Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

If there is one thing Eleanor Oliphant is, it's completely fine. And Gail Honeyman's novel, Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine is not just fine, it is phenomenal.

I believe that books come to us in magical ways, but perhaps none so much as Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine. A dear friend of mine from college, knowing I'm a bibliophile, and sharing some other similarities such as our mutual hatred for butterflies and love of spiders, one day sent me a message telling me that I absolutely needed to read this book and that she was going to send it to me (which also ended up including a TON of lipstick, lip exfoliant, and Chapstick samples, courtesy of the company she works for). I was so touched that I couldn't wait to dive into it, and so I did. And then I did again. And then one final time, and that was the time I got hooked. I kept getting distracted by other books, but I ended up reading this at the exact right time in my life.

Eleanor Oliphant is fiercely intelligent and sophisticated, though also blunt and socially awkward, and deeply entrenched in her routine: work, home, radio program, frozen pizza, vodka, and Wednesday chats with Mummy. She is, by every definition, completely fine, unapologetically navigating the world as best she knows how. Then she meets Raymond, the large man from IT with a penchant for t-shirts that are just a bit too small, and for chewing with his mouth open, who inadvertently enlightens Eleanor to the simple, often taken for granted, pleasures of life. Turns out that living is more than just existing.

The writing is heavy and wordy, but in a cheeky way, with a very much Eleanor-driven plot. She is awkwardly loveable, with a Seinfeldian take on the world, and the way she tells a story is charming and completely disarming; a certifiable scene-stealer, resulting in many pages of laugh-out-loud moments. Sure, there is the childhood trauma that she is suppressing with said vodka, and the social interactions that would make even Michael Scott squirm, but she is charmingly ridiculous, and this book is tragically hilarious. It feels wrong to call this book delightful, because it has its fair share of tragedy and trauma - the ending, in particular, is the cutest, yet most horrifying, ending ever - but you can't help a warm feeling that carries you through this book and Eleanor's story, proving just how important it is to have at least one good friend. Settle in with a nice big cuppa because you can read Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine in one sitting. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

Dead Letters by Caite Dolan-Leach

Dead Letters, the debut novel by Caite Dolan-Leach, is very unique; unlike any other novels I've read so far, it is one that definitely utilizes every letter of the alphabet, and is a story that underscores the unity, and oftentimes unpleasantness, of the twin dynamic. Dead Letters - a very clever double entendre - has the emotional wordiness of Dawson's Creek and the dysfunctional family swiping of Yellowstone. Add a healthy dose of dementia and alcoholism and you've got something Netflix can't turn down!

Two years ago, Ava Antipova, fled the coop, and the family vineyard, running away to Paris to start a new graduate program, a new relationship, a new life. But now she must come back to her small hometown - her twin sister, Zelda, is dead, engulfed in the flames that destroyed the family barn. Or is that just what she wants everyone to think? Then Ava starts receiving emails from Zelda from beyond the grave - or...wherever... - directing her on a depressing scavenger hunt around their somewhat hickish town, unearthing a few - but not all - of their equally-depressing family secrets, though it's more a tour of their personal foibles as told through unfortunate bystanders.

Dead Letters is slightly difficult to get into due to what the author, herself, refers to as "excessive prose," though only saddling Zelda with this particularly astute accusation; someone wants us all to know how many words she knows! But then the plot begins to take over and accelerates this plot-driven story towards a pretty non-explosive ending. The premise is interesting and very intriguing, with near-meticulous plotting, but there are some unanswered questions, at least one that is alluded to throughout the book, but never actually explained, and considering the build-up, the ending just sort of fizzles out. The characters are rather unfortunate, and their bland personalities leave you not really caring what happens to them, but the story and writing is intense, fiercely intelligent, whip smart, and very clever. Just make sure to have a dictionary handy as you read Dolan-Leach's Dead Letters. ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE $5.00 LIKE NEW

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

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Books are like boyfriends: every once in awhile you stumble across one that you wouldn't change anything about, in the places that you'd least expect. I found The Midnight Library by Matt Haig at the airport while in search of coffee for my mid-morning flight. Standing in line, I noticed a small, unattended, stack of books and upon closer inspection, noticed a Post It note on the top that declared "Free books!" Not only did I greatly appreciate this as a book-lover, but I took it as an excellent sign as a would-be traveler. Already weighed down by two other books, and not wanting to be selfish, I took only the one, and was instantly enthralled by the end of the first chapter. The Midnight Library is truly mesmerizing.

"Between life and death, there is the Midnight Library..." and suddenly Nora Seed finds herself there. She is an Everywoman, weighted down by the small - though many - disappointments in life: a confrontational encounter, the loss of a pet, an unfulfilling job and stalled career path, wandering through the world of what-ifs. Filled with regret, remorse, and heavying sadness, Nora - in the Midnight Library, and with the help of an old friend - finds herself able to undo these regrets; the chance to make different choices and try on - so-to-speak - the varying consequences. With cleverly witty writing, truly genuine characters, and imagery reminiscent of Harry Potter, I literally loved every page. It is one of those rare books in which you can't wait to power through it, but you also never want it to end, and I would love to see The Midnight Library on the big, or medium-sized, screen.

This book is pure magic, in the most brilliant of ways. What is at once a hypothesis of life and death is also very much a testament to what it means to truly live, with explanations for the magical that are purely scientific; impressive, though easily understandable by those of us who cheated in Physics class, and buoyed by an honest ebb and flow of emotions, like bobbing through the ocean of ideas, at times sad and lonely, at others funny and lighthearted, and sometimes incredibly intense. Ahh, such is life.

I wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone who has recently lost a loved one, specifically by way of their own doing. But, regardless, the takeaways from this book are plentiful and deeply personal; everyone will have something different that they can glean from this story that not only spans time but universes. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5.

Lucky You by Erika Carter

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If you did not read Lucky You by Erika Carter, nor did you select it as part of your Book of the Month Club box, of which it was selected in January 2017, then lucky you.

I've managed to read about three Book of the Month Club picks over the years, mainly due to finding them at second-hand book stores, and they have all been very strange; like the Book Pickers are trying to prove to the world their maudlin intellect. Well Carter's debut novel, Lucky You, is not only a waste of a BOTM selection, but a waste of paper and a waste of time.

Rachel, Ellie, and Chloe are frenemies, each stuck in their own cycles of self-destruction; you know the drill: sex, bad relationships, too much booze. Then Rachel up and moves deep into the Ozark mountains with a man who is sure that he can change the world by learning, and writing about, and thus teaching, how to live off-grid and on the land. Ellie and Chloe are eventually convinced to join the couple at their remote house and work on The Project. What is an otherwise interesting and intriguing concept, not only fell short but will live forever in my mind as one of the worst books I've ever read. Not only do these insipid characters with a proclivity for claiming Chinese proverbs as their own, not "solve the conundrum of being alive," they struggle with getting their would-be cult off the ground in favor of depressive loafing.

The writing is slow and dispiriting, and grey and frigid, despite writing scenes that supposedly take place in intense heat. "She had to pee. Then she flushed," is the sort of riveting storyline that you can expect from this droll, much more lame, non-serial-killer, version of Emma Cline's The Girls. Lucky You is one big bad mood that is so nicely summed up by one paragraph: "they traded turns talking in stream of conscious monologues. After a while, they weren't even listening to each other, it was more about just filling the air with the comfortable lilts and turns of story." Lucky You is like reading Carter's disoriented, rough-draft of her own personal journal. There is no real point, prompting me to wonder, Why am I reading this book? Many books of this similar genre are bound to be far better, can I even give this one star?

That Summer by Jennifer Weiner

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If you read any book this summer, make sure it's That Summer by Jennifer Weiner, a story that is both uplifting and unforgiving; heart-breaking but also heart-warming; compelling yet - unfortunately - a timeless story. But Weiner's is a tale that needs to be told.

Daisy is a seemingly contented housewife, but only because she tells herself that it must be so. She has a nice house, a kitchen with all of the frills, a husband who could be worse, and a daughter who can be difficult but is also brimming with confidence and intellect. Then Daisy starts receiving misdirected emails that are meant for Diana, which are mostly invites to fancy parties and events, tugging at Daisy's heart, wondering if settling so soon meant that she had missed out on her dreams. But Daisy didn't receive those emails on accident, Diana is not who she says she is, and what unfolds is a story that is poignant and relevant, a mystery reminiscent of Rosie Walsh's Ghosted, and a true testament to how the Universe works in mysterious ways.

Written with Weiner's trademark wit, That Summer unpacks all of the real dirty laundry that unfolds with every traumatic, life-changing event.  This book goes beyond what we think we know and understand about assault, cutting deep into what the real, long-lasting price of trauma is, for both the victim and the predator, and in being in the horrifying position of bystander. That Summer is about everything that happens afterwards, and comes at the question "What Would You Do If It Were You?" from every possible angle, a harsh though true exercise in empathy for even the most unfortunate of characters. But each of them is heartfully developed, and there are so many moving parts to this story that encompass what it truly means to be a human being, and what it means to have past selves, future selves, and how we reconcile those two in order to live in some form of peace.

I will admit, based on the cover and the synopsis - those on which we shall not judge - I was expecting That Summer to be frothy and fun, but what I got was so much more. It is mysterious and intelligent, thoughtful and relatable, and funny and unrelenting; just like every summer. I've read seven of Weiner's novels, and That Summer is another one of her wins for me. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 on my goodreads.

Behind Her Eyes by Sarah Pinborough

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"That ending!"

"That ending!"

"That ending!"

And my personal favorite, the ever-eloquent: "that ending was fucked up," though I would describe it more as absurd, outlandish, and bullocks, to use in favor of the American version of "complete bullshit." Behind Her Eyes by Sarah Pinborough is like bad sex - interesting and cryptic, but a little confusing at first; a decent enough middle to keep you powering through, but then an ending that is a complete disappointment, leaving you wishing you had just watched 20/20 instead.

Louise is a single-mom and a part-time secretary who, one night, meets a man at a bar. They talk and flirt and spark a connection fueled by alcohol and excitement, only to discover the next day their boss-secretary relationship. Then Louise meets Adele; the beautiful, luminous, mysterious, Adele, wife of The Man from The Bar. And though Louise tries in vain to stay away, she is inexplicably drawn into the lives of David and Adele, and the extremely shaky foundation on which their marriage is built. As Louise peels back the pages of their lives, there are definitely way more questions than answers, and one that you will most undoubtedly have is, "What the fuck am I reading?"

The problem with there being so much hype about the ending is that I found myself reading for the ending, and it didn't help that the story is confusedly cryptic, the dream analysis and whole Second Door business going way over my head. It is sinister and haunting, if only for the choppy way in which it's written, and the transitions aren't at all seamless, which I suppose is the point. The beginning is a bit boring, but once things start to be explained, the pages flip much faster, and then, of course, there is the infamous ending, which you either love or hate. I find it to be a bit of a cop-out; a dumbing-down of an otherwise good story. And, yes, even though it is completely unpredictable and everything a shocking twist should be, it is also the strangest way to explain it all away, and the weirdest ending to a Domestic Noir that I could ever imagine. Now it's pretty much impossible not to read this book for the ending. ⭐⭐/5 on my goodreads.

The Lion's Den by Katherine St. John

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Awhile back, my friend and fellow book-lover asked me to recommend a good thriller, and I had nothin'. The thrillers I had read were mediocre at best, and there was one I couldn't even read at all, so definitely nothing I felt worthy of slapping my recommendation on. Now, allow me to invite you into - or rather, aboard - The Lion's Den, a completely addictive, very clever, novel from Katherine St. John, an author who proves to be a real talent of the thriller genre. You'll down this dazzling debut like free-flowing rose on a hot day, the perfect read for your very un-perfect vacation, or to make you glad you didn't take one at all.

The Lion's Den is In a Dark, Dark Wood meets The Woman in Cabin 10 but with a lot more glitz, glam, and daylight, though the level of intensity and heat is the same. Summer and Belle, friends since childhood, have drifted apart over the last few years as Belle works to forge her acting career, and Summer hones her proclivity for wealthy, older men. But for Summer's birthday, Belle - along with Wendy, Claire, Amethyst, and Summer's mother and sister - has been invited aboard The Lyon's Den, a luxury yacht owned by John, Summer's latest May-December romance. Though Belle has her doubts - things that sound too good to be true usually are - she accepts, and - of course - things aren't at all what they seem and are about to get all kinds of fishy up in this boat.

Written with wit and humor and intelligence, the story is brilliantly plotted, expertly spanning one week of vacation while also covering a decade of early adulthood. So well organized and detailed is this book that the two stories manage to run parallel to each other while also heading straight on a collision course, with a slow build-up in the beginning that lures you into a false sense of thinking you know what to expect. Though the set-up, combined with the synopsis, makes one major twist a bit too obvious, the Devil is still in the details, and is followed by a smattering of twists that you absolutely do not see coming. And the way in which Belle handles these turns and navigates her precarious position is both elegant and fierce, a character to truly appreciate.

The Lion's Den is a taut thriller and an entertaining read that also engages our brains to assemble the puzzle; St. John cleverly hands us all of the pieces, deftly making every last detail invaluable, and it's ultimately very satisfying as they begin clicking into place. These are the authors you want to keep coming back to, and this is definitely a book I would want to recommend to my friend. So, here you go, Franny. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 on my goodreads.

The Sweeney Sisters by Lian Dolan

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I wasn't sure what I wanted to read. Sick of the suddenly-standard Psychological Thriller, and with the weather getting nicer, I was in the mood for a Spring-y read to break in my outdoor reading swing. And, if nothing else, the cover of The Sweeney Sisters by Lian Dolan simply screams Spring.

William Sweeney, a seemingly larger-than-life literary icon, known and taught the world over, dies suddenly one June morning, leaving his three daughters - Liza, Maggie, and Tricia - to not only pick up the pieces, but to find them all first: revenues that are dwindling, memoires that can't be located, and one surprising piece of the puzzle - a half Sweeney Sister - Serena - the result of his affair with the woman across the street. An interesting take on something that has become pretty commonplace these days - DNA testing - The Sweeney Sisters gracefully bypasses the salacious details of DNA revelations in favor of the hearts and souls that are really at the core of these fallouts. This book is a more intimate perspective into this premise, and a thorough exercise in empathy.

Written with a true talent for the word, Dolan expertly tackles the difficulties of writing about a fictional literary icon - writing about his supposed works without having to actually write his supposed works. But what translates is centered more around everyone's reactions, leaving the reader feeling as if they are Serena, herself - walking into the middle of a conversation; or, in this case, a lifetime - between close siblings. We are the flies on the wall as these women traverse their father's legacy - both in public and in family - and reconcile their memories of him with the things they are just learning. So, where you would think twists and turns abound, the so-called shocking revelations - including the reveal of the fourth sister - is pretty anticlimactic and tame.

The Sweeney Sisters is a gentle, feel-good, novel, but certainly not the "belly laughs" as described. It is more of a walk down memory lane driven by the sudden inclusion of an outsider, as well as a story about death and everything that comes after, though the level of empathy makes the story somewhat unrelatable. It's a compassionate look at how we idolize public figures who are dicks in private, the pedestals we place people on, and how they almost always come crashing down upon their death. It's an easy read, though not too exciting, and the drama can be a bit contrived. But the characters are likable and humble, the writing is witty and intelligent, introducing me to a plethora of new words, and the ending is warm and fuzzy. Perfect for Spring. ⭐⭐⭐/5 on my goodreads.

Goodnight Beautiful by Aimee Molloy

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Over the last decade, Psychological Thrillers have been the "it" book; ever since - ok I'll say it, but with a hefty eye-roll - Gone Girl hit the bookshelves. Suddenly us readers were addicted to being slightly fooled, the "Unreliable Narrator" was born, and we were trying to decide which author could do it better. For me, however, I tire of the genre kind of easily, all of them beginning to blend together at one point. Enter Goodnight Beautiful by Aimee Molloy, which introduces - or rather supports that of Hidden Bodies - the Unreliable Synopsis. "A handsome psychologist. A lonely wife. And in his home office, a vent in the ceiling. You'd listen, too, wouldn't you?"

Newlyweds Sam and Annie have just moved back to his quiet hometown in order to be near his ailing mother, and hopefully settle in with his private practice, "attending to his (mostly female) clientele." But, unbeknownst to Annie, things aren't going too well for Sam, he's finding this transition harder than he thought and with more obstacles than he anticipated. 

Goodnight Beautiful is a well thought-out, suspenseful and complex novel where Molloy does an excellent job of thinking of everything, though the twists and surprises - and there are plenty! - are slightly jarring and a wee bit confusing. It is an interesting and fascinating twist on stalking and obsession, which makes the characters' choices all the more intriguing.

Molloy definitely takes full advantage of the Unreliable Narrator, taking cues from Erin Kelly's The Burning Air before abruptly sending us into Stephen King territory, and I mean that literally. It feels as though Molloy had just read The Burning Air and Misery and smashed them together, suddenly I was in the only part of Stephen King's Misery that I could get through. Molloy obviously channeled King, but she did it better, taking on only a small portion of the physical exhaustion and alcoholism that come with his books, but having the appropriate amount of cheap psychotherapy.

The ending is not at all what I was expecting, which was a pleasant surprise. Goodnight Beautiful is a Psychological Thriller with heart. I read it in two days, you probably could too. ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 on my goodreads profile.

Hidden Bodies by Caroline Kepnes

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If you're the person who wrote the synopsis of Hidden Bodies on the book jacket, then consider yourself one of the lucky few who didn't actually read this novel by Caroline Kepnes, the follow-up to the darkly sexual You. Be thankful that you side-stepped this filthy poor excuse for a story (but still got paid).

The book jacket says that Joe Goldberg, Serial Stalker and Accidental Serial Killer, moves to Los Angeles for a fresh start, and to find love, but can't stop looking over his shoulder because "hidden bodies never stay hidden," when - in fact - Joe does not move to LA for a fresh start, he is most definitely not looking for love, and hidden bodies aren't actually a nuisance to Joe until the second-to-last chapter. This book - which is coated in a thin layer of ick - is a big fuck-you to Hollywood and everyone in the industry. It's a running list of rejected screenplays, and, yet, is somehow a tale of wildest dreams coming true, and it's the most unexpected representation of blatant sexism, Kepnes unabashedly portraying every male character as a simple-minded, blow-job obsessed, robot, including our hero, Joe. I'm not going to tell you the synopsis, and if you've watched the second season of You on Netflix, it's not that either.

The beginning is as you'd expect for the sequel to You - erotic and sinisterly sexy - but quickly turns dirty, raunchy, and just plain gross. As you power through the filth, and presumably shower several times, Joe is bitter, angry, and crass. OG Joe was our hero stalker, protecting Beck from Benji and Peach and herself, but LA Joe is on the hunt for revenge; a hunt for "Supercunts," the use of this word a little too prolific for my taste, but ultimately getting distracted by feeling compelled to murder everyone who irritates him. I've read trashy, grocery-store pseudo-romance novels, and I've watched porn, but this book is just foul; absolute garbage.

The only redeeming qualities of this book, if you can call them that, is that Joe has remarkably good luck and a remarkably fulfilling sex-life in spite of his penchant for killing people; he's moved on from simple stalking. And I agree with his sentiments about LA: it's claustrophobic, dirty, expensive, you spend an inordinate amount of time worrying about parking, you experience three different seasons in one day - mild spring in the morning, intense humidity in late morning, desert-like heat for the afternoon, and freezing nights - and although everything is literally leaning up against everything else, everyone drives everywhere even though everyone is worried about parking. Wow, I sounded like Joe there for a minute. But while a lot seems to happen to Joe, nothing actually happens; it's just the wanderings and bitter observations of a bitter man; hundreds of pages of Joe's melodramatic, narcissistic, bitching and moaning. I sped through it because, like bad sex, I was waiting for something interesting to happen, and when I eventually realized that that was never going to happen, I just wanted it to be over so I could move on to a good book, which is a true story involving the Holocaust, if that tells you anything about how much I enjoyed Hidden Bodies. ⭐/5 on my goodreads profile, and that's being generous. Will I continue to follow Joe's journey in You Love Me? Most likely no.

Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple

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I specifically chose Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple to read during a two-hour flight because if I love anything, it's a good theme. I audibly chuckled my way through the first 90-pages for the duration of the two-hours, then 100 more on the flight back. This is a feisty, whip-smart book that you will no doubt want to know how it ends.

Bernadette is wife to Microsoft genius, Elgie, mother of gifted teen, Bee, and glamorous agoraphobe who is - to put it mildly - freaking out about a promised trip to Antarctica. But while that is definitely weighing heavily on her, most of Bernadette's annoyances come from every day life, as is documented by the trail of emails, faxes (apparently people still do that), and transcripts that piece together the last few months before Bernadette vanishes without a trace. Where'd You Go, Bernadette is an action-packed, hilariously tragic, intelligent, family "dramedy" that suddenly turns into an impossible mystery. It is one of those books that leaves me in awe of accomplished writers.

The writing, though a bit long-winded at times, is intelligent, thorough, and very funny, while the story and characters are expertly plotted. I enjoy a big-hearted tale of a good 'ole social misfit. I am Bernadette; we are all Bernadette. She is Becky Bloomwood with a razor's edge. And while I sing nothing but praises for the bulk of it, this was a potentially phenomenal book that quickly turned into a four-star read with one, non-existent ending. Is there (or going to be) some kind of sequel? Where'd your ending go, Bernadette? I enjoy Bernadette's character, it would be nice to see her story continue. 4/5 on my goodreads profile.