Entombed, by Linda Fairstein (on CD)

Interesting, if a bit of a potboiler, about a team of two police detectives and a DA in New York investigating a series of women who have been attacked and/or raped over a long period of time, as well as trying to figure out who bricked up a woman in the basement of a brownstone. The cases are not related, but one of them revolved around Edgar A. Poe, his stories and his biography. Fun, though a bit cheesy at times. However, it was read by Barbara Rosenblatt, who remains the best female narrator in my opinion, with no one else being even close.

An Echo in the Bone, by Diana Gabaldon (on CD)

Holy COW, Diana! Is there ANY research that you've done that you have NOT included in the book?? So this covers less than two years (1776-1778) three countries (U.S., Scotland, and France), and 40 CDs!!!

I had to stop a couple of times and 'clear my palate' for a day or two, but I had to get back and finish the story...
...which left me hanging as far as Jemmy's fate, not to mention Claire, who is now a bigamist, and the whole Ian mess.

A Discovery of Witches, by Deborah Harkness

Wow. While not the best amalgam of history, fantasy, and romantic suspense, it's a pretty good story. We have a powerful witch who refuses to use her power, preferring to blend in with the human world, but that all ends when she 'draws' a coveted manuscript to her by accident. We have a powerful vampire who at first only wants the manuscript, then wants the witch herself. We have daemons--they are the eccentrics of the world, the savants.

And this is only the first book in a series. Wish I'd've known that when I picked it up.

Catalyst, by Laurie Halse Anderson (on CD)

I may have to read more by this author. And the reader was AWESOME!

The Lives They Left Behind : Suitcases from a State Hospital Attic by Darby Penney and Peter Stastny

If that photo is haunting enough...

About ten years ago Willard State Hospital in New York state was officially closed after operating for over 100 years as a mental institution. This book chronicles the lives of some of the patients there, as pieced together from the suitcases they brought with them. Apparently, after their arrival the patients never had access to their belongings again; the bags were stored in an attic in one of the buildings and essentially forgotten.

What is discovered about ten of the individuals whose suitcases were found is that none of them was particularly 'crazy' in the modern sense. The amazing thing is that with few exceptions everyone who came to Willard stayed until they died decades later. So, one woman was placed in care in her 30s because her neighbors thought she was odd stayed until she died...in her 90s! For all of the problems surrounding today's mental health care, keeping someone in a sanatorium for 50 years because they were depressed after the death of a family member is not one of them.

This is a sad book, about sad people whose lives were taken away from them. It's an indictment of the medical field as a whole, and also of our culture. It was (is?) quite easy for society to believe that women and minorities who speak up about their mistreatment or who don't 'fit in' generally must be crazy (or criminal). While some great changes have come about in the past few decades, the closure of Willard State Hospital only happened in 1995. That's not that long ago, really.

The Running of Beasts, by Bill Pronzini & Barry Malzberg

This was originally published in 1976, so it's a little dated, but the subject of serial killers has (unfortunately) remained current. The story takes place in a small upstate New York town in which three women have been killed. The state police and the town police are at odds, and the town is ramping up toward hysteria. We are allowed inside the minds of several main characters with the understanding that any one of them could be the killer. The state investigator is fighting off an ulcer and trying to solve the murders through deduction and logic. The chief constable is using his gut and his knowledge of the vicinity to try to figure out who the killer is. One local man is attempting to use these murders as his big writing break; he is writing a book detailing the investigation. One man is watching his 'career' as a pony gambler crash around him, and trying desperately not to start drinking again. None of these men are happy, they all have reasons to have suppressed rage against women.

Do we find out who the bad guy is? No. Well, not really. OK, no. The ending makes it a good discussion book, though.