The Secret Speech by Tom Rob Smith - 4 Stars

 "Soviet Union, 1956. Stalin is dead, and a violent regime is beginning to fracture-leaving behind a society where the police are the criminals, and the criminals are innocent. A secret speech composed by Stalin's successor Khrushchev is distributed to the entire nation. Its message: Stalin was a tyrant. Its promise: The Soviet Union will change.

Facing his own personal turmoil, former state security officer Leo Demidov is also struggling to change. The two young girls he and his wife Raisa adopted have yet to forgive him for his part in the death of their parents. They are not alone. Now that the truth is out, Leo, Raisa, and their family are in grave danger from someone consumed by the dark legacy of Leo's past career. Someone transformed beyond recognition into the perfect model of vengeance."

I picked this one up for Fly the PBT Skies, but it's not normally something I would read. I did read the first one in this series, and enjoyed it, so I thought I'd give this one a try. I really enjoyed it. For the most part it was fast paced and had several unexpected twists. For me, it was a little long, but other than that I liked it.

Ladies' Night by Mary Kay Andrews - 4 Stars

Grace Stanton has the ideal life: husband, large house, job as an online lifestyles blogger. But that all changes when she finds her husband cheating with her young assistant and she decides to drive his fancy sports car right into their backyard pool. 

Grace finds herself locked out of her house, her checking account, and just about everything else in her life. To make matters worse, the judge orders her to a mandatory divorce "rehab" group. Here Grace meets 3 other women and one man who have been ordered to attend the same group as her. 

The members of the group all feel they've been scorned by their exes and when their "divorce coach" starts to act oddly, the group sets out to find out the reasoning behind her behavior. 

Grace wades her way through heartache, laughter, and a little bit of mystery and discovers the things she needs to do to put her life back together.

I thought this was a really cute read. There were some bits I would have left out because I did think it was a little on the long side, but over all it was a good read. I will probably check out some more of the author's books. 

Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri - 2 Stars

 This is a book of short stories that take place between India and America. It should have been a quick read since it was right around 200 pages. But I had a really hard time getting through this one. One of the stories is described as having an astonishing confession, but I didn't find anything shocking about it. I just thought the story was weird. A couple of the stories were ok, but overall, I just did not enjoy it. 

The Madman's Daughter by Megan Shepherd - 5 Stars

 Inspired by The Island of Dr Moreau, the story follows the doctor's daughter, Juliet, to the isolated island that the doctor is now living. Juliet's privileged life fell apart when her father was accused of gruesomely experimenting on animals. Juliet thought that her father was dead, but learns that he is living on a remote tropical island. Juliet sets off with her father's assistant, Montgomery, to the island. Along the way, a castaway, Edward is picked up and all 3 end up in a nightmare on the island. Juliet aims to stop her father's experiments, but at what cost?

When I first started this one, I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to finish it. It ended up being like a rollercoaster, though. It was slow, then fast, then slow, then fast. LOL! There were spots that I flew through, excited to get through to the next chapter. There were 2 twists towards the end that I didn't expect, but quite enjoyed. This is the first in a trilogy, but I'm not sure if I will read the other 2 or not.

Before and Again by Barbara Delinsky - 5 Stars

 Mackenzie Cooper caused a car accident that not only took her child, but caused her to lose her marriage and friends as well. Now she is living in a quiet town in Vermont as Maggie Reid. She has rebuilt her life and is happy. She only has a few months of probation left and she just needs to fly under the radar until that is over.
But soon a close friend's son is thrown into national spotlight for hacking a famous person's Twitter account. Maggie must decide how much she is willing to help her friend without undoing everything she has built in her new life.

This was a really good book and I read half of it in just 2 days! The story line moved well and there were several different issues that Maggie was dealing with throughout the story. The end was very touching and there were parts that almost made me cry.

Key Lime Pie Murder by Joanne Fluke - 4 Stars

 Hannah Swenson has a busy week with the ti-county fair going on. She's baking cookies for a booth at the fair as well as judging the dessert contest. Hannah is on the fair grounds late one night when she finds her fellow judge, Willa, dead.
As usual, Hannah sets out to find the killer and find out who would want Willa dead.

This is a typical cozy mystery, but I really enjoy this series and this one was just as good as the others.

Akata Witch by Nnedi Okoafor - 4 Stars

 Sunny is a 12 year old girl who was born in America, but is living in Nigeria. She has African features, but is Albino. She loves to play soccer, but can't be out in the sun. Sunny feels that she doesn't fit in anywhere.
But soon she finds out that she is part of a magical community. She is soon paired with 3 other children who have different magical abilities. The 4 of them are learning their abilities, but must band together to defeat an evil being trying to destroy the world.

The book has been dubbed the Nigerian Harry Potter and it lives up to that. I felt like I was reading Harry Potter, but set in a different country.
This tag is out of my comfort zone, but I really enjoy Harry Potter, so when I seen this one I thought I'd give it a try. I am glad that I did. I really enjoyed it. This is a series and book 2 is out, so I may put that on my wish list.