*CROSSROADS* by Belva Plain

No one explores the rich tapestry of the human heart as Belva Plain does. Her more than twenty New York Times bestsellers have captivated readers and garnered legions of devoted fans. Now Plain dazzles us once again with a new novel of rare eloquence and raw emotion…a powerful tale about the consequences of greed—and the acts of love and forgiveness that can heal the heart.Cassie Wright never saw it coming. As owner of Wright Glassworks, the foremost company in a thriving New England town, Cassie’s life was quiet, focused on her work and home…until a tragic accident turns her carefully ordered world upside down. For there is a surviving child to think about—and Cassie must take in one-year-old Gwen, who has no one else to care for her. As the years pass, Cassie will raise Gwen as her own, and a little girl who lost everything will flourish in a world of privilege and opportunity. Enter Jewel Fairbanks. Beautiful and conniving, Jewel will touch the lives of both Cassie and Gwen in powerful ways. From the moment they meet, Jewel envies Gwen, who seems to have everything Jewel wants. The two couldn’t be more different, but their lives will soon become inextricably intertwined. Both will marry—but to profoundly different men. For Gwen, it is honest, hardworking Stan who steals her heart; Jewel will set her sights on Jeff, a shrewd businessman who owns the company where Stan works. But when Stan makes a shocking discovery on the job, relationships begin to shift and change...and soon a tangled drama of greed, jealousy, and betrayal will encircle both couples, as a chain reaction of unexpected events changesfour lives forever—in ways they never could have foreseen….

****Rate this 4/5. It has been a long time since I last read a novel by Belva Plain. This book reminds me of why I loved her books initially, it was very good.

*THE STORY SISTERS* by Alice Hoffman

Alice Hoffman’s previous novel, The Third Angel, was hailed as "an unforgettable portrait of the depth of true love" (USA Today), "stunning" (Jodi Picoult), and "spellbinding" (Miami Herald). Her new novel, The Story Sisters, charts the lives of three sisters–Elv, Claire, and Meg. Each has a fate she must meet alone: one on a country road, one in the streets of Paris, and one in the corridors of her own imagination. Inhabiting their world are a charismatic man who cannot tell the truth, a neighbor who is not who he appears to be, a clumsy boy in Paris who falls in love and stays there, a detective who finds his heart’s desire, and a demon who will not let go.What does a mother do when one of her children goes astray? How does she save one daughter without sacrificing the others? How deep can love go, and how far can it take you? These are the questions this luminous novel asks. At once a coming-of-age tale, a family saga, and a love story of erotic longing, The Story Sisters sifts through the miraculous and the mundane as the girls become women and their choices haunt them, change them and, finally, redeem them. It confirms Alice Hoffman’s reputation as "a writer whose keen ear for the measure struck by the beat of the human heart is unparalleled".

*****Rate this 5/5. I wait patiently every time I know that Ms. Hoffman is releasing a new book with anticipation. Then I have to have the book immediately upon it's release date. After I do have it, I try not to literally read it all in one sitting! This is how much I love her writing and her latest book is just another jewel in her crown. This story was so sad, yet so filled with redemption. I loved it.........now I patiently wait for her next book.

*THE MIRROR EFFECT* by Dr. Drew Pinsky

Based on groundbreaking new research: widely respected addiction and behavior specialist Dr. Drew Pinksy’s exploration of narcissism in celebrity culture—and how it is damaging our culture, our children, and our lives.
Britney Spears. Lindsay Lohan. Paris Hilton. Anna Nicole Smith.
Who are these troubled, and troubling, figures who dominate our national attention—celebrities, moguls, train wrecks? Why are we so deeply interested in their lives and loves, their endlessly repeated journey from rising star to inevitable flameout? In spite of extreme fame, fortune, and opportunity, why do their lives always seem so steeped in drama? And—most important—how are their lives changing ours?
In this shattering new book, authors Drew Pinsky and S. Mark Young offer an eye-opening new look at our celebrity-crazed culture-from what drives people to seek fame in the first place, to how our obsession with celebrity is changing the emotional landscape of America. Drawing upon an unprecedented academic study of celebrity personality they recently published in The Journal of Research in Personality (Sept: 06)—the first such study to collect in-depth research data from actual celebrity sources—Pinsky and Young explore the widespread prevalence of narcissistic behavior among celebrities from all walks of fame, from actors and musicians to comedians and reality TV stars. Their core finding was that individuals who become celebrities are more likely to have certain kinds of psychological damage—narcissistic personality issues, often rooted in childhood trauma, with attendant mood disturbances, melodramatic tendencies, and substance abuse problems—than average Americans. And those issues, in turn, lead to the private—and increasingly public-struggles of celebrities that ultimately command public attention.
Pinsky and Young map this terrain—but then press further, exploring how these celebrities’ constant public exposure (in every sense of the word) is being modeled on a 24-hour basis to the rest of our culture—and especially our children. The American demand for celebrity gossip seems insatiable: Magazines like People, In Touch, and Us Weekly continue to grow at a rate of 50 percent per year; 100 million viewers tune into shows like Entertainment Tonight and Hollywood Insider every night; and gossip websites like perezhilton.com and tmz.com have exploded on the Internet and even spawned their own TV shows. Pinsky and Young argue that this ongoing real-life soap opera—with its daily cycles of bacchanalian drinking and drug use, wanton self-exposure and other pornographic behavior, and self-destructive excess of every kind—is doing serious and potentially long-term damage to children, adolescents, and adults alike.
With his insider access to celebrities of all kinds—many of whom he has treated—and his years of clinical work with issues of addiction, drug abuse, and other disorders, Dr. Drew Pinsky has a fascinating vantage point from which to assess this revealing cultural phenomenon, and a trusted voice that will bring the issue home to both parents and troubled teenagers.

***Rate this as a 3/5. I loved Dr Pinsky's "Cracked: Life On The Edge In a Rehab Unit" and throught this would compare. It does give a very concise description of narcissism vs. egotism and they are so different, but I liked his first book better.

*NEW MOON* by Stephenie Meyer

I FELT LIKE I WAS TRAPPED IN ONE OF THOSE TERRIFYING NIGHTMARES…For Bella Swan, there is one thing more important than life itself: Edward Cullen. But being in love with a vampire is even more dangerous than Bella ever could have imagined. Edward has already rescued Bella from the clutches of one evil vampire, but now, as their daring relationship threatens all that is near and dear to them, they realize their troubles may be just beginning. . . . Legions of readers entranced by the New York Times bestseller Twilight are hungry for the continuing story of star-crossed lovers Bella and Edward. In New Moon, Stephenie Meyer delivers another irresistible combination of romance and suspense with a supernatural spin. Passionate, riveting, and full of surprising twists and turns, this vampire love saga is well on its way to literary immortality

***Rate this as 3.5/5. Second in the Twilight series, I found this book not as interesting as the first book. It did lag in the middle and was over 560 pages.......could have been told in a shorter version, but overall, not as interesting as the first book. Off to read the 3rd in the series.

*TWILIGHT* by Stephenie Meyer

In a style reminiscent of Anne Rice, Meyer brings the macabre to a small Washington town in a novel combining mystery, romance, fantasy, and sensuality. Isabella Swan has moved to her father's house in tiny Forks, Washington, a twilight town where perpetual rain and mist stand in stark contrast to her mother's home in Phoenix. Isabella is the new girl who discovers that small town life is pretty slow-paced, and small town people are pretty friendly. She settles in quickly, and finds the most intriguing thing about her new school to be the Cullen family, a group of four amazingly beautiful young people who keep to themselves in school. Edward Cullen is Isabella's lab partner, and he avoids interacting with her or even looking at her. However, when an accident almost ends her life, Isabella finds out the truth about Edward and his family, a group of benevolent vampires who have chosen the misty city so that they can blend in and live among humans without discovery. Isabella and Edward begin a courtship dance in which they are drawn closer and closer, knowing the danger of their being together. Isabella soon discovers that not all vampires are kind, and the book shifts into suspense mode with Isabella running for her life. Meyer's description of the lovers' emotions is palpable, and readers will be drawn into the couple's spiraling dance, feeling the intense longing that comes from being a hair's breadth away from the thing you want most in the world.

*****Rate 5/5. I must admit that I was extremelly hesitant to even begin this series of books about vampires, even though I love books about vampires! My heavens, I adored The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova. I was not finding many books to sink my teeth into and decided to pick this up and read it just because everyone raved about the series. Well, it literally 'grabs you by the throat' the very first chapter. This author has a way of snatching her reader's interest immediately. I am now looking forward to the second book "New Moon" in the series of 4. Even though each novel is around 450-500 pages, it is fast and suspenseful reading.

*THE LAST SECRET* by Mary McGarry Morris

Mary McGarry Morris has been hailed as “one of the most skillful writers at work in America today” (Michiko Kakutani, New York Times). In The Last Secret, she tells the riveting story of Nora Hammond, a woman blessed with the perfect life: a charming husband, two bright teenage children, a successful career in the family’s newspaper business, and an esteemed role in the charity work of her New England town. But Nora’s comfortable existence threatens to unravel when she learns of her husband’s longtime affair–and when the specter of a sordid incident from her youth returns with terrifying force. Confronted by shame and betrayal, Nora suddenly feels dangerously alone. With no one to turn to, she becomes easy prey to a ghost from her past–the cunning, relentless Eddie Hawkins.A tautly told tale of psychological tension and chilling moral complexity, The Last Secret accelerates to a shattering conclusion as it explores the irreparable consequences of one family’s crimes of the heart. The Last Secret burnishes Mary McGarry Morris’s reputation as one of our most pro­digously gifted writers.

*****A 5/5. Another winner from one of my favorite authors! I literally got this book the very day it was released and sat and read it in a day and a half. I love Ms. Morris's writing, and I now have to wait for another book. I have read everything she has ever written and I was not disappointed in her latest venture. Riveting, suspenseful with very interesting characters. Even though I felt sorry for Nora in the end, you reap what you sow and secrets can be damaging.

*ANGELS OF DESTRUCTION* by Keith Donohue

Keith Donohue’s first novel, The Stolen Child, was a national bestseller hailed as “captivating” (USA Today), “luminous and thrilling” (Washington Post), and “wonderful...So spare and unsentimental that it’s impossible not to be moved (Newsweek. His new novel, Angels of Destruction, opens on a winter’s night, when a young girl appears at the home of Mrs. Margaret Quinn, a widow who lives alone. A decade earlier, she had lost her only child, Erica, who fled with her high school sweetheart to join a radical student group known as the Angels of Destruction. Before Margaret answers the knock in the dark hours, she whispers a prayer and then makes her visitor welcome at the door. The girl, who claims to be nine years old and an orphan with no place to go, beguiles Margaret, offering some solace, some compensation, for the woman’s loss. Together, they hatch a plan to pass her off as her newly found granddaughter, Norah Quinn, and enlist Sean Fallon, a classmate and heartbroken boy, to guide her into the school and town. Their conspiracy is vulnerable not only to those children and neighbors intrigued by Norah’s mysterious and magical qualities but by a lone figure shadowing the girl who threatens to reveal the child’s true identity and her purpose in Margaret’s life. Who are these strangers really? And what is their connection to the past, the Angels, and the long-missing daughter? Angels of Destruction is an unforgettable story of hope and fear, heartache and redemption. The saga of the Quinn family unfolds against an America wracked by change. As it delicately dances on the linebetween the real and the imagined, this mesmerizing new novel confirms Keith Donohue’s standing as one of our most inspiring and inventive novelists.

*****Rate this book a 5/5. It held my interest from the very first sentence. I enjoyed this immensely. I will also read his other book The Stolen Child and have ordered it from my library. I love the combination of excellent story telling combined with fantasy and magic.