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.

“I am finishing up dinner with my family and my fiance when my husband calls.” How could you not want to read on with this first sentence?! One True Loves by Taylor Jenkins Reid was a last hurrah of summer – a true cheesy summer read. Emma believes that her husband, Jesse, has died in a helicopter crash on their first anniversary. A few years later, after recovering from this devastating loss, she falls in love with an old friend from high school and gets engaged. And, then Jesse returns, having been on a deserted island in the Pacific all that time. How can Emma cope with these two loves? While this was on the shallower end of what I usually enjoy, the writing was good and the fast pace was perfect for this busy time of year.

I almost gave up on The House Between Tides, as it hit a lull in the middle, which I didn’t want to push through with my stack of to-be-reads towering higher by the day, but I am glad I didn’t abandon ship. Hetty inherits a house in the Scottish Highlands only reachable at low-tide. With it, is discovered a mysterious dead body. The book switches back and forth from the home’s owner, painter, Theo Blake in 1910, to Hetty in 2010. Blake’s complicated history is the main story, but Hetty’s becomes interesting as well. The pace picked up significantly in the last 100 pages, finally culminating in somewhat of a surprise ending. So, at the last, I am glad I read it and would recommend it.

The Last One by Alexandra Oliva is reality show meets apocalypse. You fall right into this story, particularly if, like me, you were a long-ago fan of “Survivor.” I believe Oprah had this on a “You Won’t be Able to Put This Book Down” list, which was 100% appropriate – I stayed up way past my bedtime to finish it. The basic story is of twelve contestants competing in a “Survivor”-like reality show. While they are filming the show, a virus spreads across the country, but the contestants know nothing about it. Alternating chapters tell either of the filming of the reality show or of the post-apocolyptic world in which one of the reality show contestants unknowingly ends up. While disturbing, this was an interesting premise and enjoyable read. My only issue was with the ending, which tied things up too quickly.

I feel like it’s not summer if Beatriz Williams doesn’t have a book out. A Certain Age is her latest. It’s a 1920s retelling of the opera Der Rosenkavalier. Every other chapter tells either Theresa or Sophie’s story. These stories intertwine as the book progresses. Theresa is unhappily married and having an affair with Octavian as the story begins. Sophie then gets engaged to Theresa’s brother, Ox. Sophie, at the same time, falls in love with Octavian. A mystery is woven through the tale to add to the intrigue. A Certain Age is another hit for Williams and one I very much enjoyed reading.

The House at the Edge of Night by Catherine Banner is a three-generation saga of a family from a small island off the coast of Sicily. At the center of the story is the cafe, “The House at the Edge of the Night,” and the family who runs it. The story spans a century of history and brings the family up to 2009 by the end. It’s a delightful story, and, while I enjoyed it, it was a little flat for me. Good if you have a longer while to read it – it’s 415 pages – but it might be a slog if you are dipping in a little bit at a time.