Two New Reads

It's been a hot minute since I did a book review on this blog. I actually hate that phrase--it's definitely been more than a minute, more like weeks, but oh well. This is for a couple of reasons: it's been hard to find time to blog or read and I also just haven't read that many great books lately. That changed last week, when I read two amazing books that I thought I should inform you guys about. It's almost beach season, so these are perfect to take on a vacation and read by the pool (or in your air conditioned room. No judgement).

Inside the O'Briens by Lisa Genova. 

I loved this book so much that I spent all last Friday morning/afternoon reading it and couldn't put it down. First of all, I love books that take place in Boston, and this one takes place in Charlestown, a part of Boston I haven't really been to. The story begins with an Irish cop who starts acting strange (losing his motor functions, temper acting up, etc) and finds out he has Huntington's Disease. From then on, we see how this horrible disease affects not only him but the rest of the family. An alternating perspective follows the youngest daughter Katie, who is living with the fear of potentially being positive for the disease and how that is affecting her life. What's so horrible about the disease is knowing you may be positive ahead of time, then not developing symptoms until later in life, eventually losing all motor functions. The disease itself is devastating, and seeing how it affects the entire family was told incredibly well. I genuinely felt the emotions each character was feeling, experiencing the love, compassion, and anger alongside them. Although it's incredibly sad to see Joe's decline and how the family struggles with the disease, the book and characters try to remain as positive as they can. I won't give away the ending, but it's not as sad as one would expect, although the book certainly deals with heavier topics.

Night Night, Sleep Tight by Hallie Ephron. 

And then of course we have a mystery novel. I think what I loved about this so much was its settings--it takes place in Beverly Hills in the 1980s, but often references the Old Hollywood and glamor of the 1940s. This started out a bit iffy, but as it progressed, I found myself more and more drawn into the mystery. From the beginning of the story, we learn that Arthur (the protagonist Deirdre's father) has been murdered, so we are to understand why. The motive is not revealed until later in the story, and it also appears that Deirdre is being framed for the murder. More and more details and twists are revealed as the story progresses. We learn a lot about Deirdre's childhood and all of her memories as they connect to her father's murder. My favorite part was that I really didn't see the ending coming, and Ephron does her best to throw you off track. I'm definitely going to be checking out more of her novels.

Have you read any good books lately? Leave your suggestions below!