Valerie Gillis was hiking the Appalachian Trail when suddenly she disappeared somewhere in a dense forest in Maine. Beverly Miller is the park warden in charge of finding her. Told in alternating narratives of Beverly, Valerie and Lena, an elderly woman who takes an interest in Valerie’s disappearance, Heartwood is a mystery, a survival story and a depiction of three very different women who come to terms with their lives.

I really enjoyed Heartwood. I liked the three main characters, their distinct voices, and I appreciated what is involved in trying to find someone in the woods of Maine and what it takes to stay alive in the wilderness.

Fiction

Buckeye by Patrick Ryan

The Correspondent by Virginia Evans

Dream State by Eric Puchner

Flashlight by Susan Choi

A Guardian and a Thief by Megha Majumdar

Heart the Lover by Lily King

The Loneliness of Sonia and Sonny by Kiran Desai

What We Can Know by Ian McEwan

Nonfiction

Mark Twain by Ron Chernow

Murder in the Dollhouse by Rich Cohen

There Is No Place for Us by Brian Goldstone

Vanishing Treasures by Katherine Rundell

Children’s Picture Books

If I Built A Town by Chris Van Dusen

Oh Dear, Look What I Got by Michael Rosen

A Snowy Day for Amos McGee by Philip and Erin Stead

The Humpty Dumpty Club is a group of older women who are members of Cavalry Church in Pittsburgh. Their mission is to help other church members in need. When the self-appointed leader of the group falls down a flight of stairs and will be hospitalized for weeks, four other members step in to do her tasks. Emily, Arlene, Kitzi and Sue’s lives as they try to help others and come to terms with their own lives is basically the plot of Evensong.

This is the fourth book in Stewart O’Nan’s Maxwell family saga. It is not necessary to read the books in order, but I would not read Evensong first. While the whole series are enjoyable and at times heart-warming, my favorite was Henry, Himself.

The narrator, Beth Johnson, tells her story mostly in two segments-1968 and before, and the setting is for the most part in Dorset, England. Beth is living a peaceful life with her farmer husband, Frank, in 1968 until her old lover, Gabriel, and his son, Leo, return to Dorset. When Beth and Gabriel get together again, events occur that no one could have possibly imagined.

Clare Leslie Hall’s first novel to be published in The United States is a good, easy read. Part mystery, part love story, part family saga, Broken Country has interesting, yet imperfect characters and a well paced plot.

The town of Kolkata in India is experiencing flooding, famine and intense heat. Ma, her two year old daughter and elderly father are planning to soon leave and join her husband in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Their passports finally arrive, their flight is booked but the next morning Ma discovers that her purse with the three passports in it has been stolen. Ma learns who the thief is , but her family’s passports and escape from India seem lost forever.

Megha Majumdar’s second novel is tense and exciting with twists and turns throughout. It seems that Ma and the thief continue to make bad decisions that result in more problems for both of them. A Guardian and a Thief would be a good choice for book clubs. There would be lots to discuss.

Claire is dying of cancer and she has asked her husband, Eliot, to leave the house. She wants her closest friends, Holly and Michelle, to care for her during her final days. Naturally Eliot is confused, upset and angry. His thoughts and how he deals with Claire’s rejection is the gist of Some Bright Nowhere.

For anyone who is squeamish about illness and dying, I would not recommend Some Bright Nowhere. Claire’s symptoms as she gets sicker and sicker, are described in detail. For others Ann Packer’s novel is interesting-a good, not great, read.

Coleman and his sister, June, are freed slaves who have never experienced freedom. They work for the Harpers in Louisiana in the late 1860’s. One day Mr. Harper takes off with June to Mexico where he believes he will become rich mining silver. Eventually Coleman is summoned by Mr. Harper who wants him to help find June who has disappeared. Amity is told in alternating chapters describing Coleman and June’s harrowing journeys to find peace, freedom and each other.

Nathan Harris writes beautifully, and Amity is an interesting, exciting sometimes tragic read. Amity is neither a quick read nor an easy read, but for those who appreciate fine prose describing a harsh world it is worthwhile.

All of Susan Orlean’s books are works of nonfiction, but this time she has written about herself. She grew up in Shaker Heights, Ohio and always knew she wanted to be a writer even though her father objected. Orlean describes the high and low points of her life, what it took to get her books and articles published, how she came up with ideas and the experiences she had learning about her subject matter.

Joyride is a memoir, but it is also behind the scenes descriptions of the before, during and after of many of Orlean’s books and articles. Because I find her an excellent, interesting author, reading Joyride made me eager to read those books and articles of hers that I haven’t read.

Rocky (Rachel) is living in semi-rural Massachusetts with her almost perfect husband, Nick, her gay, anxiety-ridden daughter, Willa, and her 93 year old widower father. She has a sweet, successful married son who lives in New York City. One night Rocky learns that a young man who attended high school with her son was hit by a train and died. Rocky can’t stop obsessing about this boy and his mother’s grief. At about the same time, she discovers a rash that is spreading all over her body. A rash that many doctors are unsure of the cause.

I am at a bit of a disadvantage having not read Newman’s first book about Rocky and her family, Sandwhich. Perhaps that is why I am having a tough time critiquing Wreck. Newman is a clever, humorous writer, but sometimes these elements get in the way of the tragic events that happen in the novel. Wreck, for me, was not bittersweet but instead a fun read that made light of Rocky’s illness and a young man’s death.

Phoebe Hudson was adopted by Greta, a single mom, soon after birth. When she is 17, Greta thinks it’s a good idea for Phoebe to visit her birth parents in rural Wisconsin. During the visit, Phoebe realizes she is the second of four daughters birthed by Bea and Gus Dahlgren, but she is the only child the couple put up for adoption. From that moment on, Phoebe’s peaceful, accomplished life will never be the same.

I liked The Phoebe Variations. Phoebe is a well-drawn character as are several of her friends and acquaintances. While I didn’t enjoy The Phoebe Variations as much as one of Jan Hamilton’s earlier novels, The Short History of a Prince, I found it a worthwhile read.