The Heirloom Garden by Viola Shipman ~ a Review

by Susan Roberts

"Grandma Myrtle would take her pruners and point around her gardens. 'Just look around, Iris.  The daisies remind you to be happy.  The hydrangeas inspire us to be colorful.  The lilacs urge us to breathe deeply.  The pansies reflect our own images back at us.  The hollyhocks show us how to stand tall in this world.  And the roses - oh the roses! - they prove that beauty is always present even amongst the thorns.'" (p 19)

Our Chemical Hearts by Krystal Sutherland ~ a Review

by Alison DeLuca

  
Weeks into quarantine I hit a reading slump. Our Chemical Hearts was loaded on my Kindle, but I felt like cooking/cleaning/disinfecting had taken over and left no energy for books.

You Brought Me the Ocean by Alex Sanchez ~ a Review

by MK French

Jake Hyde doesn't swim because his father had drowned. Living in New Mexico has few opportunities for swimming, though he yearns for the ocean on some level and applied for college in Florida despite his mother's urging to stay safe. He's also very attracted to Kenny Liu, the swim team captain. The markings on his skin glow blue in contact with water and is an oddity he can't explain. Does he hide all of this, or does he embrace all of himself?

Murder on a Mississippi Steamboat by Leighann Dobbs ~ a Review

by Donna Huber

I loved everything about Murder on a Mississippi Steamboat by Leighann Dobbs. It was the perfect summer cozy mystery.

Stranger In the Lake by Kimberly Belle ~ a Review

by MK French

Charlotte had a humble past when she married the widower Paul, leading to a lot of gossip in town. Her life with him starts to unravel when a woman is found drowned in the lake in the same spot his first wife was found. He denied ever seeing her before, but Charlotte had seen the two talking in town. The lie makes her begin to doubt him, and wonder what other secrets he hides.

Wonder Woman: Tempest Tossed by Laurie Halse Anderson ~ a Review

by MK French

Sixteen-year-old Diana sees a raft of refugees offshore from Themyscira and tries to rescue them. Unfortunately, she is swept away by the sea and is now a refugee as well. She has to navigate through the outside world and is witness to danger and injustice.