Snow Angels by Stewart O'Nan

I read about this on an NPR book review page. Actually, the reviewer was speaking of O'Nan's newest book, Emily Alone, but mentioned that if you have not read Snow Angels, you must. It was easy to find in the library so I checked it out. And glad that I did.
It is an unsettling story about death, murder, infidelity, poverty and more, and above all, a coming of age story about Arthur, a middle school boy in Pittsburgh, PA. The story starts on the day that his father leaves home and life changes dramatically for Arthur that day.
Arthur grapples with his parents' failed marriage and his feelings for Lila, a young girl with whom he rides the bus to school.  He also "deals" with the fact that he was the one to find the dead young child who wandered away from home one afternoon while her mom (his former babysitter and neighbor) slept on her couch. But Arthur really doesn't emote much about any of this; the reader can read between the lines and gather how these events are affecting Arty.
The story is gripping and quite short; I was able to read it in just a couple days. O'Nan is a gifted writer and I am anxious to follow up and read some of his other novels.

The Girl Who Fell From the Sky by Heidi W. Durrow

I read this book in just one day; it was so good and so well written. And not long, to be sure, so it was not tough. I spent 6 hours on an airplane during those 24 as well.
Anyway, I did love this book and highly recommend it. It tells the life story of a biracial girl and her struggle to find herself, her identity and make sense of who she is and what has befallen her.
Rachel was born to a Danish white woman and black serviceman overseas. She grew up on army bases in Europe and never had to struggle with the fact that her skin was black but her eyes blue. Once she gets to Portland, Oregon, after the tragic loss of her family, she has to grapple with these questions and the stares and commentary of people around her.
The characters are richly drawn, especially her grandmother, who she comes to live with in Portland, and Brick, a biracial boy who plays a big role in this story.
But I won't given any of it away. Just read it!

Blood Harvest by S. J. Bolton

A great summer read! Got this suggestion from an NPR.org page from LAST summer, so the book was out in paperback and I was able to get it at Barnes and Noble.
It was a great mystery novel. I haven't read one in a while and it was just what I was looking for on my vacation. It was fast, well-written and a gripping tale.  Some supernatural elements and takes place in the "moors" in England.
A new vicar, Harry, comes to a small town and finds himself hearing voices, feeling that someone is with him when there is no one there. The same things are happening for Tom, a young boy who lives in a new house next to the church. There have been three mysterious disappearances in past years of young girls; one of them supposedly died in a fire but her mother never bought that. Gillian, the mother, feels that her daughter did not die in that fire.
Harry meets the psychologist who cares for Gillian; romance develops; complications arise. Tom's young sister disappears and nearly dies.
As you can gather, lots of things go on but the story is easy to follow and has interesting characters and locale.
I read this in just a couple days - but I was on vacation and spending time poolside and beachside....just where I most love to read!

South of Broad by Pat Conroy

This started out so strong, but lost some of its appeal for me about 100 pages in. Not that I didn't enjoy the book; it was a compelling story, albeit a bit of a soap opera, but it drew me in. First off - the writing...so very good. Conroy's prose is exquisite. His descriptions and metaphors so beautifully drawn and rendered, like paintings. It was the over the top nature of some of the characters that let me down a bit; there was the cliche factor. Too predictable at times; I knew how things were going to turn out. Sine "Prince of Tides" is such a favorite of mine, I didn't expect to feel this way about this book.
But, heck....it's summer and you need some good soap opera fiction for the beach. And I did read a lot of this at the beach. On to more page turning for my week in San Diego. Gotta go pick something up so I can enjoy the incredible beach at Carlsbad this week!