I enjoyed Astonish Me. The story was compelling and the descriptions of dance and a dancer’s life were interesting. However, the characters were a little two-dimensional and I had trouble both relating to them and also believing their stories. That said, however, it was a good read and a fast one. You should pick it up.

The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton was only OK. It got better as it went, but about 40% in, I almost gave up on it. Needless to say, in her usual fashion, she made it page-turning and there were lots of surprises at the end. I wouldn’t grab this one, though, lots of her others are much better.

I will confess to the guilty pleasures of British/Irish novels (some more literary than others). Ian MacEwan, A S Byatt, Maeve Binchy? Yes, please. Therefore, I don’t know why I have put off reading any more of Kate Morton’s books. I adored The Forgotten Garden and The Distant Hours and The Secret Keeper have been on my wish list for ages. Since the great library book scenario (where I requested about 50 books off my wish list from the library and received 20 all at once), I got two Morton books. They’ve been out for a while, so I felt no rush to get to them. Boy, was I wrong to put them off for so long. Sucked right in and dying to read and find out the secrets and story, I was lost to my family for many hours. While The Distant Hours could have been shorter, it moved very quickly. This multi-generational tale of a castle and its inhabitants was filled with twists, turns, and surprises. I loved it.  Even though it’s a bit dark in outlook (I always felt like it was raining), it would be a good beach read.

While I enjoyed this story and it was a quick read, The Girl With a Clock for a Heart, wasn’t fantastic. A good thriller is something I like every now and again, but there wasn’t much to this and it felt flat overall. The plot twists and surprises were unusual, however, and it was a fun way to spend a few hours.

We Were Liars was a disappointment. While it was a good and fast read, it just didn’t live up to all the hype. I am not into YA as a rule (with the exception of Wonder, The Hunger Games, and The Fault in Our Stars), but so many people had talked to me about how controversial and good it was, that I gave it a try. The premise is that a teenage girl and her wealthy family who summer on a private island off Martha’s Vineyard have some kind of tragedy which has given the girl migraines and amnesia for the event and the summer when it happened. She goes back to the island after two years away and reconstructs the event. I get that there are surprises, and the teenage voice was certainly authentic, but I was never really hooked and wasn’t blown away.

Run out immediately and buy this book. I write this as tears roll down my cheeks – it was that moving and that good. It was so simple and at the same time so wonderful. It is remarkable to me that All You Could Ask For was written by a man. The whole book was about women and breast cancer, and yet, it was all written by Mike Greenberg who is known for his ESPN show, “Mike & Mike in the Morning.” I kept looking back at the cover to be sure. He really nailed it. It reminded me of She’s Come Undone where Wally Lamb really got it too and caught the voice and perspective perfectly (I really should read that again – it is one of my all-time favorites). I could nitpick about a few things that bothered me as I read, but I won’t because there is no need. After reading the final chapter explaining his inspiration, I loved the book even more. What a wonderful tribute to what must have been an amazing woman. All of us will be better off by having read this one.

I could not put this book down. I love Julia Glass and And the Dark Sacred Night was absolutely wonderful – I cannot heap enough praise on it. Kit goes looking for his father, who his mother has only told him is dead, and brings his fractured family together. If you have read any of Glass’ other books, you will know she fully fleshes out her characters, and provides depth to their stories. I loved tracing the individuals’ pasts and following their stories. It’s a long one, but you’ll love every minute of it.

I enjoyed You Are One of Them by Elliott Holt more because of the DC connection than anything else. It was a good story (Cold War, spies, defection, etc.), made more interesting because it was based on the true story of Samantha Smith, the American girl who wrote a letter to Yuri Andropov asking for peace in 1982. Holt’s writing was a bit precious and the characters and scenes not fleshed out enough for me. I was left wanting and didn’t buy into a lot of what happened. The ending, too, was a little abrupt. But, remembering the 80s and 90s in DC (Cleveland Park, NCS, Au Pied du Cochon, etc.) was a treat. I also enjoyed the feeling of Moscow and Holt’s descriptions of the people and places there. She definitely nailed the stark, cold, dirty feeling I had when I was there in 1989. You Are One of Them is worth a read for nostalgia’s sake.

Emma Donoghue had a lot to live up to after her wonderful and disturbing, Room. And, she did a fabulous job on the follow up, Frog Music. This story was completely different from Room, but equally gripping. I thought about reading all day today and was able to finish the book in three days. I couldn’t believe, in reading the afterward, that it was based on a true story. I highly recommend you run out and grab this one.

Like many books that end up on my list, I have no idea where I got this recommendation. But I became quickly engrossed in We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Nancy Joy Fowler. Even though there was quick engagement, the story was too implausible to me and the main character careened out of control in an annoying way. I didn’t like any of the people in this book, but I did want to find out what happened in the end, so I did finish it. The premise of the story of a chimp living as a member of the family for 5 years and then mysteriously disappearing was just a little too much.