May 8 - 14, 2016

The Man from Primrose Lane by James Renner - a reclusive man know only as the Man from Primrose Lane is found murdered in his home. Four years later, David Neff is still trying to recover from the death of his wife shortly after their son was born. An author, he is unable to write since that event. His publisher urges him to look into the mystery of the primrose man. Somehow this becomes mixed in with the mystery of missing girls. And then halfway through the book things really take a turn. I'll just say even though I didn't totally understand what was happening I was still very engrossed. A tale of obsession.* Graphic.

4 stars
* The author knows about obsession. He has a non-fiction book coming out soon which tells his own story of pursuing a mystery to the detriment of his health and family.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Summer Before the War by Helen Simonson - it's 1914 and Beatrice Nash is shattering ideas of Latin teachers when she accepts a position at a school in Rye, England. Brought up to be an independent thinker by her father, her reality is quite different due to his traditional planning of his estate. The story is also about Hugh and Daniel, two cousins of very different natures and their entry into the war. This seemed a genteel book to me even though it deals with ungenteel ideas: refugees and the prejudice against them, very strict class lines and woe to anyone who tries to cross them, gossip and the damage it does, and of course the realities of war. Lots of talking. I was just going to read a few chapters right before bed and before I knew it I was half way through. That's almost 250 pages.

4.5 stars
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It Ended Badly: Thirteen of the Worst Breakups in History by Jennifer Wright - beginning with Nero and ending with Elizabeth Taylor, Eddie Fisher and Richard Burton, this is a book about people behaving very badly when love goes awry. A few too many humorous (?) asides by the author with a little advice thrown in.

3 stars