The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry (audio)

★★ 1/2
"There is lace in every living thing: the bare branches of winter, the patterns of clouds, the surface of water as it ripples in the breeze...Even a wild dog's matted fur shoes a lacy pattern if you look at it closely enough."

Towner Whitney comes from a long line of Salem women that can read the future in lace.  Last time she read lace, it went horribly wrong and she vowed never to read lace again.  After many years of living away from her family, Towner returned to Salem when her Great Aunt Eva disappears.  As Towner begins to discover the truth, we learn more about her past and that her story may not be as it seems.

I really wanted to like this book, but I just didn't get it at time.  I liked the idea, but it was hard to tell what was going on and I found the main character annoying at time.  I really liked the "lace reader" and Salem aspects, but I guess I was expecting a bit more history.  I almost gave up on the book, but when the author started explaining Towner's past through a fictional story she had written, it caught my attention again.  This part was beautifully written and was very engaging.  I almost wish that the rest of the book had been written this way, but it wasn't.  The ending was good and interesting (I didn't see it coming), but not enough to make the book worth while for me.