KEEPING FAITH (Jodi Picoult) - June 25/15

Jesus, Picoult, wtf? This book does possess an interesting story and compelling characters but damn if the whole thing isn't like five times longer than necessary. The narrative seriously drags from start to finish and I did find it a struggle to care about anything past a certain point. It actually made me angry how long this book is, because it could and should have been a decent read. (And the ending stinks.) *1/2 out of ****

ME AND EARL AND THE DYING GIRL (Jesse Andrews) - June 13/15

I really wasn't enjoying this much at the outset, as Andrews offers up an almost painfully quirky story led by a broadly portrayed and far from authentic teenager. But as the narrative went along, I found myself growing more and more fond of the characters and it certainly didn't hurt that the final stretch contains a number of emotional moments. *** out of ****

THE OPPOSITE OF LONELINESS (Marina Keegan) - June 11/15

Meh. I have to wonder if this collection would exist if Keegan hadn't died at 22. I'm thinking it wouldn't, since Keegan is a good yet unspectacular writing who seems more concerned with her prose than actually engaging the reader. There are highlights but mostly this was a bit of a slog to get through. ** out of ****

THE BIG PICTURE (Douglas Kennedy) - June 8/15

This is undeniably too long but what an epic ride it is. It starts out as a Patrick Bateman esque look at a yuppie, complete with needless descriptions of his various acquisitions. But the story takes quite a left turn after the main character murders his wife's lover and subsequently adopts his identity. The stuff involving his efforts at acclimating to his new environment in Montana is all quite interesting and fast paced, and then there's an enjoyably ludicrous twist near there end where his new identity is thought dead and he has to change his identity AGAIN. It's pulpy, silly stuff that I pretty much tore through. ***1/2 out of ****

THE LIGHT BETWEEN OCEANS (M.L. Steadman) - June 3/15

I really enjoyed this one, even though it started off a little slow. But the midsection is actually pretty riveting, which is why the last 50 pages or so were so disappointing. It felt a little needlessly prolonged. *** out of ****