ALL WE EVER WANTED (Emily Giffin) - February 26/22

 After a couple of lousy books, I was in the mood for something brisk and easy to read so I figured an Emily Giffin book was exactly what the doctor ordered. I was right. *** out of ****

THE NATURAL (Bernard Malamud) - February 18/22

 Ugh, this was such a slog, which is weird because it's relatively short. But Malamud's insanely wordy and descriptive prose drains any excitement out of the narrative, and I just found that I didn't care anymore after a while. The bizarre, anticlimactic ending doesn't help, either. * out of ****

BLACK SUNDAY (Thomas Harris) - February 8/22

 I can't say I was super into this at the outset, as Harris delivers a slow-moving thriller that's just way too procedural-like for my preference. But the characters are interesting throughout, at least, and I'll admit that the book did transform into a pageturner in its final third. *** out of ****