Books to Read After Running

by Sally Drake and Mark Mindel


Writers and Lovers by Lily King

A lovely and hopeful novel about a young writer, Casey Peabody, grieving her mother’s death as she writes her first novel and navigates life in Boston in the mid-1990s.  Casey is a sensitive and open hearted character and her experience offers a poignant look at the inner life of writers, how they work, how they balance personal emotion with their craft and how they manage to make a living as artists. Casey is also vulnerable and imperfect, making her highly sympathetic and relatable.

Separation Anxiety by Laura Zigman

An often hilarious novel about a mother’s midlife crisis, this was a perfect birthday read for this midlife reader! Judy attaches to her dog as an attempt to manage her increasing separation from her teenage son, her dysfunctional marriage, failing career, and her best friend’s cancer. Amidst all of this drama that escalates into madcap adventures with an eclectic cast of characters, Judy manages to focus on the connections that matter and find strength in the love all around her.  This was a wacky, fun and sweet read.

In Five Years by Rebecca Serle

An intense, vivid dream shakes the reality of type-A corporate lawyer Dannie Cohan who thought her ambitious life was on course for a high-powered career, a perfect marriage and adventures with her free-willed best friend. The dream though was a premonition of a heartbreaking series of events that challenges all she felt was secure in her life. This is a very emotional story about friendship, loyalty and destiny balanced with moments of levity and a lovely NYC backdrop.



Fear Nothing (Detective D.D. Warren #7) By Lisa Gardner 
It doesn't get much better than a Lisa Gardner/ D.D. Warren book! We open with a jolt as D.D. is nearly killed being tossed down a staircase as she re-visits a crime scene only to come upon the killer, who is back to take it all in. Rehabbing her injured shoulder, D.D. meets up with Dr. Adeline Glen, a renowned pain psychiatrist, who also happens to be the daughter of the dead serial killer Harry Day and the sister of incarcerated Shana Day, who began killing at the young age of 14! Adeline was only one when Harry killed himself rather than being taken alive by the Boston Police Department. Older sister Shana was trouble from the get-go, but Adeline was lucky to be adopted by a caring, loving genetics doctor after it was discovered Adeline had an extremely rare disease ~ she can't feel any pain. But the old Nature vs. Nurture question looms in the back...can Adeline avoid her genetics or is there some “killer” in her too? Well...the cases all tie together as D.D. with the help of her husband, forensic scientist Alex, and partner Phil, begin chasing down the Rose Killer (so-named for leaving a rose and bottle of champagne at the scene of his murders). However, he also skins his victims (post-mortem, luckily for them) and slices off 153 pieces of their skin, the exact same number Harry used to do! It all comes to a crescendo as the Rose Killer goes for the coup de grâce, attempting to kill both Shana and Adeline. Can D.D. stop him before it's too late? You'll have to read it to find out. 

Killer Instinct (Instinct #2), by James Patterson and Howard Roughan
 A fairly new series by the King of Mystery, James Patterson, who teams with Howard Roughan.  Professor (and ex-CIA operative) Dylan Reinhardt and FBI Terrorist Task Force Special Agent, Elizabeth (Lizzie) Needham, come together again as they chase down several intertwined cases involving the biggest act of terrorism to hit NYC since the 9/11 towers were hit. Dylan happens to be married and has adopted child from South Africa. In instinct #1 when Dylan and Lizzie teamed up to stop a serial killer, it was insinuated that they were a couple, but that's in the past. Now they team up with various other agents to try to stop a mass bombing in Grand Central station by an Unsub (unknown subject) simply known as the Mudir, who is so ruthless he recruits 13 disciples and when one has the nerve to ask him why there are only 12 AK 47's for them, he simply shoots the one who questioned his authority. That's one way to earn respect! You'll have to read Killer Instinct to find out if Dylan and Lizzie can stop the mass destruction.



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