Oryx and Crake (Margaret Atwood)

This tragic and gripping post-apocalyptic tale jumps back and forth through the life of young Jimmy who grows into solitary, doomed Snowman. It starts grimly enough, with the world divided into the gated, guarded, isolated Compounds of the elite, and the desolate, chaotic Pleeblands. As Jimmy grows, the world lurches more an more into an ecological disaster. He befriends a cynical genius named Crake, and finally meets Oryx, the object of his childhood fantasies, just as the final catastrophe befalls the human race. The origins of that catastrophe, and how it relates to Crake, Oryx, and the strange people who survive, makes for an enthralling, heartbreaking story.

A Test of Wills (Charles Todd)

A very interesting psychological mystery set in England just after WWI. A well-respected Colonel is murdered in a town in northern England, and evidence seems to point toward an even more highly respected Captain, but nobody wants to consider the possibility that someone who wore the Victoria Cross and had met the King could have committed murder. An Inspector was sent up from London to sort it all out, but he is dealing with demons of his own, as the result of psychological stress from his war service. I admit I figured out one of the big surprises early, but the main mystery was satisfyingly convoluted. I will watch for more from this author.

The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake (Aimee Bender)

I loved this strange, compelling story. At the age of nine, Rose discovers that when she eats she can tell the innermost secrets of the people who made the food. Over the years this ability torments her, as she discovers things about her family she wished she didn't know and finds eating anything not made by machine a trial. With her, we discover even deeper family secrets, from her grandparents, through her parents, to her brother. The brother's part of the story was especially meaningful to me; I have a son with Asperger's Syndrome who relates poorly to people and spends most of his time in front of a computer, so Joseph's ordeal almost tore me apart. The air of magic blended perfectly with the reality of how Rose worked out her own successful life. Undeniably tragic, the story held a core of empathy and caring that pulled me in. Highly recommended.