I’ve heard a lot of good things about Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi, the latest from a friend who came to dinner and told me it was the best book she has read in a while. I very much enjoyed the story about linked generations of Ghanaians living in Ghana and in the United States. And, while I liked that each chapter related to those who had come before, since each chapter also functioned as a stand-alone story, I didn’t love the book. But I would recommend it nonetheless, as an interesting and well-told story, particularly if you are a fan of the short story genre.

Lily and the Octopus by Steven Rowley could have been a really depressing book: sad and lonely man’s one true friend, Lily, his dachshund, ages and develops a tumor, which causes her blindness and eventual death. However, in the way the narrator “battles” the tumor (octopus) that has invaded their lives, you come to terms with the eventuality. I surprised myself by not crying while reading this story. It was strangely uplifting and delightfully told.

I liked Ruth Ware’s previous thrilled, In a Dark, Dark Wood. She’s very good at making you want to finish and keeping you at the edge of your seat. The Woman in Cabin 10 is about a travel writer who is burgled shortly before she’s to take a complimentary luxury cruise to Norway. The burglary leaves her anxious and on the first night onboard, she believes she hears a woman go overboard. Everyone she tells thinks she’s crazy. This was a good read, but left a few strings untied. I don’t want to spoil the story by detailing them, but I was disappointed at the end that some things were not clearer to me. It’s still worth reading, but it wasn’t as good as I had hoped it would be.

“I am finishing up dinner with my family and my fiance when my husband calls.” How could you not want to read on with this first sentence?! One True Loves by Taylor Jenkins Reid was a last hurrah of summer – a true cheesy summer read. Emma believes that her husband, Jesse, has died in a helicopter crash on their first anniversary. A few years later, after recovering from this devastating loss, she falls in love with an old friend from high school and gets engaged. And, then Jesse returns, having been on a deserted island in the Pacific all that time. How can Emma cope with these two loves? While this was on the shallower end of what I usually enjoy, the writing was good and the fast pace was perfect for this busy time of year.