THE MAID (Nita Prose) - January 31/22

 Read for the Spooner book club, I really enjoyed this one. It's a very brisk read that features at its core an incredibly likeable and sympathetic central character. I was a little disappointed at the book's final stretch (it seemed like there should've been another twist or two), but otherwise I tore through this thing. ***1/2 out of ****

SHINING THROUGH (Susan Isaacs) - January 27/22

 Well damn, this is one long book. I liked parts of it but it felt longer than a Game of Thrones book. She doesn't even become a spy until two-thirds of the way in! *1/2 out of ****

STATE OF TERROR (Hillary Clinton and Louise Penny) - January 12/22

 Read for the Spooner book club, I enjoyed this but holy god is it ever long. The book generally feels twice as long as necessary and it does, as a result, contain a bunch of less than enthralling subplots and periphery happenings. But the main storyline does grow pretty exciting, admittedly, and I liked the central character. **1/2 out of ****

HARRY POTTER AND THE CURSED CHILD (Jack Thorne) - January 1/22

 It's definitely weird reading a script but I got used to that pretty quick. The time-travel-heavy storyline is pretty irresistible, and the new characters are decent. It's too long, but what else is new? *** out of ****