Dunbar

Lear. The Hogarth Shakespeare series selected Edward St. Aubyn to offer readers a contemporary take on King Lear, which he does with great success in a novel titled, Dunbar. All the rage and family dynamics of the play are on display and power and money are given a modern and realistic focus, with the Lear figure, Dunbar, being the wealthy head of a global media conglomerate on the verge of being pushed out of his leadership role by the avarice of two of his daughters. I was well entertained by this novel and I will now reread the Shakespeare play as a treat. Rating: Four-star (I like it) Click here to purchase Dunbar from amazon.com.

Stay With Me

Children. The emotional range of the characters presented in Ayobami Adebayo's debut novel titled, Stay with Me, will penetrate the defenses of the hardest hearted reader. There are losses and joys that reach the depths and heights of human experience. The centrality of children to the narrative will make this novel an ideal choice for a book club comprised of parents. The power of cultural expectations can be overwhelming, and Adebayo draws us into Nigeria and the expectations of that culture on those who live there. Fans of literary fiction are those readers most likely to enjoy reading this finely written novel. Rating: Four-star (I like it) Click here to purchase Stay with Me from amazon.com.

A Casualty of War

Guns. The mother-son writing team named Charles Todd have brought nurse Bess Crawford back for the ninth installment in this series set during World War I. In the novel titled, A Casualty of War, Bess has met Captain Alan Travis, and she becomes caught up in a predicament as World War I comes to a close. Guns are involved. Most of the action in the novel takes place in England where Bess has returned on leave before returning to France to tend to soldiers who are still at or near the battlefields. The plot is interesting and complex, the characters are finely drawn, and the story is engaging. Fans of the series will be delighted to join the competent Bess in her latest exploits, and new readers can start here or anywhere to enjoy this series. Rating: Four-star (I like it) Click here to purchase A Casualty of War from amazon.com.

Typhoon Fury

Pills. All the formulaic elements of the Oregon Series of novels by Clive Cussler appear in the twelfth installment titled, Typhoon Fury. Juan Cabrillo and the crew of the Oregon perform heroic exploits against formidable adversaries, the cool technology works, and by the end of the novel, the good guys prevail, and the bad guys are defeated. Along the way, there's a thrilling plot about powerful pills from World War II and the discovery of artwork from an infamous theft. Another reliable action novel for those readers who enjoy a familiar formula. Rating: Four-star (I like it) Click here to purchase Typhoon Fury from amazon.com.

Bone Music

Origin. I don't know how many books Christopher Rice plans for his Burning Girl series, but the first novel titled, Bone Music, lays a solid foundation on which to build multiple stories. Protagonist Charlotte Rowe is Burning Girl named for a formative event in her childhood. Having been raised by serial killers, her nurturing was minimal to say the least. She has thrown off the power of others to control her and thanks to receiving an experimental drug she has acquired a power that she calls bone music. This opening novel brings us to the moment after she has just used her power to fight evil and leads us to her choice of what to do next. Rating: Three-star (It's ok) Click here to purchase Bone Music from amazon.com.

How to Stop Time

Old. The creative premise that drives the plot of Matt Haig's novel titled, How to Stop Time, is that a small group of people in the world age at a rate much slower than the rest of us. Protagonist Tom Hazard is one such individual, and he's still around although quite old, given that he was born in 1581. Haig draws readers into Tom's long and interesting life including stints as a musician for Shakespeare, a jazz artist in 1920s Paris, and now as a history teacher at a high school. Readers may never again think about time and aging in the same way as before meeting Tom Hazard. Rating: Four-star (I like it) Click here to purchase How to Stop Time from amazon.com.

Endurance: A Year in Space, A Lifetime of Discovery

Choppy. Astronaut Scott Kelly presents two narratives in his book titled, Endurance: A Year in Space, A Lifetime of Discovery. A main part of the narrative explores the full year that he spent on the International Space Station. The second narrative is a memoir of his full life. Kelly shares all the big and small details of living for a year in space and makes that experience come alive. The memoir has an "aw shucks" quality to it that could lead many readers to think that if he could turn his life around and get one of the toughest and most competitive jobs in the world, so can any one of us. Rating: Three-star (It's ok) Click here to purchase Endurance from amazon.com.