The Dutch House, by Ann Patchett

I am wildly jealous of Ann Patchett. She has an uncanny ability to write novels that are consistently gripping, luminous, emotional, layered and utterly real. She scores again with Dutch House, a sweeping family saga that I had trouble putting down after the very first page.

In The Dutch House, Danny Conroy tells the story of his family and their historic mansion — the Dutch House — in the suburbs of Philadelphia. When Danny and his sister Maeve are thrown out of the house by their step-mother, they are impoverished and alone, and deal with the ramifications of that decision for the rest of their lives.

This novel is not perfect. There were a few plot points and things here and there that didn’t really ring true to me. But it is a testament to Patchett’s skill that I loved this novel despite those things. This is probably one of my favorite books of the year. Highly recommend!

Big Sky, by Kate Atkinson (Jackson Brodie #5)

Jackson Brodie is a former British police officer, who now works as a private investigator while trying to figure out his teenage son and deal with a complicated relationship with his ex-wife. In Big Sky, Brodie begins an investigation into a cheating husband but is quickly pulled into something much more complicated and sinister.

I love British mysteries on PBS — series like Inspector Lewis, and Granchester. Big Sky reminds me of these sorts of mysteries, because it spends a lot of time (pages) describing a large cast of (seemingly unrelated) characters before the murder even happens, and then the relationship between the characters comes into sharp relief.

Unfortunately, for me, that shift came too late in this novel and by then, I had lost interest. I suspect that I liked this book less than some because it is the fifth in a series about Jackson Brodie, but it is the first I’ve read. I think if I had been familiar with the characters I would’ve been much more patient as the story unspooled. So, if you are a fan of this series or a fan of Kate Atkinson (who is an amazing writer!), give this novel a shot. It didn’t work for me but your mileage may vary.

The Butterfly Girl, by Rene Denfeld

I loved Rene Denfeld’s previous novel, The Child Finder, so I couldn’t wait to get started on The Butterfly Girl. Unfortunately, this book didn’t work for me at all. Unlike The Child Finder, where I was so taken with the character of Naomi and completely pulled into her world, here I found her hard to relate to and sometimes downright unlikable. Denfeld’s writing is just as lovely and compelling as always, but the story here is really slow and repetitive. I found myself skimming – never a good sign. This was disappointing. Maybe the next installment will be better.

The Bookish Life of Nina Hill, by Abbi Waxman

Nina Hill has her dream job in a bookstore, and enjoys her solitary life with her cat and her trivia team. She’s forced out of her comfort zone when she finds out that she has a large, dysfunctional extended family, which is embroiled in a will contest. At the same time, there’s a man on a competing trivia team who catches her eye. How will Nina react to all of these changes in her well-ordered life? Will she retreat back into her comfy shell or embrace new things/people?

The Bookish Life of Nina Hill is just exactly what you’d hope it would be: a charming story, chock full of literary and pop culture references, with a dash of romance, some family intrigue, and a lot of humor. This wasn’t deep or remarkably substantive, but it was fun. I thought the ending was a bit too happy (is that possible?) but it fit perfectly with the rest of the novel, so I was expecting it.

Recommended, especially for fans of Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine.