Mercy was a great character with a very believable set of problems. Fun, and very very well done.

One Day, by David Nicholls

This was compulsively readable, romantic, sweet, sad, charming, and would be perfect for fans of Nick Hornby. Emma and Dexter circle each other for years, illustrating beautifully the ways long term friendships develop and grow, and I really hope the movie that is being made will be good- starring Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess. Hugh Grant must be wishing he had a time machine. I think its an interesting choice that Vintage is only releasing this in paperback, definitely makes the book more accessible, but with the level of buzz behind it, I would have ordered 2 hardcovers for the library, rather than the 2 paperbacks- and I am sure I will have to replace them, because this book is sure to be a hit. Really lovely.

This is Where We Live, by Janelle Brown

Fantastic book. Starting with an earthquake in their $600,000 'starter home' in LA, this story of Claudia and Jeremy just got tighter and rockier. Aspiring filmmaker Claudia is on the rise- her first movie is about to be released, and Jeremy's band is doing well, recording, his 'job' at a friend's hipster t-shirt company pays well enough, and things are looking rosy. Even the news that his ex-girlfriend, genius/artist Aoki is coming to town for a gallery show can't rock their world- but then, the recession does. As surely and even more damaging than the earthquake, their gradual compromises and concessions shake apart everything that they assumed was solid, in what really was a wonderfully written post-real-estate collapse fiction.

Hell House, by Richard Matheson

Well, this was all right, but it was not "The scariest haunted house novel ever written," Stephen King. Your usual group of psychic researchers go into haunted house, are DOOMED, etc. Was ok, but The Haunting of Hill House was way scarier, if that's what you're looking for.

Pretty in Plaid, by Jen Lancaster

Another very funny Jen Lancaster book, this time talking about her fashion evolution. I don't know.

My Fair Lazy, by Jen Lancaster

Very funny, quick non-fic about Jen Lancaster's attempt to lay off watching reality TV and to get a more 'cultured' worldview.

Somebody Everybody Listens To, by Suzanne Supplee

Surprisingly good YA novel about trying to make it as a country singer in Nashville. Retta's struggles (living in her car, trying open mike nights, being scared and humiliated and thinking of returning home) could have read as clicheed, but the voice was somehow refreshing and the character was one I really ended up rooting for, despite having absolutely no interest in country music. The title really sums up Retta's motivation, and that drive is what made the book so appealing.

Crashers, by Dana Haynes

Technobabble thriller about NTSB workers and a new kind of in-flight data-recorder than can (gasp!) crash a plane on its own. Implausible plot, improbable characters, really cheap villains, and dated politics made this kind of hard to read.

The Ice Princess, by Camilla Lackberg

Taut, well-written Scandanavian noir. Writer Erica is back in her small home town, to clean out her recently deceased parents' house, when her childhood best friend is found dead (in a graphic and visually arresting manner). Having been, in the past, close with that family, Erica becomes involved with the investigation, and gradually dark secrets from all levels of the town are revealed. This was really well done, with excellent characterizations, and a solid plot that kept tightening. It was really good, and I am definitely looking forward to her next title that will be released, The Preacher.
This was no The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, in that it was not a high-speed techno thriller, but it was a carefully paced Christie-esque mystery, with that atmospheric Swedish flavor. I liked it much more than Karin Fossum's Down By The Water, which, while dealing with the same subject, managed to be much more offputting and depressing.

Sizzling Sixteen, by Janet Evanovich

Silly sixteen. More of the same, with less flavor and appeal. Stephanie's indecision about choosing between Ranger and Morelli has led to books as celibate and boring as the Twilight series (with which I can actually imagine some audience overlap, so ugh to that), Lula, Connie, etc have become cariacatures rather than characters, previous plot lines have been dropped altogether, and the charm that held it all together, like, say, the marshmallow in Rice Crispie bars, has dried up, leaving nothing but a crackling pile of stale nuggets.

Matched, by Ally Condie

Pretty excellent YA dystopian futuristic love-triangle. In an oppressive, Big Brotherish society in the future, citizens are carefully matched for ideal genetic potential and similarity in tastes and skills, and when Cassia is Matched with her best friend Xander, she is initially thrilled. A technical error, however, leads her to question all she has known, and issues of freedom and manipulation take over the story. Really solid world building and a sinister vibe set this one above the pack of YA dystopias.