Books I read in December 2016 (There were a bunch...)

I finally read some books in December...maybe because it was cold?  Or because some weekends (when I'm at the apartment) I don't have internet?  In any case, here's the list:
1.  The Slave Dancer (Paula Fox)--This was one of The Boy's "Junior Great Books" (Middle School book club) books.  I'm not sure with this one, as with many of the others, of what makes it a "great book".  It isn't a bad book, but I didn't love it either.  It is about a young boy in America in the early 1800's who is kidnapped and pressed into service aboard a slave ship.  There is a shipwreck and he is one of only two survivors.  It is allegedly based on a true story, sort of.
2.  The City Baker's Guide to Country Living (Louise Miller)-There was a cute excerpt in Reader's Digest a couple months ago and I requested the book from the library.  It was cute. The main character is a baker who is fired from her hoity-toity baking job in the city and goes to hide out at her best friend's house in the country.  She ends up working at a B and B. There is a love story that is cute and some friendships that are nice.
3.  Hostage Taker (Stephanie Pintoff)-Another book that was featured in Reader's Digest.  A mystery/thriller about a woman who works for the FBI as a hostage negotiator.  There is a sequel (see #5) and supposedly more will be added.  Good story, not predictable.
4.  Twisted (Hannah Jayne)-Picked it up in the teen section of the library while waiting for The Boy.  About a girl whose dad is allegedly a serial killer who disappeared when she was very young.  She has a new identity and a new foster family and there is a mystery.  Good mystery.
5.  City on Edge (Stephanie Pintoff)--Sequel to #3--develops the characters more. Another good suspenseful mystery.
6.  Turbo Twenty-Two (Jane Evanovich)--I was thrilled that my hold on this book became available during break (so I could read it almost in one sitting).  Like the other Stephanie Plum books, this one is a trashy mystery, but so entertaining.  Loved reading about Stephanie and her friends and their latest adventures.
7.  It Is Well (James Shipman)-Meh.  An Amazon reader (or whatever that is called) monthly (free) choice.  About a family in the Western US during WWII.  There was just a lot going on--maybe too much.  It was based on true events in the US, in Europe, and in the Pacific and sometimes felt like the author was trying too hard to connect all the pieces.
8.  Finding Fraser (KC Dyer)-Very cute book. The main character decides that since she is fired from her job at a coffee shop that she will go to Scotland and find a husband, like the Scottish main character from Outlander (Jamie Fraser).  She has lots of misadventures.  It's cute.
9.  See Jane Run (Hannah Jayne)-By the same author as #4.  It was interesting.  The main character thinks that she might have been abducted as a child. There is a mystery, some adventure, and then a solution.  Again, there was a lot going on--it was good, but not spectacular.
10.  Who do You Love?  (Jill Weiner)-Another cute book--seemed to be a lot this month.  Follows two people from they are kids until they are in their 40's.  They live in different towns and have very different lives, but their paths keep crossing.
11. White Picket Fences (Susan Meissner)-I really like Meissner's books, but sometimes the endings have me scratching my head--this was one of those.  It is about a modern family and a World War 2 mystery, but there is also a modern mystery about something that happened to one of the modern teenagers when he was a kid.  There isn't really a connection in the end.
12. A Sound Among the Trees (Susan Meissner)--Another modern story but this one has a Civil War mystery.  The story was really good, but about a third of the book was a Civil War diary.  It was a great story, but hard to follow as a diary. Seemed like a lot of time spent "listening" to one person's point of view instead of following everyone as characters.
13.Night Road (Kristin Hannah)--Really enjoyed this book-- there are a couple twists that I didn't see coming.  It follows a set of twins, the girl twins best friend, and the parents of the twins through high school and their 20's. There is a tragedy in the middle and some resolution very late in the book.  
14.  Take the Key and Lock Her Up (Ally Carter)--Waited a long time to read this--it is the 3rd in the Embassy Row series.  I think it is the last book in the series, although maybe not (it seemed like everything was pretty resolved?).  A quick read and answered "what happened" well.


That brings the total for 2016 to :87..not as spectacular as some years, but more than a book a week, so I guess I can't complain.
Stay tuned for my top 10 list...being calculated now!