#3, Some Luck, by Jane Smiley

After having read a number of books that featured protagonists with dark pasts or bizarre situations with strange villains, I was longing for a book about normal people. This is it. Each chapter features events in one year in the life of a farm family in Iowa, starting in 1920 and ending in 1954. The sensitive depiction of family life was a welcome change from hyper-active super-hero thrillers or dark and dreary mysteries. I recommend this highly.

#2, Winter and Night, by S. J. Rozan

This is #8 in the Lydia Chin-Bill Smith series, but the first I've read. It was entertaining and fast moving, but the portrayal of the football-mad small town that excused any sin as long as the high school team won was a little over the top. The interplay between Smith and Chin makes this worth the read; I want to try some of the earlier works in the series.