HEAT 2 (Michael Mann & Meg Gardiner) - August 28/22

 Wow, I really enjoyed this. I loved all the prequel stuff and most of the sequel stuff, although I wasn't crazy about the complicated Chris and Ana storyline. But all the various parallels to the movie were fantastic, and the action was just as electrifying as the action in the movie. Perfect ending, too. ***1/2 out of ****

BOY A (Jonathan Trigell) - August 14/22

 I mostly enjoyed this but golly is it long and padded out. Trigell gets awfully descriptive from time to time and offers up whole chapters about periphery characters that I didn’t really care about. But still, Jack is a tremendously sympathetic figure and I was drawn into his exploits. Did he get away or not, though? *** out of ****

TRACY FLICK CAN’T WIN (Tom Perrotta) - August 8/22

 This very satisfying follow up did take a while to grow on me, admittedly. Perrotta introduces a whole mess of new characters and takes his time in establishing an actual plot, so for the first third I was mostly only engaged when it was about Tracy. But Perrotta knows what he’s doing and the second half becomes quite engrossing and the various characters all become extremely compelling. I feel like the climax was a little rushed but I wasn’t unhappy with how it ended. Good stuff. ***1/2 out of ****

ELECTION (Tom Perrotta) - August 4/22

 Yep, this is it. A real strong contender for my favorite book of all time. Perrotta just does a masterful job of establishing several very vivid characters and placing them in a narrative that's mostly fascinating and engrossing. The book's various digressions, including Mr. M's affair and Tammy's Catholic-School exploits, are all handled super well and incorporated into the story perfectly. And it's super short, too! Doesn't even come close to wearing out its welcome. So good. **** out of ****

THE LIONESS (Chris Bohjalian) - August 1/22

 I wound up having to read this one in two chunks, months apart. The first half of this book is really an endurance test, as Bohjalian loads the narrative up with characters that remain almost impossible to tell apart until the final third. The structure of each chapter, with the beginning and end the safari stuff and a section in the middle devoted to a flashback, didn't help in terms of the non-existent momentum. But I did find myself finally enjoying the book as the number of characters steadily dwindled, and I did race through the second half in just a few days. **1/2 out of ****