Any Other Family by Eleanor Brown

I really looked forward to reading this book and enjoyed it for 3/4 of the way, and then I got annoyed that it was too kind to its negative characters and wrapped everything up too perfectly.  Then I read the Author's Note at the end and had a completely different opionion. This book was written as a response to the author's feelings and experiences revolving around adoption, so I wish I had known that from the start.  True, there was one character that was overdone, perhaps, but her motives were well-intended.  I would read this book again with new eyes, knowing that the author has a real stake in its content.

Jackie and Me by Louis Bayard

 

I enjoyed this charming fictional account about a part of Jackie Kennedy's life that we know little about (at least I knew little about it.) Jack (JFK) is hardly a major character in the book, except in the 3rd person. The real protagonist is his best friend, Lem Billings (yes, a real person), who "took care of" Jackie while Jack was courting her.....sort of.  He was busy with his Senate campaign and had little time for courting or dating, so he called upon his best friend to entertain her and insure that she didn't get away.  From Good Reads:

It is a surprising look at Jackie before she was that Jackie. And in best-selling author Louis Bayard’s witty and deeply empathetic telling, Jackie & Me is a page-turning story of friendship, love, sacrifice, and betrayal— and a fresh take on two iconic American figures.

I recommend it!

This Time Tomorrow by Emma Straub

From WLS:

"What if you could take a vacation to your past, without the filter of memory? What would you give to go back in time and relive your youth, in person, with the people who shared it? On the eve of her 40th birthday, Alice's life isn't terrible. She likes her job, even if it isn't exactly the one she expected. She's happy with her apartment, her romantic status, her independence, and she adores her lifelong best friend. But something is missing. Her father, the single parent who raised her, is ailing and out of reach. How did they get here so fast? Did she take too much for granted along the way? When Alice wakes up the next morning somehow back in 1996, it isn't her 16-year-old body that is the biggest shock, or the possibility of romance with her adolescent crush, it's her dad: the vital, charming, 49-year-old version of her father with whom she is reunited. Now armed with a new perspective on her own life and his, is there anything that she should do differently this time around? What would she change, given the chance? With her celebrated humor, insight, and heart, Emma Straub cleverly turns all the traditional time travel tropes on their head and delivers a different kind of love story--about the lifelong, reverberating relationship between a parent and child"

Really enjoyed this book even though Time Travel books are not my thing. I heard Emma Straub interviewed several times discussing this book. It was her "pandemic book," and I can see why. 

It's a good read. 

Vladimir by Julia May Jonas

 

Interesting book, well-written but flawed in my estimation.  The writing is very thoughtful and kept me interested, but the ending was just not for me.

The Latecomer by Jean Hanff Korelitz

 

Thoroughly enjoyed this book, even though there was a bit of a "slow spot" in the middle.  The characters, three (no four!) siblings are born through IVF so they are technically triplets, but their relationship to each other is strained to say the least.

This is a family story, and a story of origins, class, deceit, sexuality, tragedy, religion, and more.  Each chapter is written from a different sibling's perspective.

There are twists and turns and surprises in this novel. Her last book, "The Plot," which I did not read yet, has similar characteristics, I think. Here is a paragraph from the Washington Post that says a lot about this book and why I liked it so much:

There’s a jigsaw-puzzle thrill to Korelitz’s family epic — the way it feels like a thousand scrambled, randomly shaped events until you’ve got the edges in place, and then the picture begins to resolve with accelerating inevitability and surprise. Part farce, part revenge fantasy, the climactic scene at a triple birthday party at the Oppenheimers’ “cottage” on Martha’s Vineyard is one of the most hilarious and horrible calamities I’ve ever found in a novel.

The Lioness by Chris Bohjalian

I slogged through this book. It started out fast and fun, and I lost interest but got through it anyway. Not sure why it didn't grab me, but it just did not.  Got good reviews, but overall, not for me.

The Disappearing Act by Catherine Steadman

I really looked forward to reading this book, but in the end, was disappointed.  It was a "thriller" but did not hold the thrill for me. Too many predictable plot twists and convoluted storylines; implausible situations, stupidity on the part of the main character, etc.

I held out to the end, but really didn't much care who did it and why.