Shorts
Anne Lamott
Blue Shoe: I am a big fan of Anne Lamott as a person and a nonfiction writer in Bird by Bird in particular, but I can't say the same for this novel. It is not terrible, and it is imbued with some of the philosophic sense of her nonfiction. I didn't mind reading it, which I did slowly as I ate breakfast before heading off to work. It is kind of a diary of how the protagonist faces her daily life, and she is likable, so the book it likable. I missed a sense of drama, and I think the elements of the story are there to make for drama. But somehow it is all blunted a bit. In the beginning of the book there are a lot of cases where a scene starts but never finishes, as the book swiftly moves to another scene. This improves somewhat as the book goes on. But the drama simply never builds. 
Herta Müller
The Passport (Masks): I have to say that I am puzzled by the Passport by Herta Muller. Beginning my read I thought that the language of it was sparsely beautiful. However, as it went on I never felt that I was let in to an inner life of anyone enough to care about them at all. They seemed so little caring of each other, in fact, sometimes contemptful. Of course I can understand that in the face of cruelty one's feelings go underground, but then I would expect a novelist to reveal the feelings that are underground. I don't know what I was supposed to get out of this. This novel was the 2009 Nobel Prize winner and there are numerous positive reviews on Library Thing, so you might want to give it a try anyway. 
Elizabeth Diamond
An Accidental Light: I picked this up at random, thought it might be a mystery. It wasn't, but it was a page turner. It had a strong portrayal of how accidentally killing a child affected the driver, Jack. Although told in first person from the point of view of two characters, the other, Lisa, being the mother of the child, the driver was the strongest for me. The accident kicked off a lot of feelings from the past, and I thought the encounters of both characters with family members was done well. Spouses were drawn less well or less intimately, except at the end for Lisa's husband. I enjoyed the portrayal of the Lisa's best friend, and Jack's therapist. It is set in England, and it might be interesting for how Jack's trauma was treated in England (assuming the fiction is more or less an accurate portrayal of what might happen) and how it might be treated in the U.S.). I can't say it was a great book, but I enjoyed it. It is a first novel so it promises of better to come. 
E Nesbit
7 Books in 1: The Railway Children, Five Children and It, The Phoenix and the Carpet, The Story of the Amulet, The Story of the Treasure-Seekers, The Would-Be-Goods, and The Enchanted Castle… : My favorites are the Five Children and It, The Amulet, and the Phoenix and the Carpet. They all center around four children, two girls, two boys, and the baby brother. The children meet the magical creature, the psammead, and are granted wishes which turn out unexpectedly. There is a lot of social commentary mixed in as she describes some of the poorer neighborhoods in England. Edith Nesbit, was born mid nineteenth century and died in 1924. The books really do include all four children. They aren't slanted towards the boys. 
Elizabeth Mccracken
The Giant's House: A Romance:Told from the point of view of a somewhat emotionally constricted librarian, who cherishes a giant (8 feet or so eventially) - a boy of 9 when she meets him. I feel like the narrator knows all the secrets and trials of introverts. A really good book.
Joanne Greenberg
Of Such Small Differences: It's about a young man who is blind and deaf. I had read another book by her from the point of view of a girl living with her deaf parents that gave a good sense of a deaf culture. What fascinated me about this book, besides the characters, was the description of learning to navigate the city based on such things as the feel of air and sunlight. 