i read these two books in the past few weeks and l.o.v.e.d. them. it's a rare thing to have not one, but TWO superb book in the space of two weeks. so i'm passing 'em on to you. enjoy!

What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty

you know that book that grabs your attention? the one that hangs on so tightly that you don't want to do anything else--eat, watch TV, run errands (okay, who ever wants to do those?), sleep? this was one of those. i sat in a chair for hours, flipping page after page. it's a story about a woman who blacks out at the gym and wakes up to find that she's no longer 29...but 39. bewildered, Alice tries to make sense of her life and the fact that not only does she have three kids, but her adored husband is apparently not the love of her life anymore. it turns out, she's actually getting a divorce. this is a book about love, marriage, and figuring out who you truly are. i told my sister to skip the library (the wait for this book is horribly long) and run to the bookstore to pick up a copy. it's that good.

The Invisible Code by Christopher Fowler

the oddest experience is when i find an author who's okay: i enjoy reading his books, but they're not spell binding--and then. then. he wows me a mystery that i just can't put down. Fowler is that author. maybe this is an odd sort of review to write (after all, i'm essentially telling you that not all his books are amazing). but The Invisible Code and White Corridor are truly superb. Detectives Bryant and May are a couple of odd ducks. well, Bryant is. he's old and crabby; his pockets are always a jumble of the oddest knick knacks (or stale bits of food); his crime solving methods are unorthodox; but he's good at solving unusual mysteries. he, May, and an interesting cast of employees comprise the Peculiar Crimes Unit, a branch of the London Police Department. this time, a woman is found inside a church with no indication of how or why she died. after some difficulty, Bryant gets the case assigned to Peculiar Crimes, only to find himself tasked with the additional problem of figuring out why his boss' wife is going crazy and what witchcraft has to do with it. i love Fowler's descriptions of London; the British expressions tossed in; and the colorful cast of characters.