Young Jane Young. 5 stars. Holy smokes, did I love these characters. The choose your own adventure section at the end will stick with me forever. I might read this again sometime, this was an instant favorite.
Providence. 3 stars. This was compelling and unusual, but it didn’t have the humor of her other books and I couldn’t get past that. I’m sure you get more out of it if you’ve read any Lovecraft. I have not.
Before We Were Yours. 4 stars. The main story is great; the side story, not so much. Still very solid historical fiction that is absolutely worth the time.
Florida. 3 stars. I usually love Lauren Groff so this was a little disappointing. There are a couple gems in this collection, but overall I didn’t love it.
The Perfect Mother. 3 stars. Like many thrillers, this fell apart at the end. For me, it’s totally uninteresting if a whodunit turns out to be some minor character who you barely remember. This one had promise, I was pretty let down by it.
Other People’s Houses. 1 star. Sometimes, you dislike a book so much that you grow a sort of begrudging respect for it. I will remember this book much more than a lot of books I actually enjoyed. This is one of those odes to mommy martyrhood, where selfishness is the absolute worst trait a woman can have, where being 30 pounds overweight makes you the talk of the town, but secretly also makes you a better mother, because only selfish non-martyr mommies care about their own appearance or their own health or their own happiness or okay do you see this one struck a nerve with me?
The Home for Unwanted Girls. 3 1/2 stars. Kind of a near miss. Good story and has potential but overall not so well done. I didn’t buy the main relationship, and the plot got a little too soap opera for me.
Tin Man. 4 stars. This won’t necessarily stick with me but the characters were very endearing, and the story was charming and poignant. Nice if you’re looking for something fast but with depth.
The High Season. 4 stars. Very good beach read. I didn’t especially love the main character but I liked that about it. Her younger characters rang very true to this old lady.
I’ll Be Gone in the Dark. 4 stars. This is a great true crime book. Any issues I had with it are probably due to the fact that the author died while she was still writing it. Can’t really fault her for that one.
The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving. 3 stars. I must have been feeling generous with that rating because this was not good. I can sympathize with a man who’s had a terrible loss. I cannot sympathize with a man who’s sad because his wife has a job.
The Odds. 4 stars. High four stars. I loved just about everything about this, and I’m dying to read more of Stewart O’Nan. I did not love the sappy ending which almost ruined it for me.
Top picks: Kind of a rough month, but I loved loved loved Young Jane Young, so pick it up!
