There were two unfinished books returned to the library: Michael Flynn’s The Wreck of the River of Stars and Richelle Mead’s Storm Born. I loved Flynn’s book Eifelheim, but wasn’t getting into The Wreck of the River of Stars. I think that it was mainly a mood and timing thing, and I may try it again some other time. Storm Born started off promising enough with the protagonist casting out a spirit that is inhabiting a guy’s sneaker which was amusing. But then it quickly went into romance-novel territory, which is not what I was looking for. I’m not always good at separating urban fantasy from paranormal romance when I’m looking for the former. I’m not even sure there’s a clear line of demarcation between them. In any case, Storm Born was like – let’s jump into a hot sex scene! – and I decided that it wasn’t for me. I like romantic plotlines but I prefer them to be more understated.
Anyway, here are the new books that came home with me after returning the above and the others I had finished:
Breath, Eyes, Memory by Edwidge Danticat – I liked Krik? Krak! and want to read a full novel from Danticat. In this novel, 12-year-old Sophie is sent from Haiti to live with her mother in New York, who she barely knows.
La’s Orchestra Saves the World by Alexander McCall Smith – Hard to believe, but I have not read anything by the prolific McCall Smith. In this novel set during WWII, a woman leaves London to live in a small town. She organizes an orchestra to boost morale. The story sounds charming.
Love Medicine by Louise Erdrich – I’ve seen this author’s titles around but never read her. Erdrich is Chippewa and this was her debut novel. I don’t know really what it’s about except that it spans fifty years and is set on a North Dakota reservation.
I haven’t read a thriller recently, so I checked out a couple:
Dead Run by P.J. Tracy – this is the third book of the Monkeewrench series that I really enjoyed last year.
The Night Gardener by George Pelecanos – I live in the D.C. area so I’ve been meaning to get around to this author’s books, which are set here.
A Good Stopping Point 
Alexander McCall Smith is one of my favorite authors! I love his No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency books so very much.
La’s Orchestra was a good book – and it very aptly shows his writing style. I hope you enjoy!
I really like Breath, Eyes, Memory –enjoy your loot.
That’s a great sounding collection of books. I hope you enjoy them. My loot is here.
Alexander McCall Smith is an author who is on my list but I still haven’t got around to reading.
I like the sound of Love Medicine.
Enjoy your reading!
Well, you got me onto the Monkeewrench series. I just picked up the second book — Live Bait — from the library tonight. Hope you like the third one.
And I’d be interested to hear what you think of Alexander McCall Smith. I find his No. 1 Ladies Detective series to be very much like comfort food. Don’t know anything about this stand-alone.
Mwah ha ha! Glad you enjoyed Monkeewrench. Live Bait has a hilarious opening about a warm spring day in Minnesota. I was in Iowa when I was reading Live Bait and had to read it aloud to my uncle who is from Minnesota and he had a good laugh about it.
I knew that you had read some of McCall Smith’s books. In fact, you may have been the first person who mentioned them to me.
I hope you like “Love Medicine”, Erdrich is a wonderful author and many of her books follow characters through time.
These are all new to me authors but it looks like a good haul. Enjoy your finds!
I’m interested to see what you think of La’s Orchestra. It’s a stand alone book as I understand it, which is a first for Alexander McCall Smith.
I really liked Breath, Eyes, Memory, even though it broke my heart. I hope you like it too.