West of Here

by Jonathan Evison

This book turned out to be something quite different than I thought it would be.
The narrative jumps from present day to the early years of the settlement of the Olympic forest/western Washington area.
Characters include natives, social reformers, society ladies, pioneers, fish factory workers, businessmen...even a parole officer.
The flashbacks work well, stringing a thread through the characters and storylines of both eras.
Simultaneously, it follows a group of explorers trying to map the Olympic peninsula, an ambitious group of investors building a dam, a convict recently released from prison, two native boys -- one today, one from 1890 -- and a suffragette trying to change the world.
It was fascinating. There were no happy endings, no tidy wrap-ups of storylines...just a bunch of people plodding through life the best they could.

The Lace Reader

by Brunonia Barry

I guess I expected some Oprah's Book Club feel-good book with this but it turned out quite differently. Part mystery, part psychological thriller, part dysfunctional family drama, it was quite compelling.
It's the story of an old New England family full of females of varying amounts of psychic abilities. The storyteller is mostly the adult daughter of the matriarch and it is made clear early on that she has had mental issues and is a chronic liar, so as the story unfolds you're not sure who to believe.

She returns home unwillingly, only to be faced with all sorts of current dramas that bring up past history of the most unpleasant kinds. The reader finds things out only as she does, keeping you on the edge of your seat.

Good book