I have read three books in succession, unfortunately not the any on the 100 list, but still worthy of mention.
The first book is called THE LAST ANNIVERSARY by Liane Moriarty, first published in Australia in 2005, first paperback published in 2006 by Harper. This is a mystery about a baby who is called Enigma by the people who found her teenage sisters Connie and Rose. The mystery is that the parents Alice and Jack Munroe disappear off the island leaving behind a marble cake fresh from the oven, an overturned chair, a tea kettle steaming and a small infant, just days old. There are drops of blood on the floor and everyone assumes the worst. This happens during the depression era, so no one knows for sure what happened. The sisters get to keep the baby and then we are fast forwarded to the present time. We have Connie dead and passing the torch. She leaves all these notes for everyone before she dies, including a girl named Sophie who is not related to the family, but at one time dated a member of the family. Aunt Connie does the unthinkable and gives this stranger her house and a note on how to treat the other members of the family. It is a fun book, but has several hard topics thrown in: Postpartum depression being the strongest, career woman dealing with being alone and wanting children, discovering your sexual orientation, aging, and traits that set you apart from others. All these topics were in the book and Ms. Moriarty handled them with with ease. I really liked the characters and the surprise endings were perfect. I liked this book so much I am heading to the library to read more of her books.
Book 2: THE BEAUTIFUL MYSTERY by Louise Penny, copyright 2012 by Three Pines Creations, Inc. The book is a continuation of the Chief Inspector Gamache Novels, but is not set in Three Pines as the other books have been in the past. The setting in this book takes place in a monastery in the back woods of Canada only reached by a boat and belonging to the Gilbertine Monks.What is the specialty of this order: music, more specifically Gregorian chants or the voice of God. We start off with a mystery of the past, who has the oldest book of chants and how did the monk write the neumes or early movement of the hands to tell how the music should be sung. Again we are fast forwarded to present times, and a dead monk, who is the prior and the choirmaster of the order being murdered. Inspector Gamache and detective Beaufort are called to the scene, where they set about solving a mystery where there is a vow of silence and no one has been let in for hundreds of years unless they were joining the order. This of course narrows down the suspects to those in the monastery. But there are other problems that abound to lend confusion to the concentration on Gamache, those being Sylvan Francoeur who is the head of the Police and wants Gamache gone, who will stop at nothing to get rid of him, including trying to get Beaufort to switch allegiance. Then there is Beaufort who is in a secret relation with Gamache's daughter and has had an addiction to Oxycontin in the past, he is being seduced away from Gamache with drugs and doubt. So here we are in the middle of nowhere trying to solve a mystery that is rife with discontent, suspicions and heart break. I have to say I did not like the hanging ending, but that means and extra book and a better way to solve all the problems outside of the one solved in the monastery. A hard look at addiction, especially with Oxycontin. The adage Once an Addict, Always an Addict has some merit. A good series, start with the first book.
Book 3: FIRST FROST by Sarah Addison Allen, copyright 2014, published by St. Martin's Press.
I have read all of ms. Allen's books and loved everyone of them. This book takes us back to two sisters Claire and Sydney, abandoned by their mother and left to live with their Grandmother Mary. That is all discussed in the first book about the Waverley sisters, but there are still mysteries to be solved about their grandmother and mother in this book. It is a magical book, not only in the writing but in the characters, their abilities, the Waverley house and of course the apple tree. In this book the main focus is Bay and her relationship with her Aunt Claire and her mom Sydney, her secret crush and her gift. Again this book is not only about relationships, but hard life decisions, doing things you do not want to do, blackmail and secrets. But the beautiful part is the individuals and their unique gifts, gifts that you can not run away from. It made me think of all the gifts that we ignore because we do not think that is what people want us to do. It makes me think that we need to embrace those gifts and make sure we shine. Great book. I loved the magic, especially the apple tree.
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