The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up
by Marie Kondo

This little book has been on the bestseller lists for a long time and I finally gave in to my curiosity. I’d resisted, fearing being armed with that kind of knowledge would mean some serious housework in my future. Believe it or not, I love this book! Kondo has a quirky, funny, adamant way and I enjoyed her style of writing. I admit I don't agree with everything Kondo says we should discard (I'm keeping the manuals for my appliances, no matter what), but there was much useful info in the book. If nothing else, I re-organized my drawers and I'm never going back to my old way of storing clothes. There is indeed a lot of work to do if I'm going to take her system seriously. That may or may not happen, but at least now I can quickly and easily access the socks in my dresser drawers.

Dear Committee Members
by Julie Schumacher

I read this book in preparation for emceeing the 2015 Midwest Independent Booksellers Awards in October—it’s this year's fiction winner. The book is a snippet of English professor Jason Fitger's life told through letters of recommendation—most of which are completely inappropriate and downright funny. Fitger teaches at a university in which the English department's best days are clearly in the past. In an attempt to bolster the program, Fitger champions a mediocre writing student. Along the way, we learn of Fitger's flaws (which are many) including the demise of his failed romantic relationships. 95% of the book is comedy, but Schumacher socks the reader with some serious depth in the other 5%. I think anyone who's been in contact with academia (whether it be student, professor, parent, or friend of one of the above mentioned) will find this little book worth the read. Author Schumacher was recently awarded the Thurber Prize for American Humor, the first woman to be so honored.

Marvel and a Wonder
by Joe Meno

I'm loving this book about a financially-challenged grandfather struggling to raise his 16-year-old grandson. They are unexpectedly gifted with a horse that has potential to pull them out of their financial dire straits. Unfortunately, the horse attracts the attention of some drug dealing brothers who steal and sell it. The book is set in 1995 on a farm in Indiana.

Silken Prey
by John Sandford   

Sandford’s Prey series is one of my favorites to read via audio book. In Silken Prey, Lucas Davenport tries to discover who is responsible for leaving child porn on a state senator’s campaign office computer. The governor, of a different political party, asks Lucas to investigate and show that the senator was framed. Also, a political consultant has gone missing, presumably murdered, which may or may not be connected to the child porn case. One of Sandford’s strengths through this series has been his development of characters and Silken Prey is no exception!

The Secret Chord
by Geraldine Brooks

I always relish a new book by this author, and this one didn’t disappoint me. It’s an imagined life of the Bible’s King David. His story as told in the books of Samuel and Kings in the Old Testament has many blanks, and Brooks has filled those in. We know David as a shepherd boy, the slayer of the giant Goliath, as a psalmist and king of Israel, and the Biblical accounts tell us that despite his many flaws, David was a man “after God’s own heart.” Brooks goes behind and between those stories to present a fuller, more nuanced picture of David. The role of women in David’s time, and the interpretation of God’s will through history are troubling, although certainly historically accurate. Clear the calendar, put up your feet, and enjoy reading The Secret Chord!

Good Night, Mr. Wodehouse
by Faith Sullivan  

Sullivan returns to the fictional community of Harvester, Minnesota and gives us the life of Nell Stillman, who was a minor character in some of her other books. At the beginning of the book Stillman was unexpectedly widowed as a young woman, freeing her from an abusive marriage. She lived a quiet life, raising her son Hilly and teaching third grade. Her refuge from daily life was in literature, particularly the books of P.G. Wodehouse. The book pays homage to the extraordinary life of an ordinary woman, and to the power of literature in one’s life. It’s not necessary to have read Wodehouse’s books or Sullivan’s earlier book to enjoy this novel—but I think I may revisit both.

Nora Webster
by Colm Tóibín

Full confession—when book group met recently to discuss this book, I’d started it but still had a lot to read. I might have dropped it, but our discussion made me want to finish—and I’m glad I did. Like Nell Stillman, Nora Webster was widowed young. She had four children and not enough money to support them.  Immersed in her own grief, Nora often isn’t able to see the sorrow of her children, particularly the two boys still at home. At other times, however, she’s very insightful and full of empathy. Nora lives in a small community, where everyone knows—or thinks they know—all about everyone else, and she fights for her privacy even while she grieves. When Nora begins to sing again, after not doing so for many years, she rediscovers her own best self. This is another quiet book about an ordinary person whose life had a transcendent quality.

Deep Down Dark
by Hector Tobar

Deep Down Dark is the true story of the 2010 collapse of the San Jose Mine outside of Copiapo, Chile. Thirty-three miners were trapped deep below the earth's surface for sixty-nine days. Through the efforts of their families, the government, rescuers, and scientists and experts from around the world, all of the miners were successfully saved. Based on extensive interviews, Tobar reveals to readers who the miners were, their experiences while trapped, and how the ordeal changed their lives.

The Martian
by Andy Weir

OK, let’s cut to the chase, I really liked this book. There’s a fair amount of SciFi out there and a lot of it turns into Fantasy in about 20 pages. SciFi is based in some kind of reality, some kind of science. Fantasy is whatever you can dream up. So I’m looking for the “could this really happen?” writing. I would say Andy Weir really nailed it.

The book starts out when the lowest member of the crew, Mark Watney, Engineer and Botanist is stranded on Mars when the crew has to abort the mission when earth support doesn’t give them a timely weather report. Imagine that. He’s in that nightmare that everybody experiences in one form or another where you are in deep do-do and you really want to panic. But you know you’re smart enough you just need to figure this out….before you starve to death. So he starts working his way through the problems. Now this is where you might slow down in the book. True to NASA (government form) there are a thousand acronyms. Don’t worry about those or the complex explanations of how you work with hydrazine getting things fixed. Weir will boil it all down and explain this makes the water he needs or whatever.

The book kept me turning the pages not just for the science but for the survival. I think all can enjoy this book.

How We Got to Now: Six Innovations That Made the Modern World
by Steven Johnson

I really liked this book! There’s enough science to appeal to the scientist in me as well as history, philosophy, artisan techniques, and on and on. But I think it really will appeal to those people who love the thing where a butterfly flaps its wings in Brazil and influences a hurricane in Houston. Johnson walks us through six innovations that he considers the most influential to the modern world: glass, cold, sound, cleanliness, time, and light.  What?  Nothing about nuclear energy? The diesel engine? You have to be kidding! Ah, but as you read through his pathways of development of these seemingly simple (common) technologies, you’ll discover just how important and truly influential they have been. An enjoyable read for both the scientist and lay person with interesting stories to pull together the interwoven connections.

The Children's Act
by Ian McEwan

Ian McEwan has written a number of bestsellers and this is another good one. Fiona Moye is a High Court Judge and presides over cases in the family division. She is known for common sense decisions. In this case, she goes to the hospital to visit a young boy, resulting a change in the boy and to Fiona herself. The author keeps you in suspense waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Outliers: the Story of Success
by Malcolm Gladwell

The author changes our ideas about what makes a person successful. It's not because a person is the smartest because many other factors come into play. It might be family, birthplace or even birthdate. He includes many stories to illustrate his ideas: hockey players, Bill Gates, workers in the rice paddies, and airline pilots are few. A fascinating book

The Boys in the Boat
by Daniel James Brown

Out of the depression era comes this magnificent true story of 8 young men coming from the working class who challenge the elite eastern college rowing crews. These men made up the rowing crew of Washington State University and with great determination and against many hardships they row their way to the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. To this day they remain as one of the greatest racing crews of all time. It is especially the story ofJoe Rantz who comes from the poorest of the poor. His determination to go to college andbe a part of the crew is an emotional high for readers. A counter story in the book is the preparation for the Olympics under Hitler. This is a must read for men, women and young adults.

Editor’s note: a young reader’s edition of the book has recently been released.

The Nature of the Beast
by Louise Penny

For those who have been reading the Chief Inspector Gamache series, all I need say is, "She's done it again. You won't be disappointed." For those who haven't, you really should. Read them in order, starting with Still Life. They're so delicious and popular, they're kind of like Harry Potter for adults, set in Quebec.

The Optimist's Daughter
by Eudora Welty

I picked up a Welty novel because Harper Lee admired her. The parallels between Lee and the heroine of the book are striking: Laurel, a successful fabric designer in Chicago, visits her father, a judge in a small Mississippi town. But there are differences: Laurel rushed home because her father had a sudden medical crisis, and she has to deal with his dazzling self-centered wife and her own memories of her mother. This lovely book somehow reminds me of a fine oil painting.

Peace Like a River
by Leif Enger

A marvel of a book! A young boy with bad lungs, his little sister who writes fabulous cowboy poetry, their big brother who is like a character from the cowboy poems, and a father with a mystical sort of Christianity that underlies it all. It catches the cold of the northern plains, takes you on a memorable road trip, and leaves you wanting more even though the story resolves itself in a startling way. (I didn't know that "peace like a river" is from an old hymn until I looked up some songs that are referenced in the novel.)

Felicity
by Mary Oliver

Just Mercy
by Bryan Stevenson

This is an excellent and thought provoking book based on true legal cases. Stevenson shares his story of helping those less fortunate and often times wrongly convicted. He has dedicated his life to standing strong and helping those who are being mistreated and encouraging others to do the same.