The Last Mandarin by Louise Penny and Melissa Fung

 

I don't normally love Penny, but this was so much fun. Eunice Wong was fantastic. And I loved the idea of a political thriller that wasn't a steaming pile of toxic masculinity.

The Left-handed Twin br Thomas Perry

 

Meh.

Missing, Presumed by Susie Steiner

 

Solid, but the ending could have been better 

Happy & You Know It by Laura Hankin

 

Solid, with a great twist at the end.

The Candy House by Jennifer Egan

Meh. 

We Don't Talk about Carol by Kristen L. Berry

 

Decent.

The Shippers by Katherine Center

 

I mean, I'm slightly embarrassed by how much I enjoyed this. It really shouldn't have worked, but it did.

Review copy provided by publisher.

The Puzzle Master by Danielle Trussoni

 The only thing I liked about this was Eduardo Ballarini.

Old World Murder by Kathleen Ernst

 

Meh.

The Infinite Sadness of Small Appliances by Glenn Dixon

 

I did not like this.

The Franchise by Thomas Elrod

 

On the one hand, this was a lot of fun. On the other hand, given the set up, it seems like it actually could have been a lot better.

Review copy provided by publisher.

Like This, but Funnier by Hallie Cantor

 

So funny.

The Confessions by Paul Bradley Carr

 

We Burned So Bright by TJ Clune

 

Meh.

Home Is Where the Bodies Are by Jeneva Rose

 

This was SO dumb.

The Hill by Harriet Clark

 

I just don't understand why this book is getting so much buzz. It was totally vanilla.

Review copy provided by publisher.

The Great Houses of Pill Hill by Diane Josefowicz

 

This was so close to being really good -- interesting premise and fun details. However, like so many mysteries, there was just one too many extraordinary events.

Review copy provided by publisher.

Absence by Andres Dana Hudson

 

I enjoyed this: it was an interesting premise, the pacing was great, and the resolution was not predictable.

Review copy provided by publisher.

I, Spy by L.M. Kemp

 

This was all sorts of fun -- very engaging and entertaining.

Review copy provided by publisher.

The Calamity Club by Kathryn Stockett

 

I suspect that this will be a huge seller even if no one actually likes it, as Stockett's first book since The Help.

But I adored it. It's definitely commercial fiction and not great literature, but it was completely engaging and, even at 640 pages, seemed to fly by. 

Review copy provided by publisher.

Enormous Wings by Laurie Frankel

There are a lot of family dramas out there, but Laurie Frankel writes books that are more interesting than virtually all of the others.

(And the fact that it was set in Austin was fun -- although there was not a lot of local color.)

This would be a great choice for book groups.

Review copy provided by publisher.

The Radiant Dark by Alexandra Olivia

 

Meh.

An Unexpected Peril by Deanna Raybourn

 

Solid.

Ghost Town by Tom Perrotta

 

This turned into almost a hate read pretty quickly. It just felt way too focused on the perspective of a character type that we have just already seen too often; even when the topic was race, it was clear who was the subject and who were the objects.

Review copy provided by publisher.

You Were Always Mine by Christine Pride and Jo Piazza

 

Really well done.

Mom Brain by Nicole Hackett

 

Great concept, some very interesting social commentary, but ultimately the transition from psychological thriller to action-adventure didn't quite work for me.

Review copy provided by publisher.

What Happened to the McCrays? by Tracey Lange

 

Mad Mabel by Sally Hepworth

 

The description made this sound like another "old woman detective" type book -- there are a lot of those lately, and some are great but it's getting overdone. Well, turns out it was quite different. I felt like it worked really well.

Review copy provided by publisher.

Go Gentle by Maria Semple

 

A really clever combination of mystery, spy thriller, domestic drama, romance, and, you know, shout-outs to stoicism and feminism.

Review copy provided by publisher.

Singer Distance by Ethan Chatagnier

 

Meh.

Dear Monica Lewinsky by Julia Langbein

 

Really funny.

The Adjunct by Maria Adelmann

 

Some parts were funny and interesting, but overall it tried to do too much.

The Fountain by Casey Scieska

 

Really good.

Nothing Tastes As Good by Luke Dumas

 

Some good social commentary, but kind of meh.

London Falling by Patrick Radden Keefe

 Meh

Cherry Baby by Rainbow Rowell

 

So while acknowledging that Rowell is always vaguely disappointing because nothing is ever going to be in the same league as Attachments, I can say that this was quite good -- it wasn't until it was more than half over that I had a sense of which direction it was going to go in, and there was a lot of interesting social commentary.

Review copy provided by publisher.

Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke

 

Mostly tedious.

The Keeper by Tana French

 

Meh.

By a Spider's Thread by Laura Lippman

 

Solid.

Bellevue Square by Michael Redhill

 

Meh.

I Am Not Who You Think I Am by Eric Rickstad

 

Weird and dumb.

Northern Spy by Flynn Berry

 

Solid.

The Possibilities by Yael Goldstein-Love

 

Interesting.

Good Morning, Midnight by Lily Brooks-Dalton

 

Meh.

Pretty As a Picture by Elizabeth Lee

 

Funny and engaging, but the wrap up was a bit weak. 

The Ruins by Lily Brooks-Dalton

 

All through the first third of this, I was seriously considering abandoning it because it just seemed so cliched (professor shows initial promise but then nothing, job threatened and no new grants, problems in personal relationships, blah blah blah). And then there was a plot twist so fun that I ended up taking the day off of work to finish the book. So: highly recommended.

Review copy provided by publisher.

So Far Gone by Jess Walter

 

Weird and unbelievably good.

What to Do When Someone Dies by Nicci French

 Meh

A Murderous Relation by Deanna Raybourn

 I do really like this series.

Charlotte Walsh Likes to Win by Jo Piazza

 Very good.