6. The Kindness of Strangers

This book was really really good. The author's style reminded me a lot of Jodi Piccoult's books in the way each chapter was from the perspective of a different family member and the compelling, can't put it down nature of the story. It's emotional and a hard subject matter to read about, but really well written and one I definitely recommend.

Here's the B&N recap:

On a quiet street in the suburban Midwest, a popular, seemingly stable family keeps a terrible, dark secret behind closed doors -- a secret that will have life-changing consequences for all who know them

Sarah Laden, a young widow and mother of two, struggles to keep her family together. Since the death of her husband, her high-school-age son, Nate, has developed a rebellious streak, constantly falling in and out of trouble. Her kindhearted younger son, Danny, though well behaved, struggles to pass his remedial classes. All the while, Sarah must make ends meet by running a catering business out of her home. But when a shocking and unbelievable revelation rips apart the family of her closest friend, Sarah finds herself welcoming yet another young boy into her already tumultuous life.

Jordan, a quiet and reclusive elementary-school boy and classmate of Danny's, has survived a terrible tragedy, leaving him without a family. When Sarah becomes Jordan's foster mother, a relationship develops that will force her to question the things of which she thought she was so sure. Yet Sarah is not the only one changed by this young boy, and as the delicate balance that holds her family together begins to falter, the Ladens will all face truths about themselves and one another -- and discover the power of love to forgive and to heal.

Powerful and poignant, The Kindness of Strangers is a shocking look at how the tragedy of a single family in a small suburban town can affect so many. Katrina Kittle has created a haunting vision of the secret lives of the people we think we know best. Through gripping and heartrending storytelling, The Kindness of Strangers shows that evenafter the most grave injuries, redemption is always possible.

5. Veil of Roses

This was atypical chick lit, and set in Tuscon which is a very cool coincidence since I'm going there in a month! Here's the B&N review:

This compelling debut follows one spirited young woman from the confines of Iran to the intoxicating freedom of America—where she discovers not only an enticing new country but the roots of her own independence. . . . Tamila Soroush wanted it all. But in the Islamic Republic of Iran, dreams are a dangerous thing for a girl. Knowing they can never come true, Tami abandons them. . . . Until her twenty-fifth birthday, when her parents give her a one-way ticket to America, hoping she will “go and wake up her luck.” If they have their way, Tami will never return to Iran . . . which means she has three months to find a husband in America. Three months before she’s sent back for good.From her first Victoria’s Secret bra to her first ride on a motor scooter to her first country line-dance, Tami drinks in the freedom of an American girl. Inspired to pursue her passion for photography, she even captures her adventures on film. But looming over her is the fact that she must find an Iranian-born husband before her visa expires. To complicate matters, her friendship with Ike, a young American man, has grown stronger. And it is becoming harder for Tami to ignore the forbidden feelings she has for him.It’s in her English as a second language classes that Tami finds a support system. With the encouragement of headstrong Eva, loyal Nadia, and Agata and Josef, who are carving out a love story of their own, perhaps Tami can keep dreaming—and find a way to stay in America.

Personally, I wouldn't call it compelling, but it was a cute read and it did promiently feature Starbucks, which of course, I love. :)

4. Icing on the Cake

This was pretty cute chick lit. If you are in the mood for some fun, light reading I recommend it. Here's a review from B&N.com...

Tired of advertising and even more so of her spouse Ted, Liz Talbot returns to her Jersey Girl roots when her grandparents move to Phoenix leaving her the Bagel Emporium in Upper Montclair as always supportive Ted ditched his now physically laboring spouse for Brandi, a younger yuppie model. Meanwhile after five years of baking with carbs in spite of the bakery’s public enemy number one Atkins and other diet fads, her enterprise is in financial trouble. Ted proves much more supportive in death than in life as Mr. Ad Agency accidentally dies, but never changed his will from Talbot wife one to Talbot wife two. Thus Liz owns a failing ad agency to go along with her failing bakery while the outraged widow two files lawsuits faster than bagels can be made with the substance of the middle of a bagel. Thus she owns two businesses going under while also caring as the sandwich generation for her twin daughters and her mom. Liz obtains a respite when she meets an attractive hunk at a wedding, but soon marks him as off limits after she slept with him since he is food consultant Marcus James, who could make or break her beloved bakery and might assume her guilty of using him. --- Poking jabs at America’s diet flavor of the month, ICING ON THE CAKE is a delightful middle age chick lit romance starring a wonderful bread maker whose first person perspective is amusing yet poignant as she observes the chaos that revolves around her threatening to engulf her like a black hole. Liz makes the tale as she struggles with her two businesses, her relatives, her late ex husband’s widow, and her heart with the ICING ON THE CAKE being the cat fight.

3. Losing the Moon

I really liked this one and really didn't at the same time. The start of the story really hooked me, but then I got annoyed with where it went, but mostly because it was so hard to know what the right thing to do was in such a complicated situation. I do recommend this one, it was definitely a good book, just expect to feel pretty conflicted like I do now.

Here's the description from B&N:

In this powerful debut novel, a wife and mother discovers that although life has led her in a joyous direction, she still cherishes memories of her first love...the college boyfriend who captivated her heart and then, without a word of warning, disappeared.Life has been good to Amy Reynolds since then. Her marriage is satisfying, her children thriving. But now that Nick is back in her life, she can't help recalling the beach where they pledged their destinies together some twenty years ago. And she can't help being tempted by the life she might have lived...might still live-a choice that would betray all she holds dear.

2. Getting Warmer

Getting Warmer is pretty good chicklit. Amazingly enough the main character isn't in advertising/publishing/pr and it's not set in Boston/NYC/London! I know, quite a change from the typical chicklit book, I know. :)

Here's a review from B&N:

In Scottsdale, Arizona, Natalie Quackenbush teaches English at Agave High School, lives with her parents, and loves to go bar-hopping with her best friend, big-boned almost six feet tall Jill as they enjoy telling lies to males trying and failing to pick them up. Three years ago she gave up on her Yuppie boyfriend and Boston to move back to her parents though she knows that makes her a loser. At a bar Natalie meets Jonathan and tells him her usual lies about herself that she teaches at a prison and lives with her parents because her mom has Alzheimer’s. However, this time her web of deceit backfires as she finds she likes him and wants to see him. He feels the same way about her. As they fall in love, she knows she owes him the truth and he knows he owes her the truth about a stalker. Instead both run away from the confrontation hers being metaphoric while his is simply vanishing. --- GETTING WARMER is a terrific look at relationships built initially on the theory that “What a tangled web we weave, when we practice to deceive. Even a white lie that should hurt no one is difficult to overcome once started. The support cast, mostly those connected to the school, her family, or his stalker, enhance the prime romance while two other love stories also provide depth. Fans will enjoy the education rat pack as they showcase their skills at telling fibs in lieu of explaining failed expectations (“Those who can do. Those who can't, teach”). They tell more lies in a futile attempt to extract them from that first untruth.

I own this one if you'd like to borrow it...

1. A Painted House

Book number one for 2007 is A Painted House by John Grisham. Here's a review from B&N:

John Grisham takes a break from penning edge-of-your-seat legal thrillers for his latest effort, a coming-of-age tale with a deceptively languid pace and a strong literary flavor. A Painted House, which Grisham first serialized in his magazine, The Oxford American, depicts the simple but hardscrabble life of an Arkansas farming family during the early '50s. Loosely based on experiences from Grisham's own childhood, this poignant story lacks the legal maneuvering and courtroom scuffles he is best known for. But there's plenty of tension just the same, an underlying, constant tension that stunningly mirrors the life of the story's point-of-view character, a seven-year-old boy named Luke Chandler.

Luke hates harvest time. Not only must he head out to the fields and pick cotton until his fingers bleed and his back aches, his cantankerous grandfather is even more irritable than usual, knowing that the success or failure of this year's crop may well determine the family's future. Plus, there is the invasion of migrant workers the family must hire to help pick the fields. This year, the workers consist of two groups: ten Mexicans who traveled north in the back of a cattle truck and the Spruills, one of the many hill families who come down from the Ozarks every fall to work the harvest.

Things start out smoothly enough, and the crop is a promising one. But signs of trouble soon appear. Hank, the Spruills' oldest son and one of the biggest men Luke has ever seen, is a walking time bomb of violence and anger. Then there's the Mexican known as Cowboy, as lean and mean as they come. The tension builds until these two indomitable forces inevitably clash, culminating in a shocking denouement that forces young Luke to deal with some very grown-up issues. And the worst is yet to come, for nature has a few things to throw at the Chandler family, as well.

Grisham's portrayal of one young boy's rude awakening to the harsh realities of life is, at turns, heartwarming and heartbreaking. The tension is subtle but constant, with undercurrents that build toward a crescendo of explosive emotion. Parts of the story are grim, and the struggles often seem endless. But at the heart of it all is the essence of the human spirit and the story of one family's ability to love and survive in the face of overwhelming adversity.

I liked this one a lot, although the story line seemed kinda advanced for a seven year old boy to have to deal with everything that was thrown his way. But, other then that, it was a good read and I'd recommend it.