The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

 Despite the tumour-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel's story is about to be completely rewritten. 

A beautiful, honest, heartrending story of life, death, and love.  Had me laughing and crying, at times while reading the same page.  A beautiful, brilliant read.

Brownies and Broomsticks by Bail Cates

Katie Lightfoot's tired of loafing around as the assistant manager of an Ohio bakery. So when her aunt Lucy and uncle Ben open a bakery in Savannah's quaint downtown district and ask Katie to join them, she enthusiastically agrees.

While working at the Honeybee Bakery—named after Lucy's cat—Katie notices that her aunt is adding mysterious herbs to her recipes. Turns out these herbal enhancements aren't just tasty—Aunt Lucy is a witch and her recipes are actually spells!

When a curmudgeonly customer is murdered outside the Honeybee Bakery, Uncle Ben becomes the prime suspect. With the help of handsome journalist Steve Dawes, charming firefighter Declan McCarthy, and a few spells, Katie and Aunt Lucy stir up some toil and trouble to clear Ben's name and find the real killer.. 

Witches, mystery and a hint of romance....with recipes. Very enjoyable light and silly read.

Death of a Hussy by M C Beaton

Maggie Baird is neither kind nor generous, but she is very, very rich. So it's no real surprise that when her car catches fire, with her inside it, there are five likely candidates for the role of murderer. All had been houseguests at her luxurious highland home - Maggie's timid niece and four former lovers, one of whom Maggie was intending to pick for a husband. All five of them are broke and all had the opportunity. So sorting through this embarrassment of suspects will require all of PC Hamish Macbeth's celtic common sense and insight into human nature. 

Great title, pity about the story.  Unlikeable characters, including the supposed hero. Baddie was a bit of a surprise but by the time I got to the end of the book I didn't really care whodunit.

Obedience by Jacqueline Yallop

Sister Bernard has lived in a grey-stone convent in rural France for more than seventy years. In that time, a once youthful and lively cloister has gradually emptied, until only Bernard and two other nuns remain. Now, the three women pack away their few possessions into wooden boxes, preparing to leave the building that has been their home for decades.

For the nuns, the closing of the convent means more than losing a home; the walls have shielded them from a changing modern world, for Sister Bernard the quiet monotony of the religious life has protected her from memories of the past - the disgrace of when she was a young woman in wartime France; when her devotion to God faded in the face of her need for a young Nazi soldier; and when she experienced the full horror and violence of war.

Left me feeling very sad. She was betrayed by everyone, even the boy she loved, the Mother Superior of her convent and the local priest.

A Year At The Races by Jane Smiley

Every horse story is a love story,” writes Jane Smiley, who has loved horses for most of her life and owned and bred them for a good part of it. To love something is to observe it with more than usual attention, and that is precisely what Smiley does in this irresistibly smart, witty, and engaging chronicle of her obsession.

In particular she follows a sexy filly named Waterwheel and a grey named Wowie (he “tells” a horse communicator that he wants it changed from Hornblower) as they begin careers at the racetrack. Filled with humor and suspense, and with discourses on equine intelligence, affection, and character 

I enjoyed the bits about the horses personalities and incidents involving her horses. I skimmed over the bits about different racecourses, costs involved in owning racehorses and some of the dryer stuff about research into horses personalities.

Overall an interesting if not enthralling read.

The Lantern by Deborah Lawrenson

When Eve falls for the secretive, charming Dom, their whirlwind relationship leads them to Les GenÉvriers, an abandoned house set among the fragrant lavender fields of the south of France. Deeply in love and surrounded by music, books, and the heady summer scents of the French countryside, Eve has never felt more alive. But as verdant summer fades to golden autumn, the grand house's strange and troubling mysteries begin to unfold—and Eve now must uncover its every secret . . . before dark history can repeat itself.

From the first words I was enchanted with wonderful descriptions.

There are two stories in alternating chapters of the book, one about modern-day Eve and her lover Dominic, who have bought a rundown but charming farmhouse Les Genevriers, and the other about Benedicte Lincel and her family, the house's former owners perhaps a half century or more before.

Benedicte's story was stronger, more compelling and more interesting than Eve's. Dom's mystery was a bit overdone and I got to the point where I really didn't care about it. It was Benedicte's story that kept me reading. 

Still Life by Joy Fielding

Beautiful, happily married and the owner of a successful interior design business, Casey Marshall couldn't be more content with her life. Until a car slams into her at almost fifty miles an hour, breaking nearly every bone in her body, and plunging her into a coma. Lying in her hospital bed, Casey realizes that although she is unable to see or communicate, she can hear everything. She quickly discovers that her friends aren't necessarily the people she thought them to be - and that her accident might not have been an accident at all. As she struggles to break free from her living death, she begins to wonder if what lies ahead could be even worse.

An ok read, by the time of the big reveal of who arranged for her to be hit it was no huge surprise.