The unlikely pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce

Soon after his retirement from a brewery in a quiet English village, Harold Fry receives a surprising letter. It's from beloved friend and colleague Queenie Hennessy, whom he hasn't heard from in 20 years, writing from a distant terminal cancer ward to say good-bye. This letter returns Harold to a horrifically painful part of his past, threatens his already troubled marriage, and ultimately leads to a crisis that casts into doubt everything he thinks he knows about himself.

He decides to embark on a 600-mile walk to say goodbye to Queenie in person. During this entire time Harold spends his time reflecting upon his past and wishing he had done things differently.  Halfway through his travels he meets a reporter who writes about Harold's unlikely pilgrimage and suddenly Harold is an overnight sensation.  He starts having fellow walkers and even a dog following him.   But the big question  is will he make it. And will his wife be there waiting for him when he's done.

I had read about this book as it is on the longlist for the Booker prize. I was intrigued by the title and the cover.  During a visit to see my friend Stanley he had the book on his reading table and he later told me how much he enjoyed it.  So I knew I was in for something special.  This book does not disappoint.  It is moving and lovely to read.  The descriptions are just amazing.  I can see this being a book I go back and re-read periodically as I think I will get different impressions every time I read it. 

Better Off Without Him by Dee Ernst

Mona Berman is an expert at Happily Ever After – after all, she’s a best-selling Romance writer and happy endings are what she does best. So when her husband of twenty years leaves her for somebody 15 years younger, 20 pounds lighter, and French, she’s got a lot of adjusting to do, both personally and professionally. Lucky for her she’s got three savvy teen daughters, a few good friends, and Ben, the world’s sexiest plumber, to help her along the way.

First she decides that her next book will be the anti-romance – her heroine finds the best part of her life AFTER getting dumped. Next her daughters tell her she needs to start practice dating, and summer at the Jersey shore is the perfect place for that. She’s also juggling her soon-to-be-ex, a loony aunt, and a match-making neighbor, while Ben is sending her romance-driven imagination into overdrive. Can Mona’s life imitate art? Can she write her own happy ending?

I was intrigued by the concept of an book within a book.  While this wasn't exactly the case I did enjoy the story of Mona and adjusting to life without a husband.  I did find the ending a bit too romance pat for my taste but enjoyed the relationships Mona has with her family and friends.  This is a modern romance for a modern woman.

Comforts of a Muddy Saturday by Alexander McCall Smith

An Isabel Dalhousie book

Now established as a new mother Isabel is adjusting to life with Jaime.  But this wouldn't be an Isabel story without a moral delimma to investigate. A doctor's career has been ruined by allegations of medical fraud and Isabel cannot ignore what may be a miscarriage of justice. Besides, Isabel's insatiable interest is piqued and she finds herself asking questions. Would a respected doctor make such a grave mistake? If not, what explains the death of the patient? Clearly, an investigation is in order.

Meanwhile, there is her baby Charlie, who needs looking after; her niece Cat who needs someone to mind her deli; and a mysterious composer who has latched on to Jamie, making Isabel decidedly uncomfortable. Whatever the problem, whatever the case, we know we can count on Isabel's instincts to help her find the right solution.

Reading one of these novels is like curling up on a rainy day and this installment didn't disappoint.

Off the Grid by P. J. Tracy

Latest Monkeewrench book

On a sailboat ten miles off the Florida coast, Grace MacBride, partner in Monkeewrench Software, thwarts an assassination attempt on retired FBI agent John Smith. A few hours later, in Minneapolis, a fifteen-year-old girl is discovered in a vacant lot, her throat slashed. Later that day, two young men are found in their home a few blocks away, killed execution-style. The next morning, the dead bodies of three more men turn up, savagely murdered in the same neighborhood.

As Minneapolis homicide detectives Leo Magozzi and Gino Rolseth struggle to link the three crimes, they learn that there have been similar murders in other cities around the United States. Piece by piece, evidence accumulates, pointing to a suspect that shocks them to the core, uncovering a motive that puts the entire Midwest on high alert and Monkeewrench in the direct line of fire. Before it's all over, Grace and her partners, Annie, Roadrunner, and Harley Davidson, find themselves in the middle of a shocking collision of violence on a remote northern Minnesota reservation, fighting for their lives.

This is one of the better books in the series, back to the spiderweb of storylines that all intertwin into a jaw-dropping conclusion.  I really enjoyed this book as it focused more on Leo and Gino plus we are getting to know a bit more about Harley and Roadrunner as so many of the previous books focus on Grace.