Another day, another thriller/mystery. the night olivia fell by Christina McDonald was the last in the December line of thrillers, I think. Everything else on my nightstand from the library is lower-key. In this one, we begin with Olivia falling off a bridge into an icy river. She is kept alive because she is, shockingly, pregnant. Her single mother, Ali, who has kept secrets for Olivia’s entire seventeen-year life, makes it her mission to find out what happened to Olivia that night while she keeps vigil over the hospital bed where Olivia is kept alive so her baby can come to term. Alternate chapters are told from Olivia (before death) and Ali’s points of view both before and after her fall. This was a well-developed story that kept you guessing all the way through. I kept thinking I had it solved, only to find out I didn’t. I really couldn’t figure it out until the end – this is the way a thriller should be. Indeed, I enjoyed this one more than most of the others I read this month.

I had Conviction by Denise Mina checked out this summer and never got around to reading it before I had to return it. I didn’t think much more of it until Reese chose it as her December book club read. It came available at the library again and this time I started it right away. Another thriller to add to the December list, this one was my least favorite of all the ones I have read this month. And, sadly, I had the highest hopes for it. I didn’t much like the protagonist and the story took too long to develop. There were too many meander-y plot points and, ultimately, I just wasn’t that interested. The story had promise – a woman starts listening to a mystery podcast that brings up her past – at the same time that her husband is leaving her for her best friend. There’s a mystery about her past as well. All these elements should lead to a great story, but, for me, they didn’t. I’m afraid I can’t recommend this one.

Being on a December thriller-ish kick, the next up was recently published The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell. Amazon says, “Twenty-five years ago, police were called to 16 Cheyne Walk with reports of a baby crying. When they arrived, they found a healthy ten-month-old happily cooing in her crib in the bedroom. Downstairs in the kitchen lay three dead bodies, all dressed in black, next to a hastily scrawled note. And the four other children reported to live at Cheyne Walk were gone.” We trace the stories of three characters in this saga and piece together what happened twenty-five years ago. It’s a decent thriller, though not really “bone-chilling,” as Amazon purports. I’d grab it as an enjoyable choice, even though I didn’t love it.

I’m not sure how A Stranger on the Beach by Michelle Campbell ended up in my TBR pile, but I always enjoy a good thriller. This one followed The Two Lila Bennetts, so I have been full-on scary in December. In the first few pages of this one, we learn about Caroline’s new beach house and the collapse of her marriage. Frighteningly enough, at the same time, a stranger appears on the beach in front of her house and the money in all her bank accounts disappears. How are all these things connected? And is she a reliable narrator? I enjoyed this one, though it wasn’t particularly deep and I had predicted the ending by the time it got there.

The Two Lila Bennetts by Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke is described as “Sliding Doors with a killer twist.” I did love that movie, so I thought I would give this one a try. Amazon’s description is: “In one life, she’s taken hostage by someone who appears to be a stranger but knows too much. As she’s trapped in a concrete cell, her kidnapper forces her to face what she’s done or be killed. In an alternate life, she eludes her captor but is hunted by someone who is dismantling her happiness, exposing one secret at a time.” Lila is a high powered attorney who has done a lot of damage over the years to those she loves. The book walks through those mistakes and gives you two versions of her story. While it wasn’t amazing, the pace was fast and the stories were interesting enough. I always enjoy a collaboratively written book as well (I have so many questions…). It’s a good one to add to the stack.

Maybe You Should Talk to Someone by Lori Gottlieb was a wonderful book. While nonfiction is not my usual go-to, this was a great story of a therapist, her own therapy, and the tales of several of her patients. Alternating chapters told her story and those of the clients. I have heard a lot of good things about this one and they are all true. I’d grab this one if I were you – it’s great!

Patsy by Nicole Dennis-Benin is another in a string of books I have read lately that have garnered “best of 2019” status. This is another of the NYTimes’ 50 best fiction books of 2019. It was also one of Nicole’s favorites this year on The Readerly Report. I really, really enjoyed this read about a woman who leaves her daughter in Jamaica to both seek her fortune and reunite with her love and best friend in NYC. There’s a lot to this story and it’s a tough read in many ways, but it’s really interesting and thought-provoking. Highly recommend!

If I had sat down to write this blog post 50% in to City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert, I would have said it was a disappointment. However, the last third of the book made me understand why it has made so many “best of” lists this year. Too much time in this LONG novel was spend on Vivian’s early years in New York, shortly after dropping out of Vassar and moving in with her theater-owning Aunt Peg. However, Gilbert more than redeems the story in the last part of the story. I really enjoyed this one in the end, and it’s worth reading the too-long beginning to reach the meatier and more interesting last third.

I read The Gifted School by Bruce Holsinger both because it’s been on a bunch of lists this year and also because a readerly friend recommended it. I liked it, but, as he had said as well, I didn’t LOVE it. It struck true – the lengths parents will go to prove that their children are gifted – and also felt a little like Big Little Lies again. It’s like that formula is being used by multiple authors after it’s success. The story is just as the title would suggest, the founding of a “gifted” public school that will accept only the cream of the crop and a group of differently talented kids to make up the first cohort. Overall, I’d say it’s good and worth a read, but it’s not great.

Hum if You Don’t Know the Words by Bianca Marais was an excellent book about life in the 1970s in South Africa. The book is equally divided between Robin’s perspective and Beauty’s. Robin is a white girl whose parents are killed in Johannesburg. Beauty lives in a rural village but goes to Johannesburg to find her missing daughter. Their two lives intersect when Beauty is hired to take care of Robin. While set in the Apartheid era and very much centered on race relations, it’s ultimately the story of Robin and Beauty’s relationship and family. While heavy overall, there were comedic moments and beautiful writing. This was a real winner. I can’t wait to read her more recent work, If You Want To Make God Laugh.