Journey's End by Rachel Hawkins 286 pages

Welcome to Journey's End, a charming village on a coast in Scotland where there is a massive fog bank that just might eat you if you get too close to it!  Not exactly the best travel brochure tagline, but it makes for a really fun story.  I love the accents, the atmosphere and the mystery that this book had in spades.  Listening to it was nice, because the reader had a nice Scottish accent.  The three main characters were relatable, joining forces to solve a centuries-old mystery that starts out just as a fun bit of lore, but ends up being far more dire.  It never got terribly dark or scary, so it's fine for young readers, too.  I recommend this one for 3rd to 5th graders primarily, but anyone who likes the idea of a new Nessie-like legend should enjoy this.  I get the feeling it is the first of a series, and see lots of possibilities.  I listened to this one read by Saskia Maarleveld. 

The Death of Bees by Lisa O’Donnell 309 pages

Marnie and her younger sister Nellie live in a housing estate in Glasgow. Their parents have disappeared. Which isn’t really a problem for the girls, they like it like that. Marnie only has to make it through the year without anyone knowing to avoid going into foster care and being separated from her sister. If it were not for Social Services, a long lost relative recently found, a drug dealer who wants his money back and an odd assortment of wacky characters, the girls lives wouldn’t seem nearly so bleak.

But then an elderly neighbor with issues of his own and inexplicably, a Russian mobster on the run, reach out to the girls and once again hope is on the horizon and just maybe everything will work out.

The Death of Bees is a beautifully written, achingly sad, raw at times, hilariously funny and always hopeful, read in one sitting, book. I absolutely loved it!

The Death of Bees by Lisa O'Donnell, 310 pages

It takes me forever to actually read as opposed to listen to a book as I seem to have the attention span of a gnat.  I read this book in two evenings. 

Set in Glasgow, Scotland, Marnie and Nelly are two sisters with a problem.  Their parents are dead and if anyone finds out they will be tossed into the foster care system.  Marnie is 15 and Nelly is 12.  They have a kind neighbor, Lennie, who figures out something is wrong and strives to help the girls.

This is a darkly comedic novel of growing up too hard and too fast.  It is told from the three perspectives of Marnie, Nelly and Lennie.  What shines through is the goodness of just enough people to make it possible for these two girls to survive in this hard world.  This is a book club book and I am looking forward to the discussion - my only worry is that some of the language is caustic enough that it might stop some people from reading it.

At the Water's Edge by Sara Gruen, 348 pages

Maddie, Ellis and Hank are an inseparable threesome, though Maddie and Ellis have been married nearly five years.  They are all privileged young adults of privileged parents.  At a New Year's Eve Party on December 31, 1944 they party a little too much much to the horror of Ellis' parents who support he and Maddie.  Hank and Ellis are already looked down upon because they are both 4F and unable to serve in the military and Maddie's mother was a disgraced woman.

The trio ends up in Scotland, during the war no less, searching for the Loch Ness monster in an attempt to redeem themselves.  They're not much respected there either and tensions grow.  Maddie struggles to free herself from her uppercrust snobbery, much to the dismay of her husband.  The search is on for the monster . . . but just who is the real monster . . .

It took nearly half the book until I started to enjoy it, but then I really did.  This is one I will recommend to others.  Sara Gruen, author of "Water for Elephants" may not receive the same acclaim for this, her most recent book, but it was still a winner for me.

The Fall Of The House Of Forbes by Stewart Pinkerton, 270 pages

“The Fall Of The House Of Forbes” is written by Stewart Pinkerton, who was a writer and editor for Forbes for over twenty years. From Pinkerton’s point of view, the reader gets an inside look at the empire that B. C. Forbes built from the ground up.

The story begins with the death of Malcolm Forbes who inherited the Forbes Company from his father, B.C. Forbes.  With Malcolm’s death, the longevity of the empire becomes vulnerable; due to Malcolm’s extravagant lifestyle, four sons (Kip, Tim, Steve, Bob) all fighting for their share of power, and the world of journalism being reinvented by the internet.

I couldn't help but think the story reminded me of the fictional story, “The Great Gatsby”. The author actually mentions this himself in the book. If you are interested in how the publication world is changing, finance and journalism stories, or just how the other half live and lose, then you might enjoy this book. I found the Forbes story very interesting.