Olive Kitteridge Elizabeth Stout

This wonderful book won the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for fiction-I loved it, although at times it made me very sad. It is a series of short stories but all with the same characters, and it is basically chronological; Olive features in all of the stories, but they are told by different voices. One review described Olive as a "gruff, 60 something 'prickly 'school teacher" but she is also very likable. You also get a good feeling for what life is like in a small-town Maine environment. And you also get relationships, from different viewpoints, about mothers and sons, wives and husbands, and various stages of life. In the end, I was glad when Olive decides she isn't ready to leave it yet.

Cross Country James Patterson

Another Detective Alex Cross murder mystery, but this one starts in the District of Columbia, and moves to Africa, as the detective tracks down the killer of a friend. If even half of the brutality, killing, and hopelessness of the African people is correct, the conditions are beyond horrible. Mercenaries, corrupt officials, lawlessness, and intrigue leave Alex the hunted as well as the hunter; the reader doesn't learn until the end of the book, the identity of the real bad guys.
The book is well-written as usual, but the ending left me with unanswered questions.

Twilight

The first book of the "Twilight Series" I am told, and I am also told that the movie based on the book is already out, and it's hunky star is having a lot of teenage girl trouble. This book reminded me of the novels James Patterson wrote about the family of kids who had wings, but in this case the family are vampires. Very readable, but not earth-shaking fiction. I have the second one in the series ( soon to be released as a major motion picture) loaded onto my Kindel.
I lost the authors name and I am having trouble with the computer, so if I go get my Kindel, I will probably lose the internet.

That Old Cape Magic Richard Russo

What a funny man! A stop reading and giggle helplessly, funny man. A serious book, as the author explores his childhood, his very difficult parents, and his marriage. He has a gift for drawing characters so you think you've actually met them. And he's very funny.

The Shopkeeper James Best

Several of the reviewers of this book said that they were going to rush off and read more by this author. It is a western, and gives what must be a good picture of life on the frontier, but Steve Dancy, the main character, isn't just another cowhand. He is a wealthy gun-store owner from New York City, who comes west ( I'm not sure why) and ends up involved with banks, mortgages, corrupt politicians, and gun slingers, and the Pinkertons. And there is an unrequited love interested. A really good story, even for someone who never really liked "Westerns."

The Guernsey Literacy Society and Potato Peel Pie

I loaded this onto my Kindel, started it, and when I found out it was letters, put it aside. I didn't get hooked into it. But then my sister-in-law Noanie, an inveterate reader, expressed shock that I hadn't just loved it, so I gave it another shot. I loved it. A sort of historical fiction about the fate of the Channel Islands during German occupancy during World War Two; part history, part love story, with lots of local color. Evidently it was finished by a niece of the author-now I'm going to go google her and find out "the rest of the story."