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.

Inheritance by Dani Shapiro

I heard Dani Shapiro interviewed in the NY Times Book podcast and just HAD to read the book. Actually, I took it out as an audio book and was able to hear it read by Dani herself.

This is a fascinating memoir about a woman, the author herself, a early 50's married author with one son, a Sephardic Jew with a long line of Jews in her lineage.  She decides, on a whim, to do a DNA test (Ancestry.com or one of those) and finds out her father is not really her father.

Such a shock to her, but in the back of her mind, she has always felt that something is "not right." She is a blond-haired, blue-eyed girl with no a single relative she resembles in any way.

I will not reveal what she learns, and what she learns about herself, through this revelation, but it's a fabulous book and a gripping memoir.

I highly recommend it!

From GoodReads:

The acclaimed and beloved author of Hourglass now gives us a new memoir about identity, paternity, and family secrets—a real-time exploration of the staggering discovery she recently made about her father, and her struggle to piece together the hidden story of her own life

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Fleishman is in Trouble by Taffy Brodesser-Akner

Heard a lot about this book and was very excited to read it. I have to say that I started out lukewarm about it. I kept at it, however, and am SO glad that I did.  The final part of the book really nailed it all and put the whole thing in perspective.
This is a book about the challenges of marriage, the challenges of being female in a male world and the challenges of being human and a product of our upbringing.
The book was funny but also very poignant and touching, especially the final part (the shortest part, but the most challenging to read.  Each sentence held such insight and meaning. I want to meet and talk to Taffy. She is brilliant!

The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides

"Alicia Berenson is a famous painter married to an in-demand fashion photographer, living in a posh area of London. One evening, her husband Gabriel returns home late. Alicia shoots him five times in the face and then never speaks another word."

This is a psychological thriller that did not really thrill me. It was gripping at the beginning but the ending left me cold.