BURN IT DOWN (Maureen Ryan) - October 19/23

 Man on man did I really not enjoy this. Some of the stories were pretty compelling but mostly the book is Ryan giving her opinion on the subject matter and I just didn't care at all. It's like, get over yourself already. And the whole last stretch, which reads more like a textbook for criminal reform, was almost impossibly dull and boring. (Also, I find it impossible to work up any interest in stories by anonymous people. Like, maybe they're lying or Ryan is just inventing them out of whole cloth.) Nah, not for me in the slightest. * out of ****

ROMANTIC COMEDY (Curtis Sittenfeld) - October 12/23

 I enjoyed this. The SNL inspired first half was fun and the epistolary midsection works too. The romantic final third is pretty affecting, ultimately. *** out of ****

DOLORES CLAIBORNE (October 4/23)

 I was really not into this at the beginning, with its first-person style and emphasis on Dolores’ daily activities with her boss. But I was drawn in, especially by Dolores’ relationship with her abusive husband and his eventual interest in Selena, and did manage to tear through most of the book in two days. (It helped that I was doing 90 minute transit rides twice a day for those two days.) *** out of ****