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a couple of good ones...and a few non memorable ones that I didn't include.

The A List:

The Patron Saint of Liars by Ann Patchett (A). I had never read Patchett before so I picked this one up at a library sale last year and finally got around to it, and I regret waiting so long as it was fantastic. A California woman leaves her husband and life behind when she finds out she’s pregnant and ends up at a place ran by nuns for unmarried pregnant women in Kentucky. Such a great book, and I look forward to reading more of her.

The Magician of Tiger Castle by Louis Sachar (A)-. Sachar was one of my fave writers as a kid (Wayside School!), so I had to read his book for adults. It was still pretty juvenile, but a fun read about a “magician” who is hired by a royal family in the 15th century to create a potion to cause the princess to forget the commoner she’s in love with. Oh what a fun read.

The Dead Zone by Stephen King (A-). My King re-read of the month. I think I got more out of this one this time after having lived through the past decade. After a hockey accident as a child and a car accident as an adult, the main character has the ability to sense things about people and the future.

The B List:

The Whyte Python World Tour by Travis Kennedy B+ This is Spinal Tap meets The Americans. The CIA uses a rock band in the 80s to go behind the Iron Curtain, although the band doesn’t exactly know it.

Tony’s Wife by Adriana Trigiani (B) Mostly hit with this one, which marks the last Trigiani book I had left to read! A couple in the early days of radio and tv struggle with wanting to be famous and who gets to have the career when the woman gets pregnant and the man is a philander. Not her best, but it was worth reading. ´

A Knight of the Word by Terry Brooks (RR) B and Angel Fire East (RR) by Terry Brooks B+. The final two books of The Word and Void trilogy (still not sure how this connects to Shannara). Nest and John must stop the evil once again. The final book, back in small town Illinois, was better than the second, but the first (Running with the Demon) is the best.

Soapsuds by Finola Hughes and Digby Diehl (RR) B. Anna Devane writes, and it isn’t anything close to P.K. Sinclair’s The Alpine Express! I think she could have chosen a better co-writer/ghost writer though. A British actress is cast on a soap and finds herself dealing with a warring exec producer (shades of Gloria Monty) and lead actress (shades of Susan Lucci—her onscreen daughter even quits/gets fired after a showdown with Lucci and goes to a vampire show..) Her police detective character suddenly is lesbian due to the lead actress’s jealousy of the chemistry with the leading man. It’s fun, but I found myself skimming a lot. I originally got this book as a gift for my mom in 2005 when it came out and read it then. I’ve been wanting to re-read it knowing more about the behind the scenes stuff of the 80s and 90s that inspired it.

The C List:

A Slipping-Down Life by Anne Tyler C+. One of Tyler’s early books about a teen in love with a rockstar who suddenly finds herself dating him. It was a quick read. That said, Tyler was still struggling to find her voice and who she was as a writer and isn’t as good as her other stuff. She said she isn’t a fan of her first four books (this was the third I think)

DNF (did not finish): I had to stop one book due to a dog death (Dead Man’s Walk by Larry McMurtry and one that was giving me PTSD and panic attacks about grad school (Katabasis by RF Kuang. Two grad students go to hell to find their adviser they accidentally sent there).