92. A Lighthouse for the Lonely Heart by Scott William Carter

#5 Garrison Gage
listened - Audible/own
narrated by Steven Roy Grimsley
Unabridged audio (11:04)
2017 Flying Raven Press
406 pgs.
Adult Mystery
Finished 9/26/2019
Goodreads rating: 4.19 - 219 ratings
My rating:  3.5
Setting: Contemporary Coastal Oregon

First line/s:  "The ocean churned, wild and unforgiving, buffeting the boat from all sides."

My comments:  Didn't enjoy this quite as much as some of the previous, though it was entertaining and not unlikable.  In this one, Gage does some sleuthing for a very famous female singer - who he ends up having a relationships with - before she is kidnapped.  Quite a bit of on-the-edge-of-your-seat suspense and adventure, and lots and lots of hand-to-hand, face-to-face fighting.

Goodreads synopsis:  They find his body at the bottom of Heceta Head Lighthouse—Ed Boone, a longtime volunteer who commits suicide rather than see his grim diagnosis to its bitter end. The strangeness of the old man's death makes the local news, but Garrison Gage thinks little of it until the famous Nora West sneaks into town with an unsettling letter in hand.
          Professing he wants to go to his grave with a clear conscience, Ed claims to be Nora's biological father. But the revelation stirs up all kinds of complicated emotions for the talented but troubled musician, who hires Gage to find out the truth.
          Yet the truth may be a lot more disturbing — and dangerous — than either of them expect.

63. The Line Tender by Kate Allen

listened to on Audible, borrowed from the libraryread BEAUTIFULLY by Jenna Larnia
Unabridged audio (7:20)
2019 Dutton
384 pgs.
Middle grade CRF
Finished 7/16/19
Goodreads rating:  4.29 - 541 ratings
My rating: 4.5
Setting: Not-quite-contemporary Rockport, Massachusetts

First line/s:  "The morning the great white came to Rockport, my best friend and I were sticking our fingers into the coin returns of every pay phone in town."

My comments:  This is my 2019 version of Bridge to Terabithia...at least that's how I feel during and after reading this.  I love the setting: Rockport, Massachusetts, which becomes almost like a character in the book.  I love the multi-generational  cast of characters, and the forays to Boston, the coast of Maine, and Cape Cod.  I don't know how Lucy handled everything that was thrown at her this summer before 8th grade, but she is one strong female character and I adore her.

Goodreads synopsis: The Line Tender is the story of Lucy, the daughter of a marine biologist and a rescue diver, and the summer that changes her life. If she ever wants to lift the cloud of grief over her family and community, she must complete the research her late mother began. She must follow the sharks.
           Wherever the sharks led, Lucy Everhart’s marine-biologist mother was sure to follow. In fact, she was on a boat far off the coast of Massachusetts, preparing to swim with a Great White, when she died suddenly. Lucy was eight. Since then Lucy and her father have done OK—thanks in large part to her best friend, Fred, and a few close friends and neighbors. But June of her twelfth summer brings more than the end of school and a heat wave to sleepy Rockport. On one steamy day, the tide brings a Great White—and then another tragedy, cutting short a friendship everyone insists was “meaningful” but no one can tell Lucy what it all meant. To survive the fresh wave of grief, Lucy must grab the line that connects her depressed father, a stubborn fisherman, and a curious old widower to her mother’s unfinished research. If Lucy can find a way to help this unlikely quartet follow the sharks her mother loved, she’ll finally be able to look beyond what she’s lost and toward what’s left to be discovered.

7. The Gray and Guilty Sea by Jack Nolte - now using his real name, Scott William Carter

Garrison Gage #1
Listened on Audible
Audio read by Steven Roy Grimsley
2010 Flying Raven Press
268 pgs.
Adult Murder Mystery
Finished 2-13-17 while unpacking my house
Goodreads rating: 3.82 (3087 ratings)
My rating: 4
Setting: Contemporary Oregon coast - small town tourist community

My comments:  This book was a nice discovery.  It had a really interesting external mystery as well as the protagonist's internal turmoils about his past, present, disabilities, and relationship hangups.  Garrison Gage has a curmudgeonly wit and a really good detective's way of looking at evidence and coming up with numerous possibilities.  I also really enjoyed the writing - there were super descriptions without being tedious; similes and metaphors that made me smile; and some really beautiful language.  I look forward to the next in the series, not only to see if and how his previously-retired private investigations will continue, but what he's going to do about the burgeoning relationships that have been forged in this book.

Goodreads synopsis:  A curmudgeon. An iconoclast. A loner. That's how people describe Garrison Gage, and that's when they're being charitable. After his wife is brutally murdered in New York, and Gage himself is beaten nearly to death, the crippled misanthrope retreats three thousand miles to the quaint coastal town of Barnacle Bluffs, Oregon. He spends the next five years in a convalescent stupor, content to bide his time filling out crossword puzzles and trying to forget that his wife's death is his fault. But all that changes when he discovers the body of a young woman washed up on the beach, and his conscience draws him back into his old occupation, forcing him to confront the demons of his own guilt before he can hope to solve the girl's murder.

35. This is What Happy Looks Like - Jennifer E. Smith

2013 Little Brown & Co.

407 pgs.

YA CRF

Finished 6/7/2014

Goodreads Rating: 3.71

My Rating:  4/Really liked it a lot

TPPL

Setting: Contemporary small-town southern Maine coast

1^st sentence/s:  (email) "Hey, we're running pretty behind here.  Any chance you could walk Wilbur for me tonight?"

My comments:  This is a charming story of unlikely teenagers in a place very familiar to me -- smalltown coastal Maine. Although over 400 pages it was a fast read, all in one day - and you can't keep telling yourself how improbable it all is.  Just take it as it is, a sweet, feel-good, thoughtful kind of tale.

Goodreads Review:  If fate sent you an email, would you answer?
          When teenage movie star Graham Larkin accidentally sends small town girl Ellie O'Neill an email about his pet pig, the two seventeen-year-olds strike up a witty and unforgettable correspondence, discussing everything under the sun, except for their names or backgrounds. 
          Then Graham finds out that Ellie's Maine hometown is the perfect location for his latest film, and he decides to take their relationship from online to in-person. But can a star as famous as Graham really start a relationship with an ordinary girl like Ellie? And why does Ellie want to avoid the media's spotlight at all costs.

53. The Day Before - Lisa Schroeder

2011, Simon Pulse
Goodreads rating: 4.00
cag: 4
for: YA
309 pages
paper $9,99

Setting:  Contemporary Oregon coast
First line/s:  Some mornings,/it's hard to get/out of bed.

Written in verse, the story pulls you right in and along. Easy-to-read in one two-hour sitting, leaves a lot to think about. Two young people head to the beach for one last day before some pretty major events will change their lives forever. Very likable teens, Cade and Amber.  They meet when their eyes meet at the jellyfish tank at the aquarium.

Beautiful writing:

I like

the memories
because they remind me
I haven't always been
this girl,
constantly
mad or scared
or confused.

I don't like

the memories
because the tears
come easily,
and once again I break
my promise 
to myself for this day.

It's a constant battle.