Me Before You by JoJo Moyes

The characters were pretty wooden, but for some reason I still kind of liked this.  At least it didn't feel like the 9000th time I'd read the same story.

Review copy provided by publisher.

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

I loved this book.

The Engagements by J. Courtney Sullivan

I loved this book.

Letters from Skye by Jessica Brockmole

I feel like a dork for liking this book.  I don't normally do romance, and this was pretty schmoopy.  And there were a lot of cheesy plot twists.  But still . . . somehow . . . maybe because the characters were so charming . . . I liked it.

Note:  Review copy provided by publisher.

The Best of Connie Willis by Connie Willis

I came to this book with high expectations because Willis is one of my favorite authors.  And my expectations were . . . exceeded.  Seriously, some of these stories were excellent.  And her short reflections after each story were marvelous.

Review copy provided by publisher.

The Fifth Witness by Michael Connelly

Kind of dragged, but then the ending was better than expected.

The Kite Rider by Geraldine McCaughrean

I read this to the boys.  It was OK.

Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple

I started out loving this because it was the Sophie Kinsella kind of goofy/funny, but as I found out more about the very sad circumstances of the main character, the goofy/funny became jarring and kind of ugly.  Then things twist and turn a little, and the ending felt pretty slapped together and unsatisfying.  (But it was goofy/funny, so there is that.)

Sisterland by Curtis Sittenfeld

I've been in a real book slump lately--I've started and abandoned maybe a half dozen books after reading a third to a half way through.  So this was a breath of fresh air just for holding my attention.  It wasn't perfect, but it was interesting, with good characterization and some interesting reflections on, you know, life and relationships and everything.

Review copy provided by publisher.

Big Brother by Lionel Shriver

This was exceptionally good.  I think what I like best about Shriver's writing are the little lines of insight peppered throughout the book.  But the plot and characters were great, too.  And the social commentary.  And as long as you can stand the f-bombs, this would be a great choice for book groups.

Wedding Night by Sophie Kinsella

Great fun.

Half Broke Horses by Jeanette Walls

I only read this because I had to for book group.  I didn't like it because I don't know how to read a "true-life" novel.

The Execution of Noa P. Singleton by Elizabeth L. Silver

If you read the blurb, you expect a bleeding-heart liberal story about the death penalty.  This is not that.  It is more of a psychological thriller.  It was pretty gripping.  But there were a few weak plot points, so it was ultimately unsatisfying.

Review copy provided by publisher.

Restless Giant by James Patterson

I really enjoyed this.

Supreme Courtship by Christopher Buckley

This just wasn't that good.

A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving

I never re-read books, but I decided to read this one, twenty-two years after I first read it, because "he is the reason I believe in God; I am a Christian because of Owen Meany." That's a quote from the first sentence of the book, but it is true, literally true, for me, too.  I feel somewhat guilty that this book triggered my conversion, because it is not G-rated; in fact, it is a little crass.  It isn't sweet and it isn't fluffy and it criticizes religion and miracles and believers just as much as it celebrates them. But I don't think I read this book by accident. I have a vivid recollection of standing in the aisle of a used book store in Ann Arbor, Michigan, with this book in my hands. I think someone knew I needed Owen Meany to save my life. 

Rereading it was scary; what if it was stupid this time? The thought gave me, as Owen Meany would have said, THE SHIVERS.  But I was flattened by how . . . perfect . . . it was.  Two decades later, I was stunned to see the ways in which this was exactly the book that could present the kind of faith that would make sense to someone like me . . . someone who, like Owen Meany, absolutely believes in God, but is disgusted by the piously orthodox hypocrites that hide behind religion, someone who expects God to have a detailed plan for his life, but isn't a puritanical killjoy.  I thought its work was done the first time I read it, but, if anything, it was more of a gift the second time, as I realized how perfect this book was for someone like me.

It's almost as if Owen Meany was AN INSTRUMENT IN THE HANDS OF GOD.

Cross-posted to Times & Seasons.

Flora by Gail Godwin

A truly outstanding book.  I can't say much without spoilers, but Helen is one of the best protagonists ever, precisely because of her flaws.

Review copy provided by publisher.

L. Tom Perry: An Uncommon Life by Lee Tom Perry

What do you think a biography should do?  I'm asking because your answer to that question will determine whether I recommend this book to you. 

If you want it to make a contribution to the larger field of Mormon Studies and broaden your understanding of the church in the given time period, this is not the book for you.  (You should read the recent biographies of President McKay or President Kimball instead.)  This book is very much a personal story and not an effort to comment on the larger sweep of church history using Elder Perry's story as a vehicle.  It's more of a homey collection of reflections on his life than a Serious Work of History.  But there are some good glimpses of history here anyway, from the role his mother took on as a de facto ward clerk to the logistics of local funding for buildings to a seven-year-old future-Elder Perry having to wake up the prophet and tell him he was late to a meeting (!). 

But if you just want your biography to give you a greater appreciation for the subject, then you should probably read this.  I would not say that Elder Perry is one of the members of the Quorum of the Twelve who gets the lion's share of attention or gives the talks that everyone else talks about [1], so this book was a nice exploration of his life and style.  As Peggy Fletcher Stack has noted, Elder Perry might be "the least well-known" member of the Quorum, despite being the oldest. (Citation) Like many of the people whose lives spanned most of the 20th century, Elder Perry has a story to tell:  depression, war (he was part of the rebuilding effort in Japan and with the first groups of US troops to arrive in Japan), baby boom, business man.  Note that this biography will appear in two volumes and this one goes through 1976, which is shortly after his call to the Quorum of the Twelve.  His son decided to split the volumes at that date, a significant turning point in Elder Perry's life since his first wife had died (only a matter of months after his calling to the Twelve); the next volume will begin with his marriage to his second wife.  (That is probably a logical division and only creeped me out because of my distaste for what amounts to polygamy.  But I digress.)

Obviously, a biography written by the subject's namesake son is going to be a very different book than one written by anyone else.  What Lee Tom Perry lacks in objectivity he makes up for in affection for his topic.  (He also uses footnotes to good effect--many of them are fun little asides that only a child could get away with:  after a record where the future Elder Perry noted without comment that he had eaten three pieces of cake in one day:  "Two thoughts come to mind from my father's description of his typical day that pertain to him as much now as they did back in 1951.  First, he likes a routine, and second, he is very fond of desserts.")  The book also has the feel of a family history, which may at times be a little cloying to some readers.  I liked some of the ancestral stories of Elder Perry's dad's misadventures, but I have to admit that they are not entirely germane to Elder Perry's life.  I liked the story of L. Tom Perry as a missionary, practicing a discussion on faith to a mouse, late at night in the kitchen of his missionary apartment and, upon finding the mouse drowned in the sink the next morning, deciding that the mouse had obviously intended to be baptized.  It is hard to know to what extent, if any, the author succumbed to the natural desire to present the most publicly acceptable version of his father's story or whether he let the cards fall where they would.  The Elder Perry in this book isn't perfect:  he becomes a Marine instead of joining the Navy, despite a prior commitment to a friend, because he doesn't like the uniforms (and he was not entirely truthful with his mother about his reasoning, either).  He thinks of the people around him as "Japs" until his interactions with the Japanese soften his heart and he is able to see their humanity.  And there's a great story about Elder Perry sitting on the floor while he was sustained as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve:  he was there because the person sitting next to him on an over-crowded bench was so excited when he heard Elder Perry's name read that he accidentally pushed him right off the edge.  

If you need your socks knocked off, this isn't the book for you.  But if you want a nice, quiet life story, you'll probably like this.  

[1] You might think I am a terrible person for saying this, and I grant that that is a possibility.  But it is worth noting that when Elder Perry was called as an Assistant to the Twelve, his son blurted out, "Do you know what this means?  You're going to be giving talks all the time, and you've never been very good at that sort of thing."  That statement has the following footnote:  "That might not be the stupidest thing I've ever said, but it's certainly high on the list."

Cross-posted from Times & Seasons.

The Black Count by Tom Reiss

Interesting.

Henry Ford by Vincent Curcio

Not a particularly well-written biography, but Ford's life is still interesting enough (aside from the obvious, he also is responsible for soybeans and almost stopped World War II) to merit reading.

Review copy provided by publisher.