Once Upon a River by Diane Setterfield
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

4.5 stars
This is a lush story full of mystery and intrigue with beautiful prose, some magical realism, and fascinating, wonderfully drawn characters. Like the river itself, it dragged a bit in the middle, a literary device for which I did not care, but overall it was an engrossing read. Highly recommend.

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Us Against You by Fredrik Backman
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This is a sequel to Beartown and picks up where the first book left off. It is a dark read and I found myself skimming through it because I didn't particular enjoy it. The author, Backman, does a lot of philosophizing, using hockey as a metaphor for life, and I found this to be repetitive and overdone.

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Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I like the way Lisa Jewell writes: fast paced, easy reading despite the dark content, but it was not difficult to guess what was going to happen pages before it did.

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The Story of Arthur Truluv by Elizabeth Berg
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is a light read with endearing characters and I just loved it. The story is charming and uplifting, something we need in our complex troubling times. It would be a fun, easy, book club read. I just discovered Elizabeth Berg has published a sequel and will definitely read it!

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There There by Tommy Orange
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

The book's description says "Fierce, angry, funny, heartbreaking," but there was not one funny thing in the entire narrative. The language of at least one of the main characters includes fierce expletives, the author is clearly angry about his subject, and every page is dark and depressing leading up to a heartbreaking ending. The subject matter is important but I did not at all care for the way it was handled. There were too many undeveloped characters, too many points of view, too much bad language, and too many unknowns in the climactic ending. It was just too fragmented for me to enjoy, but Tarantino fans will love it.


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An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The was an interesting pop-culture, sci-fi novel with a bisexual, unsympathetic female protagonist who liberally shares her opinions on people and society every few pages. I liked the fast moving plot, but did not like the plethora of "F" words. There is a cliff-hanger ending, apparently book 1 of a new series, and although I found the storyline and the characters entertaining I will not read the remaining books in the series.

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The Sun Is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Natasha is a Jamaican illegal immigrant whose family is being deported in 12 hours. She has a bright scientific mind, a no-nonsense personality and believes in facts. Daniel is a first generation Korean American who is equally bright but a hopeless romantic poet who believes in fate. Both have complicated and dynamic relationships with their respective families and with the universe itself, the latter of which is treated as another character. This is a fun, fast-paced and insightful read, but for many readers a willingness to suspend disbelief may be a slight requirement. Nicola Yoon, the author, is a skilled writer who gets 5 stars from me for steady character development and an upbeat hopeful surprise ending which I very much liked. Not a squeaky clean read..there is some objectionable language, intense kissing, and while there is no sex there are fairly explicit sexual references which imho is inappropriate for YA fiction.

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