Karen’s Book Shelf

November (2016) Books – All these books can be found in your local library!

As many of you know, I try to alternate fiction and non-fiction books.  I am always looking for new ways to stimulate my mind and not get caught up in the fiction world.  Not that a really good fiction book can’t be stimulating, but if I didn’t restrict myself that would be all I would read! 

Is it better to have nothing and want,  or want for nothing?  In Beer Money: A Memoir of Privilege and Loss Frances Stroh reveals her story growing up in a privileged and prominent family of Detroit.  Fortunes spent on art and antiques, instead of investing in the health and well-being of the marriage and children, ultimately destroys the Stroh family. Surely bad business practices did not help, but the needless spending and lack of accountability, laden with drugs and alcohol, also took its toll. 

I had a hard time making connections with Stroh’s dysfunctional family, although I did enjoy reading about Frances’ memories of Detroit, Grosse Pointe, Coleman Young and Kwane Kilpatrick.  I still give it a 👍because of all the memories it brought back for me about the Come Back City of Detroit.

The Girl with No Past by Kathryn Croft  

Fast paced and well written is what comes to mind when I reflect on this novel.  Leah Mills lives life quietly- trying to stay under the radar.  She lives in a tiny flat in London and works in a library shelving books.  Life is predictable, just as she likes it, until one day she meets someone in a chat room and her life begins to unravel. Secrets that are hidden are soon discovered.  From the first page I was hooked.  You will be too.  👍

The Stranger by Harlan Coben