Small Admissions, by Amy Poeppel, was a light and funny read which was perfect for this hectic admissions time of year. It is a comical look at NYC private school admission wrapped around the story of Kate who has been in a funk since her boyfriend unexpectedly dumped her the year before. The book explores Kate and the people who surround her before and after her first year working in an admission office. I liked the whole story, but, frankly, would have enjoyed learning more about the families from the admission files perspective (each part of the file is teased out throughout the story). The family element was particularly amusing – I am sure more so because of the work I do. While Small Admissions was nothing deep or earth-shattering, it was a fun read.

The Second Mrs. Hockaday, by Susan Rivers, is a Civil War era mystery told in letters and diary entries. It is a very short book and a quick and pleasant read. I was a little confused at first by the timing of everything and was glad that I had the physical book, instead of reading it on my Kindle, so I could easily flip back and forth. Basically, Placidia marries a man far older than she two days before he heads out to fight in the Civil War. About a year after he leaves, she has a baby who dies and is found buried in their yard. How all of this transpires, you have to read to find out! It’s worth picking up.

This is Not Over, by Holly Brown, was another review copy that I picked up this summer from my favorite bookstore in the Outer Banks. I liked the idea of it – a woman is accused of staining a sheet in a rental and denied her security deposit, but she claims she did nothing wrong, internet war ensues – but the execution wasn’t very good. In fact, I wish I hadn’t spent the weekend reading it. Ah well. Onto something better, I hope.

I should have read and posted about The Weight of Him by  Ethel Rohan long ago – it was a review copy that I was selected to read by St. Martin’s Press. It fell to the bottom of my stack and I only realized this week that the book was being published on Tuesday. So, here’s my belated review. Billy Brennan loves food. So much so, that he weighs more than 400 pounds. After his oldest son commits suicide, he goes on a campaign to be sponsored to lose weight, the proceeds going to preventing suicide. This book, while hopeful in some ways, is very sad and depressing in others. It reminded me of  Wally Lamb’s She’s Come Undone, and Big Brother, by Lionel Shriver, which I started and didn’t finish. So, in reading, I kept feeling like I had read the story before. This feeling of Deja Vu, coupled with the overwhelming feeling of depression, made The Weight of Him not my favorite. However, in wanting to see what happened to Billy, I did finish and overall, it was an interesting story with a hopeful ending.

News of the World by Paulette Jiles was a quick read, but only meh. The premise was interesting: Captain Kidd travels through Texas, giving newspaper readings to people who are hungry for the news. Along the way, he is given $50 to transport a young orphan (taken by Kiowa raiders who killed her parents and sister and raised her as their own) back to her family. The book is the story of that transport. For those who like quiet, historical, well-told tales, this would be a hit. For me, it didn’t hit the mark.

I chose The Dry for my neighborhood book club after reading numerous compelling reviews (including one from Reese Witherspoon, who I love and whose Instagram feed is AMAZING!). I was excited to get started and it didn’t disappoint. The story centers around Federal Agent, Aaron Falk, who comes back to his hometown after 20 years to attend the funeral of his good friend, Luke, who, along with his wife and son, was brutally murdered. Aaron lends a hand in the investigation while dealing with his own challenging past, for which he was run out of town years earlier (suspected of murdering his good friend, Ellie). This was a fast-paced dual mystery whose ending wasn’t too predictable until close to the end. I stayed up late to finish and really did enjoy it.

The Orchid House by Lucinda Riley was another fantastic recommendation by my former colleague. It’s a WWII period piece inside a framework of the present. There’s some mystery as well, which makes it a real page-turner. The story within the story is about the Crawford family and their estate, Wharton Park. Framing the story is Julia’s life recovering from an accident and learning about her grandmother’s life at Wharton Park. I thoroughly enjoyed this one and if you are a fan of Downton Abbey, as I am, you will like this too.