SHOOT THE MOON, by Billie Letts.
This was a fascinating tale about Mark Albright, Beverly Hills veterinarian-to-the-stars, who finds out that he was adopted, a secret the only parents he knew kept from him while they were alive. Mark travels to the town where he was born to meet and talk to his birth-mother and find out about his father. He uncovers a town mystery about his mother's situation and his disappearance 30 years ago from De Clare, Oklahoma. He slowly works to unravel that mystery through research and by talking with many in the town. The town's characters are charming and seem very authentic. The story is very intriguing as Albright, neé Nicky Jack Hargrove, discovers his heritage.

Lauri Flynn

THE GEOGRAPHER’S LIBRARY, by Jon Fasman.
It has been compared to other "suspense thrillers" like “The DaVinci Code.” The book starts with a real person from history, Al-Idrisi, a Spanish-Muslim philosopher, cartographer, linguist, and scholar who served in the court of King Roger of Sicily in Palermo in the year 1154. In his old age Al-Idrisi starts to travel the world and that is where the story begins. While traveling, Al-Idrisi's house is robbed. We never learn why he left behind all of these valuable items but we do learn about their estimated value and subsequent owners. We also learn that alchemy is another interest for Al-Idrisi.
There is a second story that weaves through the first one. The second story involves a reporter, Paul Tomm, working for a local paper in a small Connecticut town. While working on an obituary of a local professor he finds more questions than answers. For instance why was the mysterious professor still at the college when he didn't teach classes, why did he receive a salary of $1/year, and why did he exhibit bizarre behavior like shooting guns on campus? I liked all the elements of the story, and yet for me the whole seemed somehow lesser than the sum of the parts.

THE LAST POPE by Luis M. Rocha
This novel is in the same genre as “The Geographer’s Library." The author suggests there was a conspiracy around the death of Pope John Paul I who was only pope for 33 days. The book involves secret societies within secret societies. The drama comes from a young woman who receives an odd letter from an old friend of her father's. Immediately her life is in danger. Her father tells her to go to a certain place in London where someone will find her and protect her. She makes it to the place, but has no idea who to trust. A mysterious stranger appears who may be the person sent to help her, or may not be. There are of course chase scenes, flights across the globe and secret codes. If you liked “The DaVinci Code” you may like this as well.

Cathy Hardy
Hanson Bridgett

THE GLASSBLOWER OF MURANO by Marina Fiorato
I have been fascinated by Murano glass since I saw a chandelier made out of it on a trip to Venice. This is the story of a woman who changes her life by going back to her roots - roots she knew barely anything about. A sudden turn of events in Nora's life, which, thankfully, the author deals with quickly and succinctly, leads her to Venice and a new life following in the footsteps of her ancestors.
In Venice, Nora returns to her given name, Leonora, and with it a whole new life. This story isn't written in a straight line and there are twists and turns along the way.
One of the appealing aspects is the reach back to the past, using a flashback style. In a way this method is like reading two stories at once. I liked that the author dealt with the mistakes that people made.
This book has a great tone and the characters seem real -- not the perfect robots that seem so frequent in some fiction lately. This is definitely a book I would like to read again.

Jaye A. H. Lapachet
Coblentz, Patch, Duffy & Bass LLP

HARDBALL by Sara Paretsky
This is the thirteenth V.I. Warshawski mystery and one of the best. In the course of trying to find out what happened to a man who disappeared in 1967, V.I. finds herself immersed in the racial turbulence that hit Chicago during that summer. The violence and tensions of the times split not only the city, but her family. Very evocative of the '60s. A must for Paretsky fans.

MURDER LOVES COMPANY by John Mersereau
This is a reprint of a book that was first published in 1940. If you collect or read mysteries extensively, you should check out the web site of the publisher Rue Morgue Press (www.ruemorguepress.com) and read about their company, which sells mystery novels online and publishes forgotten mysteries. Mersereau's book takes place at the 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition. The protagonist is a professor of horticulture at Berkeley and he has planted olive trees at the fair. He and an ace "girl" reporter witness a murder while they are driving on the Bay Bridge and off the mystery proceeds. Okay, it's dated (rather sexist), but there is an innocence to it and a cluelessness about what is to befall the country. I kept wanting to warn them! It's an interesting glimpse at a much different Bay Area. And if you're interested in the GGIE, Rupert Holmes's "Swing: A Mystery" also covers much of the same ground (the fair, U.C.). Holmes has written a far superior book, but each is interesting in its own way.

Paula Lichtenberg
Keker & Van Nest LLP

PEOPLE OF THE BOOK: A NOVEL by Geraldine Brooks
I was immediately captivated by the story of the Sarajevo Haggadah. Dr. Hanna Heath, an Australian book restoration expert, travels to Sarajevo to preserve this beautiful manuscript. Through her documentation of what she finds during the restoration process (an insect's wing and a wine stain among other things) we travel back in time to discover how each of the book's various components come together over time to create a priceless museum piece. Why does this Jewish prayer book have exquisite illuminations when ornamentation is against Jewish beliefs? How did the book survive the Spanish Inquisition? These and many other questions are answered. We also explore Hanna's relationship with her mother and uncover some behind-the-scenes intrigue along the way. There is a lot going on in this book, and that could be its downfall. The author just scratches the surface but I found my imagination filling in the gaps.

Ramona Martinez
Boalt Law Library

HIVE FIVE, by Janet Evanovich
Fifth in a series of Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum novels. It is hysterical and has great local Jersey color and cast of characters. Stephanie, after losing her job as a lingerie buyer, takes a job as a bond enforcer for her cousin Vinnie, who runs one of Trenton NJ’s bail bond operations.
In book five, Stephanie’s Uncle Fred disappears, and she has to apprehend a wily FTA (Failure to Appear), and has to track down Uncle Mo, local candy and ice cream purveyor and beloved figure of the Berg (neighborhood in Trenton). However, there seems to be something much more sinister below the surface of Uncle Mo’s ice cream cones.

Lori Ruth
Winston & Strawn

“Atlas Shrugged on my iPhone because I didn't want to carry a 1200 page book on my commute.”

Kurt Shuck
Foley & Lardner