Book It, Dano.

The latest batch of reviews… enjoy!

–Marissa

The Burnout by Sophie Kinsella had me at the title, since I feel the exact same way! Sasha has been sent on a short sabbatical after work becomes too much, and she decides to retreat to the seaside resort her family visited as children, though it is considerably worse for wear.😉 A well-meaning staff try to help her, but bungle nearly everything, plus the only other guest is a grumpy dude named Finn – and of course they butt heads, though they are both retreating in their own ways. Romance, the British seaside, connections between people, hilarity and warmth exude from this novel. It was just such a nice diversion for a few hours. 🙂

Astor by Anderson Cooper is exactly what it sounds like – a nonfiction work all about the rise of the Astors, and their eventual fall from prominence. While I thoroughly enjoyed this work on the Vanderbilts (which I know was close to home for him!) I feel like Cooper lost a bit of the magic on this one, though I was still fascinated by the families stories, told in chapter-by-chapter style from John Jacob Astor and his fur trade up to the last Mrs. Astor (who was one by marriage), Brooke Astor. This family is part of our history, of New York’s history, for sure.

While You Were Out by Meg Kissinger was a truly engrossing memoir, though it took me a minute to get into it. Much like Hidden Valley Road, this memoir delves into how mental illness permeates and affects one family – namely, the outsized (8 kids!) Chicagoan family of the Kissingers, who are dealt more than their fair share of mental illness, depression, and suicide. This is a tough read, but Kissinger handles it with grace, humor, humility and just the right touch to really feel the hurt and heart of it. This has been all over the autumn’s “best reads” lists. Recommended!

Geneva by Richard Armitage was a automatic read for me, as I’ve been such a huge fan of him as a actor for years, and this is his debut novel. This is a thriller set mostly in Switzerland at a big biotech conference where Nobel Prize-winning scientist Sarah has been asked to endorse a new product at the urging of her doctor husband Daniel. But as Sarah’s memory begins to fail, the race to use the very product she’s been asked to endorse becomes even more vital… but is there more than meets to the eye (spoiler: yes). This was fun and fast and engaging throughout – a perfect weekend read!

The Happy Couple by Naoise Dolan was written in an interesting way – forwards and back, and with multiple viewpoints from multiple characters. In short, Celine and Luke are due to marry in a few months but as the wedding approaches, the lives of the five main characters intersect and pull and push until the reader isn’t sure if they’re going to make it down the aisle or not. I didn’t NOT enjoy this as I read it, but it’s one of those novels that I won’t be able to recall a thing about in a few weeks.