Two Great Books

A couple days ago I finished The Last Time I Saw You by Elizabeth Berg.  As I've said previously, I just love her books.  They aren't fakey-light chick lit, where you know characters will never be touched by any true problems, but they aren't full of deliberate drama that pulls your heartstrings.  They're sincere and real and funny.  Read them, if you haven't.  The Last Time I Saw You is about several people attending their high school reunion.  No one is made to be 100% good or bad, it's quick and satisfying, and there are dogs in it.  I recommend it.

After that, I read Faithful Place, the third mystery novel by Tana French.  During the first few chapters I thought the main character seemed too deliberately clever and his dysfunctional family too fake, too stereotypical.  But somewhere during that third chapter I changed my mind and couldn't put it down.  It's a page-turner.  It was great, satisfying, and I certainly enjoyed it.  

The only thing I hesitate over is that I'm still a little hurt over some developments in her first book, In The Woods.  Questions that were left unanswered, and characters that, frankly, didn't make the choices I wanted them to.  Frank Mackey, the main character of Faithful Place, is only tangentially related to the main characters of In The Woods, but I still wanted new information on them.  It's not a criticism of her writing.  Really, it's like a less-intense version of my hurt over certain events at the end of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.