A few that got hyped so much my expectations were too high and a few solid picks from The New York Times book review.
First up, Ordinary Monsters by J.M. Miro. Vibes of Harry Potter and The Mysterious Benedict Society, only more gory. Started out great, dragged on way too long (which is why I thought of J.K. Rowling!) I believe it's the first in a series, but I won't read the rest.
Sorrow and Bliss, by Meg Mason. A surprise, as I thought it was more of a beach read from the cover. Generational mental illness that no one talks about destroys a marriage. I'm a sucker for smart conversations between sisters. Well-written, and I'll enjoy reading her backlist titles.
A mystery set in LA in the early 60s, One Shot Harry, by Gary Phillips took me a while to get into. The heavy expository dialogue didn't do it for me, but I get why he included it--the 60s are ancient history for some readers! Great characters, and I look forward to the next book in the series.
Girls They Write Songs About, by Carlene Bauer was another victim of hype. My expectations were too high, and I doubt I'm the audience for this book. But I did enjoy the brief glimpses of New York.
The Shore, by Katie Runde. Seaside Heights summer, with a family roiled by the father's imminent death from a glioblastoma. Beautifully written, especially the teen daughters.
Search, by Michelle Huneven. One year and a few months of a search for a new minister at a Universalist Unitarian church. Phew, these characters were so unlikeable. I also found the dialogue of the younger people so stilted that none of it felt believeable. Disappointing.
Hurricane Girl, by Marcy Dermansky. Now this one was surprising in a good way! A young woman leaves LA and buys a beach house in North Carolina, only to lose it to a hurricane 10 days later. A brilliant first person narrative of a woman suffering from a brain injury; I felt her struggling to make sense of the world. I read it in one night, and am still thinking about it.
The Recruit, by Alan Drew. I read Shadow Man, the first book in this series, a few weeks ago, after reading a review of The Recruit in the Times. It was good enough for me to read the second, which is much better! They're set in a fictional Rancho Santa Elena (which sounds like Rancho Santa Margarita) and the second book deals with white supremacy groups there. It was definitely a page turner, and I'm sorry I'll have to wait at least a year for the next one.
Finally, I read--in print!--The Empathy Diaries, by Sherry Turkle. The first part about her early life and education had me underlining and researching, but when she got to MIT, I felt the book flatten. Or rather, it turned into a book about Seymour Papert, and not her!
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