I was so excited when I got the library notice that The Magician’s Lie by Greer Macallister was ready to be picked up. I have read wonderful things about it from multiple sources. And, it didn’t disappoint. I loved hearing the illusionist’s story from her perspective and the interweaving of the present day storyline with the police officer. However, while it reminded me of Water for Elephants and The Night Circus, it wasn’t nearly as good as either of those. It was compelling, though, and a good whodunit. You should pick it if you are looking for something quick and engaging.

I chose Christoper Scotton’s The Secret Wisdom of the Earth based on a review on Oprah’s website about best new books to read. It was a slow starter and quite long, so, while I enjoyed it, I did think about giving up as it plodded along. I think too many of the books I have been reading of late have been such page turners, that a quieter book was hard for me to get into. About 3/4 of the way in, however, the book picked up the pace significantly and I could not put it down. It is a wonderful, multi-layered story about a boy and his grieving parents who returns to his mother’s childhood home to heal. In the healing, the boy grows up and his family makes changes and moves forward. I do think the beginning could have been condensed a bit to make way for the more engaging parts toward the end, but I appreciated the quiet the author achieved in the way he approached the story. This is definitely worth grabbing and enjoying!

Sadly, I could not wait to finish Find Me by Laura Van Den Berg. I couldn’t get into the characters and only wanted to know how it was going to end. I almost abandoned it several times, but it was so short, I figured I could finish it quickly. I cannot recommend this dystopian read.

I have had About Alice by Calvin Trillin on the shelf for a long time. It’s such a slim volume that I am not sure why I have not read it before now. But, in hopes of culling the bookshelf, I have turned, of late, to items that have been there for far too long and have been superseded over and over by library or Kindle choices. What a lovely and spare tribute to a seemingly wonderful woman. And what a delightful and sad read. Absolutely worth reading.

Don’t Try to Find Me by Holly Brown is another Advanced Readers Edition that I have had for quite a while. I believe I received it from Harper Collins and I am certain I should have read it and commented on it before now. It was a good quick read, a bit suspenseful, and interesting until the end. The premise is that a 14 year old girl runs away and her parents try to find her. Secrets come out, of course, and you wait to find out if she will come back (you know she’s alive because 1/2 of the book is told from her point of view) and whether it will make or break the relationship her parents have. I enjoyed it, but it wasn’t incredible. Certainly a nice diversion on an unexpected snow day.

Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan was another recommendation by my famous friend who is featured in Elin Hillenbrand books. The cover alone makes you want to read this book. It’s so luxurious. Even though I became a little tired of reading about entitled ridiculously wealthy people, overall, I enjoyed this frivolous read. I might even read Kwan’s next book, China Rich Girlfriend.

I read about The Prince of Los Cocuyos on Oprah’s recommended book list. I love a good memoir and this was a nice, quiet read. Nothing monumental happened – it was really a series of short stories about Richard Blanco’s life. I enjoyed it, it was interesting, and it was certainly well-written, but it wasn’t amazing. If you like memoirs, you will like this one, and it’s a quick read.

I received an advance readers copy of One Step Too Far by Tina Seskis by entering a Facebook contest on William Morrow’s page. I always enter and never win, so this was a nice treat. One Step Too Far was a quick read. Not only was I sucked in immediately to the strange story of Emily/Cat, but I was dying to know what had happened to make her abandon her life, husband, son, and family. There was no way to have predicted the ending of this one, and while I kept thinking I had figured it out (twin switch, anyone?), I hadn’t. It left some things hanging and required some suspension of disbelief, but, all in all, it was a good read and one I would recommend. It reminded me of Gone Girl, but it wasn’t as good.

I adore Ian McEwan. I was so excited about his newest book, The Children Act, that I bought it in hardback. This is unheard of for me, as my few blog readers already know. I couldn’t wait for it to come from the library and it was so spare and had such a luxurious cover, that I had to have it. However, after a friend’s so-so review of the book, I put it aside for a while. I was excited to have a snow day to get through it today. Unfortunately, after spending the day reading, I am completely disappointed. It was such an utterly boring story with characters I cared nothing for that I feel like my reading time was wasted. It’s so sad to have felt this way after having read an author I usually like so much.