Pachinko, by Min Jin Lee, came highly recommended from various sources. It a story that covers 50 years in the life of a Korean family, displaced to Japan. I loved this book. It is the kind of book that you think about all day and long to get back into so you can find out what’s going to happen next to the family. My only (small) complaint was that it was a bit long. If you aren’t frightened off by length, and are, like me, a fan of family sagas, this is a good one to grab for the summer.

I gave up on Jodi Picoult a few years ago. While I loved The Pact (the first of hers I read – if you haven’t read it, you should) and several other early novels, I was finding her work too predictable and formulaic. I kept reading positive reviews of small great things, however, and I thought I would try it out. I was encouraged when the librarian told me it was worth a read when I checked it out. I fell right into this book and read about a quarter of it the first day. And, while it was a fast read, about 1/3 of the way in, it read like most of her others – medical drama followed by court case. This was a good read, and, if you haven’t read any of her others, I would definitely pick it up. It gives you pause and is a unique way to look at race relations in America. If, however, like me, you are tired of her predictability, I would give this one a pass.

I received North Haven by Sarah Moriarty as a Kindle First option for May. Since we have been lucky enough to spend a few weeks in North Haven, Maine the past few summers thanks to the generosity of good friends, it seemed like it would be a good choice. The beginning was a bit of a disappointment – shallow character development and jumping around through history and present. And, while when some of the mysteries were revealed, the plot became more interesting, in the end, this book was not really for me. I didn’t really like any of the characters, and they weren’t developed enough to care much about them or their story. Additionally, the book didn’t take place on North Haven, as far as I can tell. It seemed to take place on nearby Vinalhaven, which meant that, through the entire story I was annoyed about the title. While the scenery is undoubtedly the same (and was well, though not often described), there was nothing tying the book specifically to North Haven and a few references to Vinalhaven. I did finish, since it was a short book, but I can’t recommend this one.

I like Elizabeth Berg (Open House, The Year of Pleasures) and found an older one of her books, The Art of Mending, in perfect condition in a Little Free Library. It was a quick and fairly simple read – a family comes together once a year to attend the State fair. Family secrets are revealed, death is involved, and the siblings have to figure out how to manage it all. There was something I can’t really put my finger on that made this story not work for me. Perhaps it was overly simplistic. Perhaps the characters weren’t developed enough. Either way, I didn’t love this read and felt let down once I got to the end. I’d give it a skip in favor of some of Berg’s other novels.

I found Night Road in my Little Free Library. Since The Nightingale is one of my all-time favorite recent reads, I thought I would give Kristen Hannah another try. While Night Road moved at a good clip and the story was interesting, it wasn’t nearly as good as The Nightingale (to be fair, an almost impossibly high bar). We begin the story with Lexi moving in with her great-aunt after living most of her life in foster homes. On Lexi’s first day at her new school, she meets Mia who has no friends and can’t connect with her classmates despite having a happy home life and wonderful twin brother, Zach. Lexi and Mia become the closest of friends and Lexi becomes ensconced in the family’s life. Senior year brings trouble to the idyllic situation as Zach and Lexi fall in love, hoping that the rest of their lives won’t be upset. Of course, feelings are hurt, bad decisions are made and things fall apart. Night Road felt like a young adult novel for the first 2/3rds. The beginning was a little predictable and too shallow. The last 1/3, however, changed my opinion of the whole book. In fact, it took my rating from a 3.5 to a 4. So, while I originally said I’d skip it in favor of trying some other Hannah options, upon finishing, I would say it’s worth picking up. Fair warning, Hannah has a way with prose that makes a reader cry.

Despite a slow start, The Two-Family House by Lynda Cohen Loigman is a delightful novel with interesting characters and an absorbing story. Rose and Helen are best friends, married to brothers, who share a brownstone in New York City. Rose lives in the downstairs apartment with her three girls and Helen lives upstairs with her three boys. The families are in and out of each other’s homes daily and the brothers work together in a box manufacturing business that had been passed down to them by their father. Imagine how excited the sisters-in-law are to discover, later in life, that they are both pregnant. Fast forward 9 months to a blizzard, when both husbands are out of town on business. What happens that night changes the course of both family’s history and weaves together a page-turning tale. I really enjoyed this story and highly recommend it. While you suspect the “mystery” early on, it isn’t confirmed until close to the end, which makes it that much more fun.

Never Let You Go is the newest by Chevy Stevens (Still Missing, Those Girls and That Night). Reading Stevens is a guilty pleasure – fast-paced, interesting plots that keep you on the edge of your seat. This one, however, I didn’t like as much as her others. Not only did the domestic violence bother me (too much like what I didn’t enjoy in Big Little Lies), but I too easily figured out the major plot twist and then just had to suffer through the rest of the story – it was too predictable. Lindsey escapes from her abusive husband with her daughter, Sophie, eleven years earlier. The night of her escape, her husband goes to prison for killing a woman while driving drunk. Present day, Lindsey has reinvented her life while Andrew has changed in prison. Suddenly, though, after his release, she fears he is stalking her and all her old fears come rushing back. One by one, you doubt all the characters in the book. The premise was a good one, and the tension was certainly real, but in the end, this one just didn’t hold up to her previous thrillers. I’d give it a miss.

Always, by Sarah Jio, was a bit of a disappointment. The idea was intriguing, but the writing was both weak and predictable. When we begin the story, Kailey and her fiance are enjoying a lovely dinner at one of Seattle’s best restaurants. Kailey seems to have it all – a job that she loves as a journalist and a seemingly perfect guy. After dinner, however, Kailey sees a homeless man who she realizes is the love of her life, Cade McAllister. Ten years earlier (the story is told in alternating chapters between 2008 and 1998) when Cade and Kailey met, the connection was intense. But, Cade mysteriously disappeared, leaving her devastated. Once she has seen him, she can’t let go and needs to figure out how he became homeless and unable to remember her. I really wanted to like this book, but the writing just didn’t hold up. I only finished it to find out what happened to Cade.

The Housekeeper by Suellen Dainty was thematically very much like Here’s to Us by Elin Hilderbrand. While somewhat heavy, it was a quick and light read that wasn’t too taxing. Anne is a chef working at her boyfriend’s restaurant, until she realizes that he is seeing someone else. Crushed, she leaves both the boyfriend and the job. She wallows in self-pity until she realizes that she would like to head in a different direction for a while. She becomes the housekeeper and chef for a self-help guru and her husband, a professor and writer. While working for them, she discovers that the psychologist who the husband is writing about treated her schizophrenic mother. You could 100% see the ending coming, which was too bad, but the story was decent and kept me entertained (low bar, perhaps).

The River at Night by Erica Ferencik grabs you immediately and doesn’t let go until the final page. I read it in about two hours because I couldn’t put it down. It’s perfect for a quiet weekend or a day at the beach – NOT for when you are home alone at night! Four friends have gone on girls’ weekends for the last fifteen years – some have been more thrilling than others. This year, the ringleader, Pia, has decided they need to go whitewater rafting in the wilderness. While Wini has reservations, she decides she would rather face her fears than miss the time with her pals. Of course, terrible things happen. This was not particularly well-written and you could argue the plausibility of many elements, but, laying those aside, this was a great read.