Only Receive by Michele Longo O'Donnell

"The terrible problem of man continuing to attempt to 'reach' God, or heaven, by self-effort, is that it has always ended in a sense of failure and it always will." Michele O'Donnell proposes that we "Only Receive" what the Universe stands ready to offer us and we will find the peace that Jesus says lies within us. She accepts the premise of The Secret and supports if by quoting Jesus as saying "According to your belief, so shall you experience." [Matthew 9:29, 31] The author is a nurse and much of her book addresses issues of ill health. I do not believe all her claims of miraculous healing, but there is still much wisdom embedded in this little book.

The Paris Wife: A Novel by Paula Mclain

Mclain sticks close to truth in her novelization of the life of Hadley Richardson, who was Ernest Hemingway's first wife. The story is told in Hadley's voice with occasional sections in the third person to take you into what Ernest was doing when away from his wife. Their love story is so touching that it heightens the sadness as the marriage breaks down. Most painful is the way in which Ernest sleeps with Hadley's best friend and tries to make this an acceptable arrangement among the three of them. My heart bled for Hadley. Excellent book.

Fifty Shades of Grey: Book One by E.L. James

This is a fun book if you like very graphic sex scenes. However, I felt it was about the silliest thing I've every read.

The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway

In 1992 the city of Sarajevo was besieged by Serbs who objected to the independence of Bosnia and Herzegovia, wanting instead to incorporate the area into a new Serbian state. Based on a real story, Galloway's novel has the cellist sitting in the middle of a street and playing the cello for about twenty minutes on each of twenty-nine days to honor twenty-nine of his neighbors who had been killed there by Serbian bombs. The reader is taken into the every day struggles of the besieged by following the activities of a man trying to cross the city to fetch water, a baker who buys shelter with bread, and a sniper assigned to protect the cellist. This is a good read which provides insight into conditions most of us are blessed not to have to experience.