Love, Alice by Barbara Davis

In the 1960s, a young English woman is sent away in shame. In the now, a young widow wonders where things went so wrong. The two stories meet and intermingle under the guard of a sad South Carolina cemetery angel.

The most famous marker in the cemetery sits not far from Dovie's fiance's headstone, where she visits every day to eat her lunch and wonder why he committed suicide. But one day her attention is drawn over to the Tate angel when an elderly woman leaves a letter (and her glasses) there.

Dovie's beating herself up about something she had no control over, and she's falling apart at the seams. Suddenly, it's much more interesting to get involved in somebody else's drama, even though she can clearly see this meddling is going to be bad for her career and future.

I'm not sure why I picked this book up, and I'm even less sure why I kept reading - it's way too saccharine for my taste, but I persisted. It's not a bad book - if you like romance novels and fated love stories you'll enjoy it. There are twists and minor surprises along the way. It resolves well. (Blech.)

The Weird Sisters by Eleanor Brown

When their mother takes sick, three adult sisters return to the roost. But each has ulterior motives for her stay - pregnancy, thievery, insecurity - which make their challenging familial relationships even more fraught.

I enjoyed the story - it's about self-discovery and how we limit and define ourselves based on our family - but it's pretty much contemporary chick-lit for the literate.

The "weird sisters" of the title refers to Macbeth's witches, rather than any real oddity in the novel's main trio. That said, you'd best be familiar with Shakespeare's life works to be comfortable in this novel - it's overflowing with people named after characters and conversations filled with quotes. Additionally, the story contains layer upon layer of references and analogies to the bard's work.

Also of note: the story is told from a very unusual point of view. The omniscient narrator speaks singularly as all three sisters collectively (first-person plural). Everything is "we" even when talking about one sister's secrets that she's keeping from the others. It's workable, but a little awkward sometimes.

The Book of Life by Deborah Harkness

The grand cross-century adventure trilogy that is about both a couple's unlikely romance and the origin of supernatural beings draws to a close with this dramatic, transcontinental chess match.

Supernatural power couple Diana (witch) and Matthew (vampire) are back from their time hop to the 16th century and now are ready to pull together the scattered pieces of an ancient alchemical manuscript and discover once and for all what's it's all about.

But not everyone wants to see Diana and Matthew succeed - there are plenty of other creatures who would like to find the "book of life" first and grab the knowledge and power it likely brings for themselves. And not merely incidental to the storyline, Diana is now pregnant with twins - a cross-species fete heretofore thought impossible.

I have loved this series, and the sweeping saga of the story's climax was worth the wait. I've been listening to them as audiobooks, and Jennifer Ikeda does a truly commendable job with the unique and varied characterization of ancient beings from all corners of the planet.

The Rosie Effect by Graeme Simsion

Can a rigidly scheduled, highly prepared genetic scientist make his marriage work with a free-thinking, spontaneous wife? And what happens to Don's carefully calculated spreadsheets when an unexpected pregnancy adds another variable to the equation?

In this sequel to The Rosie Project, Australians Don and Rosie are married and living temporarily in America to teach and study, respectively, at Columbia in New York. It's a comedy of errors as Don tries (secretly, so as not to add stress and increased cortisol levels) to learn as much as he can about babies, pregnancy, and fatherhood.

Along with the return of the first book's supporting characters, this story adds a great new bunch of friends Don accumulates in New York. He's got a guy gang with whom he regularly schedules ballgame-and-beer nights, and they become his sometimes ill-advising support network as he tries to navigate Rosie's pregnancy hormones and some unfortunate legal concerns Don's hiding from his wife.

Overall it's a mad-cap fun story, and a lovely light diversion.

Everybody's Baby by Lydia Netzer

When a young couple face infertility, they choose a Kickstarter campaign to fund their in-vitro treatments. What can possibly go wrong in parenting the most-connected fetus on the planet?

This one is a novella only available in ebook format. I've loved both of Netzer's novels (How to Tell Toledo from the Night Sky and Shine, Shine, Shine), so I was anxious to read this little stand-alone story too. And I certainly wasn't disappointed!

Every pregnant lady has horror stories about boundry stomping - seems like everyone you meet has an opinion they're dying to share about birthing, naming, eating, diapering, ultrasounds, and more. It's worse when you're a public person (say like a celebrity, public official, or business owner) and even more extreme when you've INVITED the world to participate in this very personal experience like Jenna and Billy do. What if the woman who bought the naming rights decides to name your baby after her two dying cats? Or the gender announcement turns into a political statement?

The great thing about novellas is that they're quick. The disadvantage is they're over before you know it. This is a great story with relatable characters even in their eccentricity, and it could be used as a morality tale for every 21st century prospective parent.

Shine Shine Shine by Lydia Netzer

Sunny has spent five years being the perfect mother: wearing the blonde wig, making the mother-shape in the world, organizing, responding and acting properly. And yet, her son Bubber is autistic and must wear a helmet in the car to prevent head-banging.

Her husband, Maxon, has spent his life trying to respond and react appropriately in social settings: nodding, raising his eyebrows, and using inflection in his voice to convey emotion. And yet, now that he's in a rocket headed to the moon, his robotic Asperger's brain may make him Earth's perfectly evolved hope for space colonization.

When something sets each Sunny and Maxon's missions off-course, it's not just a minor glitch - these are major situations, not in the plan or part of the forecast. Nobody graphed this out on the whiteboard. Will the cracks show? Will anybody be OK?

I loved, loved, loved this book and I'm not sure I can fully describe why, but I'll try. The characters are perfectly flawed, yet trying their hardest to be normal: They don't see is that normal is a mirage. Each has a unique perspective coloring their world vision, and I thoroughly delighted in their thoughts and theories.

Additionally, the narration of the audiobook by Joshilyn Jackson was truly, monumentally EPIC. Her voices for each character were rich and unique, truly fitting such spectacular and strange people.

We Are All Fine Here by Mary Guterson

As if she didn't have enough to deal with, now Julia's pregnant, too.

Her son's become a teenager and doesn't want to be her best friend anymore. Her husband is boring, and well ... so is her job. Julia's idea of fun? Trying to get a response (any response) from her therapist.

She's still more-than-a-little obsessed with her college boyfriend, Ray, and the baby may be his: they had a quickie at a friend's wedding). Or it ironically may actually be her husband's baby: he dragged her to a "romantic" weekend, because he was trying to make Patricia, his workplace crush, jealous.

It's a short, quick book, but I found myself thinking about it for days afterward. Julia really grows as a person by the end, and I'm not sure I thought that would be possible. I enjoyed the twisting and unfolding of Julia's emotions as this story goes along. It's a very, very funny book, and the characters are great - I know women just like Julia, and I recognize that I could have become her, myself.