A HOLOGRAM FOR THE KING (Dave Eggers) - April 25/16

Definitely conflicted about this one. The first half reminded me a little of Tom Perrotta, with the internal look at a thoroughly fleshed-out protagonist. But the book is ultimately a little too uneventful and the end comes way too quickly. (I wanted to know if Alan was going to be okay financially and personally, for example.) *** out of ****

THIS PERFECT DAY (Ira Levin) - April 15/16

It's kind of interesting how this book is essentially a template for all the YA dystopian literature that's dominated as of late, but although I did like certain sections and Levin is certainly a strong writer, this thing is just way, way too long. It became a real slog past a certain point, especially once Chip left the confines the the "family" and went to an island of "incurables." I liked the twist that the family had purposefully allowed Chip and his cohorts to escape, as well as the surprise involving the people behind the scenes. But geez, what a slog this became! ** out of ****

SO THAT HAPPENED (Jon Cryer) - April 1/16

This is one of the better memoirs I've read lately primarily because Cryer is a really good storyteller and because he doesn't shy away from telling revealing stories about costars. (He dated a coked up Demi Moore!) He seems like a pretty good dude, so I was happy to overlook some of the more padded-out stretches. *** out of ****