A Morning For Flamingos by James Lee Burke
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Dave and his partner are transporting Tee Beau and Jimmy Lee Boggs to Angola prison. Jimmy Lee tricks them and kills Dave's partner and shoots Dave. Dave goes undercover to try and get Cardo (drug dealer) and to maybe get close to Boggs. Dave hooks up with Cardo through Lionel and Fotnent, two dead beats. At a drug buy Lionel and Fotnent are are going to rip off the drugs but get killed in a bust. Dave runs into old girlfriend Bootsie, and Cletus goes undercover to help him, and there is also Kim Dollinger. Dave gets close to Cardo, spending time at his house, and learn he has a disabled boy, who he treasures. Things come to a head, Boggs drowns after being shot, Dave lets Cardo and his son go free. Dave marries Bootsie and Kim and Cletus hook up.

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The Winter Palace: A Novel of Catherine the Great by Eva Stachniak
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Great story, good Russian history, Barbara is Catherine friend and confident from childhood to when Catherine takes the throne. Catherine begins to question Barbara's child about things, Barbara feels betrayed and ends up in Poland on small estate. 2nd book to come, will read it if I don't read something else about Catherine first.

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Year of Wonders: A Novel of the Plague by Geraldine Brooks
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a heavy book. A young woman, Anna Frith, lives through a year of the Plague in a tiny town in England. She loses everyone she loves, including her two young children, year 1666. Michael and Elinor Mompellion, rector and wife, she is killed by Aphra, Anna stepmother, Michael turns out to be WACKED, never loved his wife cause he was making her repent from earlier sex before marriage. Anna escapes to Middle East.

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Only Time Will Tell by Jeffrey Archer
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Harry Clifton, Giles Barrington, and Denkins ... Harry's dad is welded inside ship, Hugo Barrington does nothing to stop this, Hugo is also Harry's real dad, Harry and Emma's wedding is stopped on the altar By Old Jack. Harry on ship, ship torpedoed, Harry decides to take on Tom Bradshaw's identity, Harry is arrested for murder when he gets off of rescue boat in NY.

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The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Charlie and Eli Sisters are killers working for the Commodore, they are sent to kill Herman Kermit Warm. Quite the trip to SF, they find Warm and the scout, Herny Morris that was sent before them to find Warm. The two of them are on a claim using Warm formula to reveal gold in the creek. The 'formula' does the trick but poisons them, Warm and Morris die, Charlie hand is burned by the formula and the loses it. Indians steal the gold, stash hidden in Mayfield stolen, stash at home stolen. They end up at their Mothers home SAFE and at peace. Loaded with life lessons on every page woven into the very quirky story. The horses were Tub and Nimble.

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Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Jacob is at Cornell Vet school, his parents die in auto crash, fathers home and vet business taken by bank. Jacob in shock is not able to take final exams. Ends up jumping a Circus train, run by Evil Uncle Al and August. Jacob gets on as vet for circus, falls in love with Marlena, August's wife, and befriends Camel (becomes cripple from drinking Jake), and Walter ("Kinko" dwarf clown with Queenie the dog). Things turn bad and Camel and Walter are redlighted from train both die, next day there is a stampede August is killed by Roise, (the elephant) and Uncle Al is killed by those redlighted and others. Jacob, Marlena, Roise , Bobo (the monkey) and horses join Ringling Bros. Story told by 93 year old Jacob, who makes his way to circus in town where in lives in nursing home, ends up in the RV of circus manager, who takes Jacob away from Nursing home to join the circus for his remaining days.

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The Invisible Bridge by Julie Orringer
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Great book about the Hungarian Jews in WWII, too much of a love story for a good part of the book, therefore my 3 stars. Andras, Klara, Polaner, and Jozef survive and migrate to NY.

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