A former colleague of mine recommended The Rent Collector by Camron Wright to me and I am so glad she did. It was a wonderful read, much like behind the beautiful forevers. The Rent Collector follows the life of Sang Ly and her husband who live in a Cambodian dump with their very ill son, Nisay. Sang Ly befriends the rent collector, who teaches her to read. And, in the surprise friendship, all kinds of unexpected things happen. While terribly depressing, the redemption and potential for change that are realized by the end, make it a superb read.

I had been eagerly anticipating reading Love Warrior by Glennon Doyle Melton. I have enjoyed learning Glennon’s story and wanted to know more. And, true to all her writing (which I think pulls you right in), this biography pulled you right in. And, since I didn’t know so much about the details of her story, it absolutely kept me engaged until the very last word. It is a terrific biography – you should definitely pick it up.

The Wonder, by Emma Donoghue (Room), is disturbing, like Room, but entirely different. Lib, a widowed nurse, is sent to Ireland to sit and watch Anna, who hasn’t eaten in four months. She is dispatched to do the watching to determine whether Anna being alive is a miracle, or if something nefarious is going on. I struggled to get through this book. It was so very slow (probably intentionally so you felt as Lib felt sitting and watching), until about 30 pages from the end, when things fast-forwarded and went careening toward the ending. I can’t say, therefore, that I recommend this one. While I am glad I stuck with it to find out what happened, I kind of wish I hadn’t picked it up in the first place. It was especially disappointing since Room was so much better.

The Light of Paris, by Eleanor Brown (of The Weird Sisters, which was one of the first books I reviewed on this blog – and didn’t like at all, by the way) was a light, fun read about two women, unhappy wife and grandmother, in alternating chapters, facing similar issues between fulfilling society’s norms and their own hopes and dreams. It was a light and enjoyable read and, if you like Paris, will make you want to get back there.

the book that matters most by Ann Hood, was an absolute delight and one that I almost read in a day – it was that good. Ava’s husband has left her and she is at loose ends until she is invited to join a friend’s book club. This year, the book club’s theme is “the book that matters most to you.” Running alongside this primary story is the story of Ava’s daughter Maggie, who unbeknownst to her family, has dropped out of her junior-year-abroad program and fallen into a messy situation in Paris. Also, every now and again, we read about Hank Bingham, the police detective who is still trying to solve the case of Ava’s sister who died when they were children (those chapters could have been skipped, if you ask me, as they really only played into the story toward the end). This was absolutely worth a read, particularly for a book club.

I was lucky enough to receive a copy of Bertrand Court by Michelle Brafman by my favorite book blogger, Gayle Weisswasser, of Everyday I Write the Book. It was part of a giveaway by Prospect Park Books for the EDIWTB online book club. The premise is 14 intertwined stories about neighbors/family members in the DC area. I must start by saying that I don’t really like short stories. I feel like just when I get into the characters and plot, the story is over. However, the idea that these stories were linked made it more appealing. I liked Bertrand Court, but I didn’t love it. There were too many characters and I kept forgetting how each was linked. Also, the times kept jumping around and with flashbacks within many of the stories, I couldn’t keep track of what was what and who was who. I wasn’t with each character/storyline long enough to be able to figure out how the next one intertwined. And, in the end, at the last story, I felt let-down because of the major plot twist that left you hanging. So, overall, while the idea of Bertrand Court was appealing, I think the author would have been better served by lingering with each character and storyline longer and by not using the short story format. I’ll be curious what other book club members thought of this one.

It’s been a while since I posted. With the start of school, things have been busy, leaving me little time to read. And, I had trouble getting into The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead. Once, I did, though, I was sucked into the story for a little while. Ultimately, however, I struggled to finish. Cora’s story was certainly a compelling one – abandoned by her mother, and left a slave on a horrible plantation, she escapes and is recaptured several times before finding her ultimate freedom. However, the jumping around of stories and the mixing of metaphors (the underground railroad here is a real locomotive underground) didn’t work for me and, in the end, this was not a favorite of mine.

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.