ONE HUNDRED NAMES (Cecilia Ahern)

Kitty Logan is a very flawed human being.  Having barely survived a major network scandal that is still having disgusting personal repercussion, she is mainly focused, not on redeeming herself or making amends for her lack of judgment,  but rather on figuring out what is best for her own survival.  Her dying friend, employer, and mentor, Constance, tasks Kitty with writing the story that she always wanted to write herself but now never will.  The only problem is that Kitty's only clue to what exactly the story involves is a list of 100 names left in an envelope in Constance's desk. 

As she attempts to discover Constance's intent and track down the 100 people on the list, Kitty begins to grow and evolve along with Constance's story.  Ahern introduces a series of weird, but endearing, characters whose names are on the list to join Kitty on her journey towards the story of a lifetime.  Each of these people have a story, but Kitty has difficulty figuring out a connection and worries that she will not be able to present her idea to Pete, her supervisor, by her deadline.  Sadness, frustration, humor, and great joy will be encountered before Kitty realizes what Constance was trying to teach her all along.

I wasn't too sure about this when I picked it up, but I really enjoyed it from start to finish and I think that you will, too!

MEMOIRS OF AN IMAGINARY FRIEND (Matthew Dicks)

Incredible novel!  I don't know how to put into words how much I loved this novel.  I would venture to say that it now rates in my top 10 of all time along with Mary Chase's Loretta Mason Potts, Morag Prunty's Recipes for a Perfect Marriage, and Sir Walter Scott's Ivanhoe.  Dicks's novel is about Max, a 6-year-old with autism, and his adventures, which include being bullied, driving his parents to distraction, and eventually being abducted.  The story is narrated by Budo, Max's imaginary friend, who loves him, watches out for him, and helps him to navigate the social world.  Budo has been imagined to walk through walls and doors and to look like a real boy, but he cannot manipulate anything in the physical world, like door knobs or telephones, and he needs no sleep.  He cannot communicate with anyone "real" except for Max.  He can, however, see and speak with other imaginary friends, some of whom are half-formed humanoids while others are shaped like hair bows or spoons. 

Budo is Max's protector and his guide, but worries about what will happen to him when Max no longer needs him.  Will he fade away to nothing?  Will he go to heaven?  All of these questions and fears take a back seat when Max really needs Budo.  This is a story about intense loyalty and caring, about an imaginary friend who gives his boy the courage to reach out from isolation and connect with the real world.  Matthew Dicks has a stunning ability to imagine and to paint a picture so brilliant that it is almost blinding.  This sounds like a cute little book, but you need to read it to discover that it is much, much, more.  I'd recommend it to absolutely everyone, especially if you have someone even a little bit autistic in your life!

VIOLETS OF MARCH (Sarah Jio)

Isn't it strange that I would read Sarah Jio's FIRST novel LAST?  The first word that came to my mind when reading this was "lovely."  I have to admit that I was a little bit taken aback by the fact that the main character, Emily, hadn't seen her beloved, eccentric great-aunt Bee in 5 years, since they seem to have such a connection.  We find out as the story progresses, though, that Emily Wilson's  marriage, now ended, was the main reason for her distance from Bee. Now, ensconced in Bee's cottage on Bainbridge Island, Washington,  Emily discovers Esther's diary, begun in 1943. As Emily reads the diary she is drawn deeper in the mystery of who Esther and Elliot were and how their romance relates to the present and to Emily's own past. 

This novel is classic Jio, with intertwining past/present stories, wonderful rich atmosphere, and characters that you'd love to sit down and have a heart-to-heart with.  Highly recommended!

GRAVE UNDERTAKINGS (Ralph McInerny)

First of all, I love the title of this mystery!  It's kind of tongue-in-cheek and fits this pl really well.

Up until this point my only exposure to Father Dowling, McInerny's sleuthing priest, has been the old TV show starring Tom Bosley and Tracy Nelson.  I was disappointed that the novels do not follow the same sort of plotting and character development, but I can't blame the author for that!  Still, I found keeping track of the characters difficult and I wasn't a big fan of the way the novel was laid out.  Really, when you come right down to it, I'm just not that big a fan of mob-oriented mysteries. Aside from my own personal taste, though, I can see why McInnerny had a decent fan base.  The development of the plot and gradual revelation of clues is clever and true to the time when it was written.  I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys and earthier mystery with a touch of humor.

THE LOOK OF LOVE (Sarah Jio)

I am a little shocked that I didn't love this book, although I didn't hate it.  I adore Jio's writing style, the characters were pleasant, and the novel held my interest, but I was expecting another The Last Camellia or The Bungalow.  Instead, this was a fantasy about a young woman, Jane Williams, with the rare gift of being able to "see" love despite never having been in love herself.  When she was born during a Christmas blizzard she was gifted with the ability to know for sure whether a couple has true love.  Each time she recognizes love her vision goes wonky and, as a result, she has been under the care of a neurologist since childhood.

Twenty-nine-year-old Jane receives a letter from a stranger asking to meet with her and telling her that she needs to identify the 6 types of love before she turns 30 or she will never find true love of her own.  Colette, the writer of the letter, gives Jane a journal that she is to pass on after she completes her assignment.  Given that Jane's "episodes" can be quite debilitating and that her neurologist is urging her to have brain surgery (based on her "love" visions) before her cognitive function is destroyed, it strikes me as a little bizarre that Jane would ever consider passing her "gift" to anyone else unless her motive is to get rid of it!

Overall, this was a rather sweet novel about a somewhat awkward young woman hoping to fall in love.  It was a little to "romancey" for me and I think that the neurologist in the story should have her license revoked for all of her talk of Jane's deteriorating cognitive function, since Jane showed no signs of dementia or progressive physical impairment.  There were a few holes in the story, but it was nice that not all of the lovers lived happily ever after together.  I'm not sorry that I read this, but I hope that Jio returns to her past/present formula in her next novel!