What Light by Jay Asher

What Light by Jay Asher
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is a cute story about a family that migrates to California from their Oregon tree farm every year from Thanksgiving through Christmas to run a Christmas tree lot. The romance needed more time to be believable, and some of the side characters, particular the Oregon friends are 2D at best.

Still, it's a short charming read about getting fresh chances after making big mistakes. I wouldn't reread it, but I don't regret having read it. Just the unique setting alone made for an interesting read.

Book 8 read in 2019

Pages: 251

Seven Stones to Stand or Fall by Diana Gabaldon

Seven Stones to Stand or Fall by Diana Gabaldon

A collection of seven novellas published in various anthologies over the years, Seven Stones to Stand or Fall deals with interesting side-stories within the Outlander universe. "The Custom of the Army" tells of Lord John Grey's time in Canada, where he and his comrades lay siege to the Citadel of Quebec. "The Space Between" encounters a grief-stricken Michael Murray, a nephew of Jamie Fraser, who has been charged with accompanying Joan MacKimmie, his kind-of cousin, to Paris so she can join a convent. Then there's the ever-troublesome Comte St. Germain .... In "A Plague of Zombies," we meet Lord John once again, this time in Jamaica, where he has been charged with putting down a slave rebellion. "A Leaf on the Wind of All Hallows" details the tragic story of Roger MacKenzie's parents, Jerry and Dolly. In "Virgins," a young Jamie Fraser and his best friend, Ian Murray, become mercenaries in France, and both are rather worried they'll end up in hell for their actions. We learn the story behind how Lord John's older brother, Hal, meets and falls in love with his rather fierce wife, Minnie, in "A Fugitive Green." Lord John travels to Cuba in "Besieged," in order to save his mother, who is a guest of Governor Juan de Prado. But once he learns the British navy is preparing to wreak havoc on Havana, Lord John fears the Dowager Duchess of Pardloe could become a hostage. 

Part of the Outlander universe. 544 pages.

The Long Way Home, By Louise Penny

This novel finds Inspector Gamache happily retired and living in Three Pines.  The mystery that finds him is very different than what he is accustomed; there is no murder.  Several books ago, the village's artist, Clara Morrow realized that her husband Peter had been lying about some very important things for all of their relationship.  She made him leave but with the proviso that they should come back together after one year to reassess, and after that one year she expected him to come home.  But he didn't, nor did he make any effort to contact her.  At first she was angry, but then she began to worry and tracking him became  the Inspector's mission.  Together with Clara, Jean Guy
Beauvoir, and Myrna Landers (the local retired psychiatrist) they journey further and further into Quebec to find the missing man. 
 Despite the marked difference in this book's format, it is another worthy accomplishment for Ms. Penny.  Each character has some quest they need to complete and the journey for Peter provides the opportunity.

400 pages

The Beautiful Mystery: A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel, By Louise Penny

This Inspector Gamache mystery finds the Inspector and Jean Guy in a remote monastery, where no outsiders ever visit, yet one of the monks has been brutally murdered.  They grow vegetables, they tend chickens, they make chocolate, and they sing; it is their choir leader who is murdered. Ironically, for a community that has taken a vow of silence, the monks have become world-famous for their glorious voices, raised in ancient chants whose effect on both singer and listener is so profound it is known as "the beautiful mystery."  As Inspector Gamache and his trusty assistant solve this murder, cracks begin to show in their relationship.  These cracks result in a terrible break, which continues in the next book, How the Light Gets In.
400 pages 

How the Light Gets In: A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel, By Louise Penny

Christmas is approaching, and in Québec it's a time of dazzling snowfalls, bright lights, and gatherings with friends in front of blazing hearths. But shadows are falling on the usually festive season for Chief Inspector Armand Gamache. Most of his best agents have left the Homicide Department, his old friend and lieutenant Jean-Guy Beauvoir hasn't spoken to him in months, and hostile forces are lining up against him. When Gamache receives a message from Myrna Landers that a longtime friend has failed to arrive for Christmas in the village of Three Pines, he welcomes the chance to get away from the city. Mystified by Myrna's reluctance to reveal her friend's name, Gamache soon discovers the missing woman was once one of the most famous people not just in North America, but in the world, and now goes unrecognized by virtually everyone except the mad, brilliant poet Ruth Zardo.
As events come to a head, Gamache is drawn ever deeper into the world of Three Pines. Increasingly, he is not only investigating the disappearance of Myrna's friend but also seeking a safe place for himself and his still-loyal colleagues. Is there peace to be found even in Three Pines, and at what cost to Gamache and the people he holds dear?
432 pages

A Trick of the Light, Chief Inspector Gamache, Book 7, By Louise Penny

"Hearts are broken," Lillian Dyson carefully underlined in a book. "Sweet relationships are dead."
But now Lillian herself is dead. Found among the bleeding hearts and lilacs of Clara Morrow's garden in Three Pines, shattering the celebrations of Clara's solo show at the famed Musée in Montreal. Chief Inspector Gamache, the head of homicide at the Sûreté du Québec, is called to the tiny Quebec village and there he finds the art world gathered, and with it a world of shading and nuance, a world of shadow and light. Where nothing is as it seems. Behind every smile there lurks a sneer. Inside every sweet relationship there hides a broken heart. And even when facts are slowly exposed, it is no longer clear to Gamache and his team if what they've found is the truth, or simply a trick of the light?
368 pages

The Brutal Telling: A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel, By Louise Penny

Chaos is coming, old son.

With those words the peace of Three Pines is shattered. Everybody goes to Olivier's Bistro―including a stranger whose murdered body is found on the floor. When Chief Inspector Gamache is called to investigate, he is dismayed to discover that Olivier's story is full of holes. Why are his fingerprints all over the cabin that's uncovered deep in the wilderness, with priceless antiques and the dead man's blood? And what other secrets and layers of lies are buried in the seemingly idyllic village?
386 pages

Bury Your Dead: A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel, By Louise Penny

In this Inspector Gamache novel, author Louise Penny changes up the formula a bit.  While Inspector Gamache is in Quebec City for Winter Carnivale, his second in command Jean-Guy is in Three Pines continuing to unofficially investigate the murder from the previous story, A Brutal Telling. The murder in Quebec City involves an amateur historian-anthropologist and gives the reader an understanding of Quebec history and the Anglo French divide.  Jean-Guy is working to find conclusive evidence that Olivier, the Bistro owner, is either guilty or not.  The break from the usual procedure is refreshing, for it introduces other aspects of both main characters' personalities as well as solves two complex murders.  I highly recommend this series.
400 pages
 

The Cruelest Month: A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel, By Louise Penny

Chief Inspector Armand Gamache and his team investigate another bizarre crime in the tiny Québec village of Three Pines in Penny's expertly plotted third murder mystery.  As the townspeople gather in the abandoned and perhaps haunted Hadley house for a séance with a visiting psychic, Madeleine Favreau collapses, apparently dead of fright. No one has a harsh word to say about Madeleine, but Gamache knows there is always more to the case than meets the eye. Complicating his inquiry are the repercussions of Gamache having accused his popular superior at the Sûreté du Québec of heinous crimes in a previous case. Fearing there might be a mole on his team, Gamache works not only to solve the murder but to clear his name. Arthur Ellis Award–winner, Louise Penny paints a vivid picture of the French-Canadian village, its inhabitants, and a determined detective.
320 pages

How the Light Gets In by Louise Penny

I'm so grateful for SusanM and TomL for introducing me to the Inspector Gamache books by Louise Penney! I have read each book with a growing appreciation for Penny's ability to weave poetry, character, redemption, and quirky aspects of Canadian culture (curling anyone?) into stories I hate to finish reading.  This installment of the series starts off with the death of a reclusive old woman who fails to show up for Christmas in Three Pines. Inspector Gamache must delegate the investigation of her death to his new second in command so that he can finally deal with Francoeur, the corrupt head of the Surete du Quebec.  416 pages.