Forever, Interrupted. 3 stars. I love this author and am very excited for her next book, but this one didn’t do it for me. Very very unlikable main character, and not in an interesting way.
The Weight of Him. 2 stars. A big disappointment. Again, hated the main character. It felt extremely and formulaic.
A Doubter’s Almanac. 2 stars. The moral of this story is: Smart white men are very very important. In case you haven’t ever heard that before.
All Grown Up. 5 stars. I think I may have mentioned this once or twice already, but I loved this book. Her writing is so good and so funny and this made me laugh and cry and I loved it and I met her on my birthday.
Little Deaths. 2 stars. In retrospect, I may have been a little stingy with the rating here. This is an okay thriller, flawed but inoffensive.
Swing Time. 4 stars. I was very surprised at how much I liked this one. Really great writing.
The Life-Writer. 2 stars. This was such an uninteresting slog. Kind of impressive when such a short book feels overlong.
The Animators. 3 stars. Some good writing and characters but a total mess. Feels like she didn’t know where she was going with it. I have hopes for her next one.
Perfect Little World. 4 stars. This was really frustrating for me, because I love this author and there was a lot I loved about this. However it focused way too much on an uninteresting character, and it felt like he included more characters than he was really interested in developing. Could have been great with a major rewrite.
All That’s Left to Tell. 3 stars. This one, I feel like I was being generous with the rating. This was really annoying and you could drive a bus through the plot holes here.
Idaho. 3 stars. I was disappointed in this but again, I hold out hope for this author. Good writing and structure but kind of dull characters and the event that the whole thing is centered around makes no sense.
The Nearness of You. 3 stars. Another frustrating one because I love this author. This one didn’t really come together for me, but I’d still recommend it if you’re looking for something not too heavy but not too light.
Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant. 5 stars. I absolutely love Anne Tyler, and if I had to choose a favorite of hers, it would be this one. And then I’d name six others that I loved just as much, but if I had to choose one, this is it.
Instant Love. 4 stars. But maybe five? This is an early Jami Attenberg, and I didn’t love it as much as her last three books, but should I hold her current excellence against her?
The Circle. 4 stars. Anything that’s a cautionary tale at heart is going to have its heavy handed moments, but this was very well done overall and I think Emma Watson is going to be amazing in the movie.
Top pick: All Grown Up, of course!
