Moral Disorder by Margaret Atwood

This is supposedly a series of short stories and they probably each could stand on their own but as they all revolve around the life of one woman, I think I read it more as a novel.

Its about a life and the other lives that intertwine with it and nothing exceptional happens but the ordinary and sometimes messy elements of that life. Atwood is brilliant at getting inside her characters heads and in particular – something I’ve always admired – the minds of children and teenagers through the difficult process of growing up and trying to understand the adult world. She’s also pretty good at the feelings and frustrations engendered by ageing.

She touches on all sorts of themes, including attitudes to mental health and to marriage and adultery, to survival at various levels – but most of all I think this is about memory and story telling and how they intertwine, an appropriate theme for an author with a long career and rich life behind her.

As usual with Margaret Atwood's books it has left me feeling quietly satisfied and rather thoughtful.

I always enjoy reading her books and find that they linger in my mind.

The Laird of Stonehaven by Connie Mason

He appeared nightly in her dreams -- magnificently, blatantly naked. A man whose body was sheer perfection, whose face was hardened by desire, whose voice made it plain he would have her and no other. Blair MacArthur was a Faery Woman, and healing was her life. But legend foretold she would lose her powers if she gave her heart to the wrong man. So the last thing she wanted was an arranged marriage. Especially to the Highland laird who already haunted her midnight hours with images too tempting for any woman to resist.

Blair is a strong and powerful woman. She is a faery woman, with the powers of healing and foresight. Blair must fight against people who try to take her life, claiming her to be a witch.
The hero is so hot! Brave, honorable, strong, everything you want in a man.

The Concubine's Tattoo by Laura Joh Rowland

When the shogun's favorite concubine is found poisoned, the discovery interrupts Sano's wedding feast as well as unleash a host of concerns. Was the killing an attempt to keep the shogun from begetting an heir? Will someone use the crime as a pretext for getting a rival out of the way?

Sano has good reason to be doubly concerned about the case: failure to find the culprit could mean a visit to the execution ground for himself, his assistant and his family.

Sano is also distracted by his bride, who is spirited and unconventional.

The well-researched picture of ancient Japan is fascinating, and the mysteries are quite good.

Bonk by Mary Roach

Few things are as fundamental to human happiness as sex, and few writers are as entertaining about the subject as Mary Roach. Can a woman think herself to orgasm? Is your penis three inches longer than you think? Why doesn't Viagra help women - or, for that matter, pandas? Does orgasm boost fertility? Or cure hiccups? The study of sexual physiology - what happens, and why, and how to make it happen better - has been taking place behind closed doors for hundreds of years. In this fascinating and funny book, Mary Roach steps inside laboratories, brothels, pig farms, sex-toy R&D labs - even Alfred Kinsey's attic - to tell us everything we wanted to know about sex, and a lot we'd never even thought to ask.

Mary Roach has a gift for language and uses it, taking material that could be somewhat dry and turning it into page turning reading.

I couldn't help chuckling to myself at times, which got me weird looks at work when I was asked what I was reading and I'm sure my family enjoyed me telling them the highlights of whay I had read that day over the dinner table.

Lucky Child by Loung Ung

Lucky Child contrasts life for Loung as a refugee in America, with her sister Chou's life in rural Cambodia, and it's a revealing and moving comparison. Loung, with lasting feelings of guilt for those she'd left behind, found it difficult to fit in, whilst Chou, resigned to her fate, displayed the resilience and inner strength that is apparent in so many of her fellow countrymen and women.

A riveting story whose tragedy, depth, and detail is only matched by its beauty, grace, and strength.

Hazel's Journey: A Personal Experience of Alzheimer's by Sue Pieters-Hawke

An interesting read about Hazel Hawke and how she and her family are affected by the "big A".

The Men Who Stare at Goats by Jon Ronson

This is a tale about people who are completely nuts. Unfortunately, many of these people who are completely nuts hold or have held senior positions in the United States military.