Lisa Genova: Still Alice

Still Alice
Alice is just fifty when she finds herself in a downward spiral, increasingly disoriented and forgetful. A university professor, wife and mother of three, she has books to write, places to see, grandchildren to meet. But a tragic diagnosis of early-onset Alzheimer's disease is set to change her life and her relationship with her family and the world forever. Losing her yesterdays, living for each day, her short-term memory is hanging by a frayed thread. But she is still Alice.

Maeve Binchy: Whitethorn Woods

Whitethorn Woods:
Everything is changing in Rossmore. No longer a sleepy Irish town, nowadays it's a prosperous place, so busy that a new bypass has been proposed.
The people of Rossmore are divided, particularly since the road will go right through the Whitethorn Woords and the well dedicated to St Ann - a well thought by some to have spiritual properties, and by others dismissed as a superstition.

SK Tremayne: The Ice Twins

 

The ice twins

After one of their identical twin daughters, Lydia, dies in an accident, Angus and Sarah move to a remote Scottish island, hoping to mend their shattered lives. But when their surviving child, Kirstie, claims they have mistaken her identity - that she is Lydia - their world comes crashing back down.

Donna Leon: Ewige Jugend - Brunetti 25

Ewige Jugend

Brunetti ermittelt in den Tiefen der Erinnerung: Contessa Lando-Continui möchte mit dem Leben abschließen, aber der Sturz ihrer Enkelin in den Canale di San Boldo lässt ihr keine Ruhe. Was, wenn es kein Unfall war? Brunetti, Griffoni und Signorina Elettra bringen Licht in dunkle Beweggründe.

Thomas Raab: Der Metzger

Der Metzger
Möbelrestaurator Willibald Adrian Metzger landet in der Literaturbranche. Und schuld daran ist Hansi Woplatek, der Sohn seiner Stammfleischerei, der zur Schande seines Vaters Schriftsteller werden will.... 

Scott Mariani: The Sacred Sword - Ben Hope 7

The Sacred Sword
Returning to the UK to try to sort out his stormy personal life, Ben runs into two old friends from Oxford. Ben senses that Simeon is troubled and frightened, but before the truth can emerge both he and his wife are killed in a devastating road crash. And so Ben is propelled on a global quest through Europe, the Holy Land and America to unlock the mystery. 

Diane Chamberlain: Her mother's shadow

Lacey O'Neill's stability is threatened when she is named guardian of her childhood best friend's 11-year-old daughter. Mackenzie is justifiably angry that her young mother was killed by a drunk driver, and that she is forced to leave everyone she has ever known to live with a virtual stranger. In the midst of all these conflicts Lacey is also juggling two men: bad-boy Bobby who took her virginity at age 14 and then spent the summer with her best friend, and Rick, an extremely attractive law professor who is visiting the Outer Banks while working on a book. On top of all this, the man who murdered her mother is up for parole and Lacey's victim statement may affect the decision.

The story reminds a little of the moral dilemmas that Jodi Picoult is so famous for, but somehow the ending is a little bit of a disappointment. Reality is not always as easily resolved as this story makes believe, and that is a shame.

Muriel Bolger: The Pink Pepper Tree

June is refusing to attend her husband Lorcan's funeral and everyone around her is wondering why. Her reasons for not attending will remain her secret. But she has other secrets, too, secrets she shared with her ex-partner Peter, who she once thought of as the love of her life. Now she can't stop thinking about Peter and wonders what might have been. A chance meeting reveals to June that maybe fate is giving her a second chance.

This is a swift and relaxing read. It is a quite predictable, but the kind of summer and beach-read we all need to escape from the realities of our own lives.

Robert Galbraith - Cormoran Strike 03: Career of evil

When a mysterious package is delivered to Robin Ellacott, she is horrified to discover that it contains a woman's severed leg. Her boss, private detective Cormoran Strike, is less surprised but no less alarmed. There are four people from his past who he thinks could be responsible. With the police focusing on the one suspect Strike is sure is not the perpetrator, he and Robin take into their own hands and delve into the dark and twisted worlds of the other three men. But as more horrendous acts occur, time is running out for the two of them...

An interesting read, although a little darker and more gruesome than previous Cormoran Strike novels. Also, some of the sub-plots become a little bit more predictable, which is a shame. Still, I enjoyed the book.

Emily Barr: Out of my depth

When Susie decides to invite her old school friends to stay for a reunion she tells herslef that it's just about showing off. It's about letting Amanda, Izzy and Tamsin see how well she's done, with her successful career as an artist, her gorgeous house in France and her delicious boyfriend. But this is a plan that could make or break her seemingly perfect life, and she knows it. She and her friends are still haunted by a dark secret, and they are all waiting for the moment when they must face the truth.

Beate Maxian: Sarah Pauli 5 - Tod in der Hofburg

Ganz Wien ist anlässlich des Jahreswechsels in Feierlaune. Auch Journalistin Sarah Pauli – sie hat tatsächlich Karten für das weltberühmte Neujahrskonzert der Philharmoniker ergattert. Doch die feierliche Hochstimmung schlägt in tiefes Entsetzen um: Als die Besucher nach der Veranstaltung den Konzertsaal verlassen, eröffnet ein Heckenschütze das Feuer und tötet ein Ehepaar. Sarah lässt die schreckliche Tat keine Ruhe. Sie recherchiert und entdeckt einen Zusammenhang mit einem Mord, der sich wenige Tage zuvor in der Wiener Hofburg ereignet hat. Doch der Todesschütze nimmt schon sein nächstes Opfer ins Visier...

Donna Leon: Brunetti 24 - Endlich mein

Flavia Petrelli ist zurück in Venedig! In der Titelrolle von ›Tosca‹ tritt die Sopranistin im venezianischen Opernhaus La Fenice auf. Als eine junge Sängerin aus dem Kollegenkreis die Treppe einer Brücke hinuntergestoßen wird, beginnt Flavia um ihr eigenes Leben zu fürchten. Brunetti ermittelt in den Kulissen der Oper. Tod in Venedig, und das auf der Bühne: ein Buch, das Sehnsucht nach Venedig macht.

Steve Berry: The Amber Room

Rachel Cutler loves her job and her kids, and remains civil to her ex-husband Paul. But everything changes when her father dies under suspicious circumstances, leaving behind clues to a treasure called the Amber Room. Desperate for the truth, Rachel takes off for Germany, with Paul close behind. Before long, they're in over their heads. Locked into a treacherous game with professional killers, Rachel and Paul find themselves on a collision course with the forces of greed, power and history itself.

Roland Zingerle: Ein Mord am Wörthersee

Beim Ironman in Klagenfurt kommt es bereits zum zweiten Mal in Folge zu einem mysteriösen Todesfall: Auf der Radstrecke bricht ein Athlet zusammen und ist auf der Stelle tot. Pikantes Detail am Rande: Beide Verunglückten entstammen derselben Familie, sind beim selben Arzt in Behandlung und haben dieselbe Lebensversicherung abgeschlossen. Zufall? Tragisches Schicksal? Detektiv Sablatnig ermittelt.

Gayle Foreman: If I stay

A cold February morning...a snowy road....and suddenly all of Mia's choices are gone. Except one. As alone as she''ll ever be, Mia must make the most difficult choice of all.

A fantastic read! This is a young adult novel, but it was so well-written that all adults would enjoy it. Moving, sad, but at the same time life-affirming and positive. In fact, I enjoyed it so much I went out to get the sequel, as I wanted to know how Adam's and Mia's story would continue.

Herbert Dutzler: Letzter Applaus

Wieder muss Gasperlmeier ermitteln, aber dieses Mal ist die Frau Doktor Kohlross eigentlich in Karenz und so sollte er selbständiger werden. Wird er aber nicht. Seine Gruppeninspektorin Manuela fällt ihm häufig ins Wort und er selbst plagt sich nun gleich mit mehreren Frauen, mit der Frau Doktor, seiner Frau Christine, seiner Tochter Katharina und Manuela. Nur Friedrich Kahlß, vormaliger Chef und jetzt Pensionist, stärkt ihm den Rücken. Der Fall selbst ist weithergeholt und handelt um Industriespionage, Marketingstrategien und Tourismuskampagnen. Das Narzissenfest ist ein interessanter Hintergrund, aber dennoch ist dies wohl der enttäuschenste Gasperlmeier, da ich mir erwarter hätte, dass sich die Hauptfigur weiterentwickelt und sich nicht noch weiter zurückzieht.

Jojo Moyes: The Girl you left behind

Usually, I am not a fan of books about wars, however, this story about Sophie Lefevre was so gripping that I could not put the book down and wanted to find out more about the people living in St Peronne during the German occupation of the First World War. The second part of the story around Olivia Halston and Paul McCafferty made for light relief in the middle of the gruesome details of the Lefevres. The story around Liv and Paul was predictable, but Sophie's and Edouard's story and the story of the painting took a few twists and turns that made for an interesting read. I really enjoyed this book...

I've got your number

A lovely and easy and light-hearted read with two hugely likeable main characters. The storyline around Poppy and Sam is quite predictable, nevertheless the witty and profound insights into other people's lives when we fail to analyse our own are well developed and make for great reading.

The time of my life

I had this book on my shelf for a while and the summer holidays seemed to be a good time to pick it up. The blurb was written in a way that I would have expected to find out more about meeting Life and what it means to have an appointment with Life, but then her books often are a little strange and full of imaginative happenings. The storyline was quite predictable, which really makes this a relaxing, easy beach read.

Gone Girl

what a fantastic read! I picked this book up in a local charity shop because I had heard quite a bit about it already and it did not disappoint. The two sides to the story are not quite as predictable as I expected at first and my thoughts and feelings for the characters changed constantly. A very enjoyable  read even though some of it becomes a little too construed, it kept me going back and wanting to find out mroe.