Mondays: Mailbox/What Are You Reading/Musings

What was the last book (or, what was your favorite book) that dealt with family? What did you like / dislike about it?
The Wake of Forgiveness by Bruce Machart: 

Based in Texas, this novel starts from 1895 and goes on to 1924 spanning almost 30 years. When a landowners fourth child is born, his wife dies. Karel, the child is hardly ever loved by his father. But his brothers do seem to love him. Karel often dreams of the mother he has never known and wishes for his father to love him, which does not happen. 
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Mailbox Monday has moved over to LIBRARY OF CLEAN READS for the month of February 2011. 

I received the following:

1) Borderlands by Brian McGilloway
The corpse of local teenager Angela Cashell is found on the Tyrone- Donegal border, between the North and South of Ireland, in an area known as the borderlands. Garda Inspector Benedict Devlin heads the investigation: the only clues are a gold ring placed on the girl's finger and an old photograph, left where she died.

Then another teenager is murdered, and things become further complicated when Devlin unearths a link between the recent killings and the disappearance of a prostitute twenty-five years earlier - a case in which he believes one of his own colleagues is implicated.

As a thickening snow storm blurs the border between North and South, Devlin finds the distinction between right and wrong, vengeance and justice, and even police-officer and criminal becoming equally unclear.

A dazzling and lyrical debut crime novel, Borderlands marks the beginning of a compelling new series featuring Inspector Benedict Devlin. 

2) The Promises She Keeps by Erin Healy

It's her destiny to die young. The man who loves her can't live with that. 
Promise, a talented young vocalist with a terminal illness, is counting on fame to keep her memory alive after she dies. Porta is an aging witch and art collector in search of the goddess who will grant her immortality. 
When Promise inexplicably survives a series of freak accidents, Porta believes that Promise is the one she seeks. But Chase, an autistic artist who falls in love with Promise and opposes Porta, comes between the women with his mysterious visions and drawings, and plunges everyone into a flesh-and-blood confrontation over the true meaning of eternal life.

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I am on CENSUS DUTY, which is taking up all my time. I am NOT reading anything other than those long forms, and other blog posts! I have not finished a single book in February, although I started at least two!