The Lady in the Lake by Laura Lippman

I heard a podcast interview with Laura Lippman and knew I would love this book, And I did! I never read any of her novels before and she has written SO many books, mostly crime novels. But this is so much more than a crime novel. It's a statement on race in America, a psychological study, a great story. I can't say enough and I want to read more and more of Laura Lippman!
Read what the KING of crime says (Stephen King!) in this review in the NY Times.:

The Secrets We Kept by Lara Prescott

Anyone who knows me, knows that I would love this book. It's a fictionalized account of the publication of Boris Pasternack's book Dr. Zhivago. I can honestly say that I had no idea about any of this and was totally immersed in the story. The writing is good, but the story is everything.
I didn't want it to end, but couldn't wait til the end to see how it all finished up.
As soon as I finished, I went to barnes and Noble and bought the book, Dr. Zhivago

Chances Are by Richard Russo

Why haven't I read Richard Russo before? I have no idea, but now I want more!
This is the story of three 66 year old guys, friends as college students years ago, who come together on Martha's Vineyard to reconnect. And to talk about the mystery of what happened to Jacy, the girl they were all in love with back then.
The story of Jacy seemed a bit contorted and "soap opera-ish" to me but that doesn't mean I wasn't drawn right into it!
The beauty of the book for me was the character depiction: 3 very different men, all drawn distinctly and beautifully. You feel like you know them.
After I started to get to know them, chapter by chapter (each chapter is the name of one of the men) as he draws them, I wanted to go back and reread previous chapters. When done with the book, I wanted to start it all over again.
But, it was a 7 day book and at $.50 a day, I didn't do it. Besides, my next book was waiting.

City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert

Since I heard about this book coming out, I have wanted to read it.  "The Signature of All Things" is one my favorite books of the last decade so I was ready for more Elizabeth Gilbert.  What a different book this is!

I can't say I didn't enjoy it (double negative!) but I do acknowledge that is it NOT "Signature" which was interesting, different and bold.  This book is somewhat trite, I felt, but underneath there is a message - and it's one not too far from the one in "Signature."  There are similar themes in these books.

Here, from the NYTimes Book Review:

Paradoxically, this open-endedness, this refusal of received literary templates, is what makes “City of Girls” worth reading. It’s not a simple-minded polemic about sexual freedom and not an operatic downer; rather, it’s the story of a conflicted, solitary woman who’s made an independent life as best she can. If the usual narrative shapes don’t fit her experience — and they don’t fit most lives — neither she nor her creator seems to be worrying about it.

I do recommend it, if you are a Gilbert fan.  Interesting..... I have NOT read her most "famous" one, "Eat Pray Love."
I guess I should give it a go.