Helen invites her 65-year-old friend Nicola to stay with her while Nicola has a three-week "alternative treatment" for her terminal cancer. The Spare Room by Helen Garner delves in the relationship between two friends and their separate ways of dealing with life and death. Though very funny at times, the compassion is always felt throughout the novel. "Garner is perhaps most easily introduced to new American readers as the Joan Didion of Australia-a person who writes with a diamond drill, depicting human relationships with such brutal clarity they seem to be rendered for the first time." writes April Smith, Los AngelesTimes. 
 
With a passionate knowledge of people and places in Hawai'i far off the tourist track, Alan Brennert spins the spellbinding tale of four women in a new world, united by dreams, disappointment, sacrifices, and friendship in his latest novel, Honolulu. "[A] sweeping, epic novel....Brennert weaves the true stories of early Hawaii into his fictional tale," posts Library Journal in its starred review.  
 
When reporter Ellen Gleeson gets a "Have You Seen This Child?" flyer in the mail, she almost throws it away. But something about it makes her look again, and her heart stops-the child in the photo is identical to her adopted son. What does she do? Ignore the seemingly truth or pursue her journalist ethic and find all the answers? Look Again by Lisa Scottoline is a heart-racing and heart-stopping tale! What would you do -- a thoughtful conversation for book clubs!