January 2014 Reads

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1	The Raven's Gift	Don Rearden
2	Saturday Night Widows	Becky Aikman
3	The Redeemer	Jo Nesbo
4	A Well-Tempered Heart	Jan-Phillipp Sendker
5	Deep Winter	Samuel W. Gailey
6	The Judge	Steve Martini
7	Counting by 7s	Holly Goldberg Sloan

The Raven's Gift by Don Rearden was a very good read.  It really had everything, a great plot, a deadly epidemic, the windswept Alaskan tundra, relationships, danger, adventure and mysticism.  Something for everyone; this debut novel is well worth the read.

I almost didn't read Saturday Night Widows by Becky Aikman.  It's a memoir and I was thinking, wrongly it turned out, that I didn't want to indulge in anything maudlin.  Aikman was widowed young and when she turned to a support group she was actually picked on for being desirable!  She went on to form her own support group of young widows.  This memoir is engaging and entertaining but not maudlin, Aikman shows a side of life that many readers probably don't think about. A compassionate narrative about how one group of friends helped each other thrive after the deaths of their spouses.  I learned a lot and highly recommend Saturday Night Widows.

Deep Winter by Samuel W. Gailey is a debut novel, and if you know me you know I love reading an author's first book.  Gailey did not disappoint with his beautifully written mystery.

A friend gave me an old copy of The Judge by Steve Martini.  I haven't read Martini previously, but I knew he was popular from how many of his books I'd shelved when I worked at Barnes and Noble.  The Judge is courtroom drama, at it's best.  If you love John Grisham's writing, you'll also really enjoy Martini.

Counting by 7's by Holly Goldberg Sloan is a YA or middle school read.  Unlike many books in this category it doesn't deal with wizards or other fantasy.  When I finished, I immediately messaged one of my librarian friends to be sure she'd ordered it, and she had.   Willow is a quirky young genius who is suddenly orphaned.  County by 7's deals with her gaining a new family and what family really means.  I loved this book.

What are you reading?