Two quick recommendations...

 

All Systems Red by Martha Wells

There's so much to like about this science fiction novella:  good writing, humor, a bit of mystery, and lots of action. But the best part is the SecUnit construct known as Murderbot. His snarky thoughts and his sometimes awkward interactions with his human clients totally made me smile. He's another new favorite character. Now I just need to read the rest of the series. (And that kind of bookish math is so typical of my entire TBR list--finish reading one book, add five more to the list.)

Western Lane by Chetna Maroo

How do I describe this one? This short, well-written novel is a story of grief and growing up, of three sisters and their father after the death of their mother, and the way they use the game of squash to cope and connect. It's an introspective novel, told from the youngest daughter's POV, lyrical in places, but melancholic, too. And I'm still trying to decide if I liked it, or not. But I did really like Sam's Review over at Book Chase, which is what made me want to read this one in the first place. 

Happy Reading!

The Butterfly Sister by Amy Gail Hansen...

It was the cover that first caught my attention...and the words inside did not disappoint. This novel is a quiet unfolding of love and loss, of betrayal and madness, and a beautiful intertwining of Ruby Rousseau's present and past.

Ruby is a brilliant student of literature who dropped out of college one semester shy of graduation. The Butterfly Sister begins with a suitcase--a suitcase that belongs to a former college acquaintance of Ruby's, but that is delivered to Ruby's door instead. When she tries to return the suitcase, she discovers its owner, Beth, is missing. Beth's disappearance leads Ruby back to Tarble College--a place she hoped she had left behind forever. A place full of memories she'd rather forget. But the past is not easy to escape. In fact, for Ruby, it's getting closer every day. And this time she might not survive its truth.

"The past is a funny thing, Ruby. It is nature's most underestimated ghost. It is still very much alive. Its heart still beats. It haunts. And it is always impacting, always dictating the future..."

I liked the literary allusions to Virginia Woolf that are sprinkled throughout this novel, as well as the scenes set at Tarble College. Ruby is a very relatable heroine--not perfect by any means, but not stupid, or obtuse and passive, which I hate in a character. And Hansen's pacing, as each secret from the past is revealed, is just right. I also liked that I didn't see the end of this novel coming. It's nice to be surprised once in awhile. (And I didn't peek at the last page once!) I'm glad I picked this novel up; it was exactly the right read for me this week.

A Bookish Kiss...

     "From (Lucy's) feet the ground sloped sharply into view, and violets ran down in rivulets and streams and cataracts, irrigating the hillside with blue, eddying round the tree stems, collecting into pools in the hollows, covering the grass with spots of azure foam. But never again were they in such profusion; this terrace was the well-head, the primal source whence beauty gushed out to water the earth.

      "Standing at its brink, like a swimmer who prepares, was the good man. But he was not the good man that she had expected, and he was alone.

      "George had turned at the sound of her arrival. For a moment he contemplated her, as one who had fallen out of heaven. He saw radiant joy in her face, he saw the flowers beat against her dress in blue waves. The bushes above them closed. He stepped quickly forward and kissed her."

This is one of my favorite scenes from one of my favorite books: A Room With A View by E.M. Forster. This classic novel has everything any one could want: a trip to Italy, a stolen kiss, one of the most humorous skinnydipping scenes ever written, a broken engagement, and true love. Plus, it's funny. (Even the chapter headings make me smile.)

Lucy Honeychurch is an appealing heroine; and she and George Emerson are one of my favorite literary couples. Will they get together in the end, or won't they? It all depends on whether Lucy follows her head, or her heart. If you haven't read this book yet, start it today. You're in for a treat.