The Cellar by Natasha Preston

• This is a fast-paced read inspired by recent headlines.
• After gaining popularity as an indie, The Cellar is quickly gaining mainstream popularity.
• This is a creepy book about a teenage girl adapting to captivity.
• I especially loved the ending.

Hausfrau by Jill Alexander Essbaum

• From the first page, it is clear that the mean character is struggling.
• Much of the novel is centered around the singular main character with other characters being relatively minor.
• If you like jarring endings, this book is for you.  If you don't, then this book isn't.

Siracusa by Delia Ephron

• This novel is relayed from four points of view.
• Each character is flawed in their own way.  
• I found the character of Taylor to be cliched (and annoying).
• In the audiobook edition of the novel, John Slattery (who played Roger Sterling in Mad Men) narrates a character who could be described as a modern day Roger Sterling.

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by Rowling, Thorne and Tiffany

• First, I'm a Harry Potter fan and this is a biased review.
• The novel nicely picks up 19 years after the last Harry Potter novel.  It fills in needed gaps and reveals key events that happened.
• Initially, it was odd to see Harry Potter as a father figure.  Throughout the novel we see both him and his troubled child grow as characters.
• Since this work is written as a play it is a quick read.

My Life in France by Julia Child

• This is half travel book and half a book about cooking.
• Child recounts her travel through France immediately after World War II and how she discovers her love cooking.
• As expected, her charm is captured in this book.  It feels as if she is telling you her life story.
• I especially enjoyed the audiobook of this title.

Mercury by Margot Livesey

• The novel is told from two points of view.  
• On face, it is easy to side with one character.  The beauty of the novel is that "fault" becomes fuzzy and muddled as the story progresses.
• Overall, this is an enjoyable read gets quite detailed in the last third of the novel.