I became immediately engrossed in What She Knew by Gilly Macmillan. A mother goes for a walk with her son and he runs ahead of her to go to the rope swing and disappears without a trace. Every mom’s nightmare, right?! While this was an enjoyable and enthralling story, it was too long. Also, the title didn’t make much sense to me once I finished the story. I am not sure who the she is who is referred to. But, on the whole, this was a good read. It certainly would be a nice one to pick up for the beach.

While The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper reminded me of A Man Called Ove (reviewed here) at first, soon thereafter, it took a decidedly different turn. Arthur Pepper is a lovable guy, compared to Ove, and the story is vastly different. Arthur continues life as normal and regimented after the death of his wife until, a year later, when he is cleaning out her things and discovers a charm bracelet which he has never seen before. Uncharacteristically, he begins a journey to track down the background of each charm. And, in doing so, he learns about who his wife really was. It is a charming (sorry!) story that was a treat to read. Not Ove quality, but quite good.

I had been intrigued by The Nest by Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney for a while. I read a number of reviews before getting it from the library (I cannot say enough how much I love the Montgomery County Public Library). However, it was a slow start for me and I put it down in favor of the last two which were due back at the library first. When I picked it up again, the pace increased, but I still never really loved it. The plight of the poor rich kids who made bad choices because they expected their inheritance to come through, didn’t really interest me and I didn’t find any of the characters appealing. This may have been the point, but it didn’t keep the story going for me and, in the end, I could have skipped this one.

The Silent Sister by Diane Chamberlain was about a young woman tasked with cleaning out her parents’ home after her father’s death, who discovers that her entire life is a lie. Her family was a mess as she grew up because of her sister’s suicide. Add to that her brother’s PTSD from the Iraq war, and you can understand why she didn’t want to come home to deal with everything. There were more plot twists than I would have expected and I devoured this rather large tome quickly. It had just the right combination of suspense and interest without any gory surprises.

Dark Corners by Ruth Rendell, was written up in Oprah’s monthly Must Read newsletter. I have never read any of Rendell’s books, so I thought I would give this one a try. It was certainly a quick read and the no-nonsense narration made the book move along at a quick pace. I couldn’t really get into the main character and his choices, but I can see why people enjoy Rendell’s books for their psychological suspense. I don’t know that I will seek out another one anytime soon – it was just so-so for me.

I can’t remember where I heard about The Girl in the Red Coat by Kate Hamer (Oprah, perhaps). The storyline was intriguing – a mother has premonitions that she is going to lose her daughter and then she does – and the beginning was good, but it lost steam for me. While I wanted to find out what happened, by the end, I really just wanted to know what happened after the resolution. Not only wasn’t that really addressed, but the mystery-solving portion was completed in the last 10 pages – way too quickly given the pace of the rest of the book. Overall, it felt too forced and wasn’t compelling. It was a disappointment.

Be Frank With Me was on my list for a while and I was eager to read it as it had lots of great reviews. Frank is a little boy who Alice has been dispatched to take care of by her publisher boss while Mimi, the author and Frank’s mother, finishes her next great work. Mimi, made famous by her first bestseller, has not written anything in decades. The tone was reminiscent of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime. To me, the writing was choppy, which was purposeful, I suppose, so you could better feel the characters, but it made the book seem shallow to me. While I mostly enjoyed reading it, I wasn’t enamored of either the writing or the storyline.

The Ramblers, by Aidan Donnelly Rowley is a delightful, but shallow dip into a set of young college graduates’ lives in New York. Clio and Smith were roommates at Yale whose lives were completely different, yet they were drawn together and stayed close afterwards. Both are navigating family and life in NYC as well as relationship complications. I liked the varying points of view from chapter to chapter, including Tate’s (added later – Smith’s new love interest). Each section wove the story tighter and tighter. This was a fast-paced read, and an enjoyable one.

While I am a little tired of World War II, Secrets of a Charmed Life, by Susan Meissner, was a wonderful story about Emmy and her sister, Julia, who were sent away to the English Countryside during the war. The story is framed by on about Kendra, a history major, who has gone to hear Isabel MacFarland’s story of the Blitz. The secrets Isabel has to tell and the way both stories weave together make for compelling reading. I plan to look into more of Susan Meissner’s books, now that I have discovered her.

Saving Sophie by Ronald Balson was recommended by my work colleague who always has great recommendations. She also suggested Once We Were Brothers, which I plan to read as well. While I enjoyed Saving Sophie very much – fast paced, short chapters, compelling story – it could have been much shorter. It came out of the gate swinging, then stalled out a bit in the middle with lots of middle eastern history, and then picked up again at the end. At 400+ pages, it surely could have been a bit condensed. However, for the most part, it moved quickly, and, as I said, the story was interesting, so well worth a read.