The Lost Bookshop by Evie Woods

 The woman at Deseret Industries was shelving "new" books while I was shopping, and handed me this one saying, "This looks good." I concurred and brought it home. I enjoyed it very much! The author captures the inner thoughts of insecure young people and the sweetness of their innocence in a good way. There are a few f-bombs, but overall the language is good. It's well-written. The magic of the romance is sweet, and I enjoyed figuring out who was who as the author went back and forth in time.

The magic/fantasy served a purpose...like the tree growing in Martha's basement apartment. And it turned out that her landlady was a ghost? Still, it all worked in the story. I really liked the character of Henry, so caught up in his books and research and so socially inept. The self talk we hear is vulnerable and funny.

this was a nice light summer read. A great book? No, but enjoyable. I'm thinking of donating it to the Cancer Care bookshelf since it's uplifting and sweet. The scenes of Opaline stuck in an asylum are dreary but they don't last too long... 

This summer it was handy to have a sweet escape when Len was home from radiation and not feeling well. It was a nice little escape for me. 

Faithful Place by Tana French

So for my two days in the car coming home from California, I chose this mystery. It certainly held up for the 16-plus hours, but the story was a dark one. Set in Dublin, Detective Francis Mackey returns to his boyhood home and family to solve the mystery of his missing (for 22 years) first love. Colorful characters, violent family members, raw language and painful emotions all make for a lively story. French is a lyrical writer; her descriptions and analogies are beyond compare! And often they make me laugh out loud. The reader's Dublin accent was difficult to understand at times, but certainly added to the authenticity of the story.

One aspect of this story that was educational to me was seeing a dysfunctional family in action. It felt authentic. The cruelty of the parents inspired some of the children to become protectors of the others. Their courage and resourcefulness was bittersweet. And the price they paid for the dysfunction was huge. It also prompted me to wonder about the strength of genetics and environment on the children...