Leave No Trace by Mindy Mejia
Jen: I can’t remember, did you read Mindy Mejia’s first book, “Everything You Want Me to Be”? I loved it - thought it was a great mystery/psychological character portrait. So I was very excited for this book - but unfortunately I was disappointed. The basic plot description - boy who disappeared into the wilderness with his father as a child suddenly reappears but won’t tell anyone what happened, and the young woman who is assigned to be his speech therapist at the mental institute he is put in was once an inmate there herself - sounds so good! But unfortunately it it was just sooooo slow, not to mention strained disbelief. Meh. I do still recommend her first book if you haven’t read it!
Sarah: I thought this book was pretty awful. The premise sounded really interesting, but then it just fell apart. Way too slow, nothing really happened, and there was no "mystery." It really just didn't make any sense.....
The Husband Hour by Jamie Brenner
Jen: Should have read this one in the summer as it was such a beach read! Yeah, the basic plot of dysfunctional family each with their own problems/secrets all ends up gathering at the family’s beach house for the summer is not exactly the most original - but I always enjoy that kind of book. This one adds the plot element that the main character is a young widow whose professional hockey player husband died in Iraq and had been basically hiding out in the house for several years until her family - and a documentary filmmaker - descend for the summer. Sure the romance was a little predictable, but I really enjoyed the book and will definitely be checking out her others.
Sarah: Another book that was a little too slow for me. And the main character really annoyed me. I hate when the premise of a book is "silly woman who is in her own way." That said, I liked this enough that I would read the author's other books, but only because it was set at the beach.
The High Season by Judy Blundell
Jen: Another summer read we didn’t get to until fall. Set on on the North Fork of Long Island with part of the plot being slightly satirical about the regular year-rounders vs the rich summer folks, with a bit of romance as well. I really liked this one. I’ve never been to the North Fork but I know you guys have, did you enjoy the book being set there?
Sarah: I liked this book a lot, and I loved that it was set in the North Fork (although I was also upset it was set in the North Fork because I don't want other people to come there! Sadly, I think that ship has sailed....pun intended) I thought the story was good, I loved the NoFo/Hamptons contrast, and it wasn't predictable at all. Made me want to fast forward to summer
Something in the Water by Catherine Steadman
Jen: This thriller starts with the main character burying a dead body, then flashes back 3 months so we can see how she ended up doing that. The characters were unlikable and the book was EXTREMELY preposterous, but it was entertaining. I didn’t love it, but I think as we discussed in our summer reading roundup that I am just continuing to suffer from thriller fatigue after reading too many in the last few years.
Sarah: Yes, agree on thriller fatigue. I liked this book a lot, but again annoyed with the premise of "silly woman." Like this book could have ended in the second chapter if she just didn't lie to her husband. I have no sympathy for characters who get caught in their own web of lies - the situation could have been easily avoided! That said, it was entertaining and quick reading. I recommended to a couple of people who do not yet have thriller fatigue.
Next Year in Havana by Chanel Cleeton
Jen: This book is in one of my favorite genres (and yours too I think), dual time period historical fiction, alternating between a young woman who visits Cuba for the first time after travel there is permitted to spread her Cuban exile grandmother’s ashes, and the story of the grandmother’s life in Cuba before she left, both with some romance too. The Cuban setting was really interesting, and I did enjoy the book, I think I was just a little disappointed in the book because I had fallen in love with it the minute I saw the cover and description, and the book itself just wasn’t quite as good as I hoped it would be.
Sarah: So disappointing. I really wanted this book to be amazing and tell me everything romantic I didn't know about Cuba. Instead it was boring. The best part of the book was the cover.
The Clockmaker's Daughter by Kate Morton
Jen: If you read my 5 star review of this one, you know I loved it and it will be on my top 10 list this year for sure. Kate Morton is one of both of our favorite authors and for me this one did not disappoint! I loved that she went full gothic with a ghost as a POV character but in what felt nonetheless like a real and grounded way. Also just goes to show how great an author Kate Morton is that even with a 5 star review this is probably only my 3rd favorite of her books, with "The Forgotten Garden" and "The Lake Season" ranking above it for me.
Sarah: I loved this book. Kate Morton is amazing. That said, I was a little disappointed because I wanted it to be even better. But a just ok Kate Morton book is still an amazing book. I think "Forgotten Garden" and "House at Riverton" are my favorites. This book probably ranks 4th for me, after "Lake Season." I really have to say that this is the second book I've read where (spoiler alert) someone dies in a cupboard. Wouldn't everyone else smell the rotting body? Doesn't make sense.
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
Jen: This book is set primarily in a marsh just outside a small town in North Carolina following the character of Kya from a young girl in the 1950s, alternating with a police investigation/trial of the death of a prominent young man in the town in the 1970s. I loved the story of Kya growing up - the setting was so different and evocative - but was less enamored with the other part of the book, which I felt was much less successful. So I liked this book but felt it was a little over-hyped after reading so many glowing reviews. And this was another Reese Witherspoon Hello Sunshine book club pick - I think I may just need to write a future blog post about my take on her picks.
Sarah: I wanted to love this book because I liked the cover, I'm obsessed with Reese, and the premise sounded great. But I totally agree that it fell apart when it got to the courtroom drama. Also, I think the very end was supposed to be this "oh my god" moment, but instead my reaction was "that's dumb." So, overall this book was just ok.
What We Were Promised by Lucy Tan
Jen: This book was set in Shanghai, and alternated between the perspectives of 3 characters - Sunny, a maid in a fancy expat building, and the husband and wife she works for who both grew up in China but then lived for many years in America before returning to China. I liked Sunny the best, but I also found very interesting the way it described how Lina and Wei felt they didn’t really fit in in either country. This was also just one of those books with such a sense of place, it really made me feel like I was there even though I’ve never been to China. A bit of a quiet book but really good.
Sarah: Loved this book, started reading it when I was in Shanghai for business, which made it extra good. Agree, that it was quiet, but powerful. It was so well written, I felt like I really understood the characters and their motivations.
This Is How It Always Is by Laurie Frankel
Jen: You and I didn’t technically decide to read this one together - I read it for my other book club - but since we both read it this fall I figured I’d put it on the list. I loved this one, and it was a terrific book club as it provides so much to talk about! Novel about a family with a bunch of sons whose youngest son announces at a very young age that he wants to be a girl. So moving and thought-provoking, I loved it.
Sarah: Also loved this book. It was a heavy topic, but written about in a way that was very readable. It really helped me to understand all the struggles and joys faced by a family dealing with this. I actually discussed this one with a bunch of people, even if they hadn't read it. Definitely thought provoking.
Number One Chinese Restaurant by Lillian Li
Jen: You read this one first so you warned me but I went ahead and read it anyway. I didn’t hate this book as much as you did but it was not good. Basically about a variety of characters working at a Chinese restaurant in New Jersey, they were almost all unlikeable and no one really changes over the course of the book. Short book but still a slog.
Sarah: Hated this book. It was basically one giant stereotype. I also feel like I've read this book before - this story about hapless Chinese immigrants is not new. And this one was not particularly well done at that. Hated it. Hated it!
What to Say Next by Julie Buxbaum
Jen: Julie Buxbaum is one of my favorite authors and this was another charmer by her! This one is a young adult novel alternating perspectives between two characters - David, a quirky loner on the autism spectrum, and Kit, a somewhat popular girl who is depressed in the wake of her father’s recent death, and the unexpected friendship that develops between them. Both of them were brought so vividly to life that I seriously felt like I was in their head with them.
Sarah: Loved this one. I don't love Julie Buxbaum, but when I found out my mom's best friend is dating her father, felt compelled to read this book. But I have to say of all her books, this one was my favorite. Very charming, and I loved how we got the take of both characters on various events - it really shows how people interpret things differently based on their own experiences.
The Witch Elm by Tana French
Jen: We both love Tana French’s Dublin Murder Squad series (one of my favorite series), and this was her first standalone novel. Instead of being from the perspective of a police officer, it’s from the perspective of a regular guy named Toby. He is the subject of a violent robbery towards the beginning of the book, then goes to stay with a sick uncle where about 1/3 of the way through the book a long-dead body is discovered in the uncle’s garden and a mystery unfolds as to what happened. Toby’s head injury provides for an interesting new angle on the unreliable narrator, it was a total page turner, and the mystery was good though I found the extremely long exposition segment in which it was wrapped up a bit clunky. A good book but her other books are even more fantastic so this is probably my least favorite of hers even though it is still a 4 star book for me; I just didn’t love it the way I have loved the others.
Sarah: This was a great book, but also a disappointing book. I've read the first 4 books of Dublin Murder Squad and those were all much better than this book. I thought the two mystery set up was a little cumbersome, and the first mystery regarding who attacked the main character, kind of got left by the wayside and then suddenly came back at the end and was solved too easily. I think it would have been better if she just focused on the main mystery regarding the skull in the elm tree. That said, Tana French is like pizza, when she's bad, she's still pretty good. It made me want to read the last two DMS books soon!
***
Next up: Jen still needs to read "The Incendiaries" by RO Kwon and "The Other Woman" by Sandie Jones which Sarah already read; and Sarah still needs to read "The Other Mrs. Westaway" by Ruth Ware, "The Pearl Sister" by Lucinda Riley, "Nine Perfect Strangers" by Liane Moriarty, and "The Kiss Quotient" by Helen Hoang which Jen already read. And since we're crazy, there's a long list of books after those too - but we'll start with catching up on those!
No comments:
Post a Comment