Finished: The People’s Library. 4 stars; book #9 for the year. Great concept, but . . . I don’t know. Maybe it’s just me. I wouldn’t say there’s anything bad about it; it’s mostly well-written. But most of the story took place over the span of about four days, and they seemed to be the longest four days in history. And the supposed timespan didn’t match up in other ways. Maybe I’m misremembering, but it seemed like Echo and Jesse “met” only a day or two before that long long weekend. And yet they somehow managed to become besties and fall in love after just two or three conversations. It was hard to keep track of the passage of time altogether, and it kept tripping me up. Things seemed to be left unmentioned or unexplained. Who was the mystery woman? Who killed her and why? What about that mask that was oh-so-important and then seemed to be forgotten almost as soon as it vanished? What was it for besides cheap symbolism? And then that long info-dump making things grind to a halt just when the action should have been ramping up. Totally unnecessary too, since all the important info was “revealed” again later. The last quarter or so of the book seemeed to drag in a lot of places. Let’s slow down and talk things out for a while! does not maintain the tension. I was actually surprised to discover that this wasn’t the author’s first or second novel. Anyway. Pretty good, but I won’t be re-reading.

Listening to: “When I Fall in Love” by the Carpenters, “Since I Lost My Baby” by The Temptations, Ear Biscuits

Watched: Absolutely Fabulous