Quite a few finished

Finished July 14
Small Wonder: essays by Barbara Kingsolver
This wonderful collection of essays addresses the world as Kingsolver sees it. She pulls no punches about this time in history. The essays range from personal ones about her own family and environmental concerns to larger issues politically. Her writing is excellent and you can tell she is passionate about all the subjects she writes on. I found myself moved and inspired by these writings and left with hope for the future despite the obstacles currently facing humanity.

Queen's Court by Edward O. Phillips
This delightful novel follows Louise Bingham as she settle into life in Montreal after moving back there from Victoria after her husband died. She connects again with her cousin Diana, but worries about Diana relying on her too much for company. She also reconnects with a previous lover, and remembers why she ended the relationship, while not necessarily discarding future possibilities. In her new apartment, she finds the neighbour across the hall a bit full of himself and has suspicions about his motives. When her son, Craig, comes to visit, her adds to the mix and she discovers she really doesn't know him that well.
I really enjoyed this entertaining book.

Healing and the Mind by Bill Moyers
Moyers interviews a number of experts in the field of holistic medicine, finding out how they came to where they are in their practice, what they see as the realities of their practice and what are the issues. This was interesting, and the fact that it was written 15 years ago made it interesting to see advances, or lack thereof, in the different areas.

Finished July 13
A Fall from Grace by Robert Barnard
This mystery surrounds Detective Inspector Charlie Peace and his wife Felicity. The couple are moving in advance of the birth of their second child and, unexpectedly, Felicity's father offers to give them some money towards their house if he can live with or near them. Since Felicity does not like or get along with her self-centered father, they help him find a house nearby. As they settle into the new neighbourhood and become aware of some issues, they also learn of Rupert's real reason's for leaving his old town. They are already beginning to wonder about the relation of these problems when a death occurs and Charlie thinks it is murder, despite the local police opinion. I enjoyed this story, but found the plot a bit forced and the story light.

Why Can't a Man be More Like a Cat by Linda Kenner and Antonia van der Meer
I got this book from my mother-in-law who picked it up as a discard from Toronto Public Library. A nice little bit of humour about the differences between cats and men, although my cats don't always conform to these descriptions, and neither does my husband!

At Sixes and Sevens by Rosie Harrie, read by Nerys Hughes
Two sisters, who lived with the father, were quite different. Rhianon did all the work around the house and was taken for granted and blamed when anything went wrong. Serena was the pretty one who got everything she wanted and therefore expected everyone to fall in with her whims.
When Serena egged on her boyfriend and Rhianon's to fight, Serena's boyfriend was hurt badly and eventually died. Rhianon's boyfriend went to jail, but not before having a passionate moment with Serena and fathering a child. Rhianon took the child in to look after and Serena went back to her flirty ways while Pryce was in jail.
This story dragged a bit, and Rhianon, despite being described as intelligent, seemed too easily taken in by her sister. Rhianon was too good to be true, and Serena too bad. The characters didn't feel real.