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Nine strangers are trapped at the California consulate of India by a powerful earthquake. As fear rises while awaiting rescue, they take turns telling a tale, one amazing thing from their lives. Each individual story is beautifully intertwined with the groups' quest for survival.

- Sharon

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I was mesmerized! Like Cisneros’s "The House on Mango Street," Durrow’s novel took me by the hand and heart, guiding me into the veiled life of a remarkable girl.

- Roxanne

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Bryson’s wit and style shine yet again as he takes us back to his childhood. What time and place could be more ripe for tender nostalgia—& razor-sharp comedy—than Iowa, 1950s? - Kathryn

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This novel about divorce, mothers, daughters, straying husbands, very extended family and love and loss is absolutely wonderful. I fell in love with Betty who has been dumped by her husband of 48 years. Her continuing loyalty toward her husband costs her and she loses her home. Luckily, a wealthy cousin lets her and her two daughters (unmarried adults with lots of baggage, YIKES!) stay in his run-down cottage. How Betty and her daughters find hope, love and the best of life during the most difficult of times makes this a story you will remember for a long time.
- Peggy

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In The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, I have met a woman and her family and am confronted with the dilemma of the benefit to science vs. the pain and dismay of her descendants. This is not easy to read - not because of the difficulty of the science but the philosophical questions of "common good." We should all be aware of the consequences of the advancement of science, the benefits to us all set against the financial gain to a few, and the hardship and confusion that falls to those left behind. A wonderful book, well written - there is no finger pointing here, just a huge quantity of food for thought.
- Nancy

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This book is really funny! The title alone piques your interest. Jenny's memoir is filled with some laugh-out-loud stories about families, dogs, husbands, as well as parrots. Graycie, an African gray parrot, is quite an unforgettable character. As Jenny learned, "parrothood is harder than parenthood!"
- Sue

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In this installment we find our favorite "bad boys" Serge and Coleman traveling around their Sunshine State making a film about Spring Break. Mix equal parts college kids, booze, shady FBI agents, drugs, sex, weapons, and lots of sunburn at the Alligator Arms motel and the story unfolds from there. Fans of Mr. Dorsey know that this will most certainly not end well.
- Peggy

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Ms. Erdrich is one of our more challenging authors and I must say I usually feel I must shore up my energy before I read her work. While this latest novel is no less tragic than her others, I found it an easier, more accessible story. The author has always had a knack for writing characters who are deeply flawed but sympathetic and such is the case here with Irene and Gil and their three children. Ms. Erdrich returns to themes she has used in the past, namely alcoholism, family violence, Native American culture and art, but it's her deft touch with the children that really makes this novel work so well.
- Peggy

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In "The Privileges" we have all the makings of the modern New York City family. The parents and two children (a boy and girl, of course) are blonde, exquisitely beautiful and rich, by virtue of hard work in the financial industry. They live in a gorgeous apartment and have the requisite summer home in the Hamptons. While the author provides us with a window into their world and makes us squirm with the description of wealth and the soul-less life it can bring, he turns the tables a bit and allows Adam and Cynthia to have an old-fashioned love story. I wanted to really dislike these characters but found I was kind of rooting for them by the end. This is a well-written story of the many forms that great desire can take.
- Peggy

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They met in NYC in the late 1060s, when they were "just kids," and became lovers, soulmates, and each other's greatest artistic inspiration on the journey to success and fame. I fell completely under the spell of Patti's elegantly written and intensely evocative memoir of her relationship with the ground-breaking photographer Robert Mapplethorpe. This is a great love story.

- Lily