The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai was chosen by the NYT last week as one of the ten best books of 2018. And, while I did really enjoy it, it wasn’t a best of 2018 for me. The book is really two stories – one of Chicago at the worst part of the AIDS epidemic, the other in Paris involving one of the characters from the 80s Chicago story. The primary story was the more compelling and page-turning one for me, whereas the Paris one I just wanted to cruise through. And the stories didn’t overlap in really interesting ways, the way you thought they might. And, ultimately, the book itself was too long. So, again, though I enjoyed it, I didn’t love it.