This month we are reviewing the book The Silent Wife by A.S.A. Harrison

The Silent Wife by A.S.A. Harrison
Jodi and Todd are at a bad place in their marriage. Much is at stake, including the affluent life they lead in their beautiful waterfront condo in Chicago, as she, the killer, and he, the victim, rush haplessly toward the main event. He is a committed cheater. She lives and breathes denial. He exists in dual worlds. She likes to settle scores. He decides to play for keeps. She has nothing left to lose. Told in alternating voices, The Silent Wife is about a marriage in the throes of dissolution, a couple headed for catastrophe, concessions that can’t be made, and promises that won’t be kept.

Reviews
“I found this book a little difficult to get into, but after the first couple of chapters I was hooked. I enjoyed the development of the characters and I thought the story line was engaging and even provided a bit of a twist at the end. I would recommend this book.” – Review by Shelley

“The Silent Wife was a great read. Initially it grabbed me with the depiction of what seemed a somewhat ‘typical’ 20 year relationship and the slow demise of it. The author develops the characters by writing the chapters from his perspective and hers. It was interesting to read the way long term couples learn to keep a relationship together by turning a blind eye to their partner’s alternate life and who they really are so they can maintain a facade to the public and maintain the status quo. But ultimately when people make choices they have to learn to live with the consequences of their actions. The book kept me up late at night, it was a good page turner! I would recommend it.” – Review by Maureen

“For the most part, I was angry at Jodi for her composure and confidence during the falling apart of her common law marriage. But at the same time, I also respected her, which made it very frustrating. As her ‘husband’ Todd spirals out of control, my contempt for him turned to pity as he makes his own bed. This book is a well written emotionally charged page turner. I enjoyed the twists and turns, particularly the ones at the end.” – Review by Susie

Book of the Month
Every month we will be featuring a new book to be showcased in our Book of the Month. Staff members and friends will be reading the book and posting their reviews. We’d love to hear what you thought of these books as well. Post your comments and let us know.

This month we are reviewing the book A House in the Sky by Amanda Lindhout & Sara Corbett

A House in the Sky by Amanda Lindhout & Sara Corbett
At the age of nineteen, Amanda Lindhout moved from her hardscrabble hometown to the big city and worked as a cocktail waitress, saving her tips so she could travel the globe. Aspiring to understand the world and live a significant life, she backpacked through Latin America, Laos, Bangladesh, and India, and went on to Sudan, Syria, and Pakistan. In war-ridden Afghanistant and Iraq, she carved out a fledgling career as a reporter. And then, in August 2008, she traveled to Somalia – “the most dangerous place on earth” – to report on the fighting there. On her fourth day in the country, she and her photojournalist companion were abducted.
A House in the Sky illuminates the psychology, motivations, and desperate extremism of Lindhout’s young guards and the men in charge of them. Kept in chains and subjected to horrific abuse, she survives by imagining herself in a “house in the sky”, finding strength and hope in the power of her own mind. Her story is a moving testament to the power of compassion and forgiveness.

Reviews
“I found this story to be a great read. The strength and determination Amanda demonstrates throughout her harrowing ordeal is truly amazing. This is a story told from a unique perspective and while, at times it is devastating; there are many opportunities throughout the book where I found myself reflecting on how fortunate we are to live in North America and to have all the freedoms we so easily take for granted. I would definitely recommend this book.” – Review by Shelley

“A riveting true story of a young Canadian woman’s love of exotic travel that startlingly leads to a harrowing imprisonment in Somalia, ‘the most dangerous place on earth’. Her fearlessness, courage and will to survive captured me from start to end.” – Review by Eva

Book of the Month
Every month we will be featuring a new book to be showcased in our Book of the Month. Staff members and friends will be reading the book and posting their reviews. We’d love to hear what you thought of these books as well. Post your comments and let us know.

This month we are reviewing the book Open House by Elizabeth Berg. Now available at London Drugs for 30% off our everyday low price.

Open House by Elizabeth Berg
In this superb novel by the beloved author of Talk Before Sleep, The Pull of the Moon, and Until the Real Thing Comes Along, a woman re-creates her life after divorce by opening up her house and her heart.
Samantha’s husband has left her, and after a spree of overcharging at Tiffany’s, she settles down to reconstruct a life for herself and her eleven-year-old son. Her eccentric mother tries to help by fixing her up with dates, but a more pressing problem is money. To meet her mortgage payments, Sam decides to take in boarders. The first is an older woman who offers sage advice and sorely needed comfort; the second, a maladjusted student, is not quite so helpful. A new friend, King, an untraditional man, suggests that Samantha get out, get going, get work. But her real work is this: In order to emerge from grief and the past, she has to learn how to make her own happiness. In order to really see people, she has to look within her heart. And in order to know who she is, she has to remember–and reclaim–the person she used to be, long before she became someone else in an effort to save her marriage. Open House is a love story about what can blossom between a man and a woman, and within a woman herself.

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Good to a Fault by Marina Endicott In a moment of self-absorption, Clara Purdy’s life takes a sharp left turn when she crashes into a beat-up car carrying an itinerant family of six. The Gage family had been travelling to a new life in Fort McMurray, but bruises on the mother, Lorraine, prove to be late-stage cancer rather than remnants of the accident. Recognizing their need as her responsibility, Clara tries to do the right thing and moves the children, husband, and horrible grandmother into her own house–then has to cope with the consequences of practical goodness.

What, exactly, does it mean to be good? When is sacrifice merely selfishness? What do we owe in this life and what do we deserve? Marina Endicott looks at life and death through the compassionate lens of a born novelist: being good, being at fault, and finding some balance on the precipice.

“I found the characters in this book a little hard to relate to. They were either so good that people walked all over them or they were terribly selfish and cruel. I found myself hoping that one of the bad characters would get caught or face some kind of repercussions for their actions. I did really enjoy the storyline. The idea of all these people coming together to help one another out and becoming a family among themselves made for a nice story.”  – Kelly