Exit West by Mohsin Hamid has been on more lists than I can count lately. And, while I read the description and thought, “that’s not for me,” I was finally convinced by the NYT’s 10 Best Books of the Year List that I should try it. After all, if Pachinko (reviewed here) was on it, I should reconsider. As an aside, I have also added The Power by Naomi Alderman to my TBR list based on the NYT List. Has anyone read it already and liked it? Exit West was good, but not great for me. I liked the omniscient voice and the central story of Nadia and Saeed falling in love and ultimately having to flee their country of origin (in an unorthodox and fantastical way), but the little side stories didn’t fit in and took away from my full enjoyment of the story. Ultimately, the writing was beautiful, but the story went in too many directions.

I received a most thoughtful and delightful gift of a personally autographed copy of Anne Fadiman’s The Wine Lover’s Daughter (photo is of title page – how amazing is that inscription?!). I love Anne Fadiman. If you have not had the pleasure, begin with Ex Libris, an absolute delight. This book too is a treat in every way. Designed with chapters that can function as individual pieces or read as a whole, it tells of Anne’s father, Clifton Fadiman (quite famous in the book world), his relationship with Anne, and his relationship with wine. I loved this book!

Sing, Unburied, Sing, by Jesmyn Ward, has been everywhere this season, so I was eager to pick it up and find out what all the hype was about. And, as has been the case for the past few weeks, I was disappointed. The book was lyrical, and beautifully written, without question, but I felt not only dispirited (probably part of the point) and unsettled but also unmoved by the story. The story is about families, specifically dysfunctional ones, and the ties of extended family members. The central story is of Jojo, thirteen, and his toddler-aged sister, who travel with their drug-addict mother and her friend to pick up Jojo’s father, Michael, from prison. Jojo’s mother, Leonie, is a mess, confused about herself, her life, and her relationship with her children and her children’s father. Ghosts play a part in the story as well. The story weaves in and out of time and between the perspectives of Leonie, Jojo, and a dead inmate from the prison. And, while I enjoyed the writing, ultimately, this was not a favorite.

Watch Me Disappear, by Janelle Brown, began as a somewhat satisfying way to spend a few hours. But as the book wore on, I became increasingly annoyed with the mother character, and I figured out the plot line before the mystery was uncovered. A year earlier, Billie Flanagan (a mom in Berkeley, CA), disappeared on a wilderness hike, and her body was never found. Billie’s daughter, Olive, begins to have weird hallucinations of her mother and believes that she must still be alive. And, while at first, her father doesn’t believe her, he too starts to doubt Billie’s death. As he and Olive delve into Billie’s past, they realize that they didn’t really know who she was at all. This story didn’t feel too original and wasn’t a favorite. The meh streak continues….

I resisted The Lying Game, by Ruth Ware, even after Reese Witherspoon picked it as a book club selection.While I liked In a Dark, Dark Wood (reviewed here), her next book, The Woman in Cabin 10 (reviewed here) was not as good. I liked The Lying Game, but I didn’t love it (following the trend of the last few weeks). The ending, however, did keep me up late one night. To begin this tale, a woman’s dog finds a human bone along an estuary. This discovery prompts Kate to text her three high school best friends, “I need you.” The friends come immediately to Kate’s aid, each one having spent their days since high school, covering up this death. The book had a somewhat original premise and a good rush-to-the-resolution ending, but it wasn’t great.