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	The Coroner's Lunch by Colin Cotterill	The second mystery featuring the charming and gracious Laotian doctor, Dr. Siri Paiboun. This book finds Dr. Siri faced with a party leader's dead wife and some Vietnamese soldiers who have been tortured. His lab is woefully ill-equipped and he has to negotiate treacherous political waters but he is very resourceful and has nice assistants, friends, and even spirits to help him.
	Eating Heaven by Jennie Shortridge	A magazine food writer confronts her own binge-eating behaviors while reflecting on meaningful childhood memories in this insightful story about family relationships and personal growth.
	Twins by Marcy Dermansky	Identical twin sisters Chloe and Sue visit a tattoo parlor on their thirteenth birthday, inking one another's names onto their flesh in a permanent symbol of devotion. Ignored by their work-obsessed parents and annoyed by an older brother, Chloe and Sue initially need only each other to survive. When Chloe begins making friends at school, Sue becomes dangerously jealous and self-destructive. Fighting to retain a shared identity with Chloe, Sue eventually discovers the value of her own, singular personality and defines, for herself, a new notion of family.

Chuck Dugan is AWOL	by Eric Anderson	A young naval officer goes AWOL in an effort to thwart a silly conspiracy perpetuated by his widowed mother's suitor. Endearingly illustrated by the author, some readers may recognize Eric Anderson's aesthetic from such films as The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou and The Royal Tenenbaums (directed by brother, Wes Anderson). An energizing adventure for the landlocked, Chuck Dugan's whimsical romp along the northeastern seaboard is a joy to read.
Zorro	by Isabel Allende	An imaginative and engaging account of the childhood and coming-of-age of Diego de la Vega. Born in Alta, California in 1795 and educated in Spain, Diego creates the persona of Zorro to fight injustice in the world. Deftly weaving history, legend, and tall tales, Ms. Allende provides a captivating look at the elusive swordsman and some of his early adventures.
Pocketful of Names	by Joe Coomer	There are "three things worth doing in life: making something new, caring for something old, and finding something lost." An artist living a contemplative existence on a tiny island off the coast of Maine encounters all three in a single year of change and discovery. Happily resigned to a solitary life of artistic endeavor, Hannah Bryant is initially resistant to the ties that threaten to bind her when first a dog, then a teenaged boy and finally a whole cast of interesting characters begin washing up on the shore of the island she's inherited from her uncle. Brimming with beautifully described imagery and authentic interactions, Pocketful of Names affirms the importance of family; new, old and found.
New Mercies	by Sandra Dallas	A Denver socialite inherits a Natchez, Mississippi, estate in this Faulkner-like novel populated with amusing, quirky characters and a bit of mystery.
The Pirates! In an Adventure with Ahab	by Gideon Defoe	The Pirate Captain and his crew are at it again in this fun-filled follow up to Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists. The Pirate Captain's barnacle-covered ship is in serious need of repair, necessitating further adventures in the name of profit, including an exciting run-in with a famously enormous white whale and its depressive nemesis.
The Last Days of Dogtown	by Anita Diamant	Based loosely on a true story of a historic community, this novel is set on Cape Ann in the early 1800s. Peopled with widows, orphans, spinsters, scoundrels, free Africans, and "witches," it resurrects a forgotten sector of society.
The Sign of the Book	by John Dunning	An ex-cop/rare-book dealer investigates the murder of his lover's former boyfriend, also a book collector. The many plot twists keep the reader engaged in this latest Cliff Janeway mystery.
The Ice Queen	by Alice Hoffman	A woman who is struck by lightning becomes frozen in her being from the inside out. Then she meets a man – Lazarus Jones - who has also survived a lightning strike and is the exact opposite of her in that his touch scorches.
The Highest Tide	by Jim Lynch	A 13-year-old boy, highly knowledgeable about Puget Sound marine life, achieves celebrity status when he finds and identifies a rare species in this coming-of-age novel that depicts stormy parental relationships and rich intergenerational friendships.
A Changed Man	by Francine Prose	Vincent, a neo-Nazi, arrives at a human rights foundation and tells the director – a Holocaust survivor – that he wants to “save guys like him from becoming guys like him.” During his self-transformation, he also makes an impact upon the lives of Meyer Maslow, the foundation director and Bonnie, the foundation’s fund-raiser, as well as her teenage son. This novel explores the possibility of personal redemption for those whose lives are severely broken.
Cold Skin	by Albert Sánchez Piñol; translated by Cheryl Leah Morgan	Eager to leave post WWI Europe, a world-weary young man accepts a position on a remote, Antarctic island and finds no trace of the former weather official he's been sent to replace. Surprising, fast-paced and genre defying, this uncanny little book packs a wallop. Originally published in Spain in 2002.
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan	by Lisa See	The reader is transported to early 20th century China where two young women are thrown into a contractual relationship by their families and a matchmaker. The women's lives are afterwards intimately entwined. Even when separated they communicate thoughts and feelings with secret women's writing passed to each other on a fan. Fascinating for historical setting.
Sweetwater Creek	by Anne Rivers Siddons	A young girl living on a South Carolina plantation displays an almost mystical gift for training the hunting spaniels her family raises as well as an unusual maturity in a novel peopled with rich characters and complex family relationships.
The Myth of You and Me	by Leah Stewart	A woman, estranged from her closest childhood friend for ten years, is sent on a search intended to help her come to terms with key life events in this novel that takes an in-depth look at friendship themes.
Q & A	by Vikas Swarup	A poor Indian waiter, an orphan with the unlikely name of Ram Mohammed Thomas, wins one billion rupees on a quiz show. The program producers can't afford to pay him and they figure he must have cheated anyway so they have him thrown into jail. Each chapter of the book tells a chapter of Ram Mohammed Thomas's rough life and explains how he came to have the answer to a particular quiz question. It's quite a story.
Saving Fish From Drowning	by Amy Tan	Like Tan's other novels this one has fantastical elements. The narrator is a ghost who tags along on an arts tour to Burma with a group whose travel plans she made before her untimely death. The group is an assortment of odd characters. The tour does not go as smoothly as hoped and the eleven Americans find themselves deep in the Burmese jungle, kidnapped by a tribe that believes one of them is a reincarnation of their god.
The Hummingbird's Daughter	by Luis Alberto Urrea	The illegitimate daughter of a wealthy Mexican rancher and a dirt-poor mother, born with the gift of healing, is elevated to living sainthood in this funny, often-irreverent story, which is based on the author's real-life ancestor.
The Illuminator	by Brenda Rickman Vantrease	To protect her sons' inheritance, Lady Kathryn strikes a bargain with a powerful abbot - she will take in a master illuminator and his daughter and gain the monastery's protection. What begins as a hesitant friendship between Finn and Lady Kathryn grows into a passionate alliance that touches off a chain of betrayals, tragedies, and unexpected acts of heroism.
Missing Persons	by Stephen White	Boulder psychologist Alan Gregory investigates the suspicious death of a close colleague and its connection to other friends' disappearances in this fast-paced murder mystery that alludes to the JonBenet Ramsey case.
Sky Burial: An Epic Love Story of Tibet	by Xinran	A hauntingly beautiful story about a married couple, both physicians, set in 1950s revolutionary China and Tibet. When the wife learns her husband has died in Tibet while serving in the Army, she sets out on a precarious journey, hoping to find him alive.
The Limits of Enchantment	by Graham Joyce	A bit of magic and enchantment are woven into this tale of conflict between old ways and new. A young woman, Fern, is a budding midwife who is learning the trade from the wise old Mammy. When Mammy is accused of harming a patient and then falls ill herself, Fern has to figure out how she wants to fit into the life of the village.
Oh My Stars	by Lorna Landvik	A talented young woman's promising future as a clothing designer and seamstress disintegrates after a disabling factory accident. Her luck changes under the nurture of a North Dakota farm family and a musical touring group in this Depression-era novel that showcases Lorna Landvik at her best.

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Updated: June 06, 2007