ALL FALL DOWN (Jennifer Weiner) - December 31/14

I was definitely enjoying this for a while, since Weienr does a nice job of establishing the protagonist and her unpleasantly hectic life. But the author transforms what should've been a simple story into an almost insanely overlong epic. There's a whole final hundred pages devoted to the main character's stint at a rehab facility, whereas I would've been fine with the book ending with her just arriving there. Needless to say the book became quite a chore to finish. ** out of ****

US (David Nicholls) - December 15/14

I'm conflicted about this one. On the one hand, this is a typically well written and occasionally engrossing novel by Nicholls that's rife with complex, thoroughly agreeable characters. But on the other hand, the book is saddled with an epic length that ensures it feels like a slog at times. I was never bored but I did feel like 100 pages could (and should) have been cut from the book. *** out of ****