The Alphabet Sisters by Monica McInerney, 437 pages

The "Alphabet Sisters" is the story of three estranged sisters and their grandmother who finagles them back in the same room again by demanding they attend her 80th birthday party.

Set in Australia, it is the story of the sisters relationship with each other and the men in their lives.  It is also the story of the sisters being on their own for the three years they didn't speak and how that changed them.

This book was okay but I would have been happier if it ended 100 pages earlier than it did.  

Truly Madly Guilty by Liane Moriarty, 415 pages

Liane Moriarty's latest chick lit epic involves three couples and an infamous weekend barbecue. Something happens at the get-together and everyone there feels they are to blame, even the kids.

The actual event is shrouded in mystery and more than half of the book builds up to the big reveal.

Complicated relationships, difficult parents, strained marriages . . . pretty much life.  This wasn't my favorite Liane Moriarty book but it was definitely fun and worth the listen.

Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty, 460 pages

This is the second time I've had the pleasure of reading this book.  Two of the library's book clubs are reading it this year so I read it again for the Downtown Library book club.

"Big Little Lies" revolves around three women, all of whom have kindergartners at Pirriwee Public School.   Jane is new in town and is a 26 year old single mother.  Madeline just turned 40 and is happily married to her second husband.  She has three children and a huge grudge against her first husband, who deserted her when her now 14 year old daughter was 3 weeks old.  Celeste is also near 40, has identical twin boys and seemingly has the perfect marriage and life.

A quite large calamity happens at the school's trivia night and the novel reveals the build up to that night and what happened afterwards.  Ohhh, this was fun and serious and suspenseful and wonderful.  Three words: Perfect Summer Read.

The Last Anniversary by Liane Moriarty, 388 pages

Liane Moriarty is one of my favorite chick lit authors.  This is, I believe, the second book she wrote.  It was good, but not as good as her other books.  However, I learned a handy new phrase that I hope to remember "Stuffed it up, Buttercup." 

The book is set on Scribbly Gum Island, a suburb of Sydney, Australia.  Over 70 years ago a two-week old baby was found in a deserted house by two teenage sisters.  The parents, Alice and Jack Munro, had simply disappeared.  Those two sisters turned the Munro Baby Mystery into a lucrative tourist business.  The baby, they named Enigma, is now a grandmother and they all still live on the island, along with extended family. 

There are many things happening in the book.  We have aging, postpartum depression, biological clocks, nut allergies, body image issues, discovering oneself. . . . The characters weren't as dynamic as in some of Ms. Moriarty's other books but as I said, all worth it because of the fun new phrase I learned.

Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty, 460 pages

Oh, Calamity!  I am finished with a Liane Moriarty book and don't have another to start immediately.

"Big Little Lies" revolves around three women, all of whom have kindergartners at Pirriwee Public School.   Jane is new in town and is a 26 year old single mother.  Madeline just turned 40 and is happily married to her second husband.  She has three children and a huge grudge against her first husband, who deserted her when her now 14 year old daughter was 3 weeks old.  Celeste is also near 40, has identical twin boys and seemingly has the perfect marriage and life.

A quite large calamity happens at the school's trivia night and the novel reveals the build up to that night and what happened afterwards.  Ohhh, this was fun.  Three words: Perfect Summer Read.

The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion, 295 pages

This was a charming little book.  The story is told in the voice of Dr. Don Tillman, a of professor Genetics at an Australian University.  Don knows he is wired differently than most people.  As the reader, and yes I did read and not listen to this one, it is obvious he is on the autism spectrum.

Don is 39 years old and wants to find a wife so begins The Wife Project.  He gets sidetracked on The Father Project, helping Rosie, one of The Wife Project rejects, find her biological father.  Hilarity, sweetness and growth ensues.

Much of the humor in the book comes from the perspective that Don gives on an situation or conversation he had.  There's not a lot of character development, but the story works.  

The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty, 416 pages

Liane Moriarty's "The Husband Secret" had me hooked from the beginning.

Cecilia is one of those super women who seem to have it all together all the time.  That changes when she finds a letter from her husband, John-Paul that says it should be opened upon his death.

Rachels daughter was murdered almost 30 years ago and the unsolved murder has made the rest of her life difficult.

Tess's husband and her cousin, who is more like her sister, sit her down to tell her they are in love.

The lives of all these women intertwine in "The Husband's Secret."  If you are going to pick it up, make sure you have some good time to dedicate to it, because if you are like me you will have a hard time putting it down until the end.

The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman, 352 pages

Set in Australia in the 1920s, this is the story of Tom Sherbourne and his wife Isabel.  Tom is a lighthouse keeper on a remote island.  Isabel happily goes to the island but after she suffers three miscarriages, life is not as happy as it once was.  Soon after the third miscarriage a boat washes ashore with a dead man and a live baby.

Isabel convinces Tom they should keep the baby because God obviously brought them the baby and the story that follows is the consequences of that decision.  This is one of those books where I thought, how can this turn out okay?  But I found the ending satisfying and truly enjoyed the book.  This is a book I will recommend to others.  We'll be discussing it soon at the library book club and I'm looking forward to hearing what other book club members thought of it.

The Light Between Oceans by M. L. Stedman 345 pages

Tom Sherbourne is a lighthouse keeper on Janus Rock about a half day away from the coast of Australia. It is a solitary and isolated existence until he meets and marries Isobel. At first they are joyously happy but after two miscarriages and a stillbirth their grief overshadows everything. And then one day a boat washes ashore carrying a baby and a dead man. Although Tom is a moral and law abiding sort he cannot turn away from Isobel's pleas to keep the baby. So despite his gut instincts he agrees, buries the man without recording the incident, and together they raise baby Lucy. When his tenure on Janus Rock ends they move back to Partageuse and civilization which in the end is their undoing. 

The Light Between Oceans is an emotionally charged book about love and loss--perhaps too much loss--and making decisions that have all consuming consequences, decisions that are both right and wrong and understandable as both. This was a book club selection that was loved by all the members. A great debut novel.